The Student Affairs Blog

When in Doubt Ask A Librarian - The Leaders of Digital Literacy

When it comes to digital literacy, librarians are leading the charge in higher ed. But I think this is rather unknown within institutions which may result in us losing them as an extremely valuable resource.

I used to have an outdated image of librarians (see picture to right), but it's changed and I can't apologize enough for being closed minded about the evolving role of librarians in the digital age.

At most schools and conferences, there's always a group of people excited, willing, and dedicated to learn about how to integrate the new tools into education. More often than not, this group is mostly librarians.

But my view is not shared by everyone as this teacher expressed in a debate over the need for librarians:

I know that in today's schools, there are tons of teachers who need help navigating a new digital landscape -- so "media specialists" are invaluable. But I think demand for these services will go down over time only because technology use will be embedded in the lives of young educators.

But technology is exponentially changing and I think it's a mistake to require teachers to be held responsible for being the sole source of digital literacy among everything else they do. Also just because you use the newest technologies as most students do, doesn't mean you know how to use them effectively as one teacher points out from the same debate:

In my experience, "younger" teachers don't necessarily understand the effective use of technology in schools any better than older teachers. They may have vastly more experience in social networking or playing with Blabberize, but in terms of higher-level knowledge acquisition, application and synthesis, not so much.

I used to think student affairs professionals were the ones on the forefront of digital literacy because of their closeness to the students, but my experience has been different and often times I'm met with resistance in many forms from lack of time to contextual confusion.

It's a matter of knowing about the tools and willingness to try them. Librarians know about the tools and try them. I think student affairs professionals should keep their local librarian on speed dial and ping them once in a while as an in house mentor of digital literacy.

Now when I attend conferences, I make it a point to seek out the librarians and attend the sessions they are hosting. Librarians are also active bloggers online, here is a list of some that I follow:


Hey Jude by Judy O’Connell

Librarian Philospher by Barry Bishop, Director of Libraries, Spring Branch ISD, Houston, TX

Library By Any Other Name by Vaughn Branom

Not So Distant Future by Carolyn Foote Westlake HS

PowerLibrarian by Janice Conger, Collegeville, PA

TechnoTuesday by Cathy Nelson

iLibrarian by Ellyssa Kroski, Reference Librarian for Columbia University and Information Consultant in NYC.

Humor in Student Affairs

Developing Learning Outcomes in Student Affairs

Student learning outcomes are truly the first step in intentional programming.  Yogi Berra said it best:  "If you don't know where you're going, you'll wind up some where else."  Student learning outcomes help you to know where you're going.

Whether you're embracing Learning Reconsidered or following the CAS standards (Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education), you'll find learning outcomes to be a valuable road map.  It's a simple matter to develop them for your programs.  Here are some basic guidelines.

First, remember your ABC's and sometimes D.  That stands for "Audience," "Behavior," "Condition," and "Degree."  These are the four components of a learning outcome.  In their simplest form, they go together like this: "Condition-Audience-Behavior-Degree." 

Here's an example.  "After seeing the film 'Snow White' (the condition), the students (audience) will be able to name (behavior) five of the seven dwarfs (degree)."

Note that "degree" isn't always necessary, and a perfectly fine learning outcome could be:   "After seeing 'Snow White' (the condition), the students (audience) will be able to name the seven dwarfs (behavior)."  Degree just gives you some wiggle room regarding the level of learning that you expect to occur.

That's pretty straightforward.  Of course, nothing is truly easy, or at least we all seem to believe that.  So keep these ideas in mind while you're developing your learning outcomes.

1.  Start small.  Don't try to develop learning outcomes for your entire schedule of events at once.  Select one or two to begin with, preferably reoccurring traditional events.  That way you can use the learning outcome every year.

2.  Make a list of what students should know or be able to do or demonstrate after a specific program.  Turn that list into learning outcomes.

3.  Don't over think. Learning outcomes can be basic, like the "Snow White" example.

4.  Keep them assessable.  Don't use behaviors like "will understand"  or "will appreciate"  because they are too difficult to assess.  Use behaviors like "will identify"  or "can list" because that is a behavior you can assess.

