https://blog.sewardinc.com Internet innovation for training, education, and marketing Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:35:41 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en This week, we decided to take our "What We're Reading" theme and give it a bit of a fun twist. Here are our picks for Seward's Summer Reading List.  Nell Kauls' pick: Brazzaville Beach by William Boyd  I am loving this book. From Library Journal: "Hope Clearwater lives alone in a beach ... https://blog.sewardinc.com/2010/07/29/what-were-reading-summer-reading-list/ Seward Inc. is currently in the middle of development of the Word Learning Strategies (WLS) project ; a program designed for teaching upper-elementary students (grades 4-5) essential strategies for vocabulary development, such as using context clues, using word parts such as prefixes and suffixes, and using the dictionary and thesaurus. ... https://blog.sewardinc.com/2010/07/20/how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-the-graphic-interface/ The iPad is quite a hot topic right now (and with sales figures in excess of 3 million, a hot product, too). There’s a lot of buzz about it in eLearning circles, too, some positive, some negative. Some even call it a game-changer. While it does ... https://blog.sewardinc.com/2010/07/13/ipad-in-elearning-challenges-and-opportunities/ Everyone has heard of Twitter and Facebook by now. Opinions vary as to the usefulness of social conversation tools. Some contend they can have a legitimate business use (see Twitter:  It's Not Just for 15-Year-Olds.) Others decry them as time-wasting purveyors of mindless minutiae.   But did you know this real-time ... https://blog.sewardinc.com/2010/07/06/what-time-is-it-its-real-time/ Here are some of our favorite things that we've read lately! From Nell Kauls: Web Content Strategist's Bible Managing the creation and maintenance of this huge volume of web content requires an understanding of not just web writing, but of detailed, well-planned, realistic content development processes. This book by Richard Sheffield breaks it ... https://blog.sewardinc.com/2010/06/29/what-were-reading-week-of-june-29/ Student success stories on your website help prospective students see what is possible when they take a particular program. These profiles help students answer questions like, “Why did other students choose this program?” and “What compelling experiences are these students having?” Also, non-traditional students may ask themselves questions like, “How can I ... https://blog.sewardinc.com/2010/06/21/nothing-succeeds-like-success-enhance-your-recruiting-efforts-with-student-success-stories/ [caption id="attachment_394" align="alignright" width="215" caption="An alumni profile developed for one of Seward's higher ed clients"] [/caption] Alumni profiles tell prospective students an important part of your story—your alumni’s accomplishments and contributions to the community. These profiles also help prospective students answer, “What have other people done with this degree?” and “Do people ... https://blog.sewardinc.com/2010/05/13/write-alumni-profiles-that-tell-your-story/ The Center for Transforming Student Services has announced its Call for Entries for the 2010-11 Innovation Award in Online Student Services.  CENTSS is dedicated to helping educational institutions optimize their student services by combining the power of technology with the personal attention of traditional services. High-quality student services are a vital ... https://blog.sewardinc.com/2010/04/13/centss-innovation-award-call-for-entries/ I recently had the opportunity to present at a conference in Oman about Learner-Centered Approaches in Pre-Service Teaching. My objective was to present the results of a survey of educators around the world about their opinions, experience, and plans for using (or not using) student-centered methodologies in their teaching, posing the ... https://blog.sewardinc.com/2010/03/26/the-world-made-flat-with-online-surveys/ The First 4,000 Words is a program that Seward Incorporated has developed for first- through fourth-grade students to help build vocabulary for struggling readers and English Language Learners. The web-based lessons use interactive reading activities and games to teach the 4,000 most frequently used English words. The site can be ... https://blog.sewardinc.com/2009/12/08/the-first-4000-words-license-giveaway/