Tag: campus

Higher Education, Professional Development, Training & Development

#SAreads: Students, Ethics, and Online Engagement @ #ACPA15 the #ACPATrendingNow Session TODAY!

Laura Pasquini

Join Courtney O’Connell and myself in a round table discussion about online student behavior in higher education during the #ACPATrendingNow Session (TODAY at 12:30-1:30 pm in the Marketplace):

SAreads #ACPATrendingNow Session @ #ACPA15#SAreads: Students, Ethics and Online Engagement

campus book launch ad.003

An excerpt from the What Happens on Campus Stays on YouTube book on cyberbullying:

cyberbullyingCyberbullying is defined as teasing, insulting or making fun of another person online. The intent is often to soil the target’s reputation. If you are a cyberbully, STOP! Your bullying could be the byproduct of social anxiety or low self-esteem and it is important that you seek help. Educators, friends, parents and counselors are increasingly aware of the signs of cyberbullying and will eventually confront you.

Cyberbullying is often considered a criminal offense and offline bullying laws apply to online behavior.

  • Cyberbullies leave digital fingerprints and often are easier to prosecute than traditional bullies who do not leave as much incriminating evidence.
  • Bullying can ultimately lead to a victim’s suicide. Victims of cyberbullying are twice as likely to commit suicide as those who have not had a cyberbullying experience.
  • 1 in 4 teens report that they have experienced repeated bullying via their cell or on the internet
  • Over half of all teens that use social media have witnessed outright bullying online, and an astounding 95 percent of teens who witness bullying on social media have ignored the behavior
  • We all must serve as upstanders and not bystanders to cyberbullying.
  • Colleges and universities have their own rules and procedures for dealing with cyber-bullying, cyber-harassment, and cyber-stalking. If you know something that is occurring, tell a faculty or staff member. They can help and give you options.
  • Being harassed or bullied online can be mentally draining. Reach out to others to help you process through it. The counseling services on your campus can also help.

Also in a recent study on cyberbystanders, nearly 70% of respondents who noticed the cyberbullying and who didn’t respond directly to the abuser gave bad marks to the chat monitor and/or didn’t recommend use of the chat room – both of which were classified as indirect intervention. This is happening at your institution and this is an important issue that WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT NOW! 

Sneak Peak of the Book (Preview Copy Only!)

More #ACPATrendingNow Sessions to participate in TODAY from 12:30-1:30 pm (in the Marketplace).

Becoming a Leader in Professional Associations – Facilitated by Cissy Petty
Hate Speech and First Amendment Rights – Facilitated by Kathy Adams Riester
Implications of Systemic Oppression – Facilitated by Tori Svoboda
Working with Undocumented Students – Facilitated by Ray Plaza
Personal Mental Health as Professionals  – Facilitated by Kalie Mason
Media Scrutiny of Higher Education – Facilitated by Gretchen Metzelaars
Supporting Veteran Students – Facilitated by Monica Christensen
Athletes as Students – Facilitated by Markesha Henderson (U West GA)
Title IX and Transgender Protection – Facilitated by Finn Schneider
Reclaiming Language as Means of Peaceful Protest – Facilitated by Dan Sym

BreakDrink, CTCX

Delicious Until the Last Sip… Goodbye @BreakDrink!

Laura Pasquini

It’s been a while coming, but a couple of days ago Papa BreakDrink, Jeff Jackson, pulled the plug on BreakDrink.com. I am sad to see it go, but I am happy for what it was. This side project brought together a collaborative spirit of sharing and discussion around topics in Student Affairs and Higher Education, specifically “dedicated to providing alternative forms of professional development.” For the experiences, interactions, and laughs – I am fortunate to have had the pleasure. Thanks BreakDrink Family & Campus Tech Connection (#CTCX) listeners/friends.  [p.s. There are a number of our shows sitting in the archives should you want to take a listening walk down memory lane or check it out for the first time.]

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 Over the last few years a number of new (social media) spaces and places have appeared for Student and Academic Affairs professionals to flock to for trends, issues, news, learning, and connection. It might be my lack of interest in competing in the higher ed market place to be “the next big thing” online, or just a shift in personal and/or academic priorities – but it is time to say farewell to BreakDrink.com.
breakdrink_icon I would like to sincerely thank Jeff Jackson for instigating @BreakDrink, and inviting me via a Twitter DM to join the fun with Jeff Lail & then Bruce Mann. From thoughtful discussions, interesting debates, lively podcast interviews, snarky comments, new online training initiatives, mentoring relationships, and growing friendships – I say a fond goodbye to the BreakDrink family and friends. This community of practice has been a solid part of my informal/alternative professional development plan. From this beginning, I have continued to research and work in this area of higher education, and I am grateful to those who lit this spark.
I owe a great deal to many who are accomplices to the BreakDrink experience,  (see Jeff’s Pull the Plug Post) by contributing as podcasters, bloggers, creatives, brainstormers, and then some – I’m looking at you Julie Larsen. As we close this chapter of our lives, I am proud to say that I am leaving BreakDrink with some new tech skills, a broader understanding about things in the Student Affairs and Ed Tech realm, a new support professional network, and a few amazing people in my life. Here’s to our continued friendship, learning and sharing, BreakDrink Family! Until the next podcast or blog post… Laura Pasquini, for @BreakDrink #CTCX is signing off from BreakDrink.com! {Cue the closing music.}
Learning Community, Professional Development, UGST1000

