How Different Generations Consume Online Content

Do Baby Boomers prefer to use internet browsers instead of their smartphones to look up information? Do Millennials want to receive more information via Twitter than any other source? Social Media Today recently published an article that lays out the answers to these and other questions about how different generations consume online content – down to the difference in time of day usage. The infographics in the post help to visually describe some of the gaps that exist between the different generations. However, with all of the differences that do indeed exist, one thing was constant: the “sweet spot” for word length looked to be 300 words… not a word more. Click the image below to go to the full post and view the entire infographic.

Source: Social Media Today

Source: Social Media Today

The PEW Research Center recently updated their social media use survey results, which are very useful in determining which social media platforms to use depending on your audience and topic. Despite assumptions that youth aren’t using Facebook, the study proved that to be wrong. Facebook is still way ahead of all other social media platforms in terms of usage. Other insights and info are in the full report.

How might this information change how you currently use social media to reach online audiences?

Formal vs Informal Learning Environments: Moodle or Blog?

POST method

With so many options available to Extension professionals to deliver educational information online, it’s difficult to know which tools and learning environments are more suitable for different curricula or program topics. Some tools available to us operate in a more formalized learning environment – like an online course for credit or certification. Examples of formal learning tools are Moodle or Carmen. Most Extension programs should not utilize Carmen, since participants need to have a name.# in order to access the course. Informal learning tools are blogging platforms (u.osu.edu), social media, educational webinars, Twitter Chats, and now even Live streaming. These are tools that can get much of the same information out to an online audience, but in an informal way. Remember to use the POST method when being strategic about what technology and learning environment you use… start with People… not with the technology. Below are some examples of when a formal learning environment would be appropriate, and when an informal approach makes more sense.

Classes or Programs that Award Certification

If you are currently teaching a face-to-face or online program that awards certificates or credit once the participant has completed the program, than it would be more appropriate for this program to be created in Moodle or a similar formal learning environment platform. If your class requires a lot of hands-on learning and application, it may be more appropriate for it not to go online and remain as a face-to-face program.

Examples of how it can be applied:

  • Budget or personal finance program (or similar) that awards a completion certificate to participants.
  • Classes in which quizzes are required or beneficial.
  • Curricula that can not or should not be be broken into topical segments to share via informal tools such as social media.

Campaigns or Program Themes

If you plan to focus on a topic theme over a specific period of time (an example would be sending out educational information and facilitating classes on local food during the summer months), than an informal learning tool like utilizing a blog or posting to social media would be more appropriate.

Examples of how it can be applied:

  • Networked social media campaign during which multiple social media feeds are sharing information on your specific topic during a specified period of time.
  • A series of 30-minute educational webinars.
  • A series of 2 minute videos.
  • A blog post series dedicated to your specific topic or focus area over a given period of time.
  • A Twitter Chat focused on your topic area.
  • Live streaming via Periscope or Meerkat during a local food event at your Fair.

Program Participant Follow-Up Opportunities & Further Education

Online audiences in 2015 take it upon themselves to search for educational information they’re looking for. Continuing education is becoming much more informal than it ever has been in the past because people tend to search what they want to learn and informally network with others who want to learn the same things they do. This gives us as Extension professionals the opportunity to tap into this desire and follow-up with previous program participants at the same time. With today’s online audience in mind, informal learning environments are much more effective for this.

Examples of how it can be applied:

  • Creating a Facebook group page (private or public) for Dining with Diabetes participants to join and share, learn, and keep in touch with one another after completing the program. This group page could be utilized to also share upcoming educational opportunities.
  • Invite previous program participants to regularly held Twitter Chats.
  • Ask program participants to subscribe to your blog or sign up for educational webinar announcements via email.
  • Create a hashtag for your program or topic area. Use this hashtag on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Instagram.
  • Always give participants your program’s social media links and information for follow-up.

What are your thoughts? Any other suggestions for formal and informal learning environment tools that we can utilize in Extension?

