BreakDrink, CTCX, Podcast

The Power of Podcasting

Laura Pasquini

Podcasting is online audio content that is delivered via an RSS feed, almost like radio-on demand. Listeners can determine the time and the place when they will access this audio (and even video) content they want to hear with the podcast archive.

Podcasting is a powerful learning and training resource for any educators tool box. It’s an easy and simple way to share information, describe a concept or dialog about a relevant topic. Even better, this format of learning is mobile, accessible and a handy application that allows learners to return to for review later.

This photograph is c/o Flickr member martin.canchola

In a previous life at the University of Toronto Scarborough Academic Advising & Career Centre, I helped to initiate a pilot program that developed academic & career vodcasts.  I was fortunate to have a group of great students and staff who were interested in producing podcasts to help optimize our advising & career resources for our office. Word of our podcasting got out, and soon other departments like the ESL Cafe & Writing Centre were interested in joining in on the podcasting fun.

Some of the key reasons we started to podcast included:

  • Same FAQs from students were basic and advisors/counselors wanted deeper, meaningful questions
  • Accessible, bite-sized information
  • Mobile resources “on-the-go” for our large commuter student population
  • New design: beyond the PDF handout – add a new multi-media dimension to our website
  • To archive presentations and information that is shared at a single time in the year
  • Tutorials to help empower our students for their academic & career planning

My first introduction to podcasting started when I attended the NACADA conference in Baltimore & met a couple of Academic Advisors who were doing it well. The Campus Tech Connection podcast #15 shares the story of these advisor podcasting pioneers who were interested in meeting the needs of students in a new digital way:

Podcasting: So easy even a student affairs professional can do it. Guest Clay Schwenn and Kurt Xyst joined us to talk podcasting and Academic Advising. Their podcast has over 14,000 subscribers (that is 1398 more than this podcast). They are both Undergraduate Academic Counselors with the Gateway Center at the University of Washington. They do not have a tech background, but were looking for creative ways to reach students.

Speaking of podcasts…

Stay tuned for tonight’s episode of the Campus Tech Connection as we welcome @EricStoller to the program. Here’s how to listen & participate:

AcAdv, EC&I831, Learning Community, NACADA Tech, nacada10, Social Media

Advising Is the Sum Of All Parts With Technology

Laura Pasquini

I took a bit of a Tech-cation after returning from #nacada10 last week. There was so much social media involvement at the 2010 NACADA annual conference, that I thought it was very important to be social in real life (IRL) and get back to the daily grind at the office.

After over a week away from blogging, I thought I would share some of my ‘deep thoughts’ about NACADA10 and the brilliant advising community. It was a pretty fun experience to be part of the NACADA10 Social Media Dream Team.

My NACADA #SM accomplice, @bradpopiolek, helped to fuel the 1st Official NACADA 2010 blog and backchannel at the annual conference last week. This was a great opportunity for pictures, videos and tweets both as an archive to the conference, and it was an easy way to share the NACADA10 happenings with other Academic Advising folks near and far.

The opening keynote speaker, @reyjunco, brought some interesting ideas to the NACADA attendees during his talk about  student engagement, social media & change. This sparked many conversations and questions on how to best utilize these resources for our students in our advising profession, etc.

The 1st ever NACADA TweetUp was a success. I had a blast meeting all my academic advising friends from Twitter IRL. It was a great to connect & chat with everyone including: @vcuesposito, @bradpopiolek, @JPKirchmeier, @howardsj, @peacox, @Ahjim,@USMAccAdv, @adamduberstein, @amy0631, @reyjunco & @KellyJBailey.

For those fantastic #AcAdv tweeps on my NACADA-AdvAdv List who couldn’t attend the NACADA TweetUp that night at Rix, I was fortunate to meet you throughout the conference. Excellent discussions and introductions made with fellow tweeters like @UOAdvDir, @sally_garner, @jadana17, @jbarkemeyer & more! For those of you on “the list” I look forward to a tweetup sometime in the future. For now we will continue to learn & share on Twitter.

My NACADA10 takeaways:

  • learning is continuous & not a specific location – many #AcAdv joined the conversation from afar
  • advising peers sharing experiences/resources is always a good thing
  • my personal learning network (PLN) at NACADA continues to challenge & support me
  • academic advisors are a great group of #highered professionals
  • #nacada has a WEALTH of information & resources (we need to share these MORE effectively)
  • conversations at conferences are THE reason why you go to a conference
  • sometimes social media can make you less social IRL – balance is good

Being part of a great association and meeting at an annual conference is grand, but I truly value the resources and contributions my network of #nacada peers share online and always. Whether it’s an article posted on a blog, to a comment on twitter, my PLN best contributes to my educational and professional life. Thank you. Keep up the fine work.

I will leave you with a great quote from Dr. Rick Schwier (@schwier), an #edtech faculty from the University of Saskatchewan, who shared these thoughts #during a recent #eci831 lecture about the history of learning networks:

“You can’t separate the network [from learning],

the network is learning.”

Hey #AcAdv PLN – let’s keep collaborating, connecting & learning together. See you in the social media-sphere.

