We are told constantly that young people prefer more images and that a site predominantly text based is likely to be less interesting to the youth. The challenge is to integrate more images into Coursefinder pages and to make those images informative rather than simply decorative.
Both of these ideas are being explored.
Course information is the core component of Coursefinder, BUT increasingly important is how Coursefinder is used. A site has been developed which displays information about what people are looking for, which kind of courses and occupations people are interested in, what words are being used to search, which providers are the most popular. Information about demand for courses is almost as important as providing course information itself. Search patterns provider a key indicator of demand, and Coursefinder has well over a million records of searches undertaken in the past few years. People tend to be interested in how other people are using the site, a successful web sites present interesting information to people.
The scope for user annotation of the web site is not as great for Coursefinder as for a site such as Amazon. However an era begins where software learns from it's users and all of the users are connected. We can learn from users by studying the way they search. Every week Google.com publishes it's 'Zeitgest' , an index that tracks the popularity of search engine requests. The list it calls the 'spirit of the times'. Google is not alone in tracking and making visible public usage, Ebay's Pulse, and Amazon's Lists and Reviews all make extensive use of user annoation and input, so must Coursefinder.
It is interesting to know what sort of courses people are looking for, arguably it's even more interesting if you know what kind of occupations people are searching for. In many peoples eyes a course is a means by which they can find a job or career, so if you know where people are headed, you can assess what kind of course they need. Someone searching coursefinder should be able to see which courses are most popular, which searches are most popular, which providers are most in demand, how many people use the database on a daily basis and what sort of things they look for.
A book review is more straight forward than a course review, people are less likely to come up with lists of favourite courses as they would be to write down a list of their favourite albums. A wish list is perhaps a more feasible option, list five course that you would like to take, if you had the time and the money, such lists would not necessarily display specific providers or unique courses, but they might help fill out the picture of demand,and be useful particularly if such courses are missing or over subscribed.
Coming soon we will be delivering information relevant to your search and content. The concept that relevant information should appear next to search results —is not a new one. Google's contextual adverts work on a "pay-per-click" model. Relevent links are assessed if someone clicks on an ad. There will be no adds on Coursefinder but the terms people type into query boxes as they're searching for courses, such as "Public Speaking" or "Plumbing" will pull out information pertaining to occupations, voluntary societies and professional bodies will appear when appropriate.
Work in progress
1) apprentice.coursefinder.org.uk
2) level2.coursefinder.org.uk
3) information.coursefinder.org.uk
4) occupations.coursefinder.org.uk
5) cove.coursefinder.org.uk
6) qualification.coursefinder.org.uk
7) stats.coursefinder.org.uk
8) openday.coursefinder.org.uk
9) links.coursefinder.org.uk
10) google.coursefinder.org.uk
11) basicskills.coursefinder.org.uk
12) casestudies.coursefinder.org.uk
13) advice.coursefinder.org.uk
14) sector skills interfaces*
Sector Skills Interfaces, live, but in need of development
art.coursefinder.org.uk
business.coursefinder.org.uk
chemical.coursefinder.org.uk
computer.coursefinder.org.uk
construction.coursefinder.org.uk
drama.coursefinder.org.uk
education.coursefinder.org.uk
engineering.coursefinder.org.uk
health.coursefinder.org.uk
hospitality.coursefinder.org.uk
languages.coursefinder.org.uk
media.coursefinder.org.uk
retail.coursefinder.org.uk
sales.coursefinder.org.uk
science.coursefinder.org.uk
teaching.coursefinder.org.uk
Ideas
1) progression.coursefinder.org.uk
2) 14to19.coursefinder.org.uk
3) adult.coursefinder.org.uk
4) lmi.coursefinder.org.uk
Coursefinder is now speech enabled with Browsealoud, this is a new service making our regional learning opportunities website www.coursefinder.org.uk more accessible.
You can speech enable the website by following the link below . It provides a link to the Browsealoud site, where you simply click to plug in the software. It will read all the pages on coursefinder.org.uk. When plugged in it reads webpages aloud, highlighting text as it goes. That makes course information more accessible for those who are dyslexic, with learning disabilities, those for whom English is not their first language, and those with mild visual impairment.
Click on the logo to download free software and follow the instructions.
Gateshead Learning Partnership have set up a new web site of learning opportunities available in the Gateshead Area. Like the Newcastle Site, learning opportunties from Schools, Sixth Forms, Work Based Learning will be included. In place of Newcastle College data, Gateshead College courses will be included. All course information will be accessed from Coursefinder.
For a list publicity materials clickhere