 

CFAES Online Course Design Workshop

A while back, those in Extension received an invitation to register for a CFAES Online Course Design Workshop. The workshop is being held simultaneously in Wooster, Columbus, and virtually NEXT Wednesday, May 13th. But there is still time to register! The day will consist of walking through hands-on learning to design online curriculum and/or trainings via Moodle or Carmen. (Note that only those with name.# accounts can access Carmen courses, so it may not be an appropriate tool for Extension online programming. Moodle, however, is still appropriate tool for any course or training that requires or offers a certificate upon completion.) This workshop has been a collaborative project between our new CFAES Director of Online Learning and Engagement (Deana Namuth-Covert), Instructional Development Specialists at ATI, myself, and many others.

  Click here to register to attend in-person or virtually.

I will be attending a portion of the workshop in Columbus and will be available for any questions Extension colleagues in attendance might have. I will also send out a follow-up announcement to Extension participants after the workshop. Look for a blog post in the coming days on the differences between formal and informal learning environments, and when which is most appropriate to utilize.

~Jamie

More information on the Online Course Design Workshop:

 

Updated Social Media Guidelines Now Available

Best practices on how to use social media as a CFAES employee do exist - and they've been updated for you.

Best practices on how to use social media as a CFAES employee do exist – and they’ve been updated for you.

In February, CommTech updated the CFAES Social Media Guidelines. The Ed Techs recommend that any Extension employee who is currently using, or planning to use, social media professionally read through the guidelines. They not only document the correct way to use social media as a professional of the college, but also offer best practices and other related information.

Click here to view the CFAES Social Media Guidelines. 

 

Other CommTech Social Media Resources:

Tips for Getting Started

Writing for Social Media

 

You May Also Be Interested In:

Ed Tech Blog Social Media Posts

 

Using Webinars to Teach: Training Slidedeck, Recap, and An Opportunity for Staff!

Last week, the Ed Techs hosted an online training about utilizing webinars as a teaching tool. The PPT is below, as well as a summary of the main points. A recording link to the webinar itself will be included as soon as we receive it.

Are you interested in presenting an educational webinar?

We know how busy you are, and so the Ed Techs are offering to provide preparation training, hosting, and “back-end” support for program and support staff who wish to present educational webinars in 2015!  These will not be professional development webinars we are all used to, but rather webinars intended to educate our online clientele (How to Respond to Temper Tantrums, 3 Simple Ways to Stick to Your Budget, How to Diagnose Pest Disease – as examples). We are requesting that individuals interested comment on this post, or contact us directly with the following information:

  • Webinar Topic
  • Title and Category (if you would like to call it a “Webinar” or “Lunch & Learn” or something similar)
  • Target Audience
  • Requested Date & Time to Present Webinar

Send the above information to any of the Ed Techs-

Jamie Seger: seger.23

Kim Roush: roush.143

Heather Gottke: gottke.4

Training Slidedeck

 

Summary

7 Tools for Using Webinars to Teach

Planning:

  1. Basic Plan: timing, marketing, brief content

Design:Webinars screenshot

2. Visual Appeal: large images, one key point on each slide

3. Layout/ Structure: divide content into 10 minute segments or less, set up webinar session to promote interaction with different pods, discussions, polls, and activities

Interactive Elements (demonstrated in CarmenConnect):

4. Polling / Quiz / Questions

5. Chat Box

6. Whiteboard

7. Online Search

Link to Recording: TBA

Quickly Create Modern Looking Graphics for Anything with Canva

Allergic to Photoshop but still want pretty looking images to share on a blog or social media page? Canva is a cool (and very new) web tool that lets you easily and quickly create images that you can save and/or share online. The best news of all? It’s free to sign up and Canva has thousands of images and graphics that you can use for free. The real kicker is that the extra cool photo that you might want to use will only $1. That’s right, if it’s not free, it’s only going to cost you a buck. Good news for those of us in Extension.

Getting Started

You’ll need to sign up for a free account to use Canva. Then, you get to choose a template based upon what you will use the image/graphic for – which I think is a great feature that makes Canva super easy to use.

By selecting what you'll be using your image for, Canva will automatically select the best formatting and size.

