Site promotion for your online business is something that takes on a life of its own. Site promotion is not relegated to one specific site promotion tool. If you find one tool that seems to work for you it may not be long before it is not as effective as it once was.The best answer to which site promotion tool to use is – all of them.Try not to settle simply for whatever Site Promotion tools you already know. This can be an easy habit to fall into, but it is rarely beneficial to the overall health of your online business.Bold New Worlds in Site Promotion ToolsTake the time to get a broad overview of some of the most common site promotion tools available. For instance there are free article directories you can explore. You might also investigate business blogs, forums and various Search Engine Optimization strategies.There are plenty of additional site promotion tools you can explore, but the point I want to stress is – EXPLORE.If you can take one site promotion tool each month over the next year and invest time in learning, developing and implementing the tool you will likely see dramatic improvements in site visitation.You will also be surprised at how soon you will begin to see how the various tools work together and have mutually beneficial qualities.In all cases the site promotion tool you use should help you connect with people, provide your expertise and point people to your website. If you can’t find a way to subtly or overtly point people to your site you may want to eliminate the strategy form your arsenal of tools.Don’t Just Think ‘Online’Turn your attention away from the computer screen from time to time. You will find many site promotion tools that have no connection to the Internet. You might find a magnetized sign to be a benefit on the doors of your company vehicle. You can also look at placing site information on business cards, promotional items, bumper or window stickers, catalogues, and all invoices.You can also include information about your online store in print, audio and video advertising. Make sure any promotional item you give to customers has site information in a conspicuous location.Never Stop LearningMake time to explore new site promotion tools. The end result is improved site visitation and multiple impressions on those you most want to impress – potential customers.

The age of modern day learning has arrived. It is no longer a matter of whether we want to integrate technology and education; it is a necessity. The reality poses an immense problem and threat to the longstanding educational institutions that have for the most part remained unchanged for nearly a century. Who would have imagined that the alphabet’s letter “E” would forever transform the face of education to E-Ducation?Technology in education has progressed from basic tools such as the abacus, pencil, ruler, paper and calculator to computers, laptops, iPads, tablets, software and apps. The technological advancements alone are forcing the manner in which teachers teach, how students learn, the ways schools are structured and breaking the barriers between home and school life. At its core, technology is impacting the very essence of the future of humanity.Digital Natives: A Generation Dedicated to Learning with TechnologyThe prominence and rise of technology in the world applies to all aspects of life including how we learn. It appears that the days of “open your textbook, read the following pages and answer the questions” will be for the most part a thing of the past.As educational institutions resist and make attempts to adapt, it is crucial to keep in mind the learning needs of today’s digital natives. The digital natives are those that were born during or thereafter the inception and introduction of digital technology.This generation is not only accustomed to technological advancements and devices they expect it. As such, drastic measures will have to be implemented to meet the student’s expectations for learning. The key will be to adapt to an uncertain, modern, changing and dynamic global world.Pivotal Technologies and Learning PortalsTechnological advancements will allow education to be universally accessible, customized, individualized and highly adaptive. In essence, learning with technology is propelling independent learning to the forefront.Now more than ever, students will have the opportunity to individualize and navigate the knowledge portals through pivotal technologies such as the Internet, Open Sources, Virtual Learning Environments and Mobile Learning Devices. Open Sources includes MOOCs and Web 2.0.Massive Open Online Courses will allow students the autonomy and flexibility to choose what they want to learn independently. The Web 2.0 is simply the way new web pages are designed and used. Students will have a multitude of options by virtue of using Open Sources through a variety of Mobile Learning Devices.Virtual Learning Environments will only enhance the learning experience by making it fun and interactive. Students will have a wide selection of learning mediums to complete assignments and receive feedback. Hence, the learning would be more interactive and engaging.Individualized Learning and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)The role of the teacher would alter to monitor and provide feedback at an unparalleled level. Technology would of course also help the teacher with the many independent learning assignments, projects, presentations etc. of the student’s through the use of Learning Analytics. Learning Analytics is the accumulated of created data to continually evaluate and precisely guide student learning.The digital natives are choosing their own devices to learn in a world that has cloud computing and the Internet. They are living in a digital information literacy online world. Their reality encompasses learning through educational games and virtual learning platforms. They are living in a world where the physical and virtual have amalgamated.Learning with Technology from Students’ PerspectivesAs such, what do kids think about technology and learning? How often do we really ask for their thoughts and opinions? Do we really take into