Carol Waites, a graduate of The Open University’s (OU) Masters in Online and Distance Education, tells us about her popular newsletters that sprang out of one of her Masters projects.
Carol writes:
Apart from helping me launch my online writing courses for United Nations staff in the field, the MAODE course called “The Networked Practitioner” was also a catalyst for my successful writing tips. A group of human rights lawyers, who had just finished a writing course with me, asked me to give regular refreshers and so the idea was formed. I used it for my MAODE project in 2016 and have continued since.
The current Masters in Online Teaching will offer more opportunities for students to excel in their teaching in today’s rapidly changing world.
I have an audience of over 1,200 people signed up to my newsletter and have produced 267 tips and counting. I produce them on a weekly basis and they are popular with both my students and people from other walks of life than the international organizations. They focus on demystifying topics such as confusing grammar and vocabulary, on how to change your style to suit your audience, and other tips suitable for people writing in government type jobs. My audience also includes teachers worldwide, who are often followers of mine on social media, using it with their academic students.
I post them weekly on my Weebly website, on my WordPress website, on my social media including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and occasionally Instagram. My newsletter is produced using MailChimp. People sign up with the form on the Weebly website.
https://professionalwritingtips.weebly.com/writing-tips
I regularly sign my writing students up to receive the tips, with their permission, and I encourage them to get their colleagues who are interested to sign up.
Carol Waites, PhD
Carol Waites Consultancy Services
Geneva, Switzerland
Interested in finding out more about The Open University’s Masters in online teaching?
In 2023 we launched the OU’s new Masters in Online Teaching, an innovative postgraduate programme exploring the ways that new media, digital pedagogies and cutting-edge educational technologies can be used effectively and equitably, across multiple sectors, to engage diverse learners and meet their needs. The programme offers flexible study pathways featuring a choice of topics, study intensity and study timing, and the option to include credit from a select postgraduate microcredentials.