Transcript Welcome to the Information Super-Highway: Read the Road Signs Texas A&M University Sarah Mudd – Team Leader Ana Baida Abby Howell Laura Norman.

Welcome to the
Information Super-Highway:
Read the Road Signs
Texas A&M University
Sarah Mudd – Team Leader
Ana Baida
Abby Howell
Laura Norman
Introduction:
The Millennial Generation
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Today’s college students are a part of the Millennial generation (Howe and Strauss,
2000).
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Howe and Strauss indicate that Millennial students use the internet more than
previous generations, and the daily use of it will increase later in the generation
(Howe and Strauss, 2000). This indicates that internet use will increase among the
current and future generations.
•
Millennial students are extremely trusting of others and authority (Howe and Strauss,
2000).
•
Millennial students appear more team like and administrators are seeking to create
ways to develop this quality (Howe and Strauss, 2000).
•
Students learn differently and would benefit from classrooms that become more
learner-centered (Rogers, 2000).
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Research indicates that 60% of American students are visually dominant learners
(Rogers, 2000).
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Technological learning behaviors mirror the way the human mind thinks, learns, and
remembers by moving from images and words to sound; interpretation, analysis, and
exploration occur throughout this process (Rogers, 2000).
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Utilizing multimedia with interactive exercises enables students to expand their
learning experience in order to discover new knowledge on their own (Rogers, 2000).
Introduction:
Why Technology Is Important
• Technology training should extend beyond learning such skills;
faculty could benefit from a working knowledge of students’
learning styles, including how their use of technology affects
learning, in order to meet the determined learning outcomes
(Rogers, 2000).
• There are both advantages and disadvantages to using
technology successfully in the classroom setting; it is important
to know both in order to work effectively with the millennial
generation.
• Because millennial students are more trusting of others, it is
important that administrators are aware of the dangers of online profile and blogging sites that students frequent.
• Effective use of technology can increase work productivity and
efficiency at work.
Five Crucial Areas
This presentation covers five important areas of technology.
However, this is not an exhaustive list of all the available areas.
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Institutional Spam
On-line Blogging
On-line Personal Profiles
E-mail and E-mail Listservs
iPods and Podcasts
Institutional Spam
• Why Chosen?
– Institutional spam is an ever-present problem that deals with employee time
and risk as well as student confidentiality and risk. It is an important focus
for us, as administrators, because the attention we pay to institutional spam
will help safeguard our constituencies.
• Description
– Spam is defined as unsolicited or undesirable bulk mailings.
– Institutions are often subject to spam because of the large number of
people in one place with similar e-mail addresses.
– Institutional spam is partially averted by filters; however, servers still
direct energy toward spam, and confidentiality issues still arise.
Institutional Spam
• Benefits
– Learning about institutional spam is important in order to gain techniques
that allow the safeguarding of the campus and the freeing up of server
space.
– This knowledge will also ensure that confidentiality is not breached and that
student information is not wrongly used.
• Problems & Issues
– Institutional spam can cause major problems on campus such as breaching
student or employee confidentiality or slowing down servers.
– With HIPPA and FERPA laws, it is important that we keep information
secure so as not to allow outside constituencies access to the campus
network.
– Server speed is important in the efficient workings of the university, and
filtering out spam will enable increased productivity.
On-line Blogging
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Why chosen?
Weblogs, more commonly referred to as blogs, are spaces on the Internet
for writing and sharing information. While some blogs allow readers to
view the blog only, others allow readers to post their responses to the
author's content.
Blogs have become increasingly popular in higher education, and their
applications include university recruitment, student mentoring, and
classroom discussions.
Description
Universities have created weblog services for their students, faculty, and
staff to encourage discourse regarding departments, research projects,
student organizations, and coursework.
Professors use blogs across a variety of disciplines to enable students to
process academic information and share their thoughts with classmates.
Academic scholars use blogs to share ideas and receive feedback from
fellow scholars.
College and university students’ personal blogs often record their daily
lives and are now posted on admissions homepages to recruit prospective
students. These personal blogs also play an important role in individuals'
social networking.
On-line Blogging
• Benefits
– Proponents of blogs suggest that these web pages create a sense of
community and promote learning through academic discourse.
– Teachers who utilize blogs to supplement classroom discussion have found
that their students are better prepared when they come to class.
– The public nature of blogs encourages students to broaden their perspective
of the topic as they address an audience much larger than just their
professor.
– Writing and communication skills, as well as analytical skills, are enhanced as
students participate in academic blogging.
• Problems & Issues
– While the blog is an excellent supplement to learning, the blog cannot
become a substitute for classroom discussion and scholarly research.
– The educational value of blogs is determined by the content of the author's
submission and the respondents' postings.
– Many bloggers question whether the prevalence of weblogs is a fad or a
lasting invention.
On-line Personal Profiles
• Why Chosen?
– The use of on-line profiling and blogging is quickly becoming a vast source of
information. While there are both issues and benefits to the uses of on-line
profiles, it is important for us, as administrators, to understand how
students use these services, how we can use them, and how they and we alike
should not use them.
• Description
– On-line profiling sites such as The Facebook and MySpace allow people to
network socially, join groups, post pictures, and communicate with others.
On-line Personal Profiles
• Benefits
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On-line can be both educational and promotional.
Because The Facebook is a site a majority of students see it daily, utilizing it as a way
of advertising for events will be beneficial for programming organizations or groups.
On-line profiles allow individuals to search for and contact individuals they may have
lost contact with, or other students in their classes.
Because it is important for faculty members to utilize this technology, administrators
should have an understanding of the networking opportunities on sites such as The
Facebook; students can work collaboratively in groups on The Facebook - combining
group work with present-day technologies.
