Dialog

iTunes U allows users to download audio and video to the device of their choice

We’ve quietly gone live as the first public institution in Oregon to have a presence on iTunes U. But I won’t go too far in claiming that we are way ahead of the curve on this one. Other institutions have been up and running for years. Still, it’s an important part of an overall move to expanding our overall Web presence.

iTunes U has a specific function that is different from other online video sharing sites. It is designed to allow users to download audio and video files to a hard drive or device. It’s a different style of video use and programming. For example, a standard iPod comes with an output for television, so files can be played on a large screen. Or some users will take their mp3 player in their car and listen to files during a morning commute or while jogging. Portability is the main difference between this and other video sharing sites.

Another main difference is that iTunes plays in its own client rather than a standard Web browser. While this may be seen as a limitation, the advantage lies in the fact that there are many users who are already using the iTunes client to download their audio. I’ve been using it for years to gather audio for road trips.

One great advantage for iTunes is that it ingests RSS. The upcoming Media Manager tool that CWS is building for collecting and deploying video on our campus Web sites (including Drupal sites) produces RSS that can feed right into iTunes. So you could create an iTunes course and feed it directly by uploading video into the Media Manager tool for your OSU site…you just have one place to upload files.

iTunes U is currently designed for pubic access. It’s just part of a suite of online video delivery that includes YouTube and the campus Media Manager. But it has paid dividends for other institutions using iTunes. I’ve heard anecdotes about students screening their instructors on iTunes, looking for lecturers that engage them, and thus courses publishing content on iTunes filled up faster. In one case, a generous donor who had been downloading psychology lectures gifted seven figures to the department so that they could put all of their courses online. He was neither an alum or parent, but just someone who was listening to the lectures for his own benefit.

ITunes U is primarily designed for outreach and marketing, a venue for gaining exposure for your content. It can serve a very functional role in allowing you to deliver content effectively to your audience via subscription and an automated download process enabled by the iTunes client. Whatever you need, this service can help you use the Web to make an end-run around traditional media outlets for audio and video, and I’m glad we’re now a player in this space.

This weekend I went to the second-ever Cre8Camp at souk in downtown Portland. The setup: a BarCamp-like unconference attended by about 50 or so creative professionals, mostly from the Portland area. Attendees suggested and led topics for the day, some of which included trend tracking, sustainable marketing, youth marketing, and generally how to keep creative in a stressful and competitive profession.

Although higher ed wasn’t the focus, there were plenty of tips to pick up on. I went to the youth marketing session, and picked up a tip which I’d long suspected: that kids are so jaded from being advertised to all the time that they’re really looking for authentic information. They want the freedom to access your messages on their own time, and more and more they’re looking to feel involved and included in your message.

Later in the day, a session on leadership evolved into a discussion on how to call the most effective meetings (tip: not on Monday mornings). A way to help people develop a pride of ownership in your meetings could be to decipher their want or need to be there…drawing those wants/needs out will foster a sense of inclusiveness. Also, if you’re calling a meeting, be able to say in one sentence what the desired outcome or action item is!

And for a note on trends, people are coming up with more and more ways to manage their social networking sites in such a way that they no longer have to visit separate Flickr, Facebook, or Digg pages to update their profiles. They can use a browser like Flock or tools like friendfeed to aggregate and manage them. Amber Case, Cyborg Anthroplogist from Portland, recommended these tools - she’s got a great list of 2009 creative conferences on her blog.

According to Google Analytics, every Monday over 20,000 visitors arrive at the OSU Web, stay two minutes and 14 seconds, view one and three-quarters pages, then move on.  The number decreases each day of the week until Saturday, when we’re down to less than 12,000 visitors.  What are those 12,000 people looking for on a Saturday?  It intrigues me!

But what would be even more intriguing would be to watch their movement across the entire OSU site - to have our tracking code on every page.  That would provide us with a clear picture of where we would be wise to invest in further development and also where we can minimize our efforts.  Anyone wanting data for their site should let us know so we can assist you in placing the appropriate tracking information and creating a unique profile for you.  The more sub-sites of OSU that sign-up, the greater detail we will have of how visitors are using our Web resources. Oh, did I mention that it’s free?

The Web Communications team is seeking a Social Media Specialist to help us organize our expansion of the OSU Web presence into the social arena. This is a growing and dynamic space, and we feel that a dedicated full-time position is not so much progressive as it is necessary to what we are doing on the Web.

There are already some innovative social media efforts happening around campus, and we plan to make Web Communications a resource to help enhance these projects, and also plan new ways of using innovations in online communications.

This is very exciting. Please spread the word.

Our incipient OSU YouTube channel and Web Comm grad assistant Justin Smith, were featured in this morning’s Gazette Times.

The Office of Web Communications is pleased to have a hand in the following projects. It’s been quite a fall and we’ve seen our team stretched in new directions to good results.

Office of Government Relations

This is Your OSU: A Report from President Ed Ray

Office of Financial Aid

We’ve also expanded our numbers through the addition of a graduate assistant focusing on video and multimedia for the Web. Our first project is a profile of longtime OSU communicator and intrepid bluesman, Jeff Hino. We’re glad the new term has started and we’re happy to have new students on our team, reminding us of how valuable they are to the work we do.

Many Oregon State Web communicators use software called Drupal to manage their content. Content management is an efficient way to distribute editorial responsibilities. Also, by placing your content into a database-driven system like Drupal, it becomes easier to search, update, categorize, reuse and syndicate.

But this doesn’t mean that moving to a content mangement system from a static HTML-based site is easy. It’s challenging and also a lot of work. These facts often result in what I’ll call “content management backlash.” In some circles, Drupal is used like a four-letter word. But in truth, any content management system, with its array of advantages and disadvantages, would earn a similar level of abuse.

I have my own challenges in working with Drupal. I’ve worked with a number of CMSs over the years, including WordPress, Cascade Server, Microsoft CMS, TextPattern and Joomla, as well as some home-made options. Drupal is easier than some, and more challenging than others. The features it provides are, however, very similar. But a couple of factors make me feel good about working with Drupal.

First off, it’s an open source project. That means it’s free to use. It is developed by a worldwide collective of intrepid programmers all working for free. It isn’t completely selfless…many of these developers turn around and use Drupal on client projects and sell their services for support and maintenance. But as a Drupal user,you aren’t required to pay a dime. In higher education, where we’re always seeking creative ways to stretch our thin budgets, that’s a huge advantage. It always hurts in our field to sign those dwindling budget resources over to Adobe, Microsoft, Apple and the rest.

The next reason I feel good about working with Drupal is that our university plays a large role in keeping the Drupal project running. Drupal.org, the worldwide community of Drupal users and developers, is hosted right here in the basement of Kerr at Open Source Labs. OSL has played a role in a number of highly regarded open source projects, including Mozilla Firefox. With many Drupal users on campus, we also have a number of users who can serve as resources. There is also extensive Drupal training on campus.

So whenever I grow frustrated using our main content management tool, I try to recall all of those problems I’ve had using other systems. They’re all capable of giving you fits. Then I also try to remember that by using Drupal, I’m investing in a project in which OSU has a very large stake. But none of this means I’m a Drupal purist. In fact, this blog is running on another open source content management system that plays a significant role in higher education, Wordpress.

US News has started a YouTube video contest. Any OSU contenders out there? Let us know and we’ll try to help spread the word.