THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ON STUDENT AFFAIRS

Presentation to the Division of Student Affairs

McApple College________________________________

Leigh Featherstone, Heather Matthews and Tricia DavisIndiana University

Why Technology?“Today when we think about the impact of technology on our habits

of mind, we think primarily of the computer” (Turkle, 2004).

We need to think beyond the computer, and understand how people interact with technology. We should not merely react to technological advances, but learn to

develop student affairs in conversation with advances and new ways of understanding human dynamics.

Overview

Marketing

Resources

Community Building

Security and Privacy

Role of the Professional

McApple has a tradition of utilizing technology effectively throughout the institution.

This presentation provides an overview of five areas in which technology has changed student affairs. For each, we will address the following:

1. What is this area?

2. How has it changed student affairs to date?

3. What are examples of best practices?

4. What are challenges we face?

5. How do we effectively move forward?

MarketingWith the help of technology, the public message that you send as a professional about the service you can provide to students – whether about a campus-wide event, a new counseling group, or a leadership retreat – can reach the target audience instantaneously. Technology has transformed the ways you can reach your audience.

(Piled Higher and Deeper by Jorge Cham)

Marketing: Where We Are

Reaching a Larger Audience:By using a combination of mediums, you can reach a much larger audience by creating a publicity campaign to reach diverse facets of campus. No matter if they live on campus, commute, primarily use educational building, work out in the recreational center– they can/will see your message. Examples of media:

Online communities E-mail listserves Text messages Televised announcements in

common areas Websites e-Newsletters

Targeting Niche Populations:Search for a specific group on an internet community site like Facebook that might be interested in your program.

Example of Targeted Marketing:If marketing a discussion group for GLBT allies, search for students that list GLBT, supporters, friends, or other modifiers that might indicate interest. You simply have to message that group as a whole or start your own “group”/create your own “event” and invite the members to your discussion group.

Marketing: Best Practices

Penn State – PSUTXT program hits both broad and niche audiences depending on the message: Alerts and reminders sent to your mobile phone by text message can update you on campus programs or services that the individual wants to know about. For example, if a students subscribes to receive information

about multicultural programs, you can automatically clue him or her in to an announcement for Black History Month (Lombardi, 2006).

Collegewebeditor.com helps you create Facebook “applications.” When students activate the use of an application, you can send notes, reminders, and info to them with one click! The application appears on each profile to serve as a PR tool for any person that browses their site. This website offers webinars to help you create your own application to really reach students in a new way. The University of Michigan library informs students of their

weekly workshops utilizing a Facebook application. The Facebook Marketing Toolbox gives you 101 ways to use this

community to your marketing advantage (Inside CRM, 2008).

Marketing: Moving Forward

A growing number of college students are not utilizing their institution-based e-mail accounts Messages or announcements may not be received (Carnevale, 2006).

Students post personal information on online communities like Facebook and MySpace which makes them targets for online stalking (Govani & Pashley, 2005).

Marketing outlets such as Facebook are often cheap or free and are therefore great resources for departments finite funds.

As a university administrator on an online community with your own profile, you will be “friended” by students, which could create privacy issues. Understanding McApple’s policies about electronic media can inform addressing concerns recognized in Facebook photos, comments or postings.

ResourcesAny information offered by the institution to assist students in their daily endeavors , including campus administrative needs, life skills, research, and education.

Resources: Where We Are

What used to be pamphlets, handouts, and verbal information has largely become internet accessible by anything with the capacity to connect to the internet, including PDA, cell phone, and computer. Resources moved to 24 hour accessibility:

Libraries Office information Admission applications Instructional information for policies, procedures, forms, etc.

Departments have specific websites with tailored information.

Academic units have moved to the internet in Distance Education Courses, online forums, and project sites.

Resources: Best Practices University of California-Irvine

Career Center Educational podcasts Extensive online career resources Online job search and application

forum Capital University Student

Activities Office Campus organizations Multicultural affairs Dining on campus

Willamette University Student Activities Office Campus organizations Direct information on how to get

involved Forms and event planning

guidelines

University of Kansas Multicultural Resources Office Organization involvement

opportunities Upcoming presentations and

workshops Academic resources

Pace University Office of Multicultural Affairs Workshops Grant opportunities

Oklahoma State University Health Center Health and wellness podcasts Information on health

questions

Resources: Moving Forward

More Ways to Share Information: E-books: books sold

exclusively online are often more cost-effective for students.

