At a recent NACADA seminar I attended a pre-conference survey was sent out to participants and asked the following questions. I thought that they were pretty thought-provoking and wanted to share my answers here.
I would love to hear others answers to them as well.
I think that there are. Even though I am a huge proponent of technology in advising (i.e., web camera advising, skypeing with students, use of Facebook) I still think that students want a real person that they can spill their guts to at certain points. There is something about establishing relationships with students that simply can't be done online...there is no substitute for a friendly smile or a personal "keep going" note to encourage someone.
It's my position that advisors use technology to make their jobs easier and to assist our students in learning 21st century skills. When the world is going completely online, they have to be able to navigate it. The use of social networking and other online applications helps us to do that because students are already living in those spaces.
Are there aspects of advising/student services which are diminished (or lost) by facilitation with technology?
I do think that as we move more towards having resources available online exclusively (e.g., undergraduate catalogs, course notes) there are some things to be concerned with. There are issues of responsibility that come into play. Students must understand that checking email and responding to them is required, not optional. They also must understand that even though they aren't receiveing printed course descriptions and policy information theat they are still responsible for that material. Again, I will go back to the sentiment that its our responsibility to teach students how to fish for this information rather than spoon feeding it to them without acknowleding how we know it or where we found it.  |
| Are there aspects of our work that are enhanced by using technology in advising/student services? |
Yes yes yes!!!! The enhancements are endless. Take for example this blog... it would be difficult for me to interact with as many of you as I do without technology. We have formed professional development groups to share knowledge that previously would have required travel and money that our institutions just do not have right now.
In terms of students, we now have the ability (whether we like it or not) to help students at any time of the day or night...to point them to internet resources and video clips about majors/careers...we can put them in touch with people across the nation who are interested in doing what they wish to do with their lives... the possibilities are truly endless.
The ultimate goal should not be to abandon the "old" ways of advising but to supplement or streamline the process with the "new" ways.
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| Are there students we are not assisting well by using technology in advising/student services? This is an area of concern for me right now. I wonder how the migration of so much information to online resource centers is affecting students with disabilities. Some applications are better than their predecessors because they have accessibility options built right into them, but others are not that far advanced yet. We are seeing an upswing in the number of accessible options on websites (think about those bot protectors where you have to enter characters to ensure that you are a real person...many of those are now coming with audible options). We tend not to think of this group however when discussing technology and "all it can do for us" but we definitely should. I would love to hear more from anyone who is using web 2.0 applications with students with disabilities. |
3 comments:
In addition to students with disabilities, I think that too much focus on technology can leave out those who are simply not technology savvy. I work at an urban school which is open enrollment, and more than a few students arrive each year who, while traditionally college aged students, did not grow up with a computer at home, and had minimal access to technology at school, often telling me that they have to go to the public library to check their email. While for some schools, it is reasonable to expect that the incoming population grew up technology savvy, it is not the case everywhere, and that must be taken into consideration.
Additionally, a face to face meeting is a much better way to assess student issues that would never come across via the internet. One cannot read body language, etc. online, and it is hard to pass a tissue to a crying student via facebook.
While I certainly am open to employing all strategies possible to reach out to students (and yes, I have a facebook account), I am very wary of technology being touted as a panacea. It is not.
@jessica
I agree that it's not a panacea and don't tout it as such, but I do think that it has it's place. I have run into a few students recently that just don't want to be involved in technology and I definitely still have options for them. I think it is going to take us some time to really sort out what the benefits to students are and the drawbacks.
I love you analogy about passing a tissue...that makes it very tangible. At this point in time we certainly can't do that (however in the future.... :) ).
Thanks for reading the blog and contributing! Keep it up!
Jillian,
I'd be interested to hear your take on college marketing campaigns such as http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDfew0YcDTo
J Swoboda
Education Dynamics
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