NAFSA may have various Knowledge Community networks but International Higher Education Consulting has...

http://ihec-djc.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/DavidComp/
https://www.facebook.com/IHECblog
http://davidcomp.wordpress.com/

Happy networking and information consumption!

Top 17 IHEC Blog Posts of 2012

Long time readers of IHEC Blog have noticed a variety of changes here over the years.  One noticable change has been in the way I post.  Like many, my life is crazy busy.  I have a family of three young children, a full-time job, trying to finish my dissertation, on the editorial board of the Journal of Studies in International Education, I edit and publish IHEC Blog as well as manage several related internet properties, and occassionally I try to find some time to relax.  As a result, my blog posts have changed over the years and often times I only have enough time to embed a video that may be of interest to readers.  I also have significantly decreased the number of times I post to IHEC Blog (from a high of 282 posts in 2009 to 61 posts in 2012).  Despite all of this, IHEC Blog had a good year in terms of readership and when analyzing the various analytic tools and data available to me (and factoring out SPAM, bots and other non-interested visitors) it appears to be a worthy endeavor.

Following are the top 17 most visited IHEC Blog posts in 2012.

Studying Abroad over Thanksgiving Break?

Future Conference Sites of U.S. Based International Education Organizations

Quotes by U.S. Presidents on the Importance of International Exchanges and the Fulbright Program

Tips for Getting into the International Education Field

Portrayal of Exchange Students in Movies and on TVin the U.S.

At What Age Can Someone Study Abroad?

Describing International Education in 134 characters

The Climate for Innovation

A List of all the Free International Education Resources I Utilize

List of Movies/Television Programs where the Characters go Abroad

How Studying Abroad in Florence, Italy and a Vacation in Mexico Lead Kevin Systrom to Start Instagram

We need students. For each student you bring us, we give you a 100 euros commission

The internationalization of Room 404 [a 3rd grade class at The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools]

Bibliography of Select Articles & Resources to Help International Educators Establish a New Media Presence

Question about Advanced Degrees for International Educators

French Fries, French Dressing, French Bread and to drink, Peru

The Middle, episode: “Foreign Exchange” (s02e05)

If you are interested you can link the top posts of 2011, 2010 and 2009 (didn't produce a list for 2008).  You'll notice some overlap between the years with popular posts.  Perhaps a Top 10 (or Top 23) all time most popular post compilation is due...but that won't happen until things slow down!

Interview: How David Comp Found His Niche In Education Abroad (my interview with Brooke Roberts of Inside Study Abroad)

Many thanks to Brooke Roberts of Inside Study Abroad and GoAbroad.com for the interview!


You can read more about the interview on Inside Study Abroad!

Join the IHEC Blog Facebook Community

Where international education news and discussion happen!

http://www.facebook.com/IHECblog

International Higher Education Consulting website has new look

I have a healthy web presence within the international education community and the main website for my side consulting work International Higher Education Consulting can be found at davidcomp.wordpress.com/.  My other main website, IHEC Blog (where this post originated from), could arguably be called my home base as it is much more popular and the content is more robust and frequent.  I do have plans to rework and rethink my entire web presence and social media strategy but for now all is currently working very well for me and all roads lead to my International Higher Education Consulting website.  For some time now I've been thinking and working to change the look and feel of the website and after numerous small adjustments I have what I think will be the final product (until I decide to change yet again).  Below is a screen shot of the new site with one of my favorite posts.  What do you think?

IHEC Blog is now on Pinterest

A couple of months ago I (meaning International Higher Education Consulting) jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon and you can find me/IHEC at http://pinterest.com/IHECBlog/.  I must admit that my time on the site has been limited and I don't have much on the the IHEC Blog but I do hope to change that as it seems relatively easy to Pin things...stay tuned!

