AEJMC: Social Media in the Classroom: Social Media in the Classroom: Tips from a Millennial Professor

I submitted this entry as part of the AEJMC social media competition:
AEJMC: Social Media in the Classroom: Social Media in the Classroom: Tips from a Millennial Professor

As a professor from the millennial generation, I hold social media to a high regard in my undergraduate communication classrooms. To incorporate social media in the “Foundations for Speech Communication”, “Organizational Communication”, and “Interpersonal Communication” courses (averaging 25 students), I combined my efforts to create opportunities for different classes to interact with one another (and the campus) through social media. To reach the students in my online and face-to-face classes, I decided to incorporate Twitter and Youtube as experiential activities.

Twitter Embedded in Blackboard

On our campus, we use Blackboard as a content management system for online and hybrid classes. Recently, I discovered that I could embed widgets (java application) into the main course page. I added my professional twitter account username [name of account] to the widget and this enabled my students to remain abreast of course updates and to have more of a social presence with their professor. In addition, the students had the option to follow me on twitter [@accountname] to ask quick questions and to provide short updates on their daily life.

YouTube - “Go Green or to Not Go Green” Speech Contest

During the last week of April 2010, I worked with another professor in the communication studies department to create [name of university]’s first virtual “To Go Green, or to Not Go Green” Speech Contest on YouTube. After delivering their last speech of the semester, outstanding students from the introductory communication course were encouraged by their peers to enter the Youtube contest. Four finalists’ speeches (three females and one male) were uploaded on Youtube and the campus and surrounding community were invited to vote on the top speech for the week. This social media-based contest was a true success and it resulted in slightly over 5,000 votes (via Google Documents - forms feature) over a five-day period.

Twitter - “To Go Green or to Not Go Green” Five-Day Interactive Activity

This week also featured a five-day interactive activity on Twitter (@departmentaccount). This activity was offered as an extra credit assignment to each of the three classes (and the campus). To obtain the extra credit, participants were required to post responses to four of the five daily questions. These questions were:

-DepartmentAccount #2GOGREEN2NOT What is your favorite commercial (on television OR Youtube) related to the GO GREEN movement? Post a link! :)

-DepartmentAccount #GOGREEN2NOT - Question of the Day: What is your favorite company AND what does this company do to GO GREEN?

-DepartmentAccount #2GOGREEN2NOT - Today's Question - What did YOU do to go GREEN yesterday (Tuesday)?

-DepartmentAccount #2GOGREEN2NOT - Thursday's Question - Calculate your carbon footprint (http://ow.ly/1Ewfx) and post your reaction to it.

-DepartmentAccount #2GOGREEN2NOT - Friday's Question - What is your evaluation of [Name of University] Green Week? What could we do to make it better next year?

Slightly under 30 students participated in the activity and their comments were posted (and forwarded) through the Hootsuite website. This activity enabled the students to become familiar with a social media that most of them have not used before and the students were able to build relationships with other classes. A similar activity was offered during the past semesters (Spring 2008 - Fall 2009) and most participants in prior semesters continue to interact with their peers and their professor through Twitter when the semester finishes.

Digital Dirt Presentation - Social Disclosure Intervention

To help students realize the potential implications of their social media profiles on their future job search, I formed a partnership with the Career Services Office to develop the “Digital Dirt” presentation. When we discuss social disclosure during the semester, the Career Services facilitators deliver the presentation for my classes. I administer a pre-test and post-test to see if the students’ perceptions of digital social disclosure change before and after the “Digital Dirt” intervention. Usually, the students’ perceptions change in four of the six categories on the assessment.

Overall, I enjoy incorporating social media in each of my classes. These classroom-based social media activities enable students to become familiar with a technology that prepare them for their future career.

Additional Readings:

Dunlap, J. C., & Lowenthal, P. R. (2009). Tweeting the night away: Using twitter to enhance social presence. Journal of Information Systems Education, 20(2), 129-135.

[Name of Author]. (2010, March). Twitter as an extension of the classroom. Academic Exchange Quarterly – Editor’s Choice Edition, 14(1), 35-40.

McFedries, P. (2009). Twitter: Tips, tricks, and tweets. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Publishing, Inc.

