TECH 101: An introduction for student affairs administrators

1. TECH 101: An introduction for student affairs administrators Jessica BishopPatrick DevanneyElizabeth HansenKyle Webster University of Maine

2. Why technology? Why us? • Strange & Banning (2001) identified computer-mediated environments as "rapidly engraining itself into the college campus among faculty and students alike." • Given this, it is pertinent for student affairs professionals to not only be aware of, but be familiar with the newest and most cutting-edge forms of technology being utilized by our students, both on and off-campus.

3. Today, we are going to present to you five areas of major interest to our students. The topic of technology and our students extends far beyond just these five simple areas, however, we hope to offer you a starting point from which to build off. We have additionally worked to incorporate these five areas as departments, much like we have in our Division, to help you better see a connection and need to understand. Presentation outline

4. Five areas 1. The Basics -your Orientation to technology 2. Blogs/ vlogs -Counseling and Advising, students voices 3. Institutional Spam -Campus Activities and the art of overkill 4. The Wireless Campus -Residence Life without the walls 5. Illegal Uses of the Internet -where technology and Judicial Affairs meet

5. New (Student) Programs Your orientation to technology

6. Why the basics? • Just as our students receive orientation to the University of Marsh Island, we would like to provide an orientation for you with definitions on key terms describing the basics of technology. • Like student orientation, this presentation will acclimate you to various aspects of computer technology. • The basics are the foundation of any issue faced in the realm of technology.

7. The basics: what are they? • Personal Computer (PCs) • PCs come in desktop and laptop (portable) styles. They provide the user with various features, including word processing, graphic design and, as applicable to this presentation, access to the internet. • Internet • A complex system that links computers to each other, allowing users to share information for others to view. The main use of the internet is to search for information and use e-mail. You connect to it through a telephone or cable line. • Websites • Accessed through the internet, websites are used to share information on an infinite number of topics. • E-Mail • “Electronic-mail” is correspondence that utilizes the internet for the sending and receiving of messages.

8. The benefits of the basics • Technology is a reality. It’s omnipresent on our campuses today. • These four things offer a foundation for the topic of "students and technology" • As Strange & Banning (2001) state, "the higher education community may not be a full step ahead of other segments of society in implementing activities associated with these new technologies, but enough has occurred that their value is being studied and networks are being implemented on campuses with considerable investment."

9. Problems/ issues • The primary issue that arises out of these basic foundations of campus technology comes when we, as administrators, fail to understand and utilize them • Our students use computers, we should too • Our students are online, we should be too • Our students have e-mail, we should too

10. Online Advising and Counseling Blogging and Vlogging: the newest forms of 'talking'

11. What is a blog/ vlog? According to Wikipedia.com, a blog is a user-generated website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order. The fastest growing form of blog today is the vlog, or videoblog. This is essentially a video-taped journal entry on any issue the person deems important.

12. Why should we care? • Vlogs and Blogs, while popular with all age groups, are an everyday part of a large number of students' lives • While names such as Boh3m3, William Sledd, and Perez Hilton may mean nothing to you, these are online celebrities whose views and commentary are welcomed into residence hall rooms and computer labs every day

13. What are the benefits? • Blogs and Vlogs are an outlet. They offer a space for students to express themselves emotionally, physically and artistically. • They allow for students to connect with others on and off campus who share similar views, ideals and cultures. As Keisler (1987) states, "computing (is) fundamentally a social activity."

14. Further benefits... • Students who struggle to find their own campus culture, i.e. LGBT, international, ALANA, are able to connect via Blogs to form online communities that can then translate into on-campus communities. • Blogs can be educational tools for reflection-based and dialogue-based classes.

15. What are some potential issues? • A key issue is "over-sharing" • Some students don't know when to stop and will give out way too much information, therefore putting themselves in a vulnerable and dangerous position. • People can "hide behind their screen" • Strange and Banning (2001) support this by cautioning against becoming the person who will lose out on important social development opportunities by preferring to stay in their rooms online.

16. Additional issues • Unnecessary controversy can arise when students are not properly trained on how to censor themselves when blogging. • Several persons have found themselves losing friendships, loved-ones and have even ended up behind bars as a result of blogging.

17. Some key spaces to know • Some blogging websites to be familiar with include: • Livejournal - largest site solely for blogging • Xanga • MySpace - largest blogging site • Facebook • Blogger • YouTube - largest Vlogging site

18. Campus <online> Activities Institutional Spam and the reason you always have so much e-mail

19. What is institutional spam? • Emails that are disseminated to a large number of people (i.e. the entire student body) within an institution.

20. Significance of institutional spam at UMI • It creates a sense of accessibility between campus administrators and students. • Faculty and staff can send the same message to the entire university community; messages that include important dates and reminders of events and deadlines. • It creates a sense of belonging for the recipients of those emails. • Environmentally, institutional spam saves trees because it is a practical, paperless medium for communicating.

21. Issues regarding institutional spam at UMI • Although there are many benefits to reaching a large audience with these emails, spam can clog student and administrators e-mail inboxes. • As a result, students may disregard important messages due to an overwhelming amount of institutional spam they receive. • Aside from e-mail inboxes, spam can also overload information technology systems. • Additionally, it can be just plain, flat-out annoying

22. Further issues • Because of the omnipresence of technology, emails can be checked anywhere. Opening an email that is institutional spam from the university administration could very well disrupt a weekend or an evening.

