ALA/ACRL Conference - Reflection (The Book Proposal Process & Working With Your Campus Library)

Readers,

The ALA/ACRL conference inspired me to start my book proposal process this summer. In fact, I spoke with a book publisher on Monday and she provided me with some promising information about this grueling process. I have been very reluctant to start the book proposal process because I believed that the market is saturated with books on my interests (i.e. - social media, online teaching and learning, and training and development). Could I offer a different perspective? Perhaps.

If any of you could provide me with insight into the book proposal process, I would be very grateful! 

This conference made a BIG impression on my life as a faculty member. Unfortunately, a lot of people feel that librarians do not conduct research and are just there for reference purposes. However, this is not true! Throughout the conference, I became very interested in information sciences and in library sciences. In fact, if every faculty member would have a brief meeting with one of the librarians at their institution, I think they would discover that librarians work VERY hard to stay current on research from a VARIETY of different fields, perform continual  assessment and evaluation of their programs and services, and are the lifeblood of our higher education institutions.

After attending this conference, I think that I will invite a librarian to attend a chat session for my online speech class. Since some of my students are located outside of the United States, I think this will be a very beneficial service for these students. They use the library research databases, but I think the students will greatly benefit from this small gesture. Also, it seems that when some students hear a research suggestion  from their instructor and they do not implement the suggestion. However, if they hear the research suggestion from a librarian, they will implement the suggestion in a heartbeat!

I hope to incorporate the library in a variety of different ways next semester. How do you plan to work with the library next semester?

Sincerely,

Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards
Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

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Wandering Wednesdays - Top 50 Blogs By Education Professors

Readers,

Today's Wandering Wednesday post is focused on a website titled, Ph.D. in Education (http://www.phdineducation.org/). This website is dedicated to providing graduate students with the information and tools needed in order to purse their doctoral degree in Education.

Recently, this website posted an informative post on the Top 50 Blogs By Education Professors

This post features the following sections - General Education, Education Administration, Education Technology, Elementary/Secondary/Special Education, Higher Education/Adult Education, Educational Psychology and Counseling, and Library and Resource Management. Here is the link to the post -
http://www.phdineducation.org/top-50-blogs-by-education-professors.html

Under the Higher Education/Adult Education section, the following blogs were featured...

A Millennial Professor’s View of Higher Education: This professor focuses on communication technology in higher education.

Rick Osborn’s Continuing Education Blog: A look at higher education and adult education.

Higher Education, etc.: This blog is written by a doctoral student, who also teaches classes.

CEHD News: A blog from the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development. Interesting news and resources.

ProfHacker: Information from two professors on teaching in college.

One Ontario College Prof’s Blog: A look faculty relations.

Adventures in Canadian Post-Secondary Education: An interesting perspective from this education professor.

Adrian Barlow’s Blog: The Institute of Continuing Education at Cambridge has a blog devoted to education.

Continuing Education: This adjunct offers great insights.

Great list! Check out their website and blog!

Sincerely,

Here's the link to their lists and website links -
Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

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Teaching Tip - Quick and Easy Ways to Use Google Documents for Collaborative Undergraduate Research Endeavors

Readers,

Good morning! Over the past year and a half, I have become a major proponent of Google Documents! This free, online software has changed the way that I teach class an also it has enhanced the way that I distribute information on Blackboard. For example, I create Google Documents for each of the five undergraduate research groups in my class. I am able to monitor their progress along the way and I am able to leave comments for the group members when they are not present on the document. 


During the time in which I integrated Google Documents in my online and face-to-face classes, the online software has greatly increased the amount of features that are available to users. For example, now I am able to leave a comment on a group research document and the students are able to address the comment by modifying the document (and marking the comment "resolved"). When a comment is "resolved", I receive an e-mail informing me that this section of the document has been addressed. 


I am very thankful that Google has enabled the Google Documents app to remain free (at least for the current time), because some of my students are not able to afford the MS Word software suite and most of them work half or full-time and are unable to meet with their group members outside of work. Google Documents enables these students to "meet" with their group members on the document anytime. I have seen some students "meet" at 3:00 a.m. in the morning!

Here is one of my recent videos on Google Documents for my students.

Enjoy!

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

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ALA/ACRL Conference Recap/Thank You EBSS!!!

Readers,


Today, I just arrived back from the ACRL/ALA conference in New Orleans, LA and I am THANKFUL to the Education and Behavioral Sciences Section (especially Dr. Vanessa Earp) for inviting me to speak for one of their sessions! I had a great time delivering the presentation and I received a wealth of questions and great feedback after the presentation. Click here for my presentation: LINK


Not surprisingly, my presentation and my millennial approach was very different from my counterpart, Dr. Gene Roche, Director of Academic Information from  College of William and Mary. He presented an alternate perspective of the millennial college student and he incorporated research focused on the mental processes of college students. Then he posed a question focused on whether or not colleges and universities should appeal to millennial college students' wants, needs, and learning styles OR should millennials adapt to the college environment.


Here's my perspective, every organization changes at least one aspect of their policies, procedures, or processes to attract future members/employees and to retain current members/employees. Higher education institutions are no different, they have to adapt as well. New recruitment methods, new services and programs, and new (revised) teaching methods are essential if these organizations wish to remain relevant for the current and future student/faculty/staff populations.


As a result, Dr. Roche and I complemented each other's presentations by presenting a vastly different point of view focused on millennial college students. Thank you ACRL Education and Behavioral Sciences Section (especially Dr. Vanessa Earp) for this wonderful opportunity!


Sincerely,


Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards

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