Tweets about the NAFSA 2012 Annual Conference in Houston

Tips for Getting into the International Education Field

A Small Planet Studio podcast interview with David Comp

Future Conference Sites of U.S. Based International Education Organizations

Should you be an advanced planner I thought I would put these future conference sites for AIEA, CIEE, The Forum on Education Abroad and NAFSA on your radar:

AIEA
2012 – Washington, DC
2013 – New Orleans
2014 – Washington, DC
2015 – Washington, DC
2016 – Montreal
2017 – Washington, DC

CIEE
2012 – Shanghai
2013 – Minneapolis

Forum on Education Abroad
2012 – Denver
2013 – Chicago
2014 – San Diego
2015 – New Orleans

NAFSA
2012 – Houston
2013 – St. Louis (I believe this was originally scheduled for Louisville)
2014 – San Diego
2015 – Boston
2016 – Denver
2017 – San Francisco

Five Years and Nine Hundred Posts on International Higher Education Consulting Blog

Five years ago today I started International Higher Education Consulting Blog (IHEC Blog). My first post "Initiatives in 2006 to Increase Student Diversity in Education Abroad" is available here and this past week I also posted my 900th post on IHEC Blog.


IHEC Blog pushed me to create related internet properties and I have enjoyed playing in these spaces as well. I've met many great people along the way. Some I have met in person and for some our paths have yet to cross!


IHEC Blog has gone farther than I ever imagined. Today, IHEC Blog is one of five blogs worldwide selected by the New York Times editors to feed in the 'Headlines Around the Web' area of the International Education section of the New York Times online.


I've been doing much thinking as of late about the future of IHEC Blog and whether I go away and dream it all up again or stay on the current path...more about all of this in a future IHEC Blog post I imagine.


For those of you who have come along for the ride I thank you!

"International Education News and Views" - A Twitter List of International Education Thought Leaders and Knowledge Producers

I came up with this select group of international education organizations, news outlets/reporters/editors and thought leaders as a way to highlight those who are advancing the knowledge production in the field.  To be sure, there are some who I have missed and I will add them to the list as necessary.  This is the only Twitter list I have and will probably ever create.

IHEC Blog now optimized for mobile viewing!

Thanks to Blogger I was able to optimize IHEC Blog for mobile viewing a short time ago.  I hope this helps make IHEC Blog more accessible to those who are frequent readers or just stopping by to check it out.  My consulting site/blog over at http://davidjcomp.wordpress.com/ is already optimized for mobile viewing, in case you were wondering!

I made this video back in April 2010 and it is becoming more of a reality!

Bury Book International Education Library & Archive

Bury Book International Education Library & Archive currently has over 9,000 electronic articles, books, reports, meeting minutes, notes related to international education as well as a significant hard copy collection of related literature.  Additionally, Bury Book International Education Library & Archive has many rare and historical publications for those who seek to review such materials.  Special arrangements for access to Bury Book International Education Library & Archive (which is located in my house) may be made by contacting me at international.ed.consulting@gmail.com.  

International Higher Education Consulting Blog and related internet properties also serve as a clearinghouse for information on international educational exchanges.

IHEC Blog is a featured blog in The New York Times "Headlines Around the Web" section focusing on international education

For quite some time The New York Times section on International Education (online) has been feeding IHEC Blog posts to their "Headlines Around the Web" section of the page.  I find this section of The New York Times to be one of the most informative news outlets to learn about happenings across the globe related to International Education so this is, of course, an exciting thing for me so I thought I would share.  IHEC Blog is also included in numerous blog rolls across the web and I'm thankful to each and every one who has found enough value in IHEC Blog to include it in their blog roll.

You can access The New York Times section on International Education here.

Bibliography of Select Articles & Resources to Help International Educators Establish a New Media Presence

I compiled the following bibliography for my International Higher Education Consulting site and IHEC Blog so I thought I would post these select articles and resources here as well to assist international educators in navigating the social media waters.

Articles
“A List of all the Free International Education Resources I Access” from IHEC at http://bit.ly/auYmCD

“A social media boom begins in Africa” from United Nations Africa Renewal Online at http://bit.ly/fqcUly

“Are you listening?” from IHEC Blog at http://bit.ly/cjo2Yv (listing of international offices/departments with Facebook and Twitter accounts)

“Are your students on Twitter?” from Manitou Heights athttp://bit.ly/eFE74V

“Brazil’s nuts about social networking and Orkut best watch out, Facebook is on the rise.” from TNW at http://bit.ly/byGwAs

“Establishing Trust in the World of Social Media -- Relevance for U.S. Higher Education” from the Marketing EducationUSA blog athttp://bit.ly/bcwjmd

