In doing my research I often come across great tutorials on social and digital technology as well as excellent examples of their use in higher education.  Rather than keep them to myself, I decided to post them publicly to help others “get up to speed” on these tools and their uses.  Out of this came the following site.  Below you will find links to pages including information about, tutorials on, and examples of social and digital technology use in higher education and student affairs settings.  I continually add information and swap out updated information as I find it. This page also serves as a supplement to the many presentations and speaking engagements I give on the topic.  Sometimes clients ask me to do a pre-speaking or post-speaking bootcamp on technology to extend the learning for participants.  This contains that information.  Enjoy!

Tech & Social Media Tools:

Tech & Social Media ToolsThe use of social media is nearly ubiquitous amongst the traditionally aged college and university student population.  The Pew Internet and American Life Project found that 89% of Americans ages 18-29 years old reported being on social media.  Within this population, the most popular platforms reported, in order, were: (1) Facebook, (2) Instagram, (3) Twitter, (4) Pintrest, and (5) LinkedIn.  There are other platforms that are also popular with this generation not included in the Pew survey, such as Snapchat.  Below you will find links to pages with information about the basic functionings of these sites as well as a few others.  Social media is constantly changing, so I will attempt to keep these links and tips as current as possible.  Do know, however, that this is a moving target.

Click to learn more about each tool.

Click to view.

social_media_coverIf you’re looking for a more comprehensive source, you may want to look into this free online social media toolkit from UCISA (also available as a PDF download).  Although it was written from a British perspective, the concepts and tools are easily transferable to a US-based context.  The toolkit covers a number of areas including strategies for student engagement and learning, policies, legal issues, and managing and implementing platforms and tools.

Looking for other technology tools you can use in your work?  I regularly post “spotlights” on useful technologies, tools and apps.

Bloggers and Podcasts on Social Media Engagement and Measurement:

Special thanks to Liz Gross for these book and blog suggestions.

Usage & Other Statistics:

Usage & Other Statistics

If you’re looking for summary statistics on social media use by college and college-age students in the United States, there are two sources that I consider the best out there:

The Pew Internet and American Life Project – Using broad based surveys of the United States population, Pew breaks out many of its findings by age demographics that can help in identifying trends in traditionally-aged college student populations.  They provide the best overall statistics on social media and technology adoption.

EDCUASE Center for Analysis and Research – EDUCAUSE is the leading professional organization for IT professionals and technology issues in higher education.  They conduct annual surveys and provide excellent summary research on what technology current college students are using and how they are using it.  (Specialized to higher education.)

Teaching & Training:

Teaching & Training

There is a lot of great research and work being done in this area.  I’m still pulling some of it together for this site, but the flooding presentation may help get you started.  It includes research into faculty use of social media from Pearson as well as my own take on what platforms/technologies are best suited for teaching or training environments and the types of learning outcomes they can advance:

Organizations and Resources for Online and Blended Learning:

Academic Articles & Journals:

Academic Articles & Journals

From my research, this is a list of useful citations of academic articles and publications on social and digital technologies’ impact on college and universities and their students.  (A few general resources on tech are included.)  See also this resource for How To Cite Social Media in Scholarly Writing.

The following is a list of specialized journals related to educational technology and online teaching and learning.  Bolded titles indicate those that I believe to be of greater significance and/or quality.

Policies, Competencies, and Standards:

Resources-Icon.005Social Media Policies
My friend, Dr. Laura Pasquini, compiled a database of campus social media policies and guideline documents that is a useful tool for others looking to develop their own.

Competencies and Standards in Education

ACPA/NASPA Competencies for Student Affairs Educators now includes a technology competency.

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) focuses on K-12, but has useful Technology Standards that can be applied to a number of educational contexts, including higher education.  They have Standards for Students, Teachers, Administrators, Coaches, and Computer Science Educators.

HigherEdTech Professional Development and Peer Learning Opportunities:

Books

Resources-Icon.007The following includes useful books related to social media and technology. It should be noted that books, although great overall reference tools are often woefully out-of-date almost as soon at they are published when it comes to social media and technology. I have tried to select some of the works that I think either (a) present an important historical marker or perspective or (b) are likely to be the most durable and enduring in terms of the concepts they identify and discuss. If you’d like the latest scholarship, check out my previously mentioned page highlighting citations of academic articles and publications related to social media and technology in higher education.

Digital Citizenship and Digital Leadership

Higher Education, Emerging Adults, and Social Media

Higher Education and Technology Trends

Other Social Media, Technology, and Society Works

Postmodern Psychology and Digital Selfhood

Free Stock Images:

Resources-Icon.006While not about EdTech per se, here are a few of my favorite websites for free-to-use stock photos:

StockSnap.io
Negative Space
Cupcake
Life of Pix
Unsplash
FoodiesFeed
Pexels 		ISO Republic
Ramrot
Death To The Stock Photo
New Old Stock
Picography
Madeleine
Public Domain Archive		 Jay Mantri
IM FREE
Free Real Life Photos
Gratisography
pic jumbo
NYPL Digital Collections

Additional Resources

Resources for Higher Ed and Student Affairs Bloggers

SAwrites & BloggingA number of colleagues and I developed a conference session called “SAwrites” that provided resources for college student educators interested in blogging.  The following contains helpful tips and other information from that session and additional resources I’ve developed since. The “#SAwrites” hashtag is also frequently used on social media channels to denote original content from higher education professionals. Join in the conversation and consider contributing your own blog. (You can also add your blog to an ongoing list that indexes higher education and student affairs bloggers.)

10 Guiding Questions a Successful Student Affairs Blogger Can Answer:

  1. What is your niche?
    1.  Pick an area of focus that you are passionate about.
    2.  Think about what others are interested in reading.
  2. What is your brand?  Your identity?
    1.  Be strategic in choosing focal areas that enhance your career.
    2.  Think about the types of posts for which you want to be known.
  3. How can you be authentic in the way you represent yourself?
    1.  Acknowledge all comments and tweets.
    2.  Don’t humblebrag.
  4. What platform and technological tools should you use?
    1.  Purchase a domain name that reflects you and/or your blog content.
    2.  Pick a domain name registrar.
    3.  Pick a blogging platform.
  5. What is your blog design and what does it convey?
    1.  Pick a blog theme/design.
    2.  Think about what you want it to convey.  Whimsical?  Modern?  Serious?
    3.  Think ahead to the functionalities you want in a design.
    4. Think about accessibility and universal design.
  1. How will you promote your blog?
    1.  Tweet new posts with appropriate hashtags.
    2.  Enable sharing on your blog posts.
  2. How can you unify all of our digital presences? (And do you want to?)
    1.  Cross link and weave your presence together for greater lift.
    2.  Think about which audiences your different channels target.
  3. How can you interpret your traffic data and analytics?
    1.  Determine which post topics gain the most traction.
    2.  Determine the best times to post for your audience.
    3.  Explore links to your blog and popular search terms.
  4. How can you responsibly write, cite, and give credit?
    1.  Give credit and mentions liberally.
    2.  Understand Creative Commons licensing.
  5. How can you engage the community?
    1.  Engage in conversations that arise from your posts.
    2.  Deal with negative comments constructively and don’t take it personally.

Higher Ed and SA Bloggers:

A listing of bloggers who write on topics related to higher education, student affairs, and related topics.

Group Blogs:

Other Blogging Resources:

Suggested platforms for publishing a blog:

SAC-PodcastThe Student Affairs Spectacular Podcast

Topic: Paul Gordon Brown on Blogging in Student Affairs (12/2/2014)

Student Affairs Resources

Student Affairs Resources

The following links are various resources related to student affairs work that may be helpful to you. Some of them are technology related and some of them provide overall generalist resources for connecting in the profession. Many of these listings are crowd-sourced, so please feel free to add your own content. When doing so, please be mindful of the pre-established formatting. Remaining consistent will ensure that these resources are easily accessible for all. Have other ideas of resources I should add? Let me know.

Student Affairs Social Media Hashtags

A listing of commonly used higher education and student affairs hashtags and their focus/community.

Higher Ed and Student Affairs International/National Professional Associations

A listing of international/national professionals associations (with a US-centric bias) and their websites and social media accounts.

Higher Ed and Student Affairs Local Professional Associations

A listing of regional and local professionals associations in the United States and their websites and social media accounts.

Higher Ed and Student Affairs Job Postings and Placement

A listing of job posting sites and placement conferences in the United States centered on higher education and students affairs.  Additional resources for the job search included.

APA Citation

Resources to help with APA citations.