By selecting what you’ll be using your image for, Canva will automatically select the best formatting and size.

After you choose a design to get started, you’ll come to what looks like a “dashboard of sorts”. Honestly, if you take just a few minutes browsing the tools on the left side of the screen, you can get acquainted with Canva’s features rather quickly.

 

Here are a few images I created in Canva to show everyone the possibilities of how those of us in Extension could use it:

COOKING Eat & Move-O-Matic (2)carrots

All of the above images and graphics could be shared on social media sites. You can also create PowerPoint presentations, posters, and marketing materials within Canva. 

How to Brand Your Images and Grahics

As for proper branding protocol when it comes to using Canva, you probably noticed that all of the above images use our scarlet color – one of the University’s primary branding colors. Anything that is created within Canva should include at least ONE of the primary branding colors, shown below. Scarlet is the preferred primary color, since it is the most recognizable color associated with OSU.

Canva branding colors

 

What do the numbers below the colors mean? This is where we’ll do a little walk-through in Canva to show you how to change color using the HEX color code (last line of text under each color above). We’ll use one of the graphics I included above as an example. When I first clicked on the template to edit it, the original color of the ribbon was teal. I needed to change this to a branded color. First, click anywhere on the color in your graphic or text that you need to change. Then, click on the “+” sign to open up the color wheel (circled in red below).

Canva changing colors

This will pull up a color wheel, with an option box to enter an exact color code. This is where the HEX color code is entered. The color code for our branded scarlet color is bb0000 (entered in the box circled in red).

Canva changing colors 2

This changes the color of the ribbon. To change text or any other graphic, simply go through the same process. Other logos such as the block “O” or our Extension strip at the top do not have to be included if you utilize any of the primary branding colors, as well as a branded font. In Canva, we’ll need to use Helvetica as the only font… which limits creativity I know. But it is required to be brand compliant.

brand

Want more info about Canva? The site features a great support blog that gives advice on how to create different layouts, work with color in your graphics, how to create infographics, and much more.

Still have questions or want advice on how to create something specific? Leave a comment and we’ll help!

~Jamie

 

One Video: Posted 5 Ways to Social Media

When we visited the NMSU Learning Games Lab in February, their team had some questions common questions about social media. They are working on refining their social media strategy and were curious about how they should tailor their messages to fit each social media platform (i.e. What a post on Facebook should look like compared to Twitter, Instagram, Google+, etc.) This is such a common question, we thought a blog post was in order!

Below is the “Don’t Wash Your Chicken!” video produced by NMSU that happened to go viral. We explain why under the video – but watch it first to see if you can take a guess:


NBC News

What’s your guess? Why did it go viral?

This video is short and to the point. The video above is a simple illustration of a viral video that gives the viewer educational, fact-based information. There are some great keys to the success of this video, and small snippet animation with it. First, the message is simple. Don’t wash your chicken! Next, the video is short, but NBC news shortened it even more. It shows the animation of the chicken and bacteria being spread as the person puts it under the running water.

No matter which social media tool you’re using, you want to make sure any video you share is short and sweet. With the creation of Vine and Instagram videos, people’s attention spans continue to decrease. Some topics warrant a longer video (say, a video on how to water bath can tomatoes, for instance). But most videos need to be less than two minutes, or you’ll lose your audience.

So, how would you go about posting this video to each social media site? Would the posts need to look different?

The answer is: it depends. 

Because this is a video, there are only so many different ways you can go about changing how you post it, but it is possible. Here are some examples:

Facebook: Keyword is VISUAL

Sample Post: Keep text short and simple. Copy and paste the link to the video, but then delete the link text. You want your post to be visual and attention-getting. You can also paste the YouTube video link to allow the video to automatically play when people come across it on their newsfeed.

chicken video FB

Twitter: Keyword is INFORMATION

Sample post: Twitter is all about information and informal learning. Again, keep your post short and simple (you only have 160 characters to fit it all in!). Use a link shortener to keep the link small, and include relevant hashtags that will help people find the video. Try not to include too many hashtags… for no other reason than it’s just annoying. (Note: we probably could have included the #NBC hashtag and/or @NBC Twitter handle in this Tweet as well!)

