Tag: college

#HEdigID

#HEdigID Chat No. 10: Motivations for Using Social Media with @hapsci

Laura Pasquini

Remember back in 2008 (or before), when your colleagues may have said social media is “just a fad” and it’s probably not something we shouldn’t really concern ourselves with in higher education? We know that THIS is not the case. This social, digital medium has flourished and spread to touch all aspects of our lives on and off campus. Maybe you signed up for an account on Facebook to stay in touch with college/university friends. You might regularly search for D.I.Y. and “how to” videos on YouTube (or post your own) to learn how to do something. Or perhaps you joined Twitter to follow a conference hashtag and stay in touch with the backchannel conversation. Finally, you may be capturing and sharing more photos with your smartphone to post these on Snapchat and/or Instagram to stay in touch with loved ones. These are just the few of may ways we are all motivated to be active and use social media.

I know that our news and information streams mention social media platforms. I can’t recall a day where I haven’t read, heard, or seen social media discussed in the news or been the primary information source delivering the news. Finally, there has been an increased amount of news ABOUT social media on issues such as privacy, personal data collection, politics, and more. Social media is a daily presence at our finger tips, screens, and in our conversations (offline and online). This was not the case just over a decade ago.

Most of us are using social media each and every day — but have you ever stopped to think — WHY??? What first motivated you to sign up for any social media account? What keeps you logging into your account to scroll, read, post, comment, share, and more online? And how are you currently using social media in your personal AND professional life? These are just a few of the many questions I have about motivations for using media in a social way. And, I know (thankfully) I am not alone in this inquiry. There are a growing number of colleagues who are curious about how social media connects us and what encourages us to log on and participate in these social platforms.

I’m excited to welcome guest moderator (MOD), Dr. Heather Doran (a.k.a. @hapsci), who will be facilitating the next all-day Higher Education Digital Identity (#HEdigID) chat this FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9th to discuss this #HEdigID Chat TOPIC “Motivations for Using Social Media.”

Heather is a public engagement manager and who is interested in how the public can connect with research and researchers through social media. Dr. Doran has been active on Twitter and a frequent blogger since 2009. In 2015 she was awarded a travel fellowship from the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust to explore how scientists and the public can connect on social media. For this Heather visited the USA, Canada, China and Japan. You can read what she got up to at www.heatherdoran.net or https://www.wcmt.org.uk/users/heatherdoran2015

Dr. Doran is interested in chatting about the different reasons why people in higher education use social media. For personal reasons? For part of your job? Let’s discuss how your motivations for using social media impacts and influences you professionally and personally in your daily life. To prepare for this conversation around open ed practices, here is a bit more information to review before the upcoming #HEdigID Chat:

#HEdigID Chat TOPIC: Motivations for Using Social Media

This SLOW chat can be found on Twitter with the hashtag starting on FRIDAY, November 9th (which might be November 8th in other global time zones) with the hashtag #HEdigID. Also, feel free to  start sharing your answers NOW within this OPEN Google doc: http://bit.ly/hedigid10

To get you thinking ahead, here are a few of the QUESTIONS you will see appear on Twitter and in an open Google doc for the FRIDAY (November 9th) #HEdigID ALL-DAY discussion:

  1. Why (and maybe when) did you start using social media?
  2. What motivates you as someone in higher ed to continue to use social media professionally for the work you do?
  3. What do you find most difficult about using social media these days?
  4. Has using social media as a professional in #highered met your expectations? Why or why not?
  5. What do you find social media most useful for in your role in higher education?
  6. What was the most insightful piece of advice or tip someone offered you (or you gave) for getting started with social media?

Join the discussion and share your motivations for using social media by:

  • Answering the questions by tweeting your response with the hashtag: #HEdigID

  • Responding anonymously in IN this OPEN Google Doc: http://bit.ly/hedigid10

  • Use any of these questions to draft your own personal reflection and response (e.g. blog post, video, audio, drawing or offline discussion)

 

UPDATE WITH TRANSCRIPT 11.12.18:

#HEdigID

#HEdigID Chat No. 7: Managing Digital Overload & Stress

Laura Pasquini

It’s August, which means the start of Fall college/university semester is just around the corner. I’m not entirely sure if I am ready for summer to be over; however, I do know that one of my own goals before school begins was to make sure my digital life was in order and ready. Fortunately, the August Higher Ed Digital Identity (#HEdigID) Chat welcomes Paul Eaton (@profpeaton) as the guest moderator (MOD) for Friday’s (8/10) #HEdigID chat slow, all-day Twitter chat. Thanks to all who participated in the discussion last month. There was an active conversation over a few days for the #HEDigID no. 6 on Open Ed Practices in July, and a thoughtful and kind reflection from contributors/lurkers.

To reflect on our digital lives, Paul has prepared questions and prompts to encourage us to think about how to better manage our networked practices before it manages us. Here is more about the August #HEdigID chat topic, Managing Digital Overload & Stress:

Digital tools, platforms, applications, and hardware are often heralded for their ability to connect professionals, openly share resources and knowledge, and build communities of practice across geographic spaces.

