There are hundreds of plug-ins for Facebook, the popular social-networking platform. One lets you display your picks for upcoming college basketball games. Another can help you determine “What Kind of Drunk Are You?”
And one of the newest Facebook tools can apparently send your college application to any of hundreds of major institutions (using the Common Application). It’s called the College Planner tool, made by Embark as a way to drum up business.
A quick look at the Facebook tool, though, shows that Embark’s experiment in viral marketing might be backfiring with some students. Each Facebook tool allows people to post comments on it, and one student wrote: “this thing doesnt even work, i dont trust applying to college through this.” Others complain that the tool’s drop-down menus don’t contain the college majors they are considering.
Someone identifying himself as an official for the company posted a response to the criticisms, noting that more majors will be added soon. “Keep your comments coming, they’ll help us make improvements to the app in the future,” he wrote.
There’s plenty of interest in designing new widgets for Facebook and other social-networking sites. A course at Stanford University is devoted to Facebook programming, and it’s the most popular course in the computer-science department this quarter. —Jeffrey R. Young
Developing online and blended learning programs requires research and collaboration. Learn how top technology companies are partnering with campuses across the country to advance online learning as it becomes an increasingly important aspect of higher education.