Wikis: common knowledge sharing spaces that can be used for collaborative work.

Blogs: open forum for any subject easily accessible from anywhere.

Podcasts: can be used in lecture format to deliver information on specific topic, again, accessible from anywhere.

Challenges: Information may be

misunderstood, and there is often no forum for immediate clarification

Impersonality of services delivered. It is difficult to treat students as individuals if we cannot identify those using or in need of resources.

May discourage students from speaking with a professional.

(Reynolds, 2005)

Community BuildingTo build community is to “create a sense of belonging, of continuity, of being connected to others and to ideas and values” (Sergiovanni, 1994). Through online communities like Facebook, students are able to connect with others who share similar interests, values, or backgrounds.

Community Building: Where We Are

An online community occurs when people find a “shared purpose that provides a reason for the community” (Preece, 2000). Students are seeking to make connections and find common ground with others.

More than 85% of students on campuses with Facebook networks participate (Arrington as cited in Eberhardt, 2007). For entering college students, online communities like Facebook provide an “initial sense of connection and community” (Eberhardt, 2007, p. 20) before they even enroll.

Where residence halls once provided the main source of community-building on university campuses, with the invent of blogging, online communities, forums, and other online venues, students are able to connect to others without leaving the comfort of their rooms (Gergen, 2005). The consistent growth of technological capabilities will “dramatically expand and intensify the domain of social connection.”

Students are asked to identify their interests, political views, religious views, hobbies, gender and sexual preference and more as they create their Facebook profiles. This reflection activity helps them explore and commit on a level to pieces of their identity. Further examination exists as they join groups and find others with common interests. Such exploration is integral to identity achievement (Marcia, 1980).

Women and students of color are two large populations of individuals who engage more frequently on Facebook. These populations, as well as students in the GLBT community, feel that through this network they make social connections that they cannot in person (Boogart, 2004).

Community Building: Best Practices

When practitioners create profiles for themselves and their departments, students can learn about services for them through these virtual connections they view as less intimidating (Boogart, 2004).

Student Activities professionals and student leaders can “meet” students in online communities who might enjoy organizations and services they are providing because of things students identify as interests. For example, students at Indiana University looking to start a book club could search for groups on Facebook and would find more than five groups dedicated to that interest.

Service Learning professionals could create an “event” for an service-geared spring break trip. After the trip, students could reflect on the experience by posting notes, updates, photos or videos for all to see. Practitioners could also use blogging for reflection, as well as to connect other students with the experience.

Programming boards, like the one at Slippery Rock University, are asking for feedback for speakers, bands, movies, and more to be posted on their Facebook and MySpace pages, using these profiles as a hub for communication (http://indiana.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7006986540).

Community Building: Moving Forward

With online communities, students foster interaction that is not face-to-face, which is “critical for establishing social bonds.” Online interaction does not fosters the same sense of understanding and commitment that occurs when you are interacting with someone physically. This could set students back in their development of social skills (Goldstein, 2007).

Students utilizing computer-mediated communication take longer to “create bonds of friendship, community or camaraderie than they might have in face-to-face associations” (Brown, 2001).

Students are likely to make judgments about their peers before they meet them, which could be costly if they look up their newly assigned roommates and find that they have different interests (Eberhardt, 2007). This behavior can rob students of cultural and social learning opportunities.

If students use online communities to stay in touch with friends from the past and do not actively seek out new connections, they may have difficulty adjusting to the institutional culture.

Security and PrivacyMany students are willing to share personal information in very public online spaces. Many are unaware of the concept of ‘electronic traces’ or that someone may take advantage of personal information.

(postsecret.com)

Security and Privacy: Where We Are

Student Information Technology has transformed how we manage and

share student information. Many institutions no longer utilize social security numbers.

Data and information leaks from an institution are often the result of individual error rather than from hackers (Young, 2008).

Email through an institution’s domain is subject to the rules of the institution and may be subpoenaed.

Student Behavior in Cyberspace Professionals are learning to navigate how to treat

evidence of behaviors that appear on social networking sites or other web portals not affiliated with the institution.