chicken video Twitter

Instagram: Keyword is PRETTY/CREATIVE

Sample post: Instagram works as an app on your mobile device, so you’ll need to download the app from iTunes (for Apple devices) or the Google Play store (for Android devices) first. Most Instagram users are using it personally, rather than professionally. Here, the example is from my personal Instagram account, but I’m sharing an Extension-produced message. I took a screenshot of the video with my phone, then chose a cool Instagram filter to apply to the picture. And just for fun, one of my favorite quotes about Instagram is: “People of Instagram: your pictures are not cool and you are not creative.” We may feel this way (I do), but if a large chunk of young people that we’re trying to reach are in this space, then we should try to experiment with sharing information in this space so we can meet people where they are at.

chicken video Instagram

Google+: Keyword is SHARING/COLLABORATION

Sample post: Google+ is a safe haven at the moment for techies and nerds who have lost interest in Facebook and Twitter. But that doesn’t mean that they’re the only people using it. As more people find out the cool user-friendly features of Google+, they’re realizing it’s a much more collaborative tool than any other social media platform out there. Sharing is key on Google+, so include the source of information and why you think it’s useful. Like Twitter, many people utilize Google+ as part of their personal learning network, so they look for information to learn from and share – not necessarily to just entertain themselves. A couple of cool features that only Google+ has: 1) It automatically picks out useful hashtags to add to your post and 2) You can create circles of people you follow, and then choose to share information with specific circles, 3) Google Hangouts… enough said.

chicken video Google+

Pinterest: Keyword is INSPIRING

Sample post: Pinterest works as a digital bulletin-board of sorts. After my husband and I bought our house back in 2008, I began taking pages out of my Grandma’s “This Old House” magazines and putting them into a binder for renovation and decorating ideas. With Pinterest, I don’t have to do this anymore. I can create my own digital “binder” of sorts, and create binders (or “boards”) for as many topics as I want! So in a Pinterest post, you would include a photo of the video (or other photos that are available via the link you’re sharing), along with a message about why it’s good to have this information or idea handy.

chicken video Pinterest

Keep an eye on Instagram and Google+. As Facebook continues to decrease how many people your page reaches “organically” (which just means, without paying for ads) more and more organizations (especially non-profit ones) are jumping ship or are spending more time experimenting with sharing information on other social media sites, such as Instagram and Google+. Amy Hayes presented a great session at NeXC on how to utilize Instagram – you may want to check it out.

Now – keep in mind that even though we’ve showed you how to share the same link on 5 different social media sites – that doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to be using all 5. It all depends on what your audience (the people you’re trying to reach) are using. For more information on how to find out which social media platforms would be beneficial for you, click here.

~Jamie & Heather

How to Create Your Personal Learning Network on Twitter in 5 Steps

twitter-logo

One of the themes mentioned throughout the National eXtension Conference last week was the increasing importance of Personal Learning Networks. Many of us who have been using social media for years have tapped into the informal learning that can easily take place in online social spaces – specifically on Twitter. PLN’s help Extension professionals learn from each other, as well as learn from other experts in our fields of work and study.

1. Create a Twitter account if you don’t already have one. Ed Tech Heather Gottke wrote a great blog post on how to get started on Twitter here.

2. Begin following people by adding people you already know; colleagues and clients. Then add people who you know are experts in their field. For example, I follow Mashable and Beth Kanter to get social media info; TechCrunch for general tech updates; Paul Hill for 4-H STEM programming; Mike Gutter for financial education; Let’s Move for nutrition education, and the Pew Research Center and NASA just because I’m a geek. You’ll also want to add CFAES, Keith Smith, and Dean McPheron, to stay up-to-date on our college’s goings-on. Feel free to see who else I follow and add them to people you follow.

