The 150th Post! Thank you!

Today is my 150th post. This has been a LONG journey, but a much needed one. Sometimes, I feel that I have to express my gratitude, triumphs, and sorrows to someone. This blog and all of you (the readers) enabled me to blossom during the past year and a half.

Through this blog, I have come in contact with many interesting people. This people include:

a) Amy - The Ch-Ch-Changing Librarian
b) Amanda - An outstanding librarian from my institution
c) Dr. Lora (*smile) - My SSCA friend and research partner
d) The Millennial Law Professor
e) Jaclyn Schiff - A fellow millennial, who is bound to make a strong impact on society.
f) Dr. Julie-Ann M. McFann - The new professor mentor.
I have been intellectually touched by many of you, but sometimes I forget your names. Please forgive me if I accidentally left your name off of the list.


If you have not subscribed to this blog, please do so. I keep a running count of readers, followers, and subscribers through google. It makes me happy when I have a few additional readers than the previous day! :)

Helicopter Parents and Their Millennial Student(s)

Helicopter Parents are EVERYWHERE! Fortunately, I have not have the pleasure of speaking with any of my students' parents (outside of summer orientation/parent's days). However, some of my colleagues have had the pleasure of doing so on a regular basis. I try to keep myself abreast of the new articles regarding the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, but it seems parents (and students) utilize a variety of strategies that may challenge the rights provided by this act.

For example, it seems that a few millennial undergraduate students give their parents access to their university (and personal) e-mail addresses. Sometimes, I will receive an e-mail from a "student", only to discover that the e-mail was written by a parent and submitted through the students' e-mail or blackboard account. However, all of the e-mail that I received (via their student's account) have been focused on upcoming or past absences/sicknesses.

As a professor from the millennial generation, this was very surprising to me for a variety of reasons:
a) I would never give my mother (or father) access to my e-mail account.
b) My parents just learned how to send e-mail. However, they do not use the feature frequently.
c) I feel that college independence contributes to the student development process. Therefore, students should learn how to prepare for the post-graduation world through this four (perhaps five or six) year acculturation process.

Today, I found an article titled, "How Not to Be a Helicopter Parent - but Still Be a Parent". It seems this article/book's content will help our undergraduate students' parents become less involved in their students' lives, but more involved in sustaining a positive experience that conducive for student growth and development.

What experience do you have with helicopter parents? What are your opinions of helicopter parents?

Millennial Professor

Tangential vs. Non-Tangential Teaching Styles

Today, I discovered an article focused on tangential, but relevant comments from professors during their lectures. This article, "Classroom Teaching Methods: Are Your Lectures Sidetracking Student Learning?", made me think about my teaching style.

I thought this article was interesting, because I have never had a professor who excluded tangential comments from their lecture. The researchers utilized an experimental research design to discover if tangential comments enhance or slightly diminish a student's ability to retain important details from a sample lecture.

Their research study yielded results that affirm null hypothesis that many professors believe - tangential, but relevant comments enhance the lecture and the students' ability to retain vital information from the lecture. I will have to try tangential vs. non-tangential lecture styles during my two interpersonal communication classes next fall and I will employ the note card technique to test the results.

For those of you who deliver workshops or teach college/high school courses. What do you think of these results?

Millennial Professor

What? I Have to Be ACCOUNTABLE for My Words?: Professors and Online Content

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tamaleaver/

Some colleges and universities are encouraging their faculty to record their lectures and to post them online (either a university-based website or a site like youtube). However, professors are on both sides of the fencepost on this issue. Some professors are excited about the possibility of uploading their lectures online and others are afraid of the potential consequences.

Recently, the Chronicle of Higher Education featured an article titled, "Caught (Unfortunately) on Tape: More College are Recording Lectures, so More Professors are Learning to Watch Their Words". In the article, one of the professors stated, "[W]hen it [the lecture] is recorded, "and you say something you shouldn't-you make a joke about a fellow scholar-then what if it gets out and suddenly you're sued for slander?""

http://www.flickr.com/photos/courosa/

Slander is one of the many issues that professors encounter in their journey towards tenure/ promotion in the digital age. Despite all of the video cameras and recording devices that currently exist or that may appear in classrooms in the future, I believe professors should maintain a sense of self in the classroom. I worry that professors will not be comfortable in their own skin if they fear the potential repercussions of their statements.

"Most classrooms are still free of microphones and cameras (the latest Campus Computing Survey, which tracks information-technology trends, showed that only about 3 percent of courses are recorded)" (Young, 2009, p. A17). However, the last sentence of the article states, "Some professors suggest that the best approach is to go into every class session assuming that their words could be broadcast to the world" (p. A17).

I believe professors should take this information into consideration. It seems more universities are offering online courses to cope with the recession (Pawlowski, 2009). Therefore, more professors may be asked to upload their lectures to compliment their PowerPoint presentations. Who knows what the future may bring to the higher education environment? It is always advantageous to be prepared!

Millennial Professor

References

Pawlowski, A. (2009, March 18). Ride out the recession in a virtual classroom. CNN.com. Retrieved April 9, 2009, from http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/03/18/economy.online.degrees/

Young, J. (2009, March 20). Caught (Unfortunately) on Tape: More College are Recording Lectures, so More Professors are Learning to Watch Their Words. Chronicle of Higher Education, 55(28), A17.