Security and Privacy: Best Practices

The University of Kansas Medical Center hired a director of information security several months after a hacker gained access to computer servers housing medical data and other confidential information in November 2004.

“Maintaining a personal account not only helps you avoid ethical transgressions, it also can protect you from unexpected legal trouble. A common legal tactic nowadays is to obtain someone's e-mail messages through a public-information request. Those messages can be easy to obtain because public universities often archive e-mail traffic for a given amount of time” (Olson, 2007).

University of Missouri at Columbia formed a panel to educate students about Facebook content that may violate student-conduct policies or local laws.

In response to fears about harassment and cyberstalking, Purdue University has trained police officers to handle incidents of harassment and cyberstalking on Facebook.

Security and Privacy: Moving Forward

Identify how Millennial students understand privacy and use this information to create educational programming.

Incorporate discussions about protecting personal information and abiding by the student code of conduct in cyberspace into orientation programs.

Define the role of the campus judicial system with respect to e-violations.

Continue to find balance between student autonomy and institutional liability.

(Olson, 2007; Read & Young, 2006; Young, 2008)

Role of the ProfessionalThe job description, roles, responsibilities, as well as the ways in which professionals interact with students.

(Piled Higher and Deeper by Jorge Cham)

Role of the Professional: Where We Are

Access for Students Many resources are available 24 hours a day on the internet. Students

often expect immediate service from professionals by email. Style of Delivery of Information

Traditional programming models may be obsolete for many topics. Delivery of Services Alterations

Online portals allow students to conduct business from any location with internet access, including with the bursar, registrar, and housing office.

Continual Professional Development of Technology Skills In order to communicate and work effectively with students, it is

necessary for professionals to remain fluent in contemporary technological issues and media.

Outsourcing of Resources Because many services and most information can be delivered

electronically, professionals risk being made redundant. Institutions can consolidate resources and personnel when physical location is moot.

Role of the Professional: Best Practices

Incorporation of technology into graduate preparation programs.

Continuing education about technology in student affairs by participating in knowledge communities and webinars.

Departmental support of relevant hardware and software.

Professional role-modeling about time management and resource utilization.

(Dare, 2006)

Role of the Professional: Moving Forward

Wade (1997) anticipates three ways in which campuses and professionals will change: Least Change Model

Sharing between universities will increase as instructors share classrooms across the internet. Professionals will become more aware of the needs of students. Information will be more user friendly and materials instructionally-focused.

Most Change Model The residential campus will become non-

existent, and the central campus extinct. The student body will expand beyond a specific geographic region. Certain functional areas may no longer be relevant, including housing, student activities, recreational programming, fraternity and sorority life, judicial affairs, and health services

Combination Model The traditional campus will not become

obsolete, but academics will move toward online classrooms and forums. Students will meet on campus briefly for supervision or experiential learning opportunities. Professionals will anticipate the mode of delivery shifting and will accommodate accordingly .

Challenges: Student expectations have mirrored the

24 hour accessibility of the internet for professionals (Amey & VanDerLinden, 2003), which may result in professionals entering an infinite workday.

As more information moves to the internet, jobs become endangered (Rhoades, 1999).

Expenses of training professionals in skills needed to complete newly altered tasks as technology changes (Rhoades).

As new skills are gained by professionals, is there enough funding to support the higher trained professional? (Rhoades).

Professionals interacting consistently with technology begin to lose autonomy as their work and daily movements can be monitored more easily (Rhoades).

DebriefIn small groups, reflect upon the following:1. How does your functional area utilize technology?2. Which resources are appropriate for you to make

accessible through the internet? Which are not?3. How should student affairs professionals interact with

students through different forums such as Facebook, or on an institutional wiki?

4. How do you address security and privacy concerns with students?

5. How do you view your professional role in light of technological changes and advancements?

Thank you!Remember, this is the “Year of the Personal Computer” here at McApple. How do you incorporate this into your work?

We hope this has helped you to consider how technology has changed our field, and how to continue to improve our work with students.

Additional Resources

International Society for Technology in Education: http://iste.org/

“Study Raises New Privacy Concerns About Facebook”: http://chronicle.com/free/2008/02/1489n.htm

“10 Trends to Watch in Campus Technology”: http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i18/18b00701.htm

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