5.  Finally, relate your learning outcomes to the larger objectives and outcomes you are seeking.  Whether it's Learning Reconsidered's Seven Student Outcomes, the CAS Standards , or your own campus' goals and objectives, make sure your outcomes are in line.

The University of Rhode Island has some exceptional materials to assist in developing Student Learning Outcomes.  "Student Learning Outcomes 101" and "Student Learning Outcomes 201"  contain all the basics, and can really jump start your writing. 

The Student Leader Blog - Pleave Give a Warm Welcome

The success of The Student Affairs Blog over the past 8 or so months has been wonderful. Everyday we have new professionals finding us and using the information here as a resource. They are professionals who, like you, are connected to or care about students affairs.

From the beginning we always wanted to start a similar blog for student leaders so they could swap ideas, frustrations, and joys back and forth. The blog would be written by and for student leaders. Well last month we officially launched The Student Leader Blog.

We messaged a few students who had expressed interest in the past about being a part of the core team for the blog. Tania Dudina, from Hunter College, is heading the blog organization and has already shown her depth of knowledge on student leadership through her posts. Our newest blogger is Megan Millisor from Cuyahoga Community College and already her first post has generated a great discussion.

The team is looking for just a few more student leaders to write for the site. So if you have a student in the office who is looking for the challenge to be a peer leader around the country and to grow their personal portfolio, contact Tania for more information.

To personally follow The Student Leader Blog you can:

- get new posts via email by clicking here
- get new posts via RSS by clicking here

Statistical Data on the Growth of the 'Class of 2012' Facebook Groups

The idea that new students are orienting themselves on Facebook without institutional guidance is a reality as discussed previously on the Student Affairs blog. Search Facebook for "Class of 2012" and you can see with your own eyes the trend. But we are lacking the hard data such as what percentage of new students join these groups or how influential are these groups. It's an opportunity for interested academic researchers to investigate as I suspect this is not a short term trend.

Through a very simple study, Brad J. Ward from SquaredPeg has been tracking the activity of the Butler Class of 2012 Facebook Group. His three metrics are the # of Members, Wall Posts, and Discussion Posts.

This is only the current screen shot of Brad's data, but you can follow his latest by visiting his Google Spread Sheet.

I would love to see a series of data points like this one for a big enough sampling of 2012 groups so academia can get a better idea of when new students start engaging in these groups.

Can someone start this now or are we too late and needed to start back in January? I suspect the window of opportunity to track the activity is almost closed for this upcoming school year.

It would also be interesting to see when these groups were created. The group page doesn't say the creation date, but one way to get a rough idea of the creation date is to look at when the first comment was made. The first comment on the Butler group was Jan 4th 2008.

Other open questions I have:

1. Should an official of the institution (probably someone within student affairs / admission) create groups for 2013, 14, 15?
2. Will students use the group if it is school sponsored?
3. Are the students who create the groups student leaders in high school? What is their motivation?
4. Are these students willing to work with (or even be hired by) the institution to manage the group?
5. Are institutions willing to give up the control and outsource the work to an incoming freshman?

List of Education Blogs - Alltop.com

Education bloggers are sprinkled like fairy dust throughout the web and often times are not easy to find without clicking on several links leading you through a series of digital twists and turns. Two great resources I use to find the latest education news and to network are Education Alltop and Support Blogging Wikispace. Each site includes blogs written by teachers, staff, students, and administration among others, so I am sure you'll find what you're looking for. Enjoy!

Job Listing - Resident Director / Coordinator of Student Life at Huntingdon College

Overview

Huntingdon College, founded in 1854, is a small Methodist liberal arts college located in Montgomery, AL. Still upholding the values and standards upon which the school was founded, the Huntingdon motto is "Enter to grow in wisdom, go forth to apply in wisdom in service." The Huntingdon community consists of approximately 800 students, many of whom live on-campus in three Residence Halls. The Office of Student Life is currently expanding many of the programs offered to Huntingdon students. With the continued growth of the College and expansion of the Office of Student Life, we are currently looking to fill three new full-time live-on positions which offer not only Residence Life experience but also other Student Affairs opportunities.

