Dear Dissertation- I wanted to write a letter to you to let you know that I still love you. I feel like we’ve been drifting as of late, and I wanted to reaffirm our commitment. We’ve been courting for a long time. Three years ago, when we started flirting, I didn’t have an idea as... Continue Reading →
Native English speakers: Have you ever thought about the privilege that comes with your ability to speak English? On my recent trip to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, I was struck by the predominance of the English language. It was certainly a great benefit for me, considering my lack of knowledge of Arabic, but... Continue Reading →
How about one more Friday of fun? Gonna mix it up a little bit this time... SASSY Michael Kors... he's a little bit more risky, as he's not as sweet and lovable as Tim, but his style adds a little something new to the mix. 😉 Enjoy. If Michael Kors was a student affairs professional, this... Continue Reading →
As you probably know at this point, my research involves college students and how they construct a sense of self in digital and social media spaces. In conducting this research, I've encountered the term "digital identity" frequently. I've used it, and some of my doctoral student colleague friends have written about it (including Paul Eaton, Josie Ahlquist, and Ed... Continue Reading →
When thinking about my own experience in developing a residential curriculum, I'm reminded of a wordsmithing session I had with some colleagues. We were attempting to set some broad learning goals for our curriculum and we wanted to ensure that our language encouraged critical reflection but also allowed for a diversity of viewpoints. It took us... Continue Reading →
Are you bored this 4th of July week, desperately counting down the days until vacation? I've got a distraction for you. I need... we need... your help! I was searching for a solid list of professional associations in the student affairs/higher education field for my students and couldn't find one. The field is vast, always... Continue Reading →
Tweet I had so much fun with it last Friday, I had to do it again. (With a bonus appearance by Michael Kors.) If Tim Gunn was a student affairs professional, this is what he'd say... (Shout out to Academic Tim Gunn for the inspiration.)
Tweet http://youtu.be/fBLuzUk5NII (One of my colleagues and friends, Paul Eaton, wrote a great blog post about Bronfenbrenner's applicability to online/social media spaces. I also wanted to have a go at the topic, so I purposely didn't re-read his post until after publishing this one... and there's agreement... but with a twist... read on...) Urie Bronfenbrenner's theory of... Continue Reading →
Tweet Just a little fun on a Friday. (Shout out to Academic Tim Gunn for the inspiration.) If Tim Gunn was a student affairs professional, this is what he'd say...
Tweet I've been searching for a one year part-time job while I finish off my dissertation (HINT, HINT) and I quickly came to the realization that I needed something to make me stand out. For the past couple of years I've been encouraging the students I teach in the Higher Education master's programs at Boston... Continue Reading →
My fellow Boston College Higher Education student, Adam Gismondi, is doing some really interesting research into social media and student engagement. (Check out his entire site. It's full of fun thought-provoking tidbits.) I particularly enjoyed his new blog post on media literacy. Adam highlights an issue that I notice daily: clickbait. I recently put in... Continue Reading →
I had the incredible privilege of presenting on technology and social media to the student affairs staff at American University in Dubai (AUD) last week. Presenting internationally comes with its own set of opportunities and challenges, particularly as it relates to talking about social media and technology. I wanted to share three takeaways I had in... Continue Reading →
YikYak is a new social app released earlier this year that is quickly becoming popular amongst high school and college students across the United States. Its goal is to serve as "a local bulletin board for your area." It uses geolocation on one's smartphone to allow one to post short statements that are broadcast and searchable... Continue Reading →
(Picture above from the Kaumana Caves on the Big Island of Hawaii.) Knowing of my adventures in the past year, one of my students shared a passage with me from W. H. Murray's The Scottish Himalaya Expedition from 1951. The passage reads: Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all... Continue Reading →
A really great and useful piece by Josie Ahlquist on how to clean up your digital presence for a job search and then how to leverage it. Josie does some amazing research on college students and social media use. Her entire site is definitely worth a look.
