Minding their i’s and e’s:

1. Minding their i’s and e’s: The Use of iPods and ePortfolios to engage first-year students with emerging technologies. By Agnes Hooper Gottlieb, Ph.D., Dean of Freshman Studies Seton Hall University

2. Seton Hall University • Catholic diocesan university • 5000 undergraduate, 10,000 students overall • New York suburb/city is a train-ride away • 150 years old • Six undergraduate colleges: A&S, Education, Diplomacy, Nursing, Business, and Theology

3. Pre-Fall objectives • The student will confirm attendance at orientation. • The student will complete placement testing before attending orientation. • The student will become more comfortable with the laptop computer that is distributed at June orientation. • The student will complete alcohol.edu. • The student will read the summer book. • The student will complete a library tutorial. • The student will become familiar with the learning portal Blackboard. • The student will become familiar with the university, its policies and services.

4. Technology IDs and user accounts given early Early introduction to the university’s learning platform Placement tests adminstered through university portal Laptop distribution in June Scavenger hunt Weekly chat sessions Summer homework Podcasts Summer Reading Nine Distinct Components

5. How we get the students involved • Beginning in March, Freshman Studies sends home brochures to engage the students and invite them to involve themselves in the life of the university • A Blackboard community is populated as early as March so that the new students learn to enter the technology portal the way we want them to.

7. Blackboard as the portal to reach new students • We created a “Class of 2011” portal in Blackboard. • We use it for Placement Testing. • We use it to communicate with the new students. • We use it as the repository for all the forms that students need to submit (health forms, immunizations, insurance waivers). • We use it to make announcements and to connect students with their University Life course before the semester begins.

8. Laptops are an integral part of the program • Seton Hall’s mobile computing program is now eleven years old. • All new Seton Hall students receive a laptop when they come to Pirate Adventure orientation in June. • University shifted to this because we thought it would help students connect to the university and bring more students to the June orientation sessions. • It worked! • But we didn’t want them to have laptops with nothing to do. So…

9. We put them to work over the summer!And here’s where the iPods came in.

10. Laptops in June • We didn’t want to just hand students a laptop and let them play. • Created a deliberate program to encourage students to interact with the university’s IT throughout the summer. • Gave the students assignments that required them to use their laptops.

11. iPods: two approaches • Students listened to their summer reading last year. The assignment was an audio CD of Billy Collins, the former poet laureate, reading his work. This year, the students are reading The Kite Runner, but can also download the audio version, which is read by the author (interesting possibility for a research presentation – is there a difference between the students who read or the students who listen to the book? Stay tuned!)

12. iPods • We also introduced the students to the use of podcasts to learn about the university. • Last summer, we created 11 podcasts to introduce students to Freshman Studies, the summer reading project, counseling and health services, the Violence Prevention Project and other areas. One podcast, for example, explained to students how to listen to poetry. We interviewed an English professor for that one.

14. Podcasts: finding a place beyond Freshman Studies • The university also began using podcasts to preserve lectures and archive cultural events.

15. ePortfolios • Project is the outgrowth of a Curriculum Development Initiative with the university Teaching, Learning and Technology Center. • Project began in Fall 2005. • Involved the entire Freshman Class. • Required the re-design of our University Life freshman seminar to accommodate the new initiative.

16. Assessment • Freshman class was assessed after the fall semester. • 84 percent of the class participated in the survey. • Of this group, 66.7 percent said they understood the importance of the ePortfolio assignment. • 68 percent said the ePortfolio system was easy to use. • And, 89.4 percent said the mentor, who teaches the University Life course, and the peer adviser who assists were able to answer the technical questions. • 33 percent said the podcasts helped prepare them for the first year of college.

17. The Doubloons Project • Plays on the SHU Pirate mascot • Seeks to engage SHU students as soon as they have completed orientation. • Encourages students to familiarize themselves with the SHU web site, with SHU departments and services that could benefit them. • Prompts the students (and rewards them) to complete the “chores” that they must accomplish in order to be students in good standing.

18. How it Worked • We distributed a notice to all students at orientation telling them to log on to blackboard to start the search. • We gave them hints that encouraged them to explore our academic and student oriented departments. • We posted regular hints to continue use.

19. What the Students Said: • 42 percent of the freshman class participated in 2005; 56 percent participated in 2006. • And 53.7 percent of the entire freshman class said the project was helpful in learning how to locate important SHU resources on the website. • The hunt was active for 104 days. • 5983 doubloons were collected in 2006.

20. Doubloon hunt 2007 • The Doubloon hunt began in earnest this year on June 22 – just as the first Pirate Adventure orientation ended. • In just three days, 1,400 doubloons were collected.