Help My #ugstSTORY Class Tell Their Story

Laura Pasquini

It seems that all is quiet on the TechKNOW Tools blog front… Sorry about that.

The start of the academic semester came fast and furious, and I have been busy engaging with and learning about my students’ stories for my #ugstSTORY class this Fall 2013 semester. This is my UGST 1000 – First Year seminar class where my students explore their major/career options, get support with transition to college, and learn more about themselves.  Feel free to follow along with our “story” this Fall if you would like:

ugstSTORY Pic

With this seminar class, a great portion of the focus is on self discovery and exploration for personal, academic, and career options. Like many students who are “undecided” or exploring their options, many of my #ugstSTORY students have more than one interest and want to make sure they are going down the right path for them. In learning about many of their talents and skills, I can see why it might be a challenge to just focus on one major. They are a creative and involved class who what to include what they VALUE in their future world of work and life.

What My #ugstSTORY Class Values
During the Fall 2013 semester, my #ugstSTORY students will leave a digital footprint, and will be encouraged to explore their personal and professional options. In their research to make an informed decision, a number of my students will reach out to professionals and industry leaders in the world of work to answer: “What do I want to do with my life?” and “How did you get to where you are?” I am not sure these BIG QUESTIONS will and/or can be answered in just one semester; however I think a few of the assignments and projects will hopefully get them started.

The first assignment, the Road Trip Nation (RTN) Project, is designed to help my students explore personal, academic, and career paths. More importantly, it allows them to understand that many directions will lead you towards your goals and dreams. Their recent blog posts identified what how to find their “Red Rubber Ball,” that is, where do they get their inspiration, passion, interests, values, and likes. Specifically, I asked what potential careers, professions or industries would they like to learn more about.  Here’s a short list from their in-depth blog posts this week:

Interview: Potential Careers & Industry

Interests & Passions
Journalism; Sports Journalism; Broadcaster Friends; Family; Hockey; Sports
Artist; Engineer; Philanthropist; Advertising; Therapist Stability; Helping Others
Journalism; Pre-Law; Psychologist Community Involvement; Travel; Family
Clinical Psych; Greenpeace Environment Activism; Animals; photography; food; language
High School Librarian Reading; books; writing
Engineering; Tourism; Economics Travel; Stability; Accomplishing goals
No Clue Relationships; Smile; Creativity; Individuality
Writer; Journalism Music; Belonging; Writing;
National Geographic; Journalism Travel; Photography;
Broadcaster/Journalism Sports Talking; Sports; Opinions to voice
Photojournalist; Forensics; Library Science Cartoons; Anime; Photography; Music
Psychology; Fashion Merchandising; Law People; Cultures; Travel;
Sales Engineering Music; Activism; Star Wars
Sports Analyst; Broadcaster/Journalist NFL Analyst; sports industry
Neurology; Psychology; Editor/Publishing Anime; Neuroscience; travel; career student; small business

The reason I am sharing more about my class with you is to get them connected beyond our class and the UNT campus. Since I have some phenomenal friends, family, and colleagues in my own learning and professional network, I thought a few of YOU might be able to provide some of your own experience and wisdom for their exploration, specifically by:

  1. SHARING A Resource: We tweet with the #ugstSTORY hashtag, so if you see a link, article, website or anything related to major and career exploration – cc: @ugstSTORY or just put the #ugstSTORY hashtag on it!
  2. READING Their Blog Posts: If you have time to read, comment & post on their WordPress blogs, that would be super rad. Although many are just blogging for the first time, a number of my #ugstSTORY students have very thoughtful and creative perspectives about life in college so far. It would be great if they got a response or two outside our #ugstSTORY class – drop them a comment or like. 🙂
  3. MENTOR Virtually: For the RTN Project a number of the #ugstSTORY learners will be seeking informational interviews with companies, professionals, and different organizations (listed above or might not be listed as they don’t know your about your occupation yet); if you OR someone you know is available and interested in sharing with my students what they do for a living and why they love it – LET ME KNOW!  Yes! I want to MENTOR a #ugstSTORY Student p.s. Pass this link onto a friend you might know as well. Thanks!
MOOC, Web Design

#EDUSprint 3 – Creating the IT Architecture for the Connected Age

Laura Pasquini

Here’s the recap for the last EDUCAUSE webinar of the EDU Sprint series: #EDUSprint 3 – Creating the IT Architecture for the Connected Age. Today’s session talked about the role of IT on campus, technology planning, and the infrastructure of IT services for digital learning.

