Literacy Collaborative
Literacy Collaborative is a school reform project, sponsored by Lesley University, Ohio State University, Georgia State University and Purdue University. I began working with Literacy Collaborative because, while the organization itself was thriving, their website was a bit of an afterthought, and failed to engage with site visitors, or to help program administrators and teacher-participants in leveraging the Web to access information needed for the continued success of the project.
Through extensive strategy definition and information architecure phases, it became clear that the site needed to serve two distinct audiences: those people not familiar with the program, especially those who are considering its adoption in their school district, and the trainers and coordinators who are already active participants. The latter group is especially critical as a key feature of the program is teacher professional development programs. I worked with administrative staff and teachers to craft a communications strategy, site organization, and site content, that would engage with these two distinct audiences. In addition, I provided a content management system, so that non-technical staff could maintain their own website, without having to rely on the university IT department. Lastly, search engine optimization has dramatically improved the site's listings in Google.
Since it's launch, the site has been very successful in meeting the needs of the organization (both administrative and the teachers in the program), and the needs of prospective participants visiting for the first time.
