Example Strategies

There is no one correct way to spread the word about your project or to get people to begin using it. It will likely take a combination of diffusion and marketing initiatives to reach your objectives. Here are some ideas and examples of approaches taken by The Orange Grove, Maricopa Learning Exchange, and the North Carolina Learning Object Repository (NCLOR).

The Orange Grove
As The Orange Grove was beginning to expand its scope, the strategic planning committee met and identified several ideas for marketing The Orange Grove. In addition to the system of identifying a “champion” at the various state institutions, the project leadership developed several other ideas to market the repository.

Originally, the project planned to contract with a firm/individual for consulting and preparation of a statewide awareness campaign, including:

1. information to be provided to Consortium members for distribution at their institutions
2. videos and flyers identifying the benefits of the repository
3. presentations and booths at statewide educator conferences
4. give-away awareness materials
5. faculty use testimonials

Although no funds were provided for contracting for marketing services or give-away materials, the project has been able to produce an informational video (available at http://www.theorangegrove.org/ ) by re-purposing the LOLA Exchange animation (http://www.lolaexchange.org/#). Kentucky was then able to re-purpose The Orange Grove’s version of the video, only by making minor modifications to fit the context for their repository, The Kentucky Learning Depot (http://apps.cpe.ky.gov/depot/multimedia/about.asp).

Another technique is to get the repository mentioned in publications targeted toward potential users. For example, an article about The Orange Grove appeared in a statewide newsletter that is sent to every K12 teacher in the state of Florida. This newsletter, created by a teacher in residence, resulted in a major request for accounts in The Orange Grove.

In addition, project staff members continue to make presentations and conduct workshops at national, regional, and statewide conferences, in addition to workshops and presentations at statewide meetings and individual institutions. Both the Project Director and Executive Director of the Consortium regularly attend state, regional, and national conferences related to technology, education and training, and distance learning. The networking opportunities presented at these events have allowed the directors to discover new potential partners and resources, and the Orange Grove communication plan includes the continuation of these efforts. In addition, FIPSE project funds provide opportunities for conference travel and repository-related presentations by the FIPSE project coordinator.

The Maricopa Learning Exchange
Another marketing approach that proved effective was the “road show” created by Maricopa Community Colleges. While this project was devised to educate the system’s faculty about reusable learning objects, it also benefited the system’s repository, the Maricopa Learning Exchange.

The road show was undertaken by two faculty members who were assigned to work on the project for two years. They were compensated for their efforts through release time, with each given the equivalent of one course per semester as paid time to devote to the project.

The road show had three main goals:

1. to create awareness about learning objects,
   
2. to show faculty how to find and incorporate learning objects into instruction, and
3. to teach faculty how to create and share their own learning objects.

To accomplish these goals, the road show visited each of the ten campuses in the Maricopa County Community College District and conducted learning workshops focusing on each of the three goals. The workshops were conducted in person because the instructors felt that it gave them a chance to engage with users, hear their concerns, and to provide and receive immediate feedback. They decided against regional workshops because of expected difficulties for faculty to travel to another campus. They anticipated that turnout would be higher when workshops were locally hosted.

The events were publicized beforehand: The organizers made contact with individuals at each campus, including staff at centers of teaching and learning, and with faculty developers. These staff members and developers asked their contacts to help spread the word. The Maricopa team discovered that emails coming from people on the home campus who are known to the faculty were more likely to be read than those sent from unknown entities. The Maricopa team also placed general announcements in faculty publications.

Another effective technique for generating interest in the workshops was that these events had been approved as eligible to count toward faculty professional growth. Approved professional growth activities can be accumulated and applied toward increases in pay, offering an additional incentive for the faculty to participate.

NCLOR
A final example is the use of regional meetings or events as marketing tools to create excitement about the project and raise its profile prior to implementation. The North Carolina Community College System sponsored a Symposium on “The ABC’s of Learning Objects.”  This day-long event provided faculty participants with information about learning objects and the benefits of a learning object repository.  Multiple faculty subject matter experts and developers demonstrated their learning resource to the group and talked about the benefits to their students of using the resource. The audience was able to ask detailed follow up questions. In addition, food was served and door prizes given to workshop participants in the afternoon.

Participants gained knowledge of the project and became repository proponents at their home institution. View handouts from the event here [PDF].