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We are the distance education campus of Penn State so we communicate with our students through Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Second Life, and IM; we also use YouTube and Flickr. We are in the process of setting up a blog for students and have plans for podcasting in the future. The CMS we use at Penn State is ANGEL. While the majority of our advising is done over the phone or e-mail, we have begun walk-in hours in Second Life. Our goal is to help distance education students feel a connection to the University, thus establishing ties to the institution and possibly improving retention. We get very positive feedback from students using the different Web 2.0 technologies. Many students have their favorites, and so we want to be where they are. Most of these sites are free, so our expense is in time. Using Twitter is a great way to get information to a group of students quickly. We use it to broadcast information on course openings, important deadlines, and activities that we may be holding. Facebook has been particularly beneficial helping students stay connected. We have had prospective students contact current students on Facebook to talk about the program from a student's perspective, and that has been a benefit to that student as well. Using Second Life has given us the opportunity to hold activities such as tailgating events, graduation receptions, fund-raising concerts for THON (philanthropy), and homecoming events where students get the opportunity to meet, socialize with other World Campus students, and have a good time together. Many of these students have commented that they feel more connected to us and the University because of these events. Richard Brungard, advising program coordinator, Penn State World Campus, April 3, 2009 I use a listserv that I subscribe my students to when they declare one of my majors. I think it is a good way to get information to them since I can't gather all 300 plus in one place at one time for one message. The positive is that can I reach them all at once with a single e-mail. The negative is not really knowing how many actually read these messages amongst the many they must get each day. I am afraid that I send too many myself. As with most things, it probably works best when done in moderation. An engaging book that I am reading right now that contains plenty of skepticism about the role of technology in education is The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future. The title is a bit overblown, but the author does make a serious and valid point in my opinion that our students are making use of technology (MySpace, Facebook, text messages, Twitter) to stay in adolescence instead of using it to broaden their horizons outside of their own social circle. Which in my mind brings up the question of should we be seen as validating their obsession with these technologies by using them ourselves as advisers? If you are a full-time adviser, shouldn't the perk of that be your availability for face-to-face meetings with students? Isn't one of the points of higher education learning how to deal face-to-face with older adults? And do we need to contribute any more than necessary to an already ADHD-suffering student population? Questions I think we need to consider as advisers. Would be interested in hearing from others if they have some of the same concerns about technology and advising. For context, I am Generation Xer. Kevin Seymore, senior academic counselor, Oklahoma State University, April 7, 2009 In addition to my open, face-to-face office hours, I have online office hours two times a week. One of those times is at night, 8:00–9:00 p.m. I also use a blog to make announcements to my students—most of them have set up a notification to their e-mail so that they know when I have posted something. Donna Burton, assistant director for Curriculum and Teaching/academic adviser, North Carolina State University, April 7, 2009 We currently use Web CT and Facebook to communicate with our advisees. We have had great success with using these communication mediums. We also use the traditional e-mail, telephone, etc., as sometimes you must connect with individual students to resolve unique issues. Dr. Paul A. Machen II, academic advisor III, University of Texas at San Antonio, April 16, 2009 In addition to using traditional e-mail and course management systems, I like to use Facebook, because I believe it has enormous untapped potential for use as an educational tool. It has provided me with a way to remind students of important dates and deadlines and academic procedures. I also try to model good Facebook citizenship (i.e., give out helpful information and post appropriately). It is up to us as educators to teach students how to use social media wisely. Since it will be more prevalent in the future, we should use it to engage students now so that they are better informed consumers of social media when they are finished with higher education. What do others think? Adam Duberstein, academic advisor, Ohio Dominican University, April 16, 2009 I had a BlackBoard module set up just for advising. I contact them via announcements and through e-mail. I also use the announcements tab to post my advising hours, registration dates, when to file FAFSA forms, etc. I also post the career center recruiting dates and any other information I think may be helpful to my advisees. When they check into their other classes on BlackBoard, my advising module is visible and usually they catch sight of my announcements. I have approximately 70 advisees and our institution believes in face-to-face advising in order to improve retention. In the event that an advisee and I cannot meet face-to-face, I will “meet” them via e-mail or phone. Marie Andreoli, instructor and academic advisor, Keystone College, April 20, 2009 The Mentor is published by Penn State's Division of Undergraduate Studies Available online at www.psu.edu/dus/mentor/ Privacy and Legal Statements | Copyright | © The Pennsylvania State University | All rights reserved | |
