Friday, December 30, 2011

The Year in Review - Top 10 Wired Campus Blog Posts in 2011 & Freebie Friday!


Readers,



I am an avid blog reader and sometimes it becomes overwhelming to visit my Google Reader and to read all of this wonderful information from various authors from across the world! Here are some great lists from various sources focused on the top higher education blogs in 2011! 


Here are the top three articles from their list:




Readers - Here is our last FREEBIE of the year! Something for YOU and for your students!

Free $10 Kindle Textbook Credit! - Prior to making a purchase, enter the code ETXTBOOK and click the "apply" button. Your $10.00 credit will be automatically applied to your amazon account. This offer is valid from December 30, 2011 to January 9, 2012. PLEASE tell your students about this great offer!


Enjoy!

Sincerely,

J. Edwards

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.
Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41
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Thursday, December 29, 2011

The Year in Review - Top 10 Education Technology Apps for Higher Education in 2011





Readers,

I have had an iPad1, iPad2, and I am very excited about potentially purchasing the iPad3 when it debuts in a few months. So, I am eager to stay abreast of the new educational technology apps that are available for the higher education environment. Here is my top 10 list of #edtech apps for higher education....


1 - Blackboard Mobile Learn (FREE)





2 - Goodreader (Great for Organizing PDFs)


iPad Screenshot 1


3 - Evernote


iPhone Screenshot 1


4 - Ebscohost




5 - Gradekeeper (Great for Attendance AND Grades) - LINK OR LINK





6 - Adobe Connect


iPhone Screenshot 1

7 - iMovie


iPhone Screenshot 2


8 - iHourglass (Thanks Jenna @ http://ecampusnews.com/)


iPhone Screenshot 1


9 - Inkling


iPad Screenshot 1


10 - Course Smart


iPad Screenshot 1



Enjoy!

Sincerely,

J. Edwards


Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.
Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41
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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

The Year in Review - Top 10 Technology Trends in 2011 (and projections for 2012)



Readers,


I am a sucker for technology at home (i.e. - the iPads, iPods, etc.) and I admit that my work is filled with technology as well! Here are a few of the best higher education #edtech tools for 2011 (according to various sources)...

According to CNN, here are five of the "Top Ten Tech Trends for 2011"!


1 - Touch Computing


2 - Social Gestures


3 - NFC and Mobile Payments


4 - Beyond the iPad


5 - TV Everywhere


According to Tech News World, here are five of the "Top Ten Tech Trends for 2012"!

1 - Voice Command (like Siri)

2 - E-mail Decline

3 - Cable Box Decline

4 - Hosted Services

5 - App Stores

Enjoy!

Sincerely,

J. Edwards

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.
Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41
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Monday, December 26, 2011

The Year in Review - Top 10 Millennial Professor Blog Posts in 2011!




Readers,


This has been an amazing and exciting, yet tiring year! This week, we will review several TOP TEN lists that are focused on higher education! Today's list is focused on the Millennial Professor blog!

Monday - Top 10 Millennial Professor Blog Posts in 2011

Tuesday - Top 10 Higher Education News Stories in 2011

Wednesday - Top 10 Technology Trends in 2011 (and projections for 2012)

Thursday - Top 10 Education Technology Apps for Higher Education in 2011

Friday - Top 10 Wired Campus Blog Posts in 2011 & Freebie Friday!

Here are the Top 10 Millennial Professor Blog Posts in 2011:

By the way, THANKS for visiting our blog this year! We had 7,087 visits and 10,297 pageviews!

#1 - How to Cheat on Blackboard (1,078 views)







#8 - Netflix in the Classroom? (108 Views)



Enjoy! Thanks for all of your views this year! :)

Sincerely,

J. Edwards

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.
Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41
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Friday, December 23, 2011

Freebie Friday - Request a Kleenex Cool Touch Sample!


Upright Holiday Oval Tissues Box - Blue

Readers,

I have been REALLY blessed NOT to have a cold this season, but I have had the pleasure of using this new product - Kleenex Cool Touch Tissue.

My review - This is one of the most AMAZING tissue products EVER! It IS really cool to the touch and I sincerely think that the product will be around for a LONG, LONG time! Request a free sample from Sam's Club here - LINK

Sincerely,

J. Edwards


Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.
Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41
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Thursday, December 22, 2011

EDUCAUSE 2011 Annual Conference - Streamed Sessions (Another Professional Development Opportunity)



Readers,

Here is ANOTHER great resource from the EDUCAUSE website. I hope that I am able to attend next year. Our financial resources for travel are very small, but I hope that I am able to gain a sponsorship to attend the conference next year. :) Any takers?

Each of the following links include archived tweets from the session, a video of the session, a podcast of the session, 

Here are several of the FEATURED sections of the conference:












Enjoy!

Sincerely,

J. Edwards

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.
Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41
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Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Our Animoto Christmas Card! - Happy Holidays from the Texas Social Media Research Institute (TSMRI)!