Young, J. (2008). A professor’s tips for using Twitter in the classroom. Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/blogPost/A-Professor-s-Tips-for-Using/3643/

Millennial Professor, Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards

Adopt This Technology: Slide Share - Teacher Tools to Connect

Teacher Tools To Connect

View more presentations from SweetSearch.

Millennial Professor Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

TLT Group FridayLive! Webinar: Professional Development 2.0: Social Media and Personal Learning Networks (June 25, 2010)

Readers,

This is a great invitation to a  free training on June 25th provided by "The TLT Group, Inc."

Check it out! - http://tltgroup.roundtablelive.org/Default.aspx?pageId=338009&eventId=152180&EventViewMode=EventDetails

Sincerely,

Millennial Professor 
Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

"To Go Green, or to Not Go Green" Week! - Spring 2010

Readers,

The last week in April, I worked with another professor in our communication department to sponsor the following activity! I just wanted to share the links with you!

J. Edwards

 "To Go Green, or Not to Go Green" Week
Sponsored By: Tarleton State University - Communication Studies Dept.

April 26-30, 2010

(Dr. Edwards & Prof. Horton)http://tinyurl.com/TARLETONGREENWEEK

This week, we have THREE activities for you!

ACTIVITY 1 - View the four entries for this year's speech competition -http://tinyurl.com/GOGREENVIDEOS

VOTE! - Top Speakers for "Go to Green, or to NOT Go Green" Week

(Cast your ballot - link)

ACTIVITY 2 - View the 27 post secret cards on this webpage OR in the Dick Smith Library display case.

VOTE! - Which Post Secret Card is the MOST CREATIVE and which post secret card has the MOST IMPACT? (Look at the images here OR take a look at the library display!)

(Cast your ballot - link)

ACTIVITY 3 - Follow our twitter hashtag #2GOGREEN2NOT to participate in our daily discussions (and contests) focused on the green movement.

Today’s Message! - #2GOGREEN2NOT What is your favorite commercial (on television OR Youtube) related to the GO GREEN movement? Post a link! :)

Enjoy GREEN WEEK!

If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Edwards (jtedwards@tarleton.edu) or Prof. Horton (horton@tarleton.edu).

Millennial Professor 
Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

The Millennial Gardener - In Between Semesters!

Yay, the spring grading is over and gardening has begun! Here are some new pictures of the garden! No, I am not researching plants... :)

Millennial Professor 
Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

FridayLive! Catching the Wave - An Introductory Exploration of Google Wave

Readers,


This is a great invitation to a  free training on May 21st provided by "The TLT Group, Inc."


Check it out! - http://tltgroup.roundtablelive.org/Default.aspx?pageId=338009&eventId=152180&EventViewMode=EventDetails


Sincerely,

Millennial Professor 
Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Thank You Dissertation Chairs! - Someone Quoted My Dissertation!

Today, I wrote this e-mail to my dissertation chairs...

I am writing my weekly blog entry for the TACUSPA blog (http://tacuspa.blogspot.com) and I always include recent dissertations published from Texas institutions focused on the monthly topic. So, I am searching for HBCUs and HSIs in Texas and I discovered on ProQuest that someone quoted my dissertation back in 2008!

The Dissertation:

Muldrow, A.. Achievement motivation in African American college students. Psy.D. dissertation, Old Dominion University, United States -- Virginia. Retrieved April 17, 2010, from Dissertations & Theses: Full Text.(Publication No. AAT 3338396).

The Citation:

However researchers have noted that, for African

American college students, it is their relationship with faculty members, (esp. African American)

which is key in improving their ability to cope with these experiences to succeed academically

(Edwards, 2007; Smith 2003).

Her Reference Citation:

Edwards, J. (2007). Supports for and barriers to on-time graduation as perceived by

african american undergraduate students at historically black colleges and

universities and historically white colleges and universities. Doctoral

Dissertation, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas.

Yay! This just made my day! You should be proud! 

Jennifer

Millennial Professor
Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

This Week's Playlist for Grading Papers!

When I busy grading speeches and papers. I HAVE to listen to music OR watch a good movie. For some reason, this helps me focus on the task at hand. I know that I only have a playlist or a movie worth of grading to complete, so the process begins and ends when the playlist/movie is complete. Enjoy!

Millennial Professor
Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Advertising Your College Courses... An Innovative Way!