The Resident Director / Coordinator of Student Life

Positions are full-time positions which manage all aspects of the residence life program within a specific living community and assist Student Life in creating and implementing diverse programs to continue the development of Huntingdon College students including Greek Life, Leadership Development, Campus Recreation, The Commuter Experience, and Student Publications.

Resident Director Responsibilities:

• Supervision of up to 200 residential students
• Select, supervise, and provide on-going training opportunities for undergraduate staff members including Resident Assistants and desk assistants
• Developing a sense of community amongst Huntingdon College students
• Advising and assisting RAs in programming opportunities for students including social, educational, cultural, and service
• Mentoring and nurturing students in their academic and personal development through programming, advising, and counseling
• Facility management
• Facilitating room change and room draw processes

Coordinator of Student Life Responsibilities: (one or more of the following)

Greek Life

• Expand the Greek program at Huntingdon College
• Assist organizations in recruitment and marketing to new students
• Develop and advise a Huntingdon College Greek Council (IFC/PHC)
• Work with Executive Offices of each Greek organization
• Further develop alumni programs
• Design and develop publications and announcements related to Greek Life

Student Leadership

• Develop and implement a leadership development program including leadership seminars, retreats, and specialized training for college students
• Recruit, train and supervise student leaders to assist in program development

Campus Recreation

• Oversee intramural sports and increase participation and opportunities
• Develop day activities for students related to campus recreation
• Plan and organize off-campus experiential learning events, trips and programs

The Commuter Experience

• Develop opportunities and programs for commuter students to get connected at Huntingdon College
• Serve as a liaison between commuter students and administration
• Collaborate with organizations, offices, and staff to reach out to the commuter student population

Student Publications / Marketing

• Design and produce publications for the Office of Student Life including, but not limited to, student newspaper, yearbook, bi-monthly e-newsletters, quarterly printed newsletter, website, and bulletin boards.

Positions Qualifications/Compensation:

Bachelor's degree required; Master's degree preferred (in College Student Personnel, Higher Education Administration or closely related field). Preferred candidates will also demonstrate: understanding of the co-academic mission of a residence life program; ability to develop a community which promotes academic success and commitment to diversity; training and skills in supervision and group dynamics; experience with student development programming.

Compensation includes salary, benefits, and on-campus apartment and meal plan.

Please Contact:
Kari Osborne, Director of Residence Life
kario@huntingdon.edu
334.833.4288
1500 East Fairview Ave - The Hut
Montgomery, AL 36106

The Most Powerful Communicator in the Class of 2012: Jack Responds

In my last post, I mentioned that I had Facebooked Jack, who started a huge class of 2012 group for the University of Pittsburgh.

Despite the fact that Jack is in High School, and, if he's on East Coast time, he should probably have been in class, he responded in 20 minutes.

I copied my questions and indented his answers under each question:

--------------

1) Are you working for the university in any way? Or did you just do all of this work on your own?

I am not a part of the university in any way. I live in a suburb of Philadelphia. I did this on my own after being accepted as I was seeking other people who were also accepted.

2) If you did it all on your own, why? You found and posted a lot of great pictures, it must have taken some time. What motivated you?

At first, it was for me to find others in the same situation I was, then as the group became progressively bigger, I did some research about the school and added a few updates on some important events for accepted students. Most of the pictures are actually provided by the members of the group.

3) What are your plans with the group?

Just a place where people can get to know each other before actually going. I am not very certain whether I will even be attending Pitt, but I am glad a lot of people in this group are finding friends ahead of time.

4) Do you have history of student leadership in high school? Do you plan to be a student leader in college?

In high school, I am the president of a couple of clubs and participate in numerous others. When I go to college, I plan to continue being involved.

-------

Dear University of Pittsburgh,

Jack, despite possibly skipping 5th period to Facebook a random higher education guy, is a doer. He's responsible and proven himself extremely capable as a 21st century leader.

It would be a real shame to let him slip away.

Send him a fruit basket at the very least. Better yet, send him a friendly little "thanks for running our 2012 class on Facebook" scholarship.

He can be reached here.

My Best,

Kevin Prentiss

-----

UPDATE: Jack wants everyone to know that he's not skipping class, he's on spring break. My apologies for being suspicious : )

Self Orientation Begins on Facebook (What are you doing about yours?)

A number of Class of 2012 groups on Facebook are in full swing, do you know where yours is?

Five months or so before school starts and already there are almost 1000 students in this group.

Students don't need to wait for Orientation to socially integrate (Tinto style). This has been happening since Facebook first let in high school students back in September of 2005.

It's been widely reported in the Chronicle of Higher Ed(behind subscription, sorry) and the New York Times among others.

Yet many many schools still ignore it, either out of ignorance or confusion about what, exactly, to do about it.

Without any school participation, official or peer helper /ambassador style, the Facebook groups take on a cultural tone that sets the introduction for the college.

Sometimes the groups go down hill. Just check out the wall comments on this group from Greensboro class of 2011. This is probably not the introduction the school would prefer.

In the case of the University of Pittsburgh 2012 group, however, the conversation is currently exactly what the school would hope for - students asking questions about financial aid, information on official orientation days, discussions about majors, school spirit around sports, and 27 pictures of the campus and its classrooms that look great.

The person who put this all together?

Jack is a senior in high school, and I'm guessing he acted completely on his own and spent some time compiling the pictures and keeping the conversation going. (I sent Jack a Facebook message with some questions. If he responds, I will post his thoughts up on this blog in another post.)

Jack is good with the tools and did a huge favor for the University of Pittsburgh. If they haven't already, it would be very smart for the University to recruit Jack as a student leader. He's now one of the most powerful communicators on campus.

What You Can Do With Your Group

First, know that it matters for admissions. If you need a hard, short-term motivator to figure this out, admissions can be it. Students look to peers to develop their opinions and the impression of your Facebook Class Groups does matter in this process.

Sometimes the students just straight up ask, so getting your ambassadors in the group is a good start. The ambassadors do need training, if they come off as "too official" it will damage their credibility. As in the response above, when they present the pro and con, they are much more effective in the conversation.

I had a great chat with Staci Weber of Juniata college at the recent APCA conference about her terrific work with her class of 2011 group. She was playing with four goals for her incoming first years and Facebook. She plans on integrating these steps with the official Orientation process.

1) Get the students to join the Juniata network.

This is great for future alumni tracking and for assessment within Facebook. This is not the same as pitching Facebook, it's just saying, if you are already on Facebook, connect yourself with the school network.

2) Join the Class of 2012 Juniata group.

Staci is excited about clustering the students because she can then "Facebook" the whole class to make announcements, knowing that this will often be more effective than email. She is very sensitive to the spam issue, and plans to use the mass Facebooking the 2012 class very selectively. From her experience with 2011, she mentioned that 80% of that class was in the 2011 group on Facebook and this was a great way for her to get the word out. She felt that there were at least 15% more students on Facebook who were either not part of the Juniata Network or did not join the first year group, she is hoping to get 90% to participate in the 2012 group this year. (This, BTW, is already more than double the average participation in e2Campus emergency text messaging systems.)

3) Use Red Rover to segment the class by topic interest.

Staci is part of the Red Rover pilot program. [Full disclosure: I am with Swift Kick, and Red Rover is a Swift Kick project.] Red Rover is a free "orientation on Facebook" application that allows Staci to segment the first years by various keywords for better communication and to increase involvement.

4) Train peer leaders and student group leaders to participate in the group.

This is a continuation of what worked last year. She has some new ideas of directions to take the training.

If she can meet all four goals, Staci should be able to present the school in the best light for admissions and admitted students, increase social integration with her peer leaders and between the incoming first years, increase positive connection points and set herself up with multiple effective communication options within Facebook. (The key to maintaining these is to not abuse them, so definitely don't follow these steps and then mass message your first year class 50 times before schools starts.)

Easiest way to find your group is to simply search Facebook for your school name plus 2012. If one has not started yet, you may want to have one of your peer leaders set it up (probably better if it is not a staff or faculty member).

Just tell them follow Jack's lead!

Saudi Arabia Invests in Education and Enters the Fight for Human Capital

Educator Karl Fisch, creator of the "Shift Happens" video, first reported on a Fortune magazine article about how King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is investing $22.5 billion on a new graduate research university.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, the country that sits on 25% of the planet's oil, knows that oil is not his country's future. That's why he's spending $12.5 billion to found a graduate research university, which he'll endow with $10 billion - as big an endowment on day one as MIT has built in 142 years. The point of this project, on a grand scale even by Saudi standards: to attract the best researchers in science and technology.

The article talks about how, in the past, the fight for human capital was comprised mostly of the United States, Western Europe, and Japan. Now the playing field is opening up to many more countries, such as Saudi Arabia, who are more serious about winning over the world's top talent.

One day the U.S. will wake up and realize that their top researchers and entrepreneurs have moved to other countries that better support their efforts because they recognize that human capital will be the competitive advantage of the not-to-distant future.

Increase New Student Orientation Attendance - Give Away iPhones

Oklahoma Christian University partnered with Apple Computers to offer every 1st year student attending orientation the option of a new Apple MacBook, iPhone, or iPod Touch!

While it sounds unique, it's not the first time as Abilene Christian University (ACU) were the pioneers in offering a free iPhone or IPod Touch as a bonus just to go to their school.

According to ACU:

Freshmen will use an iPhone or iPod touch to receive homework alerts, answer in-class surveys and quizzes, get directions to their professors' offices, and check their meal and account balances - among more than 15 other useful web applications already developed, said ACU Chief Information Officer Kevin Roberts.

ACU is serious in trying to make the iPhone a major part of every aspect of college life. They created two hypothetical Youtube videos to demonstrate how they envision campus life with an iPhone.





Ignoring the fact they say "iPhone" every 10 seconds and paint a very glossy world in which everyone is auto trained in effective/productive technology know-how, it is exciting to see a school actually spending the resources to be this forward thinking. The videos were not cheap productions and to give every student an iPhone (with service I assume) is not cheap. I couldn't follow the money trail to see how much was being sponsored by Apple as schools with normal budgets obviously can't afford this kind of mLearning.

ACU's Vision:

As a university, ACU has invested much energy considering emerging trends in education. We've done this because our ongoing goal to help prepare our students to be critical thinkers, knowledgeable professionals, and responsible citizens calls for continual reevaluation of almost everything that happens in and out of the classroom - even a reevaluation of what constitutes the classroom itself.

Here's a behind the scenes look at where ACU is in terms of deployment:



ACU has the resources and what looks like a great team working full time to pursue their vision. I'm excited to see them experimenting so they can figure out the challenges and when the technology is free the rest of the schools with normal budgets can join in.

You can continue to follow their progress at iThinkEd.

The Favorite Website for College Students - Facebook Still King of College

eMarketer took a look at the latest data trends for college students and online activities. In short, Facebook topped the charts for the 7th straight quarter while Myspace missed the top 10 list for the first time in 18 months. (UPDATE 3/1/08 - Myspace not being in the Top 10 is based on overall data and not male vs. female as commenter Eric Stoller pointed out)

They also measured what percentage of college students use social networking sites:

Generally the growth of social sites has slowed across the board except with college students. Debra Aho Williamson, a senior analyst at eMarketer, said:

Although some have suggested that consumers are less interested in social networking than they once were, that is clearly not the case for college students. On campus, social network sites remain a key place for communication, socializing and goofing off.

Lastly, they looked at what types of of activities college students engaged in online:

For long term trend comparisons, below is a 2006 eMarketer report of the most popular websites among students.

National Eating Disorder Week (NEDAW) Feb 24th - March 1st 2008

We are in the midst of NEDAW and for both men and women, college is a vital time to educate them. Eating disorders are a silent epidemic on our campuses because no one wants to talk about it. This year's key message is:

Be comfortable in your genes. Wear jeans that fit the TRUE you.