Readers,

This semester, I learned SO MUCH about social media from Ms. Yvonne Mulhern (Tarleton State University). She introduced me to a WEALTH of new social media tools. Most recently, she informed me about ANIMOTO! :)

Here is our Animoto Video Christmas Card!

Thanks Yvonne (@misscybrarian)! You are amazing!


Here's some more information about Animoto and the new iPhone App!



Sincerely,

J. Edwards

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.
Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41
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Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Educause and Professional Development from HOME or the OFFICE


Readers,

I am always seeking neat professional development activities that I can integrate in my everyday (very busy) life without spending a registration fee.

The Educause website never ceases to amaze me, because they are always posting innovative videos. Only current members are able to access the videos that have been released during the past six months, but EVERYONE is able to access videos that are slightly older than six months.

Here are some of the videos to which EVERYONE has access:




Enjoy!

Sincerely,

J. Edwards


Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.
Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41
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Monday, December 19, 2011

Social Media Conference 2011 (#SMC2011) - 6 Awesome Reflections from the Conference




Readers,

The Social Media Conference reached over 200 people! We were very excited about our conference attendance and sessions!

Here is some of the press and blog posts from our conference:

Ms. Yvonne Mulhern (@misscybrarian), one of our TSMRI co-directors, recently created the following...

1 - A Storify Link for #SMC2011 - LINK

She has been an AMAZING person to work with this semester! I am SO glad that she is a co-director of TSMRI!

2 - Mr. Kurt Mogonye, wrote a flawless media release about #SMC2011! He also took MANY pictures during the conference and we are VERY thankful for him!

Social Media Conference Organizers


The J-TAC 2011
3 - Our student newspaper, the J-TAC, published a story titled, "Interest to Pinterest From recipes to wreaths, social media site encourages users to get crafty"

4 - Mr. Justin Carrell (a #SMC2011 Presenter) published a blog posted about our conference - LINK.


5 - Ms. Amanda Pape, an AMAZING librarian at Tarleton State University and #SMC2011 Presenter, wrote the following post on her genealogy blog, "Social Media in Genealogy and Family History: Tech Tuesday Tip". 


6 - One of our conference attendees, the Ambitious Cowgirl, wrote this post about our conference, "Sorry for not blogging!".

Do you have any suggestions for next year? We would like to make the conference BIGGER and BETTER next November! :)


Sincerely,

J. Edwards

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.
Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41
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Friday, December 16, 2011

Pinterest in Higher Education Series (#PinterestinHigherEd & Febreze Freebie Friday) - 5/5 Ways to Use Pinterest in the College Classroom Environment (My Pinterest Boards)


Readers,

Today is the DAY that I share my boards with you! Many of my colleagues (from my university and conferences) and a lot of my students are on the Pinterest website as well! Here's my Pinterest Account - Follow Me! :) 

I have 16 Boards and here are a few...






****I plan to work on a social media board and an infographics board very soon! :)

Also, here's a freebie, because it IS freebie Friday! I love to place a Febreze plug-in on the walls of my house and in my office. These plug-ins create a holiday ambiance for the students (as well as myself during the grading process).


Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

J. Edwards
Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.
Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41
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Thursday, December 15, 2011

Pinterest in Higher Education Series (#PinterestinHigherEd) - 4/5 Ways to Use Pinterest in the College Classroom Environment (Cruising Boards)


Readers,



Yes, I am ENJOYING the Pinterest blog topic! As I write this post, I am pursing boards and pins to place on this post. I plan to post at least 15-20 blog posts that might be relevant for your college courses.

Here's a disclaimer - There are A WEALTH of boards created by primary and secondary teachers. USE these boards to create your higher education boards and gain ideas for your research. For example, here is a board from DoReMiGirl (I assume she is a elementary school teacher).

On her "Around the School Teaching" board, she has a few great ideas and infographics that can be used in various college classes.

Bucket List - Great for goal formation.

Bucket-O-Fun (Featuring ping pong balls) - Great for an extemporaneous speaking activity or reflection activity!

Just What Does Your State Do Best - Great for presentations

Here's another great board from Ryan Paul Smith titled, "Images for Presentations"

Enjoy! Please let me know if you find another board or if you have great ideas for the Pinterest website in higher education.

Sincerely,

J. Edwards

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.
Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41
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Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Pinterest in Higher Education Series (#PinterestinHigherEd & Wandering Wednesdays) - 3/5 Ways to Use Pinterest in the College Classroom Environment (Gaining Teaching Ideas via Pinterest))




Readers,

This week's Wandering Wednesday post is focused on a local university, Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth. Their Center Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) always has a WEALTH of great and inspiring blog posts - LINK. In November, Amy Collier posted an awesome post titled, "Some Thoughts on Teaching with Pinterest"

In her post, she focuses on the following:

1 - Emphasis on visuals and visual appeal.

2 - Easy collecting and sharing of topics, ideas, and interests.