I placed this blog entry under "technology in the classroom", but I should have placed it under a category titled "advertising your college courses". I think this is a great way to advertise your college courses AND to SHOW what you do in your classrooms.

Besides, who actually reads those e-mail advertisements for new courses anyway?




Millennial Professor
Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Ways to Move Your Facebook Fans to Action

Do you have a facebook fan page for your classroom or for your consultancy practice? Promote yourself AND interact with your fans!

Mari Smith at the Social Media Examiner offers 13 Ways to Move Your Facebook Fans to Action. This helpful post takes a look at strategies organizations with Facebook Pages can use to increase their Fans’ engagement levels. Here are the top 5 recommendations:

1. Ask questions
2. Use the words “you” or “your”
3. Keep it short
4. Post in high-traffic windows
5. Respond promptly

Visit the page and tell me what you think! :)

Millennial Professor

Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Do You Experience Information Overload? Here's a remedy! - A Video of Coping Strategies

I experience information overload EVERY morning and evening. I have five e-mail accounts, four courses on blackboard, a facebook account, a myspace account, linkedin account,

In addition, I participate in scholarly writing at least two times daily, engage in virtual office hours 5+ hours a week, update two blogs on a weekly basis, and I usually respond to e-mail within a 24 hour period. This amount of information becomes overwhelming to me, especially when people expect an instant response.


This week, I will attempt to adopt some of the strategies introduced in this video - "The Digital You: Attention, Multitasking and Addiction" - Frontline.

Millennial Professor
Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

GenYES - A Technology Course in San Juan School District

Gen Yes from Jeff Darrow on Vimeo.

This is a very interesting video from the GenYES class in San Juan School District in California. What do you think? 

Millennial Professor
Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

A Great Co-Curricular Program - "Reflection Week" (Stephen F. Austin State University)

Today is the first day of "Reflection Week" at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, TX (my alma mater). After reading the campus newspaper, The Pine Log, a couple of weeks ago, I decided to highlight Reflection Week on my blog.

Here is the overview:


This merger between student affairs and academic affairs at Stephen F. Austin State University is an ingenious effort to reach students from both sides of the spectrum. This week enables students to reflect on concepts they learned this year and how these concepts helped them become better individuals. 


Monday, April 26th - WELLNESS: Students have an opportunity to win various prizes by responding with correct answers to wellness questions. This day will also feature an all-day open house in the recreation center. 

Tuesday, April 27th - LEADERSHIP: There will be a make-your-own "Wax Axe" table, a journaling wall, video blogging opportunities and prizes. 

In the evening, Jack Sacco, author of "Where the Birds Never Sing," will speak about his father's experiences from boot camp to the invasion of Normandy and liberation of a Nazi concentration camp in World War II. 


Wednesday, April 28th - SERVICE: A photo wall will be set up in the Spirit Lounge for students to reflect on the impact of their community service over the last year. There will also be video blogging and prizes.

Thursday, April 28th - DIVERSITY: Students can find out how their culture influences the way they see the world with an interactive exercise. The event is sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs, Student Life, NAACP at SFA, Lumberjack Cultural Association, and the Organization of Latin Americans. Video blogging and prizes will be available Thursday as well.

At 7:30 p.m., The College of Liberal Arts and the Archie McDonald Speaker Series will host "An Evening with George Foreman" in the Grand Ballroom. 

Friday, April 29th - SCHOLARSHIP AND GRATITUDE: A Reflection Lunch, free to students, is "the highlight of the week," according to Dr. Adam Peck, dean of student affairs. It will take place from noon to 1 p.m. on the patio of the BPSC. Students and Dr. Michael Tkacik, director of the School of Honors, will speak on the subject of scholarship. 


I think this is a GREAT week-long program that will really make a differences in the lives of students, faculty, and staff at SFASU. Go Jacks! I hope the coordinator of the program uploads the videos on youtube!


Here is the link to a newspaper article promoting the event - http://media.www.thepinelog.com/media/storage/paper954/news/2010/04/12/News/Student.Affairs.To.Host.Week.Of.Reflection-3903803.shtml

Millennial Professor
Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Encouraging Students to Copyright their Creative Works!

