seeing in a mirror dimly

This was going to be a long comment, so long that I decided to post it on my blog instead. Hopefully the pingback has picked it up, since we’re both on wordpress.

[...] Earngey’s post. My head was pumping out a fair whack of response, so much that I decided to post it instead [...]

Jase has some really good thoughts, so I echo his sentiments.

Re: podcasts etc. I have acquired an iPod for the weekend, and in two days, have caught up on the Pilgrims and on the Common Room… (side point: Earng, you and Steve G are doing an awesome job, I’m genuinely enjoying them! Keep it up!) Also, I’ve downloaded the online content from RTS etc… (free net at home! woot!).

While quantity is good, quality is better. And we may not have quantity (in terms of resources etc), but we have quality. Yet, it needs to get out there. First step would probably be Moore:selection – a collection of talks, seminars, classes to showcase the college… But purpose, as Jase has pointed out, is important: who is it for? If it is for students, RTS style content is better (danger: will students turn up to lectures if content is online?). But if it is for encouraging people to come to college, then chapel/select courses would be better. If it is for postgrad/research etc, then there would be a need for MPJ’s idea of online magazine.

The website, therefore, would need to become a simplistic portal. As Jase said, LSS is separate. But there needs to be easy to find links to everything…media, faqs, paperwork, etc.

Good work boys!

*ahem*

re: podcasts… my point was that there needs to be more moore stuff on itunes… pilgrims and common are both there, and it makes life sooo easy…

just subscribing to the comments…

My wife is into website design and usability studies. I’ll solicit her opinion.

Thanks for the feedback guys.
@Jas – those are excellent thoughts mate. Purpose and Purposeful are the key words. A lot of the committee’s thoughts always come back to the larger picture of “what is the purpose of these changes?”
@Steve: Glad you’re enjoying the Pilgrim’s Podcast! Shout-outs coming for that Yes, again – we need to ask the question of “why” are we putting content online? To what end? And that will probably shape a number of other factors around the college. But yes, iTunes integration of things would be helpful.
@Miers. As always, much love.
@Seumas, that would be really great mate. Any HCI input would rock. I did a bunch of that with my Comp. Sci. undergrad and have a whole lot of respect for that sort of input. Futher, it would be excellent to feed even rough thoughts from an HCI perspective into this discussion. Thanks (to your wife!).

My initial thoughts… The current website looks outdated and unprofessional; front page content needs to be updated frequently and kept accurate; they should make lots of their archive audio and visual material freely available, as this will promote the college; any video they put up should be very well produced – if they can’t do that, then just stick with audio for the time being; and they should check out the very best US seminary websites for inspiration, for example, Dallas Seminary.

just subscribing to the comments really

the online content of Covenant Theological Seminary highlights two things.
1. the incredibly generousity of the college in giving away such excellent content for free.
this reflects a very different ethos in itself (which is probably outside your brief) , and promotes the resources of the college in way that I now know of the college and would consider doing study there. that’s good good marketing. lots of free online content. what ever you in web content is going to be dictated by the values/ ethos of the college.

2. Covenant TS actually has a preaching course and values communication in its course structure! its 28 lectures! its excellent! its free online with full notes. mmmmm. what is Moore offering? again the web site can in the end only reflect the reality of the college, but one of the interesting things about online media is that sometimes media start to shape content and vice versa.

does that make sense – you’re the web guy – is that true?

I think Moore’s website has great potential to provide resources and equip people in ministry around the diocese and beyond. But at the moment it doesn’t do that.

The idea that just fixing the website makes the college in touch with younger generations reeks of appointing spin doctors rather than just fixing the underlying issues.

Fortunately from the frank things that the principal has said – I think he actually wants to address the reality not just the image.

I agree that there should be plenty of content that they could offer for free. I see it has started:

John Woodhouse – Series on Collossians

John Woodhouse – Collossians 1:1-2

John Woodhouse – Collossians 1:3-14

John Woodhouse – Collossians 1:15-20

But little things like correctly spelling Colossians would be a help!

@Craig, thanks for the thoughts. I hadn’t seen the Dallas Seminary site until now. Very impressive media area. I’d love to see Moore with a similar thing which was open for media sharing into FB, Blogs and other syndication methods. A great way to build a web presence.
@Shane, let me reply separately!
@Matt, totally agree mate. I’d love to see it doing just that!
@David, thanks for your input. I’m in totally agreement with you that the issue is far greater than a website makeover. Yet, the way in which young people are networking, sharing, growing and learning involves the web to a large extent. Read: much more than a simple website overhall. I do hope that wasn’t the message I conveyed – I tried to explain that in the intro.

Three of things that John Woodhouse noted really well was that Moore college didn’t have the online presence which it needed, that Generation Y have different expectations from before, and that Moore college didn’t have the influence which it once had. How the college positions itself on the web (read: more than a cosmetic overhall) is really important to these ends. John’s comments were very wise and he did understand that the web presence was an important aspect in reaching the next generation. I’m very grateful to the Lord that John not only understands this, but is open to change and ideas! Hopefully these thoughts will provide great feedback for this!

Shane, I think you’re totally right. I’ve got a whole lot to say on this but I’ll try and keep it short(ish):

1) Product and Delivery Method inform each other. All products require certain delivery methods. Sometimes when new delivery methods open up, they create or modify products. Example: When I worked in Online Advertising we created Australia’s first geographically targeted mobile phone and internet advertising products. These products were possible because certain delivery methods became prominent. On this, we should watch for Google Wave, since it might actually reconfigure how we use the internet, and this would certainly create new products.

2) With regard to education, I think we are beginning to see how new delivery methods are creating new educational products (See RTS, Covenant Seminary online courses). The question is whether a) there is the space for Moore products here, and b) might Moore create the space? I’m not sure if that’s in the scope of investigation right now, but I would hope so in the near future.

3) One important IT design process is known as the RADIO process. Requirements, Analysis, Design, Implementation, Operation. Often projects blow out and miss the mark because they begin at the design phase. When you start to look at the re-designing the form of something, you ought to come back to the requirements. In Moore’s case, by looking at re-designing the web presence, we ought come back to what our requirements actually are. Has our ‘customer’ demand changed? In what way? What are people asking for? What are their expectations? These requirements John Woodhouse has made note of, and it is informing the analysis and design and subsequent phases of development. I just hope we’ve nailed those requirements down tightly. That’s the crucial thing!

hey mark, i think if you want youngins to enjoy and get the most out of the moore college website, they need content and the ability to get that content quick. The unit descriptions for each of the courses for example can be hard to access and require jumping through a few flaming cyber hoops to get there and audio/vid resources definitely need to be utilised.
Talking to ALOT of people my age who are considering ministry though, the main issue that keeps coming up is that the BDiv is a residential degree which means that people think they will be cut off from engaging missionally with people around them and spending quality time in church ministry. I’ve talked about this to a couple of lecturers and Rob Smith but I’m inclined to agree with this issue as my main barrier to enrolling at moore in a couple of years

Rob

Hey Rob, thanks for the great feedback and thoughts bro. That’ll get put into the mix too! Interesting to hear that the unit descriptions are hard to get. I’ve noted that.

Re: the other issue, I’ll feed that in, although it’s probably outside the scope of what I’m helping with. That said, John Woodhouse has heard that loud and clear and I’d be interested to see what’ll happen in the next 6 months about that sort of thing. Stay tuned.

Thanks bro. Hope you’re well! See you soon.
M.