LMU Graduation. Photo Credit: Anthony Garrison-Engbrecht
I write this post to the class of 2014 college graduates. Putting in four years to earn your undergraduate (or five…or six) I’m sure ready to go put that degree to work! You have the grades, the extracurriculars, internships, and even great references. But in todays fiercely competitive economy there is no guarantee that you’ll even get an interview.
Nope, many of those times I listed above are given. The leadership roles, high GPA, service projects, etc. Still nothing.
I have watched recent alumni take jobs at coffee shops after graduation, as I wonder if they can afford their student loan payments. Yes watch out, those payments kick in six months after walking across that stage.
Okay deep breaths, hope is not lost. You got this! Social media isn’t just for Instagramming your bling’d out graduation cap or staying in touch with your fellow…
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For Mother's Day 2014, I surprised my mom by flying home. She had no clue. Below is the video of her incredibly touching reaction when I surprised her. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w0mmT852CU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdemFfbS5H0 In the three months since it’s release, the video "#Selfie (Let Me Take a Selfie)" has been viewed nearly 100 million times on YouTube and has gone into heavy rotation. Although tongue-in-cheek, the video reveals some surprising nuggets of wisdom regarding social media engagement, particularly around Instagram. It also provides interesting insights into the underlying... Continue Reading →
"Digital Identity Isn't About (A Separate) Identity At All" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEaPb2NQqbE The video of my PechaKucha presentation on the big stage at the 2014 ACPA-College Student Educators-International Convention, is posted on YouTube! Woot! Check out the annotated slide version here. View it below. And see more from other presenters here.
This week marks the 1 year anniversary of my “travel binge.” When I began this journey, I felt a little lost and depressed. I needed a change of scenery. When I booked a flight to see my old friend Laura in Dallas last year, I didn’t expect it to turn into this. Being in a... Continue Reading →
I recently came back from the 2014 National Convention of ACPA-College Student Educators International... and it was AWESOME. The Convention Team really took to the challenge of "reinventing" the conference experience into something new. As a leader in the Association, I left the experience proud of what my colleagues had accomplished and excited that ACPA has become a... Continue Reading →
My research passion is about college students and how social media and technology impacts the developmental process. Unfortunately, I’ve found a lot of the discourse in student affairs around this subject to be lacking. When you attend a conference session or read a thought piece centered around this topic, they often focus on marketing, technological tools, and... Continue Reading →
This year the Convention team did a major overhaul of the schedule and session types to bring a fresh approach to our professional development. Much of this innovation relates to technology, social media, and cutting edge practices. Below you will find general sessions related to technology as well as the new "Genius Labs." In addition to these... Continue Reading →
I’m excited to be presenting on one of my research passions at the 2014 national conventions of both ACPA-College Student Educators International and NASPA-Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. My session on the future of higher education (see below) is something I’ve presented on before, but I’ve been able to update this presentation with about... Continue Reading →
Being an instructor in the Higher Education Master’s programs at Boston College and Merrimack College, and as former Res Lifer, I’ve always been interested in how to advance student learning outcomes through the use of technology and social media in classroom and training environments. I’ll have the opportunity to present on both at the upcoming... Continue Reading →
This is a story of one man's love affair with an airline and how, on one special Valentine's Day, they exchanged two special gifts. I fly JetBlue a lot and often tweet them here or there to ask a question, express an opinion, or just share them in a mention to my followers. Anyone who's... Continue Reading →
One of the most popular readings I assign in my spring semester Higher Education practicum courses is from The Quarterlife Crisis: The Unique Challenge of Life in Your Twenties. Although the cultural references within are somewhat dated, the concepts still resonate with their audience just as strongly. It seems to uniquely capture some of the... Continue Reading →
(UPDATE: JetBlue also gave me a very special Valentine's Day gift.) 🙂 For those of you that know me, you know I love the airline JetBlue and I fly them a lot. I’ve even achieved “Mosaic status,” JetBlue’s designation for frequent frequent fliers. During one of my most recent trips, however, I was reminded just... Continue Reading →