3. Organize the people you follow into lists and use a social media managing tool. I use Hootsuite. But some people like Tweetdeck better. Both are free to use the “regular” version. You’ll have to pay to go Pro and get extra perks like analytics, but I use the free version and feel like I have access to everything I need. You’ll need to create your list categories in Twitter.

  • Once you have “followed” a Twitter account. Click on the settings icon beside the “Follow/Following” button. This will pull up a drop-down menu, as shown below:

twitter list example

  •  Click on “Add or remove from lists”. A separate box will appear asking you to “Create A List” or choose which list to add this person to:

twitter list example 2

  • Next, you’ll pull your lists into Hootsuite or Tweetdeck (whichever you choose to use). In Hootsuite, you can do this by adding a stream to your dashboard for each one of your lists. Click on “+Add Stream” and then click on the “Lists” tab (highlighted in yellow below):

twitter list capture hootsuite

  • Once you’ve added a stream for each of your lists, your dashboard will look like this (if you are as list-happy as I am anyway!):

hootsuite dashboard

4. Find more experts to follow by searching and following hashtags. For example, I have found people to follow by searching for #socialmedia, #edtech, #food, #money, #parenting, #4H, just to name a few.

5. Build upon and share what you’re learning by networking with those you follow. Retweet what they’re Tweeting and put their ideas into practice. Reach out to them and start a conversation. Let them know how you’re using their expertise, concepts, ideas, etc. I’ve networked with colleagues all across the country via Twitter and have met some amazing and inspiring people. They’re Educators, Program Specialists, Faculty, and Techies. Once your Personal Learning Network grows, you begin to realize how we can all work together across the nation to make Extension much stronger and our programs more impactful. Cooperating, collaborating, and sharing ideas and resources also reduces our time spent on reinventing something that someone in a different state already does well. Meeting via Twitter can put all of these things in motion.

For more info, Beth Kanter has an excellent blog post on using social media for professional learning here.

Other ideas? How have you built your own Personal Learning Network and who have you included in it?

~Jamie

Getty’s Gift: We Now Have Access to Millions of Free Images for Online Content

Well, until now! Getty Images announced this week that they have offered up hundreds of millions of images to content creators, for free. This was so unthinkable, that I didn’t believe it until Mashable.com confirmed it on Facebook. But their explanation makes sense – the images are being used anyway. With the good news, also comes some bad news however. Although you can use the Getty images to embed onto websites, blog posts, and social media posts, you cannot include them in PowerPoint presentations not intended just for personal use (and what PPTs are just intended for personal use, other than the ones my 4th grader creates?!), nor can you include them in any curriculum or resource materials that will be distributed to the public. [Cick here to visit the Getty webpage with info on how this all works.]

To test this process out, I went to Getty’s site and searched for a picture of a sheep. It did take a few minutes before I found a photo that I liked, and that I was “allowed” to use (the embed sign popped up with the other options). Here’s the image:

So there’s obviously some give and take here. While allowing users to embed certain images into their online content, Getty is also identifying the source of the content, and adding in some shareable buttons for good measure. If you don’t mind the way this might look on a blog post, or your website, then Getty could be a good new source of free images for you.

But there are other options out there! Pixabay / Flickrs Creative Commons  to name a couple. And their images are already free to download and use.

Do you use other royalty free image sites not mentioned here? List them in the comments!

~Jamie

 

 

 

 

 

NEW Social Media Workshop Schedule for 2014!

We’ve experienced a lower-than-anticipated number of registrants per EERA so far this year with the social media workshops. So the Ed Tech team has decided to switch to a regional schedule for the remainder of 2014. This will come with the added benefit of reaching all 5 regions (central, north, south, east, west) by June! Plus, we have included a “2nd Chance” workshop on each topic in September for those who may not have had (or will have) a chance to attend one of the other workshops.

We’ve received great feedback from workshop participants so far this year. These are hands-on workshops and participants work through various steps/processes during the workshop with the Ed Techs, as well as assistance from CommTech specialists!

Please “save the date” for the workshop you plan to attend and let one of us know if you have any questions. (Click the image below to pull up a larger version.)

2014 SM workshops flyer_Final