We’ll be adding to this page as new resources (e.g., the online survey) are made available.

Dan Karleen, Peterson’s
Rob Pongsajapan, Georgetown University

Conducted in conjunction with Society for New Communications Research, Palo Alto, CA

Outline for EduWeb Discussion
July 31, 2006

Introduction
• Goals of study
• Kinds of institutions/blogs selected
• List of institutions
• Roles of people interviewed

Planning & Strategy

• Genesis and evolution of the idea
• Audience (actual vs. intended)
• Life span of content
• Communications culture (reaction to idea)
• Selection process (criteria, internal factors—e.g. promotion of a specific school)
• Compensation

Authoring

• Review and editing policies
• Topics (focused vs. general “student life” blogs)
• Posting frequency & length of posts
• Connection (or lack thereof) to larger blogosphere
• Comments (open/closed, level of activity, response to, etc.)
• Negative experiences

Marketing

• Readership
• Promotion (RSS, SEO, print, etc.)
• Measures of success

Assessment

• Assessment methods
• Role of blogs in larger communications strategy

Future Planning

• Video and audio (pros and cons)
• Community participation (current students, faculty, etc.) outside defined audience
Best Practices

Blog Sites of Institutions Surveyed

Ball State University
http://www.bsu.edu/reallife/

Biola University
http://www.biola.edu/undergrad/journals/

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
http://www.erau.edu/db/journals/

Maine College of Art
http://www.meca.edu/home/ReadZacharysWebLog.aspx

Oregon State University
http://oregonstate.edu/admissions/blog/

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
http://polyblogs.rpi.edu/

University of Dayton
http://mylife.udayton.edu/

University of Vermont
http://adms.blog.uvm.edu/