Our students work hard on their class assignments and most of the time, these assignments are diverted to File 13 (the trash or a forgotten folder) after the class ends. However, in the higher education environment, we are encouraging students to present or publish their undergraduate research. This provides students and faculty to showcase concepts learned in the classroom and how the student(s) was/were able to gain new knowledge within a semester's time frame.

In addition, to the higher education environment, some high school teachers encourage their students to create and maintain wikis. These wikis enable high school students to have a record of their educational development. As a result of their students' efforts, faculty and K-12 educators might want to encourage their students to copyright their materials through the website Creative Commons.

Creative Commons - Draft 1


Millennial Professor
Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

"How Twitter in the Classroom is Boosting Student Engagement"

Here is a recent article I discovered about Twitter and how it can be used in the higher education classroom environment. This article, "How Twitter in the Classroom is Boosting Student Engagement".

What do you think?

Millennial Professor
Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Millennial Musings - Southern States Communication Association Conference 2010

Millennial Professor
Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Backchatter - Were Your Top Words Used in Tweets This Morning?

As most of my readers know, I LOVE twitter! I love integrating the website in my classroom, communicating with former students/colleagues, and gaining new information and I interact with faculty/staff from other universities. However, I always look for new and innovative ways to increase student engagement through this particular communication media.


Backchatter, a game about Twitter trendspotting, was a recent topic on Jane Knight's blog Social Media in Learning. Here is her post -  http://janeknight.typepad.com/socialmedia/2010/02/backchatter-a-game-about-twitter-trendspotting.html. Backchatter enables users to select words they think people include in their daily tweets. If these words emerge in the day's tweets, then the users gain points!


This website is usually integrated with attendees at conferences, BUT it seems the developers are working on expanding their audience.


Have you HEARD OF or TRIED Backchatter?


Millennial Professor
Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

A Millennial Professor's Musings: SSCA 2010/Allergens/Stressors/De-stressing...

I admit, the life of a millennial professor never ends. On Sunday, I arrived back from the Southern States Communication Conference (held in Memphis, TN) at 10:00 a.m. The night before leaving Memphis, I typed and submitted minutes from a conference committee and then I created a sample template for the call for proposals (2011) for a committee and I sent this document via e-mail to the appropriate people.

So, this leads me to Sunday - which I spent taking allergy meds for eight hours and then I spent four hours grading speech outlines via blackboard for a COMS 101 course.

Sunday was finished and Monday morning arrives. Now, take into account - I took so much allergy medicine on Sunday that I was VERY tired and groggy on Monday morning. So, I drove 45 minutes to the university and had a cup to tea to dilute the meds. Thank goodness for tea and the 9 am class because both of these provided a GREAT start to a very long day! After spending the night grading speech outlines I noticed the need for students to find additional research for their topic. This additional research is best accomplished in a computer lab, which is conducive for college student research synergy! It is AMAZING what happens when you place 25+ students in a computer lab (all working on the library's databases). I was able to reserve the library for Monday morning (thank God) and the students were able to obtain their research.

The upper level class is working on their scholarly research papers (that will be submitted for publication) and this class met in the computer lab as well. They are using GOOGLE DOCUMENTS to write their papers and to analyze their data. This has been a great process, but I will write about this in ANOTHER blog entry (and a scholarly paper).

So, after my 1pm class and three cups of coffee AND tea, I was exhausted. When I arrived home around 5pm, I had a bite to eat and took a quick nap. The husband arrived home and I had this GREAT idea to mow the front and back lawn AND to put our raised bed kits together. So, we accomplished all of this, and here is the result....

Millennial Professor
Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

MERLOT ELIXR: Take a Drink of the Case Study Repository Goodness!

The MERLOT ELIXR is a digital case study repository for the education environment. One of the digital case studies in this repository is focused on "Teaching Strategies for Engaging Learners". This case study (by
San Francisco State University) focuses on the following topics:

• engage students in abstract concepts
• engage students with simulation
• engage students through play
• engage students through assignments
• engage students through productions

I examined most of the content in this case study and it is VERY RICH (and it includes videos)! The content is very applicable for the higher education faculty (and some K-12 educators). I wonder how many people access this content and how it impacted their interaction with students in the classroom.


Millennial Professor
Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

I Do Not Give Up on My Online and Face-to-Face Students, Do YOU?

