April, 2008

Tom
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14
Apr 08

When in Doubt Ask A Librarian – The Leaders of Digital Literacy

When it comes to digital literacy, librarians are leading the charge in higher ed. But I think this is rather unknown within institutions which may result in us losing them as an extremely valuable resource.

I used to have an outdated image of librarians (see picture to right), but it’s changed and I can’t apologize enough for being closed minded about the evolving role of librarians in the digital age.

At most schools and conferences, there’s always a group of people excited, willing, and dedicated to learn about how to integrate the new tools into education. More often than not, this group is mostly librarians.

But my view is not shared by everyone as this teacher expressed in a debate over the need for librarians:

I know that in today’s schools, there are tons of teachers who need help navigating a new digital landscape — so “media specialists” are invaluable. But I think demand for these services will go down over time only because technology use will be embedded in the lives of young educators.

But technology is exponentially changing and I think it’s a mistake to require teachers to be held responsible for being the sole source of digital literacy among everything else they do. Also just because you use the newest technologies as most students do, doesn’t mean you know how to use them effectively as one teacher points out from the same debate:

In my experience, “younger” teachers don’t necessarily understand the effective use of technology in schools any better than older teachers. They may have vastly more experience in social networking or playing with Blabberize, but in terms of higher-level knowledge acquisition, application and synthesis, not so much.

I used to think student affairs professionals were the ones on the forefront of digital literacy because of their closeness to the students, but my experience has been different and often times I’m met with resistance in many forms from lack of time to contextual confusion.

It’s a matter of knowing about the tools and willingness to try them. Librarians know about the tools and try them. I think student affairs professionals should keep their local librarian on speed dial and ping them once in a while as an in house mentor of digital literacy.

Now when I attend conferences, I make it a point to seek out the librarians and attend the sessions they are hosting. Librarians are also active bloggers online, here is a list of some that I follow:

Hey Jude by Judy O’Connell

Librarian Philospher by Barry Bishop, Director of Libraries, Spring Branch ISD, Houston, TX

Library By Any Other Name by Vaughn Branom

Not So Distant Future by Carolyn Foote Westlake HS

PowerLibrarian by Janice Conger, Collegeville, PA

TechnoTuesday by Cathy Nelson

iLibrarian by Ellyssa Kroski, Reference Librarian for Columbia University and Information Consultant in NYC.

Tom
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12
Apr 08

Humor in Student Affairs

Del
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9
Apr 08

Developing Learning Outcomes in Student Affairs

Student learning outcomes are truly the first step in intentional programming.  Yogi Berra said it best:  "If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll wind up some where else."  Student learning outcomes help you to know where you’re going.

Whether you’re embracing Learning Reconsidered or following the CAS standards (Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education), you’ll find learning outcomes to be a valuable road map.  It’s a simple matter to develop them for your programs.  Here are some basic guidelines.

First, remember your ABC’s and sometimes D.  That stands for "Audience," "Behavior," "Condition," and "Degree."  These are the four components of a learning outcome.  In their simplest form, they go together like this: "Condition-Audience-Behavior-Degree." 

Here’s an example.  "After seeing the film ‘Snow White’ (the condition), the students (audience) will be able to name (behavior) five of the seven dwarfs (degree)."

Note that "degree" isn’t always necessary, and a perfectly fine learning outcome could be:   "After seeing ‘Snow White’ (the condition), the students (audience)
will be able to name the seven dwarfs (behavior)."  Degree just gives you some wiggle room regarding the level of learning that you expect to occur.

That’s pretty straightforward.  Of course, nothing is truly easy, or at least we all seem to believe that.  So keep these ideas in mind while you’re developing your learning outcomes.

1.  Start small.  Don’t try to develop learning outcomes for your entire schedule of events at once.  Select one or two to begin with, preferably reoccurring traditional events.  That way you can use the learning outcome every year.

2.  Make a list of what students should know or be able to do or demonstrate after a specific program.  Turn that list into learning outcomes.

3.  Don’t over think. Learning outcomes can be basic, like the "Snow White" example.

4.  Keep them assessable.  Don’t use behaviors like "will understand"  or "will appreciate"  because they are too difficult to assess.  Use behaviors like "will identify"  or "can list" because that is a behavior you can assess.

5.  Finally, relate your learning outcomes to the larger objectives and outcomes you are seeking.  Whether it’s Learning Reconsidered’s Seven Student Outcomes, the CAS Standards , or your own campus’ goals and objectives, make sure your outcomes are in line.

The University of Rhode Island has some exceptional materials to assist in developing Student Learning Outcomes.  "Student Learning Outcomes 101" and "Student Learning Outcomes 201"  contain all the basics, and can really jump start your writing. 

Tom
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8
Apr 08

The Student Leader Blog – Pleave Give a Warm Welcome

The success of The Student Affairs Blog over the past 8 or so months has been wonderful. Everyday we have new professionals finding us and using the information here as a resource. They are professionals who, like you, are connected to or care about students affairs.

From the beginning we always wanted to start a similar blog for student leaders so they could swap ideas, frustrations, and joys back and forth. The blog would be written by and for student leaders. Well last month we officially launched The Student Leader Blog.

We messaged a few students who had expressed interest in the past about being a part of the core team for the blog. Tania Dudina, from Hunter College, is heading the blog organization and has already shown her depth of knowledge on student leadership through her posts. Our newest blogger is Megan Millisor from Cuyahoga Community College and already her first post has generated a great discussion.

The team is looking for just a few more student leaders to write for the site. So if you have a student in the office who is looking for the challenge to be a peer leader around the country and to grow their personal portfolio, contact Tania for more information.

To personally follow The Student Leader Blog you can:

- get new posts via email by clicking here
- get new posts via RSS by clicking here

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