Memo

To: Darrell Rishel, Director of Operations

From: Amanda Hunter, Campaign Project Manager
Date: November 26, 2014
Subject: New Capture Web 2.0 Tool

At the company meeting this week, Steve (our CEO) discussed the importance of us presenting
new ideas that would grow our business and offer unique services to our partner schools. We
seek to offer unique and necessary services that ensure our leadership in the enrollment industry.
So, I am proposing a social media Web 2.0 tool within the microsite we manage for our largest
client, University of Iowa because it will promote community, engagement and excitement for
prospective Hawkeye students that we will call Iowa Interact (II). I am recommending we
implement this Web 2.0 social media tool with this client because they have a large yearly
enrollment goal we must achieve and we want to ensure our place as an innovator in the
marketplace while increasing company revenue.

II will address the changing enrollment funnel because it will encourage the loyalty loop we
promote for our partners during the recruitment process. High school students that complete an
inquiry form or application on our microsite will be able to use their login information to create a
profile in a Capture made proprietary social media site that includes a discussion board, private
messaging and chat functions, and links to other educational and University of Iowa related

resources (Capture Higher Ed, 2014, p. 1). II will be effective in recruiting students because it
will serve as an Online Collaborative Learning (OCL) community. This OCL will be an
environment for its members to share knowledge, experiences, and resources through the Internet
while learning about and participating in the University of Iowas admission and matriculation
process (Harasim, 2012). We will serve as IIs asynchronous facilitators because we are
representatives of our partners enrollment process and will engage IIs members in the
language and activities necessary for their ability to choose and begin a degree program at the
University of Iowa (Harasim, 2012, p. 94).

Additionally, this OCL will embrace the Constructivist Learning Theory. IIs discussion forums
and chat features will allow members to construct their own understanding and knowledge of
the world through experiencing the world as they share their journeys through the various
pieces that comprise university enrollment like taking the ACT or SAT exams, acquiring high
school transcripts, graduating high school and preparing to become a residential student at the
University of Iowa (Harasim, 2012, p. 60). II will provide an immediate base of shared interest
for its members to relate to each other as they communicate other questions, concerns, and
triumphs in the admissions and matriculation process (Lee & McLoughlin, 2010, p. 67).

II will also support the Connectivist Theory of Learning because it focuses on cultivating and
maintaining relationships (Siemens, 2004). According to Clinedinst, Hurley & Hawkins (2011),
students often spend a years time in the admissions process prior to their first day of college
courses. The ability for students to share their experiences while acquiring knowledge on those
aforementioned topics will encourage their necessity to revisit the site and continual reliance

upon our partner throughout that years time. Through II, it will be nearly impossible for recruits
to forget about the University of Iowa!

Our companys expertise of Web 2.0 and specifically social media will allow us to take
advantage of the over 81% of United States teenagers using social media (Lepi, 2014). These
recruits may be anywhere from several miles to hundreds of miles from each other, so II will
capitalize on the need for social interactions that are usually afforded to face-to-face situations
(Lee & McLoughlin, 2010, p. 63). Their social presence with University of Iowa will be higher
than without II and they will be less likely to withdraw or fail during the enrollment process
(Lee & McLoughlin, 2010, p. 65). This Web 2.0 tool can also increase University of Iowas
overall brand awareness because over 50% of teens log into social media more than once a day,
so the Hawkeyess brand will not only be frequently seen, but also utilized and promoted by II
members (Lepi, 2014). Additionally, using this Web 2.0 technology will promote objectcentered sociality where becoming a University Iowa student is the objective (Lee &
McLoughlin, 2010, p. 67).

We should use our technical expertise to create II and increase excitement in our largest partner
school for their potential and newly admitted students. As Lee & McLoughlin (2010)
recommend, II will be modeled after Facebook because it will promote usability in a nearly
universal design. I will work with our Operations Department within the next week to
brainstorm and begin developing II. Through II we will increase our competitive advantage and
when II proves itself successful with the University of Iowa, we can offer it as a service to our
other partners.

References
Capture Higher Ed. (2014). What we do. Retrieved from http://www.capturehighered.com/
services
Clinedinst, M., Hurley, S., & Hawkins, D. (2011). 2011 State of college admissions. Retrieved
from http://www.nacacnet.org/research/research-data/Documents/2011SOCA.pdf
Harasim, L. (2012). Learning theory and online technologies. Routledge: New York, New
York.
Lee, M., & McLoughlin, C. (2010). Beyond distance and time constraints: Applying social
networking tools and web 2.0 approaches in distance education. Retrieved from http://
www.aupress.ca/books/120177/ebook/
04_Veletsianos_2010Emerging_Technologies_in_Distance_Education.pdf
Lepi, K. (28 July 2014). How teens are really using social media. Retrieved from http://
www.edudemic.com/teens-are-really-using-social-media/