My experience as faculty has been a very rewarding, yet stressful experience. As a student affairs practitioner, we are encouraged to care for each and every student we communicate with on a daily basis. This is an easy process, because we usually communicated with a few select students on a daily basis.

However, as faculty we communicate with many students three times or more per week. We become an integrated part of each students' daily lives, we learn about their celebrations, their heartaches, and we observe their learning experiences.

As faculty, I try to learn each of my students' names, their hometowns, at least five facts about their lives, and their future career plans. This week, I encountered a student that I taught a few years ago at an campus international festival. I addressed her by name and we had a great conversation. I could tell that she was very surprised that I remembered her names and facts about her current life and future career.

As my career progresses, I hope to continue this strong level of interpersonal connectivity between faculty and students. This is a stressful process, but I hope that my students will remember my in-class and out-of-class efforts long after they graduate.

This is my experience as faculty, however some faculty give up on their students. Here is an article titled, "Do Faculty Give Up on Students?" and it focuses on how faculty can make a positive OR negative impact on their students. This impact seems to be directly influenced by a level of care that is exhibited by the faculty member.



Millennial Professor
Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

The New Media Consortium 2010 - Session Materials

The New Media Consortium (NMC), an international non-profit organization focused on the exploration and use of new media and technologies in learning-focused organizations recently held the NMC Symposium on New Media and Learning.

Nine of the session presenters uploaded their materials and resources on the NMC website. Here are a list of the categories that at least one of the nine topics address:

• augmented reality in the classroom environment
• educational gaming in higher education
• digital storytelling (current and future)
• multi-player online games and learning
• twhistory - tweeting history in the classroom environment

Follow NMC on twitter - http://www.twitter.com/newmediac

Millennial Professor
Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Teaching Online Safety in the K-12 and College Settings

Cyber bullying, sexting, and overall online safety are such a large issues in the K-12 and college environments. Unfortunately, it seems that both environments are failing to educate their students on the simple subject of cyber safety.

When I mention cyber safety, I am merely addressing the following issues: sexting, job searching and social networking websites (positive and negative), cyber bulling, identify theft (in the college student community), and other pertinent issues.

Here are a few websites focused on cyber safety/media literacy and the K-12/higher education environments.

This is the BEST website that I have EVER seen on the topic. This government website features interactive games, quizzes, and videos.



OnGuard Online Websites (geared towards adults)
http://www.onguardonline.gov/default.aspx

Here is are entire curriculum guides and suggestions to online safety:

Cyber Smart Curriculum
http://www.cybersmartcurriculum.org/


The Texas Education Agency also compiled a list of websites and resources pertaining to online safety.
http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/imet/intersafe/educators/EDcurriculum.html

Last, but not least - here are some articles based on online safety and K-12/higher education:


Cyberbullying Research Center

http://www.cyberbullying.us/


Cyberbullying Goes to College

http://www.bu.edu/bostonia/spring09/bully/


Study: Too Few Schools Teaching Cyber Safety

http://www.nationaltechcenter.org/index.php/2010/02/27/study-too-few-schools-teaching-cyber-safety/

Millennial Professor
Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

APA 6th Edition Video - A Great Resource for Students, Faculty, and Staff

This semester, I incorporated the new edition (6th) of the American Psychological Association (APA) manual in my upper-level courses and it has been an interesting process. I learned a lot and the students have learned a lot about the manual as well.

However, I would like to incorporate the APA manual in my online classes as well. It is easier for me to teach the APA citation style in a face-to-face format, but I am seeking engaging resources to make this process easier for the online students.

Here is a great video for professors who are teaching an online class that might require supplemental materials for a lesson on APA citations - https://www.sworps.utk.edu/training/APA_6_0/player.html.

Enjoy!

Millennial Professor
Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

8-18 Year Olds...The Last Segment of Millennials...

As many of you know, I am a millennial who is interested in issues concerning my generation. Recently, my co-author and I submitted an article based on millennials to a distance learning journal. I understand the different segments that exist in my generation, but I did not know that others were interested in the differences among millennials. The editors of the journals encouraged us to separate the larger definition of millennials into several different categories.

As a result, I sought articles focused on the differences among millennials. This was not an easy process, but I did find a few articles that fit my search. Here is one of the articles - Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds.


