creating engaging content
DESCRIPTION
moderators courseTRANSCRIPT
“Creating Engaging Content”
Irene Pateraki
When you plan an online group:
You should know your audience:
By understanding why they are members,
you can mould the group content
according to their needs.
Who are they? What are they? Why have they
joined the group?
Before launching your group:
• It is good to make a content plan, decide on the design
and how your content will be presented.
• Members will also create their own content, but it is good
to find a well organized place when they enter.
• Your content can be a great marketing tool, to attract
new members.
Setting your goals:
• It is important to set your goals in order to decide the
content of your Group.
• What do you want to achieve?
a way to share information
get your members involved
get your members help each other
offer them a direct way to learn and
communicate
Once you know what you want to accomplish, you are
ready to create the content.
Content has to be:
• Very well organized, so new members can easily
understand what they can do there
• Concise and easy to navigate
• Consistent (try to post and update frequently)
• Simple as possible but not simpler, as A. Einstein has
said
• Useful and easy to be applied
• In accordance with members’ needs (e.g. sense of
community, source of continuous education, professional
development)
About Content :
• Use a wide range of mediums to make your content
more attractive
• Web- friendly with short paragraphs/list-type articles
• Present activities by introducing new tools
• Post inspiring content that facilitates interaction among
members.
Group roles
• The moderator of a group is mainly responsible for the
content
• As a moderator you have to understand the larger vision
and have management skills
• In case you have many members, you can think of
recruiting active members as subgroup moderators
• You can also create an “ambassadors” group: active and
experienced members responsible for welcoming new
members and make them feel at home
Types of content…
Emails
• Think of sending a welcome email to the new members
to:
welcome them and encourage them to participate
offer some first information about the group and its purpose
give them your contact details, in case they need some help
give them some interesting links or even a tutorial on how to
update their profile (upload a profile image, write some
information about themselves)
• Send weekly/monthly emails to members to:
give updates
propose activities
highlight current conversations
Blog
• You can use blog to offer updates/introduce new
activities or write short articles
• Blog gives the opportunity to members to comment and
interact to each other
• Members prefer to use blog as it’s an easy way to share
their work or write their thoughts
• To keep it active, it’s good to answer to members’
comments or hit like button in order members feel that
somebody reads what they are writing!
Sturat Miles, www.freedigitalphotos.net
Forums
• Forums can engage members in interesting discussions
• As a moderator, you can initiate discussions and you
have to try to be there and reply to your members’ posts
• Forum discussions can be related to suggested
activities, webinars held in the group or members’ ideas
and suggestions.
Stuart Miles, www.freedigitalphotos.net
Subgroups
• Your content can be separated in subgroups according
to your general topic. For example, if your Group is
about STEM education, you can create subgroups on
technology, science and mathematics.
• Having subgroups, can help members find easier what
they are looking for and share their work in the relevant
place
• Content is better organized
• One or more members can act as subgroup moderators
to check on the content and activate members
Webinars
• Another form of content with real time engagement
• Members have the opportunity to have synchronous
interactions and learn from each other or/and an expert
• This content can be recorded and be uploaded in the
group page for future reference
KROMKRATHOG,www.freedigitalphotos.net
eBooks
• Members share their work on different topics
• A nice way to keep everything organized, is to gather
their material and create thematic eBooks
• In that way, group has its online library with material
easily shareable outside the group
• A nice way to recognize members’ contribution and
advertise your group to other teachers who are not
involved yet
Coffee corner
• A forum or a subgroup where members can engage in
light-hearted conversations
• A nice way to establish comfort level with each other
before sharing their work
• A place where they can share pictures from their
holidays or upload their favourite music videos
• Content there can be about anything as long as it
respects group’s netiquette
Stuart Miles, www.freedigitalphotos.net
Photo Gallery
• In a photo gallery members can upload photos related to
their work/projects/activities
Face-to-face meetings during events like conferences/PDWs
Group activities or competitions e.g. create group’s logo
Stuart Miles, www.freedigitalphotos.net
Video Gallery
In a video gallery members can find:
Tutorials related to the group e.g. how to update your
profile as well as Tutorials about different tools used in
projects
Videos related to group’s activities
Members videos
Interesting videos on different topics that members can
comment or replicate what they present in their own
class
Polls
• Polls can offer instant feedback on different topics
• Members with less free time can take part is short polls
as they are not time-consuming
• Surveys also can help you understand better members’
needs, things they like, things they don’t like and their
ideas
By Mister GC, www.freedigitalphotos.net
Interviews
• Part of a group’s content can be interviews of experts or
group members
• Interviews can have text/video or audio format
• In case you use videos or audio is good to provide the
transcript for people who have language difficulties
• New interviews can be published on weekly or monthly
basis and it’s good to follow the same format
• Featuring members who describe their project/ an
activity etc can be really engaging, as the member feels
that his/her work is being recognized and the other
members feel more confident to follow their colleague’s
example.
Calendar
• A calendar of all the events that you plan to host in the
group can be useful for the members to keep them in
their diary
• Update the calendar frequently and inform the members
for next events the soonest possible.
So, what other kind of content do you consider engaging?