23. Why does it matter? • At UMI, the student activities office transmits institutional spam daily to the campus community to inform about upcoming educational programming and social events. • The institutional spam that is sent to students, while annoying to some, allows for everyone to find out about events and then leads to involvement as a result.

24. Why it matters, continued... • According to Astin’s Five Tenets of Student Involvement Theory (1985), "educational effectiveness of any policy or practice is related to its capacity to induce student involvement." • As an alternative to institutional spam, the Office of Campus Activities, along with other university departments, could use a variety of more effective communication methods (weekly newsletters, posters in residence halls and academic buildings, etc…) to inform the students about upcoming events.

25. Residence virtual Life Breaking down the walls for a wireless campus

26. What is it? • A ‘wireless campus’ refers to the phenomena of campus-wide access to networks, internet and other technologies without the need for wires. Specifically, it describes the increased use of the internet with laptop computers. It is no longer necessary to have your computer directly connected to a phone or cable line to access the internet, and with portable computers, you can be online almost anywhere.

27. Why it was chosen… • Faculty and staff need to understand how this technology has changed the way students work on campus. • Internet allows for work to be accessed & submitted from virtually any location. • Classes can be conducted without students meeting face-to-face. • It has changed the way students do their everyday work on campus.

28. Importance of the wireless campus • It’s revolutionary • New ways to communicate with people • Ability to conduct research online • Attend class from a different location, even a different state or country • With advances in wireless internet and laptops, students no longer have to visit their school library to find information and sit with classmates to complete projects. • Students are not confined to their residence hall; they can do work from the student union, a classroom, or even outside!

29. Benefits of a wireless campus • Students have the freedom to choose when and where they will do their work, allowing them to choose, at their discretion, study environments that are most beneficial to them. • According to Kolb (1984), learning is “essentially a person-environment transaction,” and so individuals need to be flexible and able to adapt to an environment that is conducive to them. • “Learning styles are influenced by…the demands of the present environment” (Kolb, 1984). Wireless technology gives students the power of choice.

30. Benefits of a wireless campus • The ability to take classes online, or at least access and submit materials, gives students the flexibility to leave campus if desired. • Staff can use wireless technology to their advantage by creating residential living communities that are not confined to residence halls • This fosters a community feeling by allowing students to physically interact with each other in study lounges and community halls while also being online • Also, the community feel can continue throughout the year, even when students are apart over breaks

31. Issues with wireless campus • For today’s students, a wireless campus is nothing new, as they grew up in a world of laptops, cell phones, iPods and PDAs. Those working on campuses across the country no doubt saw these devices creeping in, but perhaps do not understand the effect they are having on the college experience.

32. Issues with wireless campus • Increased internet use can mean decreased face-time. Students can avoid speaking directly to professors, potentially putting a strain on their academics; they can retreat to their room and avoid contact with others. • Residence life staff has a challenge to keep students engaged with each other, both physically and virtually.

33. Thoughts on the wireless campus • “When [Peter was] asked about his use of Wireless Technology, he replies, ‘I like the freedom to be connected to the Internet wherever and whenever I want. You can find a place on campus where you can be comfortable to do your work; you’re not confined to one area, as you would be if you had a wired connection’” (Sharp, 2001).

34. Illegal Uses of the Internet Where Judicial Affairs meets technology

35. What is an "illegal use?" • There are many illegal uses of the internet, including: plagiarism, identity theft, stalking, downloading (music, movies, etc.), and others. • Illegal use of the internet is a common occurrence on campuses throughout the world, including UMI. • The consequences of a student committing one of these illegal acts can be severe and may have a detrimental effect on the institution as well as the individual.

36. Problems with illegal uses of the internet • It's illegal! • Individuals may get into trouble with institutional technology services, administrators, or even state and federal law. • Institutions may also face conflict as result of the actions of students. The institution’s credibility may be compromised, their policies have to be kept updated regularly, and charges may even be brought against officials or the university itself.

37. Benefits of illegal uses of the internet • Students in fields such as media studies, communications and journalism can gain valuable research potential through illegally downloaded materials. • Students are able to utilize the internet for entertainment purposes that assist in enriching their socialization skills (music and video downloading). • Institutions are now beginning to purchase software or rights that allow for legal downloading. For instance, in 2005 the University of Washington purchased Dell servers that included caching software that will allow for legal downloading.

38. Here at UMI... • Illegal use of the internet impacts many departments on campus, especially Judicial Affairs and Information Technologies. • Students who interact with administrators in Judicial Affairs often are individuals who have not yet developed into the fully conscientious adults they are working on becoming. • Per Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development, students who exhibit behavior that conflicts with university policy, as well as state and federal law, need to progress to a point at which they “[uphold] the laws established by society and [carry] out the duties to which one has agreed.”

39. References • Astin. A. (1985). Achieving educational excellence: A critical assessment of priorities and practices in higher education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. • Kiesler, S. (1987). The hidden messages in computer networks. Harvard Business Review, 64(1), 46-60. • Kohlberg, L. (1976). Moral stages and moralization: The cognitive-developmental approach. In T. Lickona (Ed.), Moral development and behavior: Theory, research, and social issues (pp. 31-53). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. • Kolb, D.A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. • Read, Brock. (2005). Napster and Dell to Sell Music Services to Colleges. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 51(45), A38. • Sharp, W. (2001). Becoming a wireless campus…a student initiative. The Journal. Retrieved February 11, 2007 from: http://www.thejournal.com/articles/15433 • Strange, C.C. & Banning, J.H. (2001). Educating by Design. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.