3 - Easy management and organization of resources.

Here is her teaching and learning board on Pinterest - http://pinterest.com/amcollier/teaching-in-higher-ed/

Thanks for some amazing ideas!

Sincerely,

J. Edwards

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.
Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41
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Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Pinterest in Higher Education Series (#PinterestinHigherEd) - 2/5 Ways to Use Pinterest in the College Classroom Environment (Finding and Organizing Infographics)




Readers,

One way to use Pinterest in Higher Education is to search for and organize infographics! Lately, I have started to use infographics in my upper-level communication classes and also in the Texas Social Media Research Institute's (TSMRI) events/activities.

Now for definitions! A infographic is a pictorial representation of data in a potentially engaging format. <- Hey, I just made that up! ;) 


Personally, I think that infographics will replace conference poster presentations in the next few years! The images seems to be more engaging than a traditional poster format. Which is GREAT for conference presentations, because you want the participants to visit YOUR poster! :) 

Also, students can use their self-created, infographics on blogs and in their in-class presentations. The only downside is the preponderance of ink that might be used to create the "infographic poster".

Pinterest can be used to ORGANIZE your infographics! Here's an example of one user's infographic boards on higher education (among other issues) - http://pinterest.com/hexiaobo/infographics/

Sincerely,

J. Edwards

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.
Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41
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Monday, December 12, 2011

Pinterest in Higher Education Series (#PinterestinHigherEd) - 1/5 Ways to Use Pinterest in the College Classroom Environment





Readers,

This semester, when I needed some downtime outside of the university, I started visiting the Pinterest website on my computer and iPad (thanks Melissa)! One of my students introduced me to this wonderful resource and I have been HOOKED on this pictorial social media networking website.


I always ask my students, "How can you use XYZ website as a scholarly or organizational tool as well as the social tool?" Now, I will have to ask myself the same question, "How can I use Pinterest as a research, classroom-based, or organizational tool?"


This week, I developed a few strategies and activities for using Pinterest as a social networking tool in higher education. Let me know what you think!


Sincerely,


J. Edwards

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.
Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41
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Friday, December 9, 2011

Happy Finals Prep-Week! - Treat Yourself at Marriott Properties During the Winter Break!


Readers,

During the break, I plan to accomplish A LOT of tasks! Non-academic tasks include wrapping gifts and placing the ornaments on the tree. Academic tasks include finalizing the spring syllabi, answering students' e-mail, finding grants, and finishing tasks for the Texas Social Media Research Institute (TSMRI). 

Despite the full schedule, I plan to take advantage of some wonderful last minute reservations at a Marriott hotel (or two) during the break. My hotel stay is always relaxing and I am more productive at a Marriott desk than I am at my own desk (whether at work or at home). There are just so many distractions at home and at work! Sometimes, you just have to treat yourself! This is such a funny video!



If you are interested in the Marriott Rewards program, please click this link...

If you need a referral, please let me know! - jennifertedwards@gmail.com

Sincerely,

J. Edwards


Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.
Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41
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Thursday, December 8, 2011

Happy Finals Prep-Week! - The Mini-Mental Vacation (Professors and TV Series)




http://blog.hootmag.org/

Readers,

During finals prep week, I allow myself to do SOMETHING to veg out for a few minutes each day! This rest enables me to focus on other activities that comprise my daily mini-mental vacation! Every semester the mini-mental vacation is always focused on a different activity. Past semesters focused on television series (thank Netflix)! I admit, I love Bones, Law and Order, Criminal Minds, and Mad Men! Yes, I have reached the semi-middle-aged threshold that looks forward to the 5pm and 10pm news! 

This year, I focused my efforts on Pinterest (because I do not have time for anything else). :) Next week, I will focus on how college professors can use Pinterest in their classrooms.

Sincerely,

J. Edwards

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.
Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41
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Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Happy Finals Prep-Week/Wandering Wednesdays - Frugal Scholar: Lessons from a Lifetime of Frugality


http://blog.hootmag.org/
Readers,

During this time of year, I am always searching for good deals for Christmas and for the month of January (which is always an economically LEAN month for our household). I am always reading frugal mommy blogs and frugal couple blogs to gain ideas and insight into how our household can save money. Here's my hidden secret, I also spend money on my "mobile classroom" at the beginning of each semester (even throughout the semester). The items that I purchase include the following: post-it notes, markers, in-class incentives, kraft bags for in class activities, books, etc.). 

Now, I am super excited to feature the following frugal professor blog (one of the first that I have ever seen). Introducing the Frugal Scholar Blog - http://frugalscholar.blogspot.com/. This author (who does not identify herself) describes herself as a, "pathologically frugal professor, wife, and mother".
I will definitely follow her blog via Blogger and I cannot wait to discover which subject she teaches and for which university she is employed.

Her recent posts in the months of November/December include:




Enjoy!

J. Edwards
Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.
Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41
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