• Problems & Issues
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As administrators, it is important to be cautious when using The Facebook; certain
students are wary of administrators’ usage of The Facebook.
Rather than using on-line profiling in the same way that students do, the primary
purpose of having a working knowledge of The Facebook is to understand our students
and to encourage student leaders to use The Facebook for organizationally beneficial
purposes (ex: advertising).
Students consider their information private, while administrators see it as public, since
it is published information.
There are also broad privacy concerns with students on The Facebook. Students often
put too much information (such as telphone numbers and addresses) and, thus, become
susceptible to a host of safety concerns.
E-mail & E-mail Listservs
• Why Chosen?
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Forty-six percent of college students believe that e-mail allows them to communicate ideas to professors that
they would not express in the classroom. In addition, e-mail is essential for maintaining communication among
administrators across departments and campuses. e-mail etiquette is necessary to establish professionalism,
to enhance efficiency of communication, and to protect university employees from the risks associated with emailing (Jones & Madden, 2002).
Sixty-eight percent of college students participate in one or more academic-oriented listserv that allow for
discussions related to their coursework (Jones & Madden, 2002).
• Description
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E-mail Etiquette
• E-mail content should be concise, and all questions and any potential future questions should be
addressed.
• Follow proper spelling, grammar, and capitalization rules.
• Respond within 24 hours of receiving an e-mail, and do not erase the message thread (record of
correspondence back and forth).
• Do not write messages in all capital letters.
• Do not forward chain letters or inappropriate material, and do not respond to spam.
• Add disclaimers and signatures to your e-mails.
• Beware of pressing reply to all of the recipients who have received an e-mail.
• Listservs provide a means of creating community over the internet and distributing information to a large
number of users.
Listservs
• Listservs are electronic mailing lists that send out information and/or discussions to subscribers’ e-mail
addresses.
• Listservs come in two forms: (a) information distributed through the listserv may be sent out solely by
the creator of the e-mail list to all recipients, or (b) information sent out by any of the individuals
subscribing to the listserv to all recipients.
• Listservs may be created by organizations or by individuals. Websites such as Google Groups and
YahooGroups allow individuals to set up e-mail lists free of charge.
E-mail & E-mail Listservs
• Benefits
– E-mailing enables faculty and staff members to increase their efficiency,
productivity, and accessibility and allows for quick distribution of
information to multiple parties.
– With the feasibility and efficiency of e-mailing, communication of electronic
assignments, announcements, and/or questions between students, faculty,
and staff is significantly enhanced both in quantity and in speed of
communication.
• Problems & Issues
– Some faculty and staff members find that e-mailing is so accessible that
their inboxes are swamped with unnecessary questions from their students.
Additionally, miscommunication across e-mailing due to poor “netiquette” and
reduced non-verbal communication can result in misunderstandings and
frustration.
– Provision of frequent training sessions and accessible technology support
staff are necessary to develop and maintain e-mail proficiency among faculty
and staff.
iPods & Podcasts
• Why Chosen?
– Many students use iPods or other similar mp3 players to listen to music while
going to class, working out, or spending time in their cars or rooms.
– Universities can utilize these devices to make information more accessible
to students, to provide students opportunities to interact and create
current technology, and to cut programming costs.
• Description
– iPods and other mp3 players are able to store music files and podcasts.
– Podcasts can be created by digitally recording the information and
converting it through special computer programming.
– iTunesU (run by Apple Computer Co.) allows universities to utilize this
technology for free. The podcasts that universities create can be made
available only to students or to the public through iTunesU.
– Professors can record class lectures and make them available to students in
the class.
– Podcasts can be assigned as student projects which require students to
become more aware of how to use technology, work in groups, be precise and
present information to others.
– iPods can be used in institutional programming to provide music at functions.
Songs and albums can be purchased on-line, downloaded onto the iPod, and
played over a PA system at functions and programs, which will remove the
need to hire a d.j.
iPods & Podcasts
• Benefits
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Podcasts of class lectures will help reach students of many different learning styles.
Students can review sections of lectures that they might not have understood on their
own time in preparation for tests.
This may often save professors from having to repeat or review the material with
students who could understand if they simply reheard it, thus freeing professors to
focus on research or students who are struggling in other areas.
Podcasts allow professors to build a library of supplemental lectures that can be made
available to students for future classes.
Students can study while walking to class, working out, and any place they can take
their iPod or mp3 player.
If students miss class they have access to the material covered while they were gone.
If assigned as a project, it enables students to learn how to use new technology, as well
as to work in groups, be precise and teach others.
Using iPods during programs to provide music will help departments spend less money
and use budgetary funds more wisely.
• Problems & Issues
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Technology is expensive! If using podcasts, universities would need to purchase
microphones and computer software to create the podcasts, as well as train professors
on how to use the equipment.
Students may feel that if they have access to podcasts of class lectures that they do
not need to attend class. This forces professors to be more intentional about providing
activities and discussions in class that would encourage students to attend.
Professors may not be familiar with how to work the equipment; therefore, they may
need to be trained, or a person may need to be appointed to handle the broadcasting of
podcasts.
Conclusion
• Don’t let the learning stop here! Look for training on campus or at
regional and national conferences.
• Technology is dynamic, and as the students’ technological
knowledge changes, ours should as well so that we are able to
meet their needs.
• Below are resources for further learning:
– For additional technology-related resources –
http://www.educause.edu/resources
– For the major technological initiatives in higher education –
http://www.educause.edu/majorinitiatives
– For professional development opportunities – http://www.educause.edu/pd
– For upcoming conferences and/or seminars –
http://www.educause.edu/UpcomingEvents/31#reg
– For fellowship & scholarship opportunities –
http://www.educause.edu/FellowshipandScholarshipOpportunities/37
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Arrington, M. (2005). 85% of college students use Facebook. TechCrunch.
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