Communication+Plan

=Online Council Communication Plan=

Andy's presentation to AEA Public Relations directors

Working in conjunction with Beth Strike (267) and Jennifer Woodley (GPAEA). Notes for upcoming March meeting.

** Goals we would like to accomplish: **
1. Communicate about upcoming course offerings 2. Communicate about social networking opportunities 3. Communicate about upcoming webinar offerings 4. Advocate for the value of online learning, both in K-12 and PD 5. Receive feedback from stakeholders about needs for PD 6. Receive feedback from stakeholders on effectiveness of our current offerings/areas for improvement 7. Inform stakeholders that our council exists (!) 8. Create a sense of openness and 2-way communication with our council and our stakeholders

**What we are currently doing:**
1. Our wiki, mainly used for internal communication and collaboration, but sometimes other stakeholders are directed to it. Minutes are posted, as well as products of our work. 2. Past presentations for online learning and our council at ITEC and Iowa Association of Alternative Education (IAAE). Scheduled to present to IACTE (teacher preparation programs in Iowa), IA Distance Learning Association, and AEA Board of Directors conference, as well as the 1:1 schools workshop on April 7. Hoping to be on SAI's agenda for August. 3. We were attempting to use Iowa Learns ([]) to broadcast online offerings for AEAs. That required a representative from each AEA to post the offerings, and it hasn't worked very well (we also haven't marketed it very well either, so we've had single-digit hit totals on the website). 4. There is a lot of informal word-of-mouth work that the council members do. Arlan Thorson from ILO spends quite a bit of time visiting with schools about online learning, for example. Even though it isn't formal communication, it still is important.

**Who our stakeholders are:**
1. AEA staff 2. LEA staff 3. LEA administrators 4. DE staff 5. SAI/IASB/ISEA 6. Higher education 7. External public (?)

**Our current ideas:**
1. Continue to present at conferences, including gaining booth space 2. Create a graphic/logo to represent our initiatives. (Andy has a prototype completed) 3. Gain access to the [] website and add tabs for online learning. This would include registering for courses and webinars, subscribing to rss feeds and social networking groups, and finding out more about online learning in general. This website could be a one-stop shop for educators. 4. Create a flyer/poster for our work, similar to what is done with the online resources (like DE streaming or iClipart). Maybe this is electronic (?) 5. Conduct and record webinars where we explain the current/upcoming options for educators. Make these available at flexible times to work in educators schedules. 6. Utilize some social media for better communication. Evan created a Twitter account to use ([|@AEAonline]), and will be looking at creating a Facebook page. Use Evan's or Andy's blog, as well as current AEA social media communications/newsletters. Once we have established some social networks, those too will be great forums for spreading the word.