Member+Engagement+&+Retention

T** (3.2) Member Engagement and Retention  **  ** // (3.2.1)  // **** //  Social Networks   // **  Facebook, Twitter and the TA website will also assist in engaging members but in addition, you might wish to consider creating a social network such as those offered by Ning. At the time of writing this article, Ning had just started charging for use, so we would now suggest alternative free social networking sites such as [] and []. These networks allow each member to have their own page, to make friends with other members, exchange messages, upload and share photographs and videos, share blog posts, create discussions, as well as include wiki pages. A temporary community can also be created for a specific event. ** // (3.2.2) YouTube Channel   // **  YouTube is a website that allows sharing of audio-visual presentations for public or private viewing. Creating a You Tube channel is very easy and videos of talks, workshops, events or interviews you have created can be uploaded onto your Facebook Page, can be tweeted or embedded into your TA’s website or Blog. They help members and potential members get a feel of what you offer and also catch up with talks and events they have missed.  ** // (3.2.3) Discussion Forums   // **  Discussion forums give members the opportunity to talk about issues in ELT that are important to them. You can create free discussion forums, open or closed (available only to TA members). They will increase member engagement throughout the TA year, but are especially active before, during and after special TA events and conferences. IATEFL discussion forums are still going strong a few months after the conference, and also help to increase anticipation ahead of next year’s event. You can create forums on Google and Yahoo, but there are now many other similar free forums to choose from. ** // (3.2.4) Wikis   // **  A wiki is a repository of information that can be shared in multiple ways between groups and individuals and can be a very powerful focal point of member activity, especially if the pages are regularly maintained and useful links shared. Wikis are dynamic in that they can be constantly updated to reflect changing needs of the members. Our wiki provides a good initial model of how this resource could be utilised. We suggest ** Wikispaces ** and ** pbworks **, as both platforms allow public or private access to their pages. ** // (3.2.5) TA Blog or Online Newsletter   // **  A blog is a frequent, chronological online journal intended for the public to read online. Creating a blog is very straightforward and there are numerous free platforms which make blogging simple, many of which are designed for educators. We would suggest you try ** Edublogs, Wordpress **or** Blogger ** ( by Google). You may also wish to replace your print newsletter, as many TAs have done already, entirely online as a means of saving valuable funds and also to encourage environmental awareness. You can use web applications such as ** Yudu **and** Issuu. ** Members can actually flick through the pages as if they were reading a real print publication. ** // (3.2.6) Online Events  // **  Online events, in virtual classrooms such as ** WiziQ ** or ** Elluminate **, allow participants to actually see and hear the speaker or panel of speakers. Additionally, an online course or discussion can also take place in a ** Moodle ** environment, an excellent example of which is the South East European Teachers’ Association platform SEETA ( [] ) maintained by 11 European TAs. It attracts hundreds of teachers every year following shorter or longer online courses. AVEALMEC in Venezuela also has experience of a successful online conference ([]). ** // (3.2.6) Surveys & Questionnaires  // ** Member engagement and retention may also be further enhanced by regularly circulating questionnaires, opinion polls and research questions to the TA members. The results of these surveys may stimulate discussions in any of the other platforms mentioned earlier or form the basis of useful blog posts and articles submitted by the TA membership or even TA committee members. ** Survey Monkey ** is one example; ** Google Docs ** also provides a free tool and ** Poll Daddy ** is another popular free online tool.