This website also features additional items, including a webcast, podcast, etc.

Millennial Professor
Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

The Top Public Libraries on Twitter!

Recently, the NFI Research firm released a list of the top public libraries on twitter. Surprisingly, there are several Texas libraries on the list! In fact, the second library with the most followers i the Houston Public Library with 4,000+ followers.

Here is the link to the list - "Top Public Libraries on Twitter"

Enjoy!

Millennial Professor
Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Technology Ideas for Librarians AND Others...

In my opinion, college and university libraries are the most important departments on campus. Usually librarians are very progressive in terms of technology adoption and are always seeking new ways to reach students. As a result, many librarians collaborate with one another using such technologies as blogs, wikis, facebook, and twitter.

Here is an article focused on technology and libraries, "10 Technology Ideas Your Library Can Implement Next Week" - http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/features/02092010/10-technology-ideas-your-library-can-implement-next-week

One of the most important tips (for me) is the SMS delivery of patron alerts and notifications. If I could receive patron alerts, etc. via text message, I would never had an overdue book!


I hope you can use this website!

Millennial Professor
Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Digital_Nation: Life on the Digital Frontier" - Millennials and the Digital Environment

Recently, PBS provided one of their documentaries, Digital_Nation: Life on the Digital Frontier, to visitors on their website. This is a very interesting documentary that enables viewers to become exposures to the lives of digital natives (today's high school and college students AND some entry-level employees).

This documentary websites features a quiz titled, "What's Your Digital Parenting Style" and lesson plans for parents and teachers.

Millennial Professor
Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Hippocampus - A Video Resource for K-12 Educators

My husband, a high school science teacher, uses various websites to engage his students in the classroom. One of the websites he really likes is hippocampus.com. 


This wonderful website provides users with videos of each of the following subjects: Algebra (English and Spanish), American Government, Biology, Calculus (English and Spanish), Environmental Science, Physics, Psychology, Religion, Statistics, and US History.


I hope the website works for your educational needs!


Millennial Professor
Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

The Flat World Knowledge Textbooks - Free E-Textbooks for College Students

I know the economy is not the best and I strongly believe professors should provide students with affordable textbook options. I am strongly considering the e-textbooks from this website (http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/) for some classes that I will teach in the fall semester. Personally, I think this option might be appropriate for a few of the courses I teach (Business and Professional Speaking and Organizational Communication) - http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/pub/1.0/organizational-behavior/28781. I am interested to see what the students think about the e-book option, because some of my students do not have a laptop computer and/or do not embrace new technological developments.

I know that I will supplement these e-textbooks with scholarly articles and engaging activities, but overall I think it is a good option. In addition, I think that this website may be a good outlet for some supplemental books that I plan to write in the near future.




Millennial Professor
Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

YouTube EDU: Videos for Higher Education Professionals (Lectures and Activities)

YouTube EDU provides users with videos that are specific for higher education audiences. This is a refreshing website for me, because I use youtube in my classes on a daily basis. When performing searches for videos, I have to sift through various videos that do not have anything to do with the higher education environment. From this point forward, I will start using this website to find content-specific materials.

In addition, I plan to recommend this website to my husband, a high school science teacher who teachers dual credit classes for a local community college.

Please let me know what you think about the website!

Millennial Professor
Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

"A Dozen Great Free Online Video Lecture Sites" - A Great Link for Educators!

If you teach online or if you enjoy creating engaging lectures for your students, please visit this link, "A Dozen Great Free Online Video Lecture Sites". This link features a collection of several websites that feature online video lectures.

One of these websites, YouTube EDU, is especially helpful for K-12 and higher education professionals who wish to integrate videos in their classroom lectures.

Millennial Professor
Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Online Adult Students and Predictors of Success

Many adult learners are choosing to take online classes in conjunction with their face-to-face classes (or exclusively online classes). This is an exciting opportunity for both colleges/universities and adult learners. However, some of these adult learners experience both barriers and supports when pursuing their degrees.

Recently, I discovered a great literature review focused on adult online learners, "Predictors of Success for Adult Online Learners: A Review of the Literature". This literature review focuses on adult online learners and the predictors of their success. I am very interested in this topic because I will teach two online courses in the fall semester. I hope to provide these online students with ample opportunities to overcome potential barriers they may encounter in the online educational process.