consideration how and what they want to learn? Should what they have to say really matter how we as educators make decisions? Personally, I do believe that they do bring value to the decision-making table.My sister in law is an eighth grade social studies teacher at a middle school. In a conversation with her, she mentioned to me the various ways she integrates technology in the learning. What I found especially of import was her comment on how the students use technology as easily as breathing.She explained to me that now only do students expect it but that they demand it. She further informed me that it is a necessity and it brings lots of fun to the learning. As an educator, I firmly believe that learning should be continuous, fun, engaging, inquisitive, and ongoing.Students are Right at Home with TechnologyHumanity should be learning something new each and every day. It should be viewed from a window looking out into the horizon of each new day. It seems logical to catch a glimpse of learning through the eyes of children.I often reflect on how my 7 year old niece sees the world and how through her eyes I learn something new every day. As Digital Natives do, she carries an iPad with her and frequently shares videos, cartoons, games, songs, etc. with me. I can literally say that I am learning things that a 7 year old child is learning.Wow, the whole idea seems to put me in awe. What she has learned through the use of technology can be only termed as amazing. The ease, comfort and curiosity that impel her to learn independently without her parents or teachers imposing “because you have to” are truly remarkable.Learning with Technology: A NecessityNever in the history of our world has the trajectory of technology education been a certainty to create a better global society where one and all will have the opportunity and accessibility to be literate.A view from a student’s perspective about learning with technology as mentioned above is a 6 part series that will include technology and students, learning with technology, student’s and iPads, learning with games and virtual learning. Stay tuned to next week’s blog article on students learning with technology.

Where did RSS come from and where is it going? What are the benefits of RSS to Web Site Promotion?These are the broad questions this article will attempt to answer in brief fashion.RSS developed to fill the need for a way to automate and simplify the delivery of information over the Internet, from web sites, blogs, and other sources that have relatively frequent updates. The original idea for RSS came from the old “tickertape” news services. If you have your own web site or blog, your web site promotion will benefit from using RSS. Simply put, the more frequently your blog or web site is updated, the more the benefit you will gain from RSS feeds to your site.There are 2 primary rules to follow for web site promotion on Google.1) Google loves original content, and especially fresh original content. Fresh means any content that is updated frequently. How fresh is fresh, you may ask ? The simple answer is; daily is nice, weekly is good, but not quite as nice. The more often your site is updated, the better chance you will have to achieve top search engine positions on Google.2) Google values what other people think of your information. A large number of subscribers to RSS feeds on your blog or web site is beneficial for your web site promotion. The number of RSS subscribers to your site is important, just as links to your site, or the number of visitors to your site. The more links to your web site, (RSS subscriptions included), the better you will do on the search engines.RSS feeds are simply articles on a web server that are written in XML, a language that is similar to the source code, (HTML) that is used on blogs and web sites. The beginning of RSS was somewhat confusing before it’s current interpretation as “really simple syndication”, or RSS 2.0. It started as Rich Site Summary (RSS 0.91), changed to RDF Site Summary (RSS 0.90 and 1.0). Dave Winer, a developer at Userland introduced his own XML format, and Dan Libby of Netscape, both figure prominently in the history of RSS.Do you remember when Netscape was the most popular Internet browser,and you actually had to pay for it ? Perhaps you don’t, that’s OK. That’s the time of the beginning of RSS development in the 90′s.These were the confusing days of RSS, but finally in 2002, things got together with RSS 2.0, and Dave Winer’s definition of RSS 2.0. He released ownership over RSS, (one of the good guys – kudos Dave), and gave it to the Berkman Center .Now, it appears that a great number of blogs of all kinds, and web sites as well, have RSS feeds on them. At last estimates. there are in excess of 25 million RSS feeds in existence. Approximately 50% of them are active, that is, they are updated with regular content. There is an alternative feed method to RSS, called Atom but it is not as popular as RSS, perhaps because it is a little more complex to write.It has been reported that Microsoft’s new Windows 7 will have a built-in RSS reader, but it’s official release is 4th quarter of 2009, according to some industry sources, so we will all have to wait. If you would like to find a good program that can read RSS feeds, you can do some research on the Internet on RSS feed readers, and find one you like. There are plug-ins for Firefox that some people like, and of course there are many standalone RSS reader programs.One very good one I just recently started using, because I like the simplicity of the layout, is an open source RSS reader called, BlogBridge. I like it because of it’s simplicity. If a reader program has advanced features, but it is not easy to use, then it will probably not get used. This reader is different. It is feature-rich, but the design is a model of clarity.It is quite amazing that the days of tickertape were only a few decades ago. Now at no charge, anyone with an Internet connection, can have access to far superior news and information. RSS feeds can be sent right to your computer from an incredible variety of sources all over the world, 24 hours a day.