The Future of Student Affairs in 6 Minutes and 40 Seconds... The Future of Higher Education in 6 Minutes and 40 Seconds... The Future of Anything in 6 minutes and 40 seconds... The "Future Series" is something I first conceived of back in the Summer of 2012. The Future series entails a diverse group of... Continue Reading →
I'm heading to the Association for the Study of Higher Education national conference in St. Louis this week. I'm excited to be presenting a Future in 6:40 session with some amazing colleagues. (If you're new to all this, you can find out about PechaKucha's and what's been done in the past, here.) Here is what... Continue Reading →
I'm excited to have the privilege of speaking to and presenting a number of sessions at the Wisconsin College Personnel Association (WCPA) Fall Conference this week. For those of you that follow my blog and research, many of the topics I'm covering should be familiar to you. As I evolve, however, so do my presentations.... Continue Reading →
ACPA recently announced the keynote speakers for this year's Residential Curriculum Institute (RCI) and I'm excited to be a part of what's shaping up to be a great professional development opportunity. After attending the Institute for two years, I'm honored to be expanding my involvement by serving as a member of the presenting faculty. For those... Continue Reading →
I'm excited to be the opening keynote at this year's #SATechBOS Unconference. The event utilizes as a unique format that encourages peer-to-peer learning and interaction. It's a pretty interesting concept and a new take on the sometimes stale traditional conference format. Wikipedia describes it as follows: An “unconference“ is a participant-driven meeting. The term “unconference” has... Continue Reading →
Today, I am pleased to launch a resource page for higher education and student affairs professionals interested in organizing their own PechaKucha presentations as a part of the "Future Series." The "Future Series" is something I first conceived of back in the Summer of 2012. The Future series entails a diverse group of colleagues coming together to... Continue Reading →
A key part of a good presentation is finding and using the right images. The Internet has made this incredibly easy… easy to steal images, that is. When searching for images, most people go to the search engine of their choice and do an image search. This makes sense as it is an incredibly easy... Continue Reading →
Last week, StudentAffairs.com published a piece I wrote entitled, An Experiment Using Twitter in Teaching a Student Affairs Practicum Course, in their Journal of Technology in Student Affairs. (Please check it out and let me know what you think!) In one of the later paragraphs of the piece, I wrote about my plans for teaching... Continue Reading →
I'm launching a fun little experiment I call The Clown Nose Project! It's a simple project trying to spread a little fun and joy. The basic concept is this: Seeing pictures of normal everyday people in clown noses makes me smile. Brightening someone's day makes me smile. By harnessing the power of the internet, perhaps... Continue Reading →
Last week I had the privilege of being invited to speak to the amazing staff at Johnson & Wales University in Denver and also do a five-hour consultation on their social media efforts. I have done a number of social media consults for departments, and other campus entities, and one of the questions that always... Continue Reading →
Approximately one month ago, I wrote a blog post entitled “The Bacon Kitty George Takei Star Wars Experience” about my definition of social media. A few weeks prior, I had also titled a post, “Your Professional Network is Powered by Bacon.” After doing this, an odd thing happened. In the statistics for my website, “bacon”... Continue Reading →
I wanted to share one of my favorite applications of a seeming simple slide transition, the "push" effect. It is an excellent way to create the illusion of a camera panning across a large canvas. Prezi presentations use a more smooth variation of this effect, but you can recreate it in Keynote or Powerpoint. In... Continue Reading →
I decided to take a departure from my usual blog posts about presentations, social media, and student learning and development to reflect on the journey I’ve been taking for two full years now… that of a PhD student. For those of us privileged enough to undertake doctoral study full time, it presents an amazing opportunity... Continue Reading →
Many people ask me about resources available to help them become better presenters and build better presentations. There are two individuals that I think are doing particularly outstanding work. I highly suggest checking out their blogs and books. Links are provided below. Garr Reynolds Garr is perhaps my favorite author that speaks and writes on... Continue Reading →
Facebook Graph Search proves just how important building up your social network contacts can be. This new search feature, which has been slowly rolling out over the past few months, allows one to make “micro-level” searches. For instance, you can search for “my friends that like Lionel Richie” or “my family that visited Peoria.” These... Continue Reading →
