Archive for August 2010
Experts Help!!
Writing curriculum? After 20+ years in technology market development I have written and delivered a lot of presentations, however I am now working with the community college system and I have never written curriculum! Filling 20 to 40 minutes with imaginative slides and conceptual revelations has been my forte, yet the thought of writing curriculum for five workshops at three hours each scares me to death! I thought I was prepared, having scoped out the goals, objectives, identified relevant internet applications and even described some student exercises, then I froze – a veritable deer in the reflected glow of my laptop.
So I decided to contract with an expert. There is a time to ‘do it yourself’ and a time to ‘outsource’ to an expert. Coincidentally, that is a key component of this curriculum…an answer to the question: When to outsource, hire or train to effectively utilize new media in a small and medium business?
My audience, excuse me, students, will be incumbent workers and unemployed office workers who, by completing the workshop, will be able to help a business or department begin using new media applications more sensibly and know the difference between a ‘do it yourself’ situation and a ‘hire somebody’ situation.
For example, with a little insightful training and common sense most experienced business people can see the value and risks of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, collaborative wiki’s, mobile apps, Google doc’s, Google Analytics, as well as become familiar with sites that aid on-line marketing, security and referrals. However, upgrading a website or evaluating how it supports the business objectives requires specialized expertise. Integrating online activity with internal systems is obviously an area reserved for an expert.
The fun begins with each student selecting a company, perhaps where they work or would like to work, to take it through an internet exploration for five days. Every aspect of the company’s online presence, perception, its competitors and prospective customers that can be wrangled or pried out of the internet will be pursued and the results will be fascinating. Properly responding to the internet information, utilizing appropriate applications to advance the company’s interest and contracting with an internet expert are tools to be covered.
For those participating incumbent workers, there will be an interesting debriefing when they return to work. As for those seeking employment, rare meat for the job interview!
In a short time the knowledge we share about today’s new media for business will become second nature to most people, but newer applications will surface. For this we plan a continuous refresh of the relevant apps and curriculum to appear on our website for our students and business followers.
I wish that expert would hurry up and call back!