“Facebook Grows In Popularity Around The World” from NPR at http://n.pr/ezqhJM (audio clip of segment also available)

NAFSA Collegial Conversation from February 9th entitled “Optimizing Your Use of Social Media, A Live Collegial Conversation with Jeramy Johnson from Academic Programs International - API.  You can access the archived transcript at http://bit.ly/fXpC4H

“Facebook: Using Pages vs. Groups in international education” from Manitou Heights at http://bit.ly/pAR0L

“How can international educational exchange use social media?” from Manitou Heights at http://bit.ly/9O2XGz

“How Indian Students use Orkut to prepare for studying in the US” from the goSwoop Blog at http://bit.ly/gFEi2z

“Marketing U.S. Higher Education Abroad in the Social Media Milleu” from the Marketing EducationUSA blog at http://bit.ly/8FtACH

“Read API Materials Anywhere! QR Codes and Catalogs” from Academic Programs International Blog at http://bit.ly/eD5OOw

“Results of the IHEC Blog Poll ~ What is the Top New Media Tool You Use to Keep up to Date on the Field of International Education?” on IHEC at http://bit.ly/97sTs3

“Some good practices for Twitter in international education” from Manitou Heights at http://bit.ly/gvKu5M

“Social Media Strategy for International NGOS & Universities” free archived recording of the recent Webinar at http://bit.ly/dWDZud

"Social networks and study abroad--The case of Chinese visiting students in the US" in China Economic Review at http://bit.ly/gcgkq4

“The Facebooks of China” from Fast Company at http://bit.ly/heHI9u

“The most important way that International Education can use Facebook” from Manitou Heights at http://bit.ly/56MiL0

“The Use of Social Media in Higher Education for Marketing and Communications: A Guide for Professionals in Higher Education” from the.eduGuru blog at http://bit.ly/aSvYAY

“Why Can’t Facebook Get More Than 2 Percent of Japan’s Web Users?” at All Facebook at http://bit.ly/hTk81I

“You Don’t Have to Use it Yet; Just Be Open to Social Media” from the goSwoop Blog at http://bit.ly/R3puO

“50 Steps to Establishing a Consistent Social Media Practice” from ChrisBrogan.com at http://bit.ly/4pY4KV

A Few Helpful Resources

Directory of Universities and Colleges on Social Media at http://www.4icu.org/

ed Social Media at http://www.edsocialmedia.com/

IHEC Blog’s YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/IHECBlog (472 subscriptions [links] to international education related channels)

Manitou Heights at http://manitouheights.com/

Mashable at http://mashable.com/

Marketing EducationUSA blog at http://marketingeducationusa.blogspot.com/

Social Media Examiner at http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/

Technology in International Education blog at http://www.intledtech.com/

The Connection for International Credential Evaluation Professionals (The Connection)

I am very excited to post about a new collaborative tool called The Connection for International Credential Evaluation Professionals (The Connection) for the professional international credential evaluation community.   Following are more specifics about The Connection that I am posting with the permission of Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc. (ECE).

The Connection is a new online community for the professional international credential evaluator.  The Connection will bring together individuals from around the world to collaborate, share information, and access resources regarding admissions decisions, the determination of credential equivalencies, the articulation of professional standards, and the promotion of best practices in the field.

The online community provides a discussion forum, an events calendar, news updates, resources, and other tools and information to help credential evaluators do their jobs. We are alike. We have questions. We have answers. We write publications. We give presentations. We teach. We learn. If you are new to the field, or are a seasoned expert, we all have something to contribute.

The Connection is free! To become a Connection User visit http://theconnection.ece.org/ and sign up. It took me less than one minute to join The Connection.  Participation is open to any serious professional in the field, irrespective of institutional affiliation, financial support or geographical location.

Previously posted to IHEC Blog on June 21, 2011

Follow the Twitter conversation about and from the NAFSA 2011 annual conference in Vancouver

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Farther Foundation needs your votes to win!

Take 10 seconds to visit www.oakparkapartments.com and vote for Farther Foundation. There is no registration required, no names, numbers or email addresses collected.

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Visit www.oakparkapartments.com and vote for Farther Foundation.

Learn more about the Farther Foundation at:

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Many thanks in advance!