AcAdv, NACADA Tech, nacada10, Social Media

Packing My Bags for NACADA10

Laura Pasquini

It’s time to gear up for the annual 2010 NACADA Conference happening this coming weekend/week in Orlando, FL. Let’s pack our academic advising conference bags:

  1. Sunscreen & glasses – CHECK
  2. Booked my hotel & a FREE ride on The Magical Express Bus – CHECK
  3. Interactive Conference Scheduler – CHECK
  4. Posted on the Official NACADA2010 Conference Blog – CHECK
  5. Reviewed the Exhibitors list – CHECK
  6. Prepped my Pre-Conference Workshop (#16) Wiki – CHECK
  7. Read the Last Minute Tips – CHECK
  8. Packed my Social Media Toolkit & Gadgets —- YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

This year NACADA has decided to be more social & interactive (officially) online. This is excellent news for many Academic Advisors and Administrators who want to be part of the growing, collaborative network of advisors who already play in the virtual environment. The NACADA backchannel will allow conference attendees in Florida, and other professionals from afar to interact, converse, connect, and share the conference happenings.

Last year, Eric Stoller & I initiated an unofficial backchannel at the 2009 NACADA Conference on Twitter & Facebook. This idea developed out of the interest to participate in the conference even if we were not able to be there in person. Since Texas is my home state, I was able to drive down to San Antonio for part of the conference. Due to the economic down turn, many advising units have had to cut professional development and travel funding budgets – which limit the number of colleagues who can join the annual conference.

This year, I am fortunate to be part of a team who will be helping to support the NACADA Backchannel. Brad Popiolek and Rey Junco are part of the collaborative group who will help support the online presence of #NACADA10. Here’s a bit more information about what to expect & my NACADA 2010 Social Media Guide blog post.

For those not interested in creating accounts to stay connected to the NACADA 2010 Backchannel, you are welcome to just follow along. I will do my best to share some updates, but most of mine will be through one of the NACADA online platforms:

For those of you who WILL be at #NACADA10, please be sure to join us for the very first NACADA TweetUp after the Common Reading on Monday night. This social gathering should be fun! We will meet at a location (to be announced SOON) on Monday, October 4th at 7 pm. Stay tuned to blog/Twitter for updates & safe travels to all. See you there!

BreakDrink, CTC, Higher Education, nacada10, SAchat, Social Media

Social Media Strategies in Student Affairs

Laura Pasquini

Last night, the Break Drink Campus Tech podcasting crew decided to tackle the hot topic of Social Media Strategies in Student Affairs. During the Campus Tech #14 show, the three of us shared some thoughts and ideas that are currently being put into practice for many higher education institutions, and discussed how social media is impacting our university and college campuses.

Photo c/o http://www.policytool.net/

The hot topic included the following discussion points:

  • digital citizenship
  • education and awareness of Student Affair practitioners and students
  • the evolution of social media on campus
  • questions & concerns for best practices of social media in higher ed
  • examples of current social media policies & guidelines
  • resources for developing social media strategy for your campus

Image c/o The Advanced Human Technologies Group

Here are a few great resources to check out if you are designing your own social media strategy on campus:

In thinking about this grand topic, the Campus Tech posse realized that it was a daunting issue to tackle in a 60 minute podcast. The discussion about emerging technology and social media in higher education will not be over soon. To help continue the conversation and support best practices using social media, I initiated a digital archive of resources we hope other Student Affairs practitioners will contribute to:

Social Media Strategies in Student Affairs Google Doc

If your campus has a social media strategy or you have further resources for best practices, please share them in the above document. The Campus Tech show would love to know what you think about social media on campus, and we will be sure to talk about updates or comments we receive.

NEXT WEEK on the Campus Tech Podcast:  Speaking of Social Media in Higher Education….

Stay tuned for the show next Monday (8/4/10) at 7 pm CDT as we connect to the LIVE happenings of the 2010 NACADA Annual Conference for Academic Advising professionals. This year is the first year @NACADA has recruited a team to support social media and a backchannel for participants near & far.  Here’s the NACADA Social Media Guide & be sure to follow the hashtag #nacada10.

Learning Community, PhD, Reflections

Engaging Tomorrow’s Learners

Laura Pasquini
While reading articles for an assignment, I stumbled upon a decent read in the T+D Magazine put out by ASTD called “The Time Has Come to Embrace Millennial Perspectives.” The article linked up to an interesting white paper about Millennials from Millennial Inc.

The white paper shared strategies and ideas of how to best engage Generation Y in the workplace. This got me thinking that a similar list could be applied to our learners. It is critical  and how we engage our students inside and outside the classroom at our institutions.

Here are a few ideas on how to meet our Millennial learners in higher education (adopted from the business workplace 10 core principles):
  1. Encourage open collaboration across the campus.
  2. Ask more from each student, faculty & staff.
  3. Recognize and reward good ideas, wherever they exist on campus.
  4. Use technology to customize services, resources and to personalize communications.
  5. Maintain high-quality learning curriculum and student services.
  6. Integrate responsibility on your campus.
  7. Connect to students in authentic, relevant, and meaningful ways.
  8. Keep two-way communication open by partnering with your students.
  9. Create opportunities that encourage students to share their positive experiences, leveraging word-of-mouth interest, and increase involvement on campus.
  10. Continually search, evolve, and find new ways of learning.