Decisions on Modern Education - Essay Example

? The modern is much more than just a place of education. Universities strive to differentiate themselves from other universities in a number of creative ways. One of the most accessible ways universities disseminate information about themselves is through their official web sites. These places on the web are full of information for students, faculty and potential students. In addition to housing information about current events or application procedures, the university web site attempts to present a certain image about the school. In marketing, this would be called branding. Universities try very hard to convince potential students that they can expect specific opportunities and live a certain lifestyle if they attend this university. In this way, college web sites have become increasingly influential in attracting prospective students to individual schools. A great way to see how this is done and whether it is done well is to compare the web sites of two different universities. In this activity, Penn State University and Stanford University are compared and contrasted. The Penn State University web site is adorned in blue and white, the school colors. The first impression I have when looking at their web site is that it is not very visually appealing. The blue background seems to overpower the rest of the page. The images are poorly done as well. Visually, the photographs used are simply photos of people not doing particularly interesting things. There is the image of two individuals standing in a laboratory, an image of a white kid standing neck to a man dressed in some sort of traditional dress and other photos of graduate and undergraduate students. The images are given very little context, other than a heading above each that seems to shout “Research” and “Global”. They are also tagged with captions that seem a bit insipid, such as, “How can research improve our lives and communities?” Anyone contemplating college should already have some answers to this question, so the reader is not inclined to click on the link to find out more. What is nice about the Penn State University web site is the clean design and the ease of finding the most useful information. Key links are found in a neat column that flanks the right side of the photomontage. These include links to lists of campuses, a visitors guide and new student information. Below the photo montage there is a horizontal band of links to information for professionals concerning jobs and the faculty portal. Immediately below this, a search window is prominently displayed. Overall, the layout sends the message for the university that this wed site is a tool that you can use to access information. The utility of the web site seems to be of utmost importance to the designers, because it is not a very visually attractive or stimulating website in any way. One of the amazing things about the web and school web sites it their ability to change and evolve. I insert this paragraph here, because the Penn State site has actually changed since I have begun researching these two universities. The Penn State site is now much more visually appealing, having combined all of the photographs into a scrolling sequence window. Some of the photos are the same, so they are still not particularly intriguing or interesting, but they work better on the screen one at a time. This gives the photo a better context. The sequencer also breaks up the monotony of just having half a dozen photos of people staring into the camera lens. This new design is a great improvement over the original page I saw on the Penn State site yesterday. The Stanford web site is more visually appealing than the Penn State site, even with the improvements. A beautiful photo of historical actors is accompanied by a headline stating, “Picture Jasper Ridge: Biological Preserve Provides Unique Space for Performance Piece.” This photo and headline makes me want to learn more. I find myself asking questions about Jasper Ridge and the nature of the performance that is going to take place there. Similar to the Penn State site, the Stanford site uses a sequencer to good effect in providing several different photos with intriguing captions. From an artistic standpoint, the Stanford University web site is superior to the Penn State web site. The photography looks professional and the graphics are more intriguing. In this way, the Stanford site seems to be inviting the reader to discover more about the university and what it has to offer. The Penn State site seems to be saying, “What you see is what you get!” Another strength of the Stanford web site that was apparent after viewing and reading is the presence of a unifying theme for the university. In a sense, the theme of Stanford University’s web site is breaking down barriers. Much emphasis is placed on interdisciplinary study and activities. These include multicultural studies in China, the combining of biology, theater and history for learning activities and the breaking of new barriers in engineering and science. This unifying message gives the feeling that Stanford University is not a place that plays by all of the old, academic rules. It is a place that crosses lines and breaks down barriers in all academic departments. Penn State’s web cite, in contrast, reads more like a menu. There are many offerings, but they appear in isolation from the other offerings on the menu. There is not theme present on the Penn State site that unifies the whole. Universities that use their web page to convey core values and unifying themes are more attractive to prospective students than university web sites that simply convey information. Judging between these two universities based on their web sites, Stanford appears to be the more dynamic environment. The mission and values of the university are presented with a theme that encompasses progress, rigor and excellence. Penn State’s site is adequate for conveying information, but the site from Stanford University makes me want to attend Stanford more than Penn State. Works Cited "The Pennsylvania State University." Welcome to Penn State's Home on the Web. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. . "Stanford University." Stanford University. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. . Read More