81.7 % bookmark the Gateway in December!

Thousands of educators per day are going on line for help and answers to the challenges of keeping abreast of technology and 21st educational century practices. The bottom line is that educators are looking for 21st century educational information on a very large scale and finding it at the Gateway.

By Andrew Analore
www.ragan.com

A scatter-shot approach dooms your PR campaign to scorn—or simply silence

Blogger outreach seems simple. Find a blogger, make a pitch. You're done.

Wrong. Following the old "Reach out and touch someone" slogan will get you nowhere, if you do it indiscriminately. In some cases, it will even gain you notoriety in the blogosphere.

COURTSIDE
KAPPAN - the publication of Phi Delta Kappa
AUTHOR – Perry A. Zirkel, University Professor of Education and Law, Leigh University

On January 2, 2003, the Connecticut Technical High School system hired Jeffrey Spanierman as an English teacher for its program in Ansonia, Connecticut.

During his second and third years in the position, he was responsive to students who asked him to look at their MySpace pages. The MySpace web site allows users to create their own profile page, including photographs. One of the features is that the owner of a profile can post blogs and allow other MySpace users to post comments.

By the summer of 2005, Spanierman had opened his own MySpace account, creating several different profiles. One was called “Mr. Spiderman.” He used the account to communicate with students about homework and also to conduct nonschool-related discussions.

Over 700 leaders representing affiliates from across the Mid Western United States attended NEA's 2009 Mid West Regional Leadership Conference (MWRLC) this week in Chicago.

MWRLC presented workshops ranging in topics from salary to politics and policy, family-school community partnerships and technology.

Below is a link to my presentation on Social Media...

[click here to download]

Although the piece below is a bit tongue and cheek… it is a great piece for understanding how Twitter is morphing into a useful [business] tool.

I’d like to see the PR department begin to supplement its staff updates procedure (who’s in and who’s out) via twitter.

By Jane Irene Kelly
Ragan.com

Don’t start using this social media platform without a plan. Here are a few ideas

With the current economy putting the squeeze on marketing budgets, more companies are pondering the merits of social media as a high-impact and cost-effective tool for keeping their current customers engaged and satisfied, while also reeling in new prospects.

Darren Rowse writes:

While I know many bloggers like to blog spontaneously and to go with the flow, I’ve found that planning a blog (both before you start it and in an ongoing way) can save a lot of heart ache later on.

Following are three of the issues you might like to consider ahead of time and before you start blogging that will help you later when it comes to maintaining momentum on your blog: