It seems unbelievable that we are already writing the last column before summer. Looking back, there have been a number of impressive landmarks that have been reached during Profweb’s 2008-2009 season.
A Record for the Most Distinct Visits!
A number of interesting trends have been noted from the statistics for Profweb’s visits which have been tabulated since Profweb went online in 2005.
- The busiest months are November and March. In Winter 2008, the month of January was the busiest due to the relaunch of the Personal Space and the modification of the domain name;
- The number of distinct visitors for these months has been steadily increasing.The term visitor in our statistics refers to an IP (Internet Protocol) address. A college can have more than one IP address, each with more than one user;
- Last March more than 10,000 different visitors consulted Profweb which is a threefold increase over November 2005.
Profweb’s audience is therefore growing, but promoting our site’s value remains a priority!
Contributions from Around the Collegial Network!
An important aspect of Profweb’s mission is to report on IT integration in colleges around the province. With few exceptions, there is at least one story, column or report published from every member of the provincial network.
Another piece of good news is that there is an increasing number of teachers who are using Profweb’s on-line forms to suggest a story, a scenario or a resource. For us, this is a real vote of confidence not only in our site, but in the work of our readers who are proud to share their accomplishments with their colleagues.
Profweb’s English Popularity Tips!
As explained in Malcolm Gladwell’s book ‘The Tipping Point,’ trends that seem to suddenly explode in popularity are often the response to seemingly unrelated factors which have combined to create a new and nurturing environment for a particular product or phenomenon. The continuing networking between the IT Representatives and the RepTICS, the growing resources of the English sections of the IT Partners, the growing numbers and rate of participation of Profweb’s English readers, the growing presence of IT in Education and so many other factors seem to have all resulted in a jump in Profweb English reader participation. New stories in Profweb English this year outnumbered those in French! New readers are appearing from word-of-mouth!
A Few Clicks Tell the Story!
In the middle of the action, it is often difficult to step back and take a longer view in both the English and French editions of Profweb. For each of our features, there is an index link in the left-hand column which gives the number of available items. The link to the story index in English lists 51 entries, in French the number rises to 88.
And what about the 537 comments posted by Profweb’s visitors! First, these comments are an important encouragement for those who have put their own accomplishments in the public eye. Second, the writers of comments often find that this is the first step in a process where they become authors themselves as their involvement deepens.
ProfwebExpresso Pours a Jolt of Profweb into Your Inbox!
ProfwebExpresso is your guarantee that you won’t miss a week of Profweb. A free subscription brings an attractive e-mail to your Inbox each week with seven or eight links to new content in Profweb’s pages. Our objective at upcoming conventions and symposia is to encourage the greatest number of profs possible to subscribe! Our first edition next year appears on August 24.
After this dynamic year of daily activity, the Profweb team is going on vacation. Rest assured, however, Profweb will be there all summer with its full complement of features.
If in reading this article, you are considering what Profweb has meant to you this year, may we encourage you to share your thought with colleagues by making a comment below.
Enjoy your summer vacation!
