We’re nearing the 2013 ACPA National Convention, and I’m excited to be gearing up for a unique presentation with some of my favorite colleagues. In a previous blog post, I outlined and explained what the “PechaKucha” presentation method entailed. Now I want to share what myself, Ed Cabellon, Patrick Love and Kristen Renn have been cooking up! Just prior to the convention I’ll share some more resources and a twitter hashtag for those of you how may want to participate from home.
Abstract
Four presenters at various stages in their careers were given the task of pondering “the future of student affairs.” Addressing this theme through four short PechaKucha-style presentations, presenters will each speak over a series of 20 slides that automatically advance every 20 seconds. The topics include: Student Development Theory for Cyborgs, Ignore at Your Own Risk: Serving College Students in For-Profit Institutions, Why Unconferences are Better than This One, and Marketing: An Emerging and Urgent Competency in Student Affairs.
Our Individual Presentations
(in alphabetical order, for lack of a better means of organizing)
Student Development Theory for Cyborgs
Presented by Paul G. Brown
Current student development theories explain the impact of technology on development without examining how technology may change the developmental process itself. Recent neurobiological research, however, reveals that interacting with technology causes changes in the physical wiring of our brains (Prensky, 2001; Small & Vorgan, 2011). This technology is also increasingly being integrated with our brains in more intimate ways (Case, 2012; Kurzweil, 2005). This presentation will argue for the need to revise contemporary student development theories to incorporate the changing nature of the way students receive, process, and interact with information and others as a result of technology.
Why Unconferences are Better than This One
Presented by Ed Cabellon
In Student Affairs, we talk about how important the “out of class” and co-curricular experience is for our students, but what about for our staff? In 2012, most of our conference models (even ACPA’s!) we still teach and learn the same “classroom” way… but why? In this part of our presentation, we will talk about why the Unconference model is the future of professional development in Student Affairs and how easy it is to implement in your current trainings, workshops, and conferences!
Marketing: An Emerging and Urgent Competency in Student Affairs
Presented by Patrick Love
Joshua Bell, arguably the world’s current greatest violinist, played in one of D.C.’s busiest metro stops for 45 minutes during a peak time. He was passed by 1100 people. He earned $35. This story says many things, and one is that if you portray yourself or your work as average, that it what it will be perceived to be. Marketing—telling the story and impact of our work—must become a core competency in student affairs, especially as it pertains to our impact on the student experience. In this section, I outline specific steps we must take to accomplish this.
Ignore at Your Own Risk: Serving College Students in For-Profit Institutions
Presented by Kristen Renn
While the majority of Black, Latino/a, veteran, and first-generation students attend non-profit institutions, they are strongly over-represented at the for-profits (Aud, Fox, & KewalRamani, 2010). Most student affairs professionals work at non-profit institutions and many dismiss for-profit institutions – analog, online, or hybrid – as places where important work happens. In this presentation I argue on the basis of promoting educational equity for expanding a view of the student affairs profession to include for-profit institutions as locations for student learning and development.
References
Brown references:
Case, A. An illustrated dictionary of cyborg anthropology. Retrieved from: http://cyborganthropology.com/
Kurzweil, R. (2005). The singularity is near: When humans transcend biology. New York, NY: Penguin.
Prensky, M. (2011). Do they really think differently? In M. Bauerlein (Ed.), The digital divide: Arguments for and against Facebook, Google, texting and the age of social networking (Kindle Locations 299-524). New York, NY: Penguin Group.
Small, G., & Vorgan, G. (2011). Your brain is evolving right now. In M. Bauerlein (Ed.), The digital divide: Arguments for and against Facebook, Google, texting and the age of social networking (Kindle Locations 1196-1491). New York, NY: Penguin Group.
Renn reference:
Aud, S., Fox, M., & KewalRamani, A. (2010). Status and trends in the education of racial and ethnic groups (NCES 2010-015). National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
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