I’m not completely above baiting people with key buzzwords on occasion to get more traffic. Bacon? Check. Cats and Kittens? Check. George Takei? Oh my! And Star Wars? What a Wookie. This semester I had the incredible experience of taking MI621: Social Media for Managers in the Carroll School for Management at Boston College. I... Continue Reading →
I'm excited to have been invited to present during a Presidential Session at the American Educational Research Association Conference this coming week in San Francisco, CA. Many of you may be familiar with my previous work in organizing a PechaKucha session for the ACPA-College Student Educators, International Convention this past spring. For those of you... Continue Reading →
I had a blast as a guest on the Student Affairs Live broadcast on Wednesday, April 24 at Noon EST. We talked about how to design and give presentations. I love this topic and frequently present on it, and media design in general, to my students. If you're curious about some of my work, you... Continue Reading →
Last week I started an experiment called the “6 Degrees of Esther Lloyd-Jones Project,” a play on Six Degrees of Separation and the popular “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” game. I was motivated by the desire to see how small the student affairs profession is and discover the power of crowdsourcing on the internet. It’s... Continue Reading →
I was lucky enough to be in Texas and not back home in Boston during the explosions at the Boston Marathon, but of course my thoughts were immediately with my students, friends and family in the area. I also had the firsthand experience of having my cell phone pinged with texts and messages from those... Continue Reading →
The Six Degrees of Esther-Llyod Jones Project is a crowdsourced initiative I started to learn more about how current student affairs professionals can trace their lineage back to some of the founders of our profession. Click on the following link below to go to the page where you will find out more information about the... Continue Reading →
“Door decs” with your name on it… Crafting in the lobby… An icebreaker where you rhyme your name with a vegetable… you might be surprised by how a college Resident Assistant (RA) goes about building and maintaining community. Of course, the RA position is far more complex than the stereotype that often gets portrayed, or... Continue Reading →
In his 1989 work, The Great Good Place, Ray Oldenburg floated the idea of our needing a “third place.” Our first place is our home, where we live. Our second place is our work, where we spend a large portion of our time. Our “third place,” however, is an informal space that brings us together... Continue Reading →
It's almost time for our PechaKucha experiment at the 2013 ACPA National Convention! Ed Cabellon, Patrick Love, Kristen Renn and I have been hard at work designing and rehearsing (and rehearsing, and rehearsing...) to get our presentations ready to go and out timing right. Believe me, it's harder than you might think. (Some of my previous blog posts on the... Continue Reading →
One of the more interesting phenomena I’ve come across in some of my research on college student interactions through social media is something I call the “Cult of the Like.” The “Like,” or the “Favorite,” or whatever your preferred social media network happens to call it, is a way of indicating agreement, acknowledgement, or affinity... Continue Reading →
Social media and Web 2.0 technologies have changed the way we collaborate and come together for collective action. Additionally, they are enabling us to achieve feats of unprecedented size and scale. They are helping us search for cures to cancer, they have allowed us to create a comprehensive world encyclopedia, and they have even toppled... Continue Reading →
I was honored to be included in Todd Wilmes' article on Forbes.com detailing predictions on what the future will look like in 2033. Contributing voices include: Ray Kurzweil on Technology Robert Kaplan on Global Conflict Khan Academy on Education Virgin Galactic on Space Travel Oliver Bussmann on The Global Workforce John Allen on Religion Dr. Gene Robinson on Global Climate, and Myself... Continue Reading →
I had the privilege of giving two presentations at the 2013 Dalton Institute on College Student Values at Florida State University in Tallahassee. The theme of this year's institute was "Character in an Age of Self-Promotion: Exploring the Role of Social Media on College Student Development." Obviously, perfectly suited for me and my research passions. 🙂 The abstracts and... Continue Reading →
I’m an insider, but an outsider. As a PhD student studying higher education, and as someone who has worked in colleges and universities his entire life, I’m completely comfortable in the classroom and in being surrounded by students. This semester, however, I’m an immigrant in a foreign land. I’m taking a course in the business... Continue Reading →
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... Continue Reading →
