So You Want a Web Presence?
Choosing the right Tufts tools for the job.
David Grogan
edtech@tufts.edu
7-2859
Goals of this Session
At this end of this session you should know:
– What Tufts tools are available to you for web-based
publication, communication, and collaboration
– The main features of each of the tools.
– Where to go for support and help.
Outline
• A look at the tools
• Case studies - how others at Tufts are using them
• Your projects – enough about me, let’s talk about you!
• Ask questions at ANY time!
The Tools
• Spark WordPress (http://spark.uit.tufts.edu)
• Spark Wikis (http://spark.uit.tufts.edu)
• Trunk Project Sites (http://trunk.tufts.edu)
• Spark Podcasts (http://spark.uit.tufts.edu)
• iTunes U (http://go.tufts.edu/itunesu)
What all the tools have in common?
• Supported by UIT-ESTS
• Available at no cost to everyone with a Tufts Username
• Content can be made private, or group accessible, or
completely public. With the exception of iTunesU (for now)
• Provide access for content creation and collaboration to nonTufts users.
What all the tools have in common?
• They all provide for rapid development of a web presence in
some form. Quick and easy. If you know the basics.
• They all do SOME things REALLY well.
• They all do SOME things NOT SO well.
• They can ALL work together!
WordPress
• Is a content publishing tool for the web. Originally designed as
a “blogging” tool, it is now a fully featured, custom website,
creation tool.
• Is good for:
– Rapid development of and attractive, easy to use, publicly accessible
web sites.
– Mixing blog content with static content for an informative and up-todate “news” type web site.
WordPress – Tufts Examples
WordPress – Best Features
• Gallery of pre-designed, but customizable themes. From very
basic to advanced.
• Easily create and manage your site’s menu of pages.
• Widgets and plugins that extend your site’s functionality.
• And of course, blogging!
WordPress – Not So Good At
• Mixing public and private content in an easy to use manner
for site owners.
Wikis (Confluence)
• A wiki is a web-based tool that allows groups of individuals to
easily collaborate on the creation of content.
• Very good for:
–
–
–
–
Creation of departmental knowledge-bases.
Collaborating on course design.
Student group writing assignments.
Evolving document repositories.
Wikis – Tufts Examples
Wikis – Best Features
• Shines as an internal document creation and management
tool.
• Great for mixing public and private content.
• Great for access control to various pages (e.g. only allow some
individuals into certain sections).
• Asynchronous content creation tools. Keeps track of who
changed what and allows you to revert back to older versions.
• Email notification of when changes are made.
Wikis – Not So Good At
• Custom designed web-sites. The themes are few and simple.
• You can create a custom theme but it’s a difficult to use tool.
Trunk Project Sites
• Designed to facilitate online collaboration.
• Can be used to support a wide variety of activities, from
students working on class projects or clubs to scientists
collaborating on grant proposals, faculty participating in a
search or tenure committees, or administrators revising the
undergraduate curriculum.
• Good for managing a the activities of a group who interact
with each other around a common set of tasks or subjects.
Trunk Project Sites - Examples
Trunk Project Sites – Best Features
• Specific tools for communication amongst group members
e.g. forums, messaging, announcements.
• Specific tools for group organization e.g. calendar, resource
repository
• Very easy to manage users.
• Only select the tools you need!
Trunk Project Sites – Not so good at
• Fixed look and feel. Beyond changing your site description and logo you
cannot change the colors and positioning of site elements. It is what is it!
Spark Podcasts
• A tool for publishing an episodic series of audio or video files.
• People can “subscribe” to a podcast using a number of
different kinds of multimedia players such as iTunes, WinAmp,
etc.
• Very good for:
– Publishing a series of recorded lectures.
– Publishing a series of student created digital stories.
– Publishing marketing videos for a department.
Podcasts – Tufts Examples
Spark Podcasts – Best Features
• People who subscribe to your podcast automatically receive
new content as soon as it is made available.
• Your materials will be iTunes U ready (if you are thinking of
doing that).
• Super easy to use once you’ve set up your podcast channel.
Just upload new episodes and your podcast feed
automatically updates.
• People can “embed” your podcast feed in their own web site.
Spark Podcasts– Not so good at
• It’s a one trick pony! That’s all folks.
iTunes U (New Service!)
• iTunes U delivers free educational content to the world via
Apple’s iTunes Store. By publishing content to the Tufts iTunes
U site you will be serving a global audience of lifelong learners
and contributing to the open education movement alongside
many other institutions.
• Very good for (same as Spark Podcasts):
–
–
–
–
Publishing a series of recorded lectures.
Publishing a series of student created digital stories.
Publishing marketing videos for a department.
Publishing to a global audience!
iTunes U – Tufts Examples
iTunes U – Best Features
• Content placed on iTunes U will be mobile-device friendly.
• Worldwide audience can “discover” your content.
iTunes U – Not so good at.
• Like Spark Podcasts, it does one thing. Disseminate episodic
content.
• However, we are also exploring iTunes U courses and iTunes U
private collections for inclusion in the Trunk course sites.
Tool Re-Cap
• WordPress – good for public sites that really need to look good and are
easy to navigate.
• Wikis – good for collaborating on content creation and mixing private and
public content.
• Trunk Project Sites – good for creating an online gathering place to
manage people working together.
• Spark Podcasts – good for disseminating episodic, multimedia content .
• iTunes U – good for disseminating the same content to the world.
Case Studies
• Learning Community Institute – a network of professionals
researching and improving medical school education.
– Needed a web presence to market the organization.
– Needed a private community to allow members and working groups to
collaborate with one another on.
Case Studies
• STOMP - Program partnering Tufts students with K-12 educators to create
engineering curriculum.
– Needed a site that would allow their student to collaborate on lesson plans.
– Needed a way to keep track of members and archive materials.
Case Studies
• Islam on the Indian Ocean Rim – Tufts History Course
– Needed a site to market the course to prospective students.
– Needed a place to collate possible course materials before publishing to the
course site.
– Needed a way to disseminate pre-recorded audio lectures to wide audience.
Case Studies
YOUR PROJECTS AND QUESTIONS
edtech@tufts.edu