As an example of how to integrate it on campus, NU (Northeastern University) is hosting events all week in honor of NEDAW.

Each day is dedicated to a different cause, and each day is a different way for you to help!

MONDAY: Learn about disordered eating in the US, who is being affected, and Why those suffering from an eating disorder may not be getting the care they deserve.

TUESDAY: What Can You Do To Help? Come pick up information on the signs and symptoms of eating disorders and how to help a friend who may be struggling.

WEDNESDAY: “Be Comfortable in Your Genes!” - Donate your “skinny” jeans and other old clothes that no longer fit your body comfortably in the CSC. Encourage yourself to wear clothes that fit the REAL you! Donations will be made to Rosie's Place.

THURSDAY: Declaration Day! Come to the CSC and sign our “No Weigh” contract, declare yourself free from the constraints of a weight-obsessed world!

Check out the National Eating Disorders Association's website for more info and other activities.

Cultivating Student Creativity

David Warlick is one of the many EdTech bloggers I follow via RSS. Often times I worry about EdTech people (including myself) getting so wrapped up in the world of technology that we forget about bringing it back to the face-to-face world of education. On David's recent post he addresses this concern:

Earlier in the morning, I spent a little time watching parts of several Poptech videos, and jotted down just a few comments. For instance, I’ll have to remember this one for when people say in my presentations, “Yeah, well, technology is great, but what about people.” Somebody in one of the panels, which was not introduced, said:

If humans weren’t important in education, libraries would never have evolved into universities.

I’ve heard this one before, but it was shared again by Will Wright, creator of The SIMS, and I wrote it down word by word.

There was a professor who went into a kindergarten class one day and asked students to raise their hands if they could dance. Of course they all raised their hands.

Draw? Sing? Again, they all raised their hands.

Then he went into a college class and asked the same questions of students there, and of course, no one raised their hands. He concluded that education is the process of teaching us what we can’t do.

Then I found this video on Youtube that shows the endless possibilities when we allow students to dream and be creative.

An Alternative to Robert's Rules

Mention "Robert's Rules of Order" to any assembled group, and you will get a collective groan.  "Robert's Rules" is a part of our lives as leaders-- it's even written into the bylaws of most organizations.  When presenting my leadership development program "Recreating Your Organization," I'm often asked if there is an alternative to "Roberts Rules."

Yes, there is.

Many organizations across the country are adopting a meeting process called "Consensus."  It's effective and efficient for most groups, and it doesn't require the learning curve of "Robert's Rules" for new members.

"Robert's Rules" was first published in 1870, and incorporated the so-called parliamentary procedure as used by Congress.  It was presented as the best way to run a meeting.  Perhaps it is the best way to run large meetings, conventions, Congress, and other rowdy assemblies.  But for smaller groups, it's rather confusing with it's formal motions, debates, precedence of some motions over others, and more.

Consensus is a simplified method of discussing an issue and reaching an agreement.  It is important to understand that consensus doesn't mean that  everyone be in agreement.  It does mean that everyone has to be willing to accept the agreement that is reached.

It works like this:  an idea is brought to the floor.  It doesn't have to be a motion, or even a formal proposal-- just an idea.  The idea is discussed, and likely it will be improved from the input of others.  When a general agreement appears, you test for consensus by stating the current version of the idea.  If everyone agrees, you've reached consensus.  If there is dissension, then you can continue the discussion until a more acceptable version is reached.  When you've reached consensus, or when there is a willingness to accept the current proposal, then-- in those familiar parliamentary terms-- the "motion is approved."

In reality, this may likely be the way your organization already operates.  And, after you've already reached consensus, you revert back to parliamentary rules, asking for someone to make a formal motion, a second, and then calling for a vote to make it "official."  If you were using Consensus, it would already be done.

Mark Shepard has an excellent introduction to Consensus here.  Then, if you like the concept, there is another, more formalized guidelines available here.

Check this out, and see this alternative to "Robert's Rules Of Order" doesn't make more sense for your organization.