This article was very helpful!

Millennial Professor

A College President's Experience with Twitter

One college president uses twitter to keep in contact with his followers (i.e. - students, faculty, staff, parents, etc.). Personally, I think this is an ingenious strategy for college administrators who wish to maintain a level of social presence with the people they serve.

Here is his twitter profile - http://twitter.com/GustiePrez

He has 170 followers and is following 105 people.

Read more about this college president's strategy here - http://www.startribune.com/local/83972597.html?elr=KArks:DCiUHc3E7_V_nDaycUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU/


J

People Like Me: A Unique Marketing Strategy Utilized by For- Profit Universities

I have been meaning to write this post for awhile, but it seems that every time a commercial is released, there is a new one to replace it.

Recently, my area of Texas has experienced an increase in the amount of for-profit universities (i.e. - Kaplan University, University of Phoenix, etc.). These universities have embraced a marketing strategy that tends to appeal to the average working adult, single mother, and disgruntled student. I am very impressed with their marketing strategy and I think many people may take advantage of their services (now and in the future). Their commercials feature students of both genders, many racial backgrounds, and lifestyles. In fact, some of these commercials are so appealing that I wish many traditional universities would replicate their marketing strategy by using social media websites (i.e. youtube).

What If Someone Had a Record of ALL of Your Online Searches? (An Interesting 45 Minute Video)

On New Year's Eve, my husband and I watched a very interesting documentary-style report on google.com. The report was enlightening, but scary at the same time. Today, I found the report on hulu (thank goodness for hulu) and it is around 45 minutes long.

What are your reactions?

Millennial Professor/Jennifer T. Edwards

J

Facebook Has 109.7 Million Members (Double the Membership of Myspace)!

The Twitter Toolbox - 111 Web-Based Twitter Tools

 "111 Twitter Tools" is a list of 111 web-based twitter tools that novice or advanced twitter users can use for twitter analysis, information gathering, network building and management, twitter management, sharing tools, organization and productivity, life tools, business and finance, and health, and blogging. Check out this great list! - http://bigisthenewsmall.com/?p=4207

Introducing Scholastic's "Expert Space" - A Tool for the New Digital Classroom

Grade 4-12 educators and educational technologists: Scholastic just released a digital curriculum titled "Expert Space". This curriculum features social studies and science content that teachers can display in class and on the internet. This curriculum is based on a literature review titled, "Expert Space Digital Curriculum & Tools for the 21st Century Effective Web-Based Learning Environments: A Literature Review".

To access this website please click the following link - http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/digital_curriculum/expertspace/index.htm. 

In addition, teachers and other interested parties can sign up for a free webcast titled "The New Digital Classroom, Building Expertise in the Science Curriculum". This website also lists several additional workshops focus on K-12 learning and instruction in the 21^st Century using inquiry, collaboration, technology.

Millennial Professor/Jennifer T. Edwards

How to Engage Each of Your Students (Small Classes to Large Classes)

I teach at a mid-sized, public institution in Texas and my class sizes range from 22 students to 36 students in a course section. Today, I discovered a wonderful article pertaining to class size and how to reach all students in a larger (50+) class. The author contributed wonderful ideas that will help any teacher/professor accomplish the goal of  engaging every student in your classroom! Enjoy!


http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-and-learning/encouraging-student-participation-in-large-classes/

Millennial Professor/Jennifer T. Edwards

The Top 50 Educators to Follow on Twitter in 2010!

DistanceEducation.org just published a list of the top 50 educators to follow on twitter. This list would be helpful for anyone who is seeking to improve their knowledge of K-12 and higher education in the field of distance learning. Check it out!

The Top 50 Educators on Twitter to Follow in 2010

Millennial Professor/Jennifer T. Edwards

Try This Website! - ASCD Launches Teacher Social Network (K-12 Teachers)

ASCD Launches Teacher Social Network

Calling all K-12 teachers! If you enjoy social networking websites, here is the social network for you! The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development just launched their new social networking website for teachers. I imagine that this website will foster idea sharing and informal support groups that span across the United States!

What do you think about this new website?

Millennial Professor/Jennifer T. Edwards

E-Textbooks in College Courses: Good Idea or Bad Idea?