Digital tools and social media spaces have ushered in new stressors for professionals in higher education.” ~ Paul Eaton

Some of these we know about anecdotally – the fear of missing out, the hidden expectation of constant connectivity, comparative stress such as imposter syndrome, or stress from online conflict. Other stresses of the digital age we may be less cognizant of – for example, bodily stress induced by consistent eye strain, sitting or typing on digital devices. There may even be good stress, as in the recent article from Meier (2018) on how the comparison can drive us to perform better.  The purpose of this month’s #HEdigID chat will be to examine the many ways digital tools, spaces, and places, contribute to stress in our lives (both good and bad), and how can we manage that stress effectively as professionals.

Reference:

Meier, A., & Schafer, S. (2018). The positive side of social comparison on social network sites: How envy can drive inspiration on Instagram. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 21(7). https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2017.0708

#HEdigID CHAT TOPIC: Managing Digital Overload & Stress

The next Higher Ed Digital Identity SLOW chat will be on Twitter with the hashtag: #HEdigID and within this OPEN Google doc: http://bit.ly/HEdigid7

Learn more about the #HEdigID Chat and review the QUESTIONS in that will be posted on Twitter and in the Google doc the next discussion on FRIDAY (August 10th):

  1. Today we are talking about Managing Digital Overload and Stress. Tell us who you are, what you do, and what brings you to the discussion?
  2. This is a big topic. What are some issues, questions, and concerns you would like to address around the topic of “Managing Digital Overload and Stress”?
  3. How do you define digital overload? In what ways does a digital overload manifest in your professional and/or personal life?
  4. How do you define digital stress? What are some ways or symptoms you feel that technologies and your online life impact your stress levels?
  5. Not all digital stress is bad – so how does being connected and online motivate the work you do in #highered?
  6. Let’s talk about managing your digital life and work. What are some strategies and practices have you implemented to deal with digital overload and stress?
  7. Let’s talk about tools for your digital life and work. What are some tools or resources you use to manage your digital life?

Join the discussion on managing your digital life by:

  • Tweeting your response with the hashtag: #HEdigID

  • Responding directly IN this Google Doc: http://bit.ly/HEdigid7 {the “HE” is capitalized}

  • Use these questions to draft your own personal reflection and response (e.g. blog post, video, audio, drawing or offline discussion)

Update: Transcripts from the #HEdigID chat from August 8th are HERE

AcAdv, Higher Education

The Future of Advising

Laura Pasquini

This week I am at the NACADA’s International Conference, Melbourne, Australia (#NACADAmelb) with The Global Community for Academic Advising. Today our panel (George, Catherine, Jennifer, and myself) started a conversation around the following prompt: “The Future of Advising: Current and Past Predictions to Shape Our Future.” This panel was designed to poke at the issues and uses of technology in higher education for student support, academic advising, and personal tutoring. Much of the discussion was focussed on the Lowenstein’s chapter, Envisioning the Future (as shared in What’s On the Horizon for Academic Advising? recorded lecture), and Steele’s article, Five Possible Future Work Profiles for Full-time Academic Advisors, specifically to address the following issues with advising:

  1. If advising is teaching, how will technology assist in its delivery?
  2. How will technology shape the role of advising as a profession?
  3. How will current trends such as “big data,” “predictive/learning analytics,” and financial support in higher education impact advising? 

Although this international conference holds a variety of perspectives and definitions for academic advising, students support needs and challenges in our post-secondary institutions are very similar. Regardless of geographic location or educational systems, collaboratively we can benefit from our collective experiences just like the innovators who created the digital revolution (Isaacson, 2014).

Themes emerging from our discussions included student support needs, advising responsibility and workflow, peer tutoring/advising roles and models, change literacy, leadership strategy with change, and cultural considerations. Most often people want to talk about the shiny, bullet (technology) solution, but really there are a number of other considerations for the future of advising and students support in higher ed that go beyond a platform or application.  With this panel discussion, we really wanted to provide a springboard to dive into the issues relevant to advising, beyond technological solutionism.

RobotsJob

Fortunately for us, we had a number of brilliant administrators and faculty at our #NACADAmelb session who asked insightful questions and prompts we should think deeper about. I will leave these questions here for you to ponder as you consider what lies ahead for the future of advising and student support in higher education:

    • Will there be a future?
    • Advising is such a personal, developmental relationship. How can technology – any technology – deliver better than a real person?
    • How do we engage and keep students engaged in online advising?
    • Will academic advising ever be part of a strategic plan?
    • Will advising ever be rewarded like research or teaching?
    • How do we effectively support students?
    • How do we use our data to predict future trends and be more proactive in a digital and physical advising environment?
    • How can technology be used to support student advising?
    • What are the best exemplars in the field?
    • How do we keep the pace with the communication styles and needs for our learners?
    • What are the best tips and tricks for distance education advising?
    • How will the status of advising, as a profession worldwide, be valued?
    • What are the pedagogical and theoretical underpinnings the global community of advising (NACADA) should consider?
    • When will robots be able to do my job? [Find out.]

References

Isaacson, W. (2014). The Innovators. How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution. New York: Simon & Shuster.

Lowenstein, M. (2013). Chapter 14: Envisioning the future. In J. K. Drake, P.   Jordan, M. A. Miller(Eds.), Academic advising approaches: Strategies that teach students to make the most of college. (pp. 243-258). San Francisco,  CA: Jossey-Bass

Pasquini, L. A. (2015, February 22). What’s on the horizon for academic advising? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkGgsJrRZMg

Steele, G.E. (2006). Five possible future work profiles for full-time academic advisors, NACADA Journal, 26(2), 48-64.

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, 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…