iPad2 - The Sequel (Communication Technology at Its Best!)

Readers,

I have to tell all of you about my wonderful husband! On iPad Friday, my husband was determined to purchase an iPad2 for my birthday! After working all day teaching at a local high school, he stood outside of the Apple Store for two hours! Amazing man!



However, his efforts were in vain because these new devices sold out within a 30 minute time frame! So, on Saturday, we spent SIX hours driving around the DFW area to find a 3G iPad2. Best Buy decided to capitalize on the high demand and low supply of the iPad2 and they implemented the reservation program! For $100.00, customers could reserve an iPad2 and the company would call you when a product arrived. Yes, this sounded like a great idea at the time so we went for it!

On the way back to the car, I had a bright idea to call the AT&T Stores in the area and each of the stores in Dallas and Fort Worth were completely sold out! On a whim, I decided to call the AT&T Store in the town in which my university is housed (which is an hour an a half outside of the DFW area) and they had FOUR iPads left! I wish that I would have known this very important fact before I left work on Friday! :) I was very excited to drive to that AT&T Store to purchase my iPad2! It is amazing!



Five Features that I LOVE about the iPad2:

1 - It is available in white! I think this looks a little more professional than the black.
2 - It has a camera and a video camera!
3 - It has FACETIME! - This will be great for videoconferencing or virtual office hours on the go!
4 - It is slender and lighter than the original.
5 - I LOVE the new cover!

I really think that the iPad is the ultimate communication technology tool!

Sincerely,

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

Freebie Friday - Adobe Connect (Webinar Software)

Readers,


In this week's posts, I wrote about undergraduate research and ways to help undergraduate students disperse their research. Recently I discovered Adobe Connect on my iPad. This is a wonderful software system that enables presenters to upload their power point slides into Adobe Connect to provide viewers with an interactive presentation. 


Here's the free aspect. Adobe Connect is offering a free 30 day trial! - http://connect.webinar.us.sem.adobe.com/content/try?sdid=IEBDP&skwcid=TC|22191|webinar||S|p|5894734222






I plan to activate their FREE 30 day trial next month to provide my undergraduate students with an interactive forum to disperse their research. Now, I have to worry about the technological capabilities at my university and what our current classroom will enable us to do. I might have to switch classrooms for our presentation day! :)


Have a great week! Enjoy the free product for 30 days!

Sincerely,


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

This Semester's Undergraduate Research Project (Spring 2011) - Organizational Communication

Readers,

This semester we are STILL working on undergraduate research papers in my upper-level communication courses (organizational communication and interpersonal communication). This year, they chose some very interesting topics!

Organizational Communication Topics:

Millennial Undergraduate Students' Expectations of Workplace Benefits

Millennial Undergraduate Students' Perceptions of Etiquette on Social Networking Websites

Millennial Undergraduate Students' Perceptions of the Dangers of Social Networking

Millennial Undergraduate Students' Perceptions of Work-Life Balance (My Sample Document for the Students)

They are excited about submitted their projects to a journal! :)

Sincerely,

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

This Semester's Undergraduate Research Project (Spring 2011) - Interpersonal Communication

Readers,

This semester we are STILL working on undergraduate research papers in my upper-level communication courses (organizational communication and interpersonal communication). This year, they chose some very interesting topics! VERY INTERESTING topics!

Interpersonal Communication Topics

Millennial Undergraduate Students' Perceptions of Trust Issues in Interpersonal Relationships

Millennial Undergraduate Students' Perceptions of Stalking and Geo-Tagging on Social Networking Websites and Interpersonal Relationships

Millennial Undergraduate Students' Perceptions of Security, Stalking, and Tagging on Social Networking Websites and Interpersonal Relationships

Online Dating Website Users' Perceptions of Technology and Interpersonal Relationships

Millennial Undergraduate Students' Perceptions of Defriending on Facebook (My Sample Document for the Students)

I provide a sample document for the students and I provide feedback for the students throughout the semester! Very busy semester!

Unfortunately, we do not have a on-campus forum for the students to present their undergraduate research during the spring semester, but we will have a forum in the fall semester. However, I always have to think outside of the box and this semester I think that we will host a poster competition OR a webinar for the students to present their research.

If you have ANY ideas, PLEASE let me know. I am VERY open to ideas! :)

Sincerely,

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

My Academic Life is Organized By My iPad....

Readers,

It appears that iPads are here to stay! The iPad2 will be released in a few weeks and I am ready to get my hands on the NEW ONE! I use my iPad for EVERYTHING! Here's my top ten uses of the iPad (in no particular order).

1 - Presenting an electronic ticket when boarding a plane.
2 - Finding my way around a city via Google Maps.
3 - Constantly checking email.
4 - Presenting Groupon coupons at retail locations.
5 - Blogging and more blogging!
6 - Checking voicemail on Google Voice.
7 - Writing papers.
8 - Keeping myself accountable for completing tasks on Google Tasks.
9 - Grading papers on Blackboard.
10 - Conducting virtual office hours.

I use this wonderful device for MANY things! In addition to a professor's uses, several of my students use their iPads to play music on Pandora, check email, write reminders, and sometimes to take notes.

"iPads: A Bane or Boom to College Teaching?", an article by Josh Fischman in the Chronicle of Higher Education, explores a study highlighting students' usage of iPads in a college classroom. One interesting aspect of the study took place at the end of the course when students has the option of using iPads or a laptop on the Internet-based final examination in class. Only one student chose take their final examination on the iPad. Very interesting! I wonder did the study focus on the students' perceptions of the device as well. I wish that I was able to conduct such a study in my classroom! Here's the link to his article - http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/author/jfischman

Very interesting! What do you think about using iPads in your academic life or in your classroom? Contribute a comment! :)

Sincerely,

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

One Educator's Paperless Approach to Teaching Millennials

Readers,

One of my favorite bloggers, David Andrade (http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/) wrote about his paperless approach to his high school classroom. Higher education faculty and student affairs professionals can adopt some of these methods for their day-to-day activities as well!

Here are some of his wonderful ideas!

1. His students' lab reports, online work, and projects are all created electronically and submitted via e-mail or a web-based program. Then he grades the assignments on his mobile device.

2. He uses online resources(Google Docs, Discovery Education, web sites, and class blogs) in his classes instead of a textbook. In addition, he has access to the textbook pages and instructor resources in PDF format.

3. He stores information in "the cloud" (i.e. - Dropbox, Sugarsync, and Zumodrive), which enables him to access his documents at work, at home, and from any computer. 

4. He takes pictures of his whiteboard, students' posters, etc. and uploads the pictures on Evernote.

Here's the complete article - http://www.google.com/gwt/x?source=reader&u=http%3A%2F%2Fteachpaperless.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F02%2Funfettered-by-stuff-or-why-i-dont-lug.html

Amazing ideas! Share your teaching paperless ideas by typing in the comment box! :)

Sincerely,

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