Article from the Chronicle of Higher Education's Wired Campus: Leading E-Textbook Seller Reports 400 Percent Sales Increase in 2009 - http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Leading-E-Textbook-Seller/20566/

I really like the e-textbook concept in undergraduate courses. This technology was not present when I was an undergraduate, but I think that today's undergraduate student would really benefit from the technology. I promote the e-textbooks because they would save the students money (compared to an actual tangible textbook) and the students would not have to carry all of their textbooks across campus. E-textbooks also provide the students with interactive features that may help their learning process. I teach at a rural, 4-year, public university and my students seem to be resistant to e-textbooks, because many of them do not have a laptop computer to view the e-textbook. In addition, most undergraduate students look forward to selling their books back to the bookstores at the end of the semester and e-textbooks do not give them this option.

What is your opinion of e-textbooks? 

Millennial Professor/Jennifer T. Edwards

Communication Tech. (Use This Tool!): Screencast-O-Matic

Use Screencast-O-Matic.com to create "how to" videos and power point presentations for online classes. This website has the EASIEST online screencast software that I have ever used for my syllabus overview for online classes. It provides an easy upload to youtube.com (10 min. or less) and the site even provides its users with a place to host their 15 minute presentations. The volume is great and I uploaded the video to my youtube account. This provided me with a seamless integration into my blackboard course.

Here's one of the videos from the site (another professor):



This browser-based tool would be great for professors who teach online classes and librarians who need to teach others how to conduct research using the databases. Just an idea!

Have a great week!

Millennial Professor/Jennifer T. Edwards

Eduroam: Access to University A's wireless network, while using University B's username and password

Recently, Louisiana State University (LSU) students, faculty, and staff gained access to technology that enables them to use the wireless network while visiting several other universities. This technology, Eduroam, is a service dedicated worldwide roaming access for international research and education communities.

My perspective: I think this is a great

Publish Post

move for LSU and I wish that my university (and other universities in Texas) would offer the same service. When I travel to other parts of Texas and to several Louisiana cities, I have to do without access to the internet or I have to request guest access to the university wireless network. I think this move would definitely benefit the research community.

For more information, access - http://campustechnology.com/Articles/2010/01/04/Louisiana-State-Joins-Eduroam-Network.aspx.

Surviving Teaching Online Courses

Are you teaching a class online? Are you pulling your hair out? Well, this article offers seven strategies for professors who teach online, "Surviving Teaching Online Courses".

Millennial Professor/Jennifer T. Edwards

This Blog's New Focus: COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Hello readers! 

Great news! From this point forward, this blog will focus on service, teaching, and research on COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN HIGHER EDUCATION from a millennial professor's perspective. This topic will be addressed by focuses on the following: social networking (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and human interaction, privacy and online communication, instructional communication, distance education, diversity, leadership, service learning, volunteerism, educational technology, and SOTL.


Give me some feedback on the change! There will be frequent posts!


Remember to subscribe to the blog!

Sincerely,


Millennial Professor

Using Tweets in Scholarly Research

In the future, I plan to use twitter in my research endeavors. Since most journals are requiring authors to use the American Psychological Association 6th edition, I had to research the new guidelines for electronic resources.

The Buzz, a School Library Journal, highlights several guidelines for citing Twitter and Facebook in scholarly articles. The Buzz features a quote from Chelsea Lee (bit.ly/jEeAm), a senior manuscript editor of APA Journals. Lee states, "We don't know if these status update pages will still be here in a year, or 5, or 20 years. So if you are writing for publication, it may be prudent to self-archive any social media updates you include in your articles."

Remember that users' accounts can be locked or deleted and all of their tweets will be inaccessible. So, if you plan to use twitter, please save the tweets in PDF format.

Millennial Professor

Twitter: It's What's for Dinner (It's the New Beef!)

Professor Rankin, a History Professor from the University of Texas at Dallas, started using twitter in her classroom last semester. This is a video she created from her experiences:



This year, I plan to write several scholarly articles and blog posts about twitter and its impact in the secondary and post-secondary environments. Today is the first day of the year and I am compiling ideas from several articles on the subject.

If you have any ideas on how to utilize twitter in the classroom environment, please let me know! Send me ideas! I will publish them on the blog! I am motivated for 2010!

Sincerely,

Millennial Professor