#EDUsprint 3 - Is IT Creating a New, Connected Age?

The session discussed the processes, management strategies, and governance structures from the following higher education leaders on the panel:

  • Tracy Futhey, Vice President, Information Technology and Chief Information Officer, Duke University
  • Tracy Schroeder, Vice President, Information Services and Technology, Boston University
  • Ethan Benatan, Vice President, Chief Information Officer, and Chief Strategy Officer, Marylhurst University

Many spoke about how their IT unit is thinking deeper about services to connect to learning and the needs on their campus in a holistic manner. Tracy Futhey shared her ideas around IT services, and how we not only need to consider location within the organization, but more about the delivery and methods for our IT units.

IT Services

Although there was talk about campus-wide strategy, I rarely heard much about bringing others around the table for this discussion. Much of higher education still operates in silos, so the full potential of connectedness and planning technology in learning cannot just occur in an IT unit, academic department or business solutions. I think that more administrative leaders need to bring faculty, staff, graduate students, undergraduate students, IT developers, and external shareholders together for these strategy meetings. in higher education. As our campus environments change, so does the IT needs and services to support learning and engagement.

I did appreciate when Tracy Schoeder shared about the Digital Learning Initiative and Technology Planning at Boston University. Although emerging technological trends evolve, I think that planning and assessment need to be part of the regular planning cycle.

Strategic IT Planning - The BU Example #edusprint I also appreciated that BU puts a focus on the human aspect of their planning, and not just the IT solution. Organizational structures should be assessed and reviewed for the IT architecture, to meet the needs and understand the institutional goals for learning.

Human Architecture for Digital Learning @ BU

Finally Ethan Benatan, started with a few predictions on how IT will change, be challenged, and move in the future – which is always a difficult task. I did appreciate that he shared a design process… and that it was just that – A PROCESS. There will not be a single solution to each campus environment, and it takes some agility and insight to move your higher education institution in the right IT direction and continue to assess your needs.

Here are some new links & reads from the session in no particular order:

Did you miss the last of the 3-day #EDUsprint? No worries. Here are a few resources for you:

You’re very welcome. Happy learning!

MOOC, Professional Development, SocioTech

#EDUSprint 1: Beyond MOOCs – IT as a Force of Change

Laura Pasquini

I joined today’s @EDUCAUSE 1st #EDUSprint webinar, IT as a Force of Change, discussed connected learning, technological impacts, educational models, and, of course, MOOCs. For those of us who educate, design, and research these items, not much of today’s session was new; however the speakers highlighted some interesting points and conversations around “where we are and where we need to go with higher education learning?” Today’s session was focused on framing large-scale, online learning programs – which is why MOOCs came to the forefront of the questions and discussion with the featured panel: Elliot Masie (The MASIE Center) and Chris Dede and Timothy Wirth (Learning Technologies, Harvard University). #EDUSprint 1 - Beyond MOOCs

MOOCs were called many things and labels were shared about the role of MOOCs in higher education. Here are a few words/phrases to describe MOOCs: unbundle, four letter word, innovation, change, disruption of education, learning model, same-old pedagogy, digital engagement, connected learning, revenue-maker, the future, and even an EXPERIMENT. If this is true…

In thinking about pedagogy and instructional design, I really hope we are considering the impact to our learners and subject material. Too often we go to the “shiny and new” hype for learning trends, rather than using learning outcomes to align curriculum content and assessments. Sometimes, I think our administration and educational leaders seem to miss the point…

Here are a few resources shared during the session that might be useful for those of you wanting to bone up on large-scale online learning with MOOCs:

Beyond the talk and questions about MOOCs, I thought the central thread for connected learning and meaning-making in education was strong. The fundamental question that needs to be ASKED and ANSWERED by more of our institutions was posed by Elliot.  was posed by Elliot is critical for our institutions to ASK and answer:

“How can we build a connected campus?“

More information and a recording of the 1st #EDUsprint session can be found HERE, and, of course, there are a few Twitter notes from other #EDUsprint -ers for you to take a gander at… and perhaps I’ll see you in the #EDUsprint streams tomorrow…