I teach three spring semester Advanced Practicum courses to students in Boston College and Merrimack College's Higher Education Masters programs. One of the readings I like to assign for the first class is a selection from Robbin and Wilner's Quarterlife Crisis: The Unique Challenges of Life in Your Twenties. Although the work has a few... Continue Reading →
I am excited to be a part of brining an innovative new type of presentation style to this year’s ACPA National Convention in Las Vegas. Myself and some of my favorite colleagues (Ed Cabellon at Bridgewater State University, Patrick Love at Rutgers University, and Kristen Renn at Michigan State University) will be presenting a series... Continue Reading →
As the details of the Newtown elementary school tragedy begin to come out, it’s caused me to reflect on my own experiences and calling as a student affairs educator. I work with a very different population of student, but the kinship I feel with the teachers of Sandy Hook is very much the same. I... Continue Reading →
I have the privilege of presenting a paper with some of my colleagues this week at the Association for the Study Of Higher Education National Conference in Las Vegas. Titled, "Capturing the Elusive: Accounting for Study Attrition and Complex Trajectories in a Longitudinal Study of Low-Income High School Graduates," this presentation examines a unique method... Continue Reading →
The terms “residential curriculum” or “curricular approach” are used to describe an intentional specifically-structured way of promoting learning in college and university student affairs programs. Borrowing from techniques utilized by classroom-based teachers, the curricular approach to student affairs designs a series of successive learning and engagement opportunities for students that are measurable against defined objectives.... Continue Reading →
I remember first encountering the Residential Curriculum Model back in 2006. My supervisor at American University had just returned from the first annual ACPA Residential Curriculum Institute. It was love at first sight. It just made sense. Why hadn’t anyone thought of this approach before? What many don’t understand about a Residential Curriculum (That’s capital “R” and “C”)... Continue Reading →
This semester I am collaborating with one of the Boston College Higher Education faculty members, Ana Martinez Aleman, on a new technology e-learning project called “MediaKron” for her Higher Education in American Society course. MediaKron is an online multimedia platform that was developed at Boston College as a means of presenting and enhancing course content.... Continue Reading →
I currently serve as the American College Personnel Association’s (ACPA’s) Coordinator for Standing Committees. Standing Committees are organizations in ACPA that represent some of the social identities present in the student affairs profession and in our work with students. In my role, I represent, coordinate the work of, and advocate for the Standing Committees for/on... Continue Reading →
I had the privilege of doing a teaching observation of a colleague this semester. I always love the opportunity to learn from other’s approaches to the learning process. I thought I would share some of my reflections and observations hoping it may help you too. The instructor and I both share an approach to teaching... Continue Reading →
It’s that time of year! Time to train the staff, open the halls, and start welcome week. I wanted to share one of my favorite tools, Poll Everywhere, and give you some suggestions on how to use it in creative ways with your events, student staff trainings, educational sessions, and in the classroom. Poll Everywhere... Continue Reading →
On occasion I’m asked to sit down with student affairs professionals and departments to consult on their social media presence. What always strikes me about these conversations is that many view social media as merely a new form of advertising. Social media is actually far more complex and possesses a different set of rules in... Continue Reading →
< Return to my Teaching Portfolio For me, teaching is a calling. From my earliest childhood memories, I remember loving to play “school.” This love of the entire process of learning has followed me throughout the changes in my career path. In any role, regardless of whether I am acting in the formal roles of... Continue Reading →
At left, Michelle Rhee's Time Magazine cover from 2008 when she was Chancellor of the Washington, DC schools. At right, two years later in 2010 after she resigned from office. Education and politics are littered with change sagas and heroes. I find individuals who enact radical change, however, to be particularly interesting. It always intrigues... Continue Reading →
This week, the folks over at TED just released a new initiative known as TED Books. Available through apps for iPad, Kindle and Nook, TED Books are meant to be the eTextbook complement to the innovative series of TED talks we have all grown to love. Following the TED tradition of brevity, they are all... Continue Reading →
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