What is a website for? Take a short international tour of some interesting ODL provider's sites for possible answers.
When receiving a brief for a new website commercial designers first ask questions. Who are the target audience? Should it reflect the interests of different users? Is the site to act as an online brochure? To offer information and updates? To sell goods and services direct? Or simply to raise awareness? Too often these considerations are disregarded in the rush to have an online presence.
A well-laid out site will give a good impression of an organisation, and develop a particular image. The desired information (and any must appear in the minimum of "clicks", as web surfers have notoriously little patience.
Successful marketing goes hand in hand with good design and is built on relationships. Obtaining users contact details gives an opportunity to channel communication more effectively. At the very least it must be obvious how to get more particulars, or to proceed to the next stage.
Perhaps not surprisingly given their dominance in the ODL sector and their concentration on promotion, the US providers' sites I visited were extremely attractive. The needs of different users have obviously been considered and the designs include unusual features.
Kaplan Colleges (www.kaplan.com) have a very modern colour scheme of mauves and blue that is strong without being overpowering. ICS, reached through Harcourt Learning Direct (www.harcourt-learning.com) is very strongly UK branded with London postcard pictures, a union flag, and the red, white, and blue colour scheme.
California College for Health Sciences (also via Harcourt) has a nice feature: hover the cursor over the list of links to academic programs and details appear over the ubiquitous photo of attractive smiling multi-ethnic achievers.
TAFE NSW (an Australian provider at www.tafensw.edu.au) has achieved a quirky, original look with black, white, yellow, and red. Their boldly used logo features a dungaree-clad girl smiling up from a blue, red and yellow snakes and ladders board.
Practically the whole content of the Commonwealth Open University site (www.geosites.com/CollegePark/5703/) is on one long page, less than appealing and tedious to read. The University of Catalonia site (www.uoc.es/web/eng/index) is confusing, their homepage a series of links to articles all in garish colours and with distracting patterns.
The home pages I felt most persuasive had a short introduction to the provider to present their provision as distinct from the rest. Kaplan Colleges ("For over 60 years, millions of students have turned to Kaplan to further their education") is one example.
Attempts to build a relationship may be kept as simple giving contact details.
Oxford Open Learning (www.ool.co.uk) have a rather nice banner on each page inviting you to phone for their current brochure, but their email link is elsewhere. TAFE NSW invite visitors to contact their "local" campus, but these are all in Australia. "Contact Us" gives information on interstate, but not international phone enquires. Providers such as the Open University (www.ou.ac.uk) take things a stage further with online forms to receive information about certain courses or services, or even to register.
One provider I came across (www.e-learn.uk.com) go so far as to let you pay for complete courses online.
The target audience may only be prospective learners. However, some providers may wish to offer particular services to individuals or organisations already involved with them. When entering the site of The Association of International Management Centres you are invited to login if you are an IMCA faculty member or associate or register for guest access. Kaplan Colleges dealt with the issue of access by splitting their site by Future Students, Current Students, and Corporations. Current Students and Corporations are invited to enter their details and those who do not are granted Guest status. This enables visitors to visit areas as chat rooms, without having any input.
Innovative providers, notably Kaplan Colleges and Concord University (www.concord.kaplan.edu) use their sites as more than online prospectuses. The most interesting feature of the Concord site is an inappropriately named "School Tour". This in fact is a personalised homepage for every student, giving relevant news, and keeping track of progress in modules and with assignments. From here students are invited to discussion boards and chat rooms, an online library and bookshop, and to send emails to certain departments.
ODL QC Accredited Providers
are entitled to display our logo on their website and to link to ours.
If you would like to take this opportunity and would like assistance or a 'gif' copy of the logo, please contact Elspeth on 020 7612 7090.
|
