All too frequently, we become enamored with the bells and whistles of technology without taking a step back to examine our goals for using it. Bill Ferriter, of the Center for Teaching Quality, created the following image to demonstrate how learning to use technology can be conflated with learning what technology can enable us to do. It provides... Continue Reading →
This past semester while teaching in Merrimack College's Higher Education Program, I played around with a new assignment for my students. Instead of the standard end-of-the-year "lessons learned" presentation in my practicum class, I had my students do it in a PechaKucha-style format. As you may remember, PechaKucha is 20 slides set to automatically advance every... Continue Reading →
In the practicum course I taught in the Merrimack College Higher Education program this semester, I had the students experiment with the creation of online portfolios. Online portfolios can be an excellent opportunity to promote reflective practice as well as give students a leg up in the job search. They can follow you throughout your... Continue Reading →
I had the pleasure of presenting with Dr. Susan Marine, one of my fellow faculty members at Merrimack College, on concepts of classroom flipping. What is flipping? Here's a useful definition from Wikipedia: Flipped classroom is an instructional methodology and a type of blended learning that delivers instructional content, often online, outside of the classroom and moves activities, including... Continue Reading →
Once a month I reblog a post from a colleague that I think deserves to be shared more widely. This month’s comes from Dr. Paul Eaton, who is researching similar topics as myself: the impact of social media and digital technology on the college student developmental process (or as Paul would describe it, “becoming”). Take a look at this great post from Paul on how one may integrate concepts of “digital identity” into traditional college student development courses. Some great resources here.
It is the start of spring semester here at Louisiana State University. I am fortunate, blessed, and honored to once again be co-teaching our Master’s Level Student Development Theory course, alongside Dr. Danielle Alsandor and Kristin Satterlee (pedagogically, team-teaching is an incredible opportunity to add diverse perspectives to a classroom).
We have decided to add discussions of ‘digital identity’ to our syllabus. This is an ethical responsibility, necessary and important for future leaders in our profession. If you are teaching student development theory this spring, or in the near future, consider adding this important new component to your syllabus.
Many synoptic texts do not currently have chapters dedicated to this topic, so here is a list and brief overview of some readings we are including this spring.
Becoming and Belonging
This chapter, by Rob Cover (2014), is part of an excellent edited text from the University of Wisconsin Press entitled
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Any of my good colleagues and friends who are doing research into college students and social/digital technology will tell you that the distinction between formal and informal learning is an important one to understand. Small and Vorgan (2011) state that technology has ushered in “a new culture of communication—no longer dictated by time, place, or even how... Continue Reading →
From the first ACPA PechaKucha session, to its adoption as a conference-wide event, a number of faculty have begun to utilize the presentation style as a class assignment for their students. For a few years, I have avoided assigning this to my own students. I thought it was just too hard. That it required too advanced a... 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 →
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 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 →
< 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 →
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