No Strings

Last Tuesday, I attended the middle school concert, which included my younger daughter who is a clarinet player in the band. The band section of the program was second on the schedule and I was hoping that the first part of the program would be brief. But once the players started playing, what came second in the program was no longer the major focus of my attention. It turned out that the first part of the program was the middle school IPad band and they were great. Their selection was Sunshine of My Love by Cream and it was as well performed as I had ever heard it. Ten middle schoolers with IPads and a mixing board had redefined what constitutes a band performance.

For both my daughter in middle school and my daughter in high school, being assigned IPads. The instant access to up-to-date information and the books available in the palm of your hand, are both tremendous steps forward. A calculator, dictionary, thesaurus, and so many other helpful learning tools are always right there whenever you need them. I would have loved this convenience when I was going to school. In my time in school, just getting a hand held calculator was in my opinion a major step forward.

What I haven’t liked is that the IPad allows for the playing of endless different games and also allows free access to social media and therefore too much time spent on social media. The same criticism can be leveled against the smart phones that so many kids in middle school and high school are totally reliant on. In a meeting earlier this week, the presenter noted that 25% of the high school students looking for information on colleges and universities access that information solely on hand held devices (smart phones). I think we all realize the days of glossy brochures are ending but for many of our potential college students, the days of using a computer to access information are also ending. The desired level of portability just isn’t there even in a laptop and our students, our potential students, and our children want the capability to always be at their instant beck and call.

Even with the sense that IPads are a mixed blessing, I am pleased that my kids are working with them in school. On a continuing basis there are more and more school related applications and assignments that make use of the IPads. IPads provide adaptive technology when needed, including large type, the ability to dictate and the ability to print. More textbooks are available on the IPad, and the access to information has in my opinion also led to an increase in our students’ knowledge base. Personalized assignments are next. These assignments reflect the strengths and weaknesses of the student and provide ongoing information to the teacher and ongoing feedback to the student.

There is a downside to being among the first to implement a new learning tool. The implementation isn’t instantaneous and there are issues yet to be resolved. On balance, I’m glad that they are working with IPads. All of education will be utilizing tablets as we move forward and my kids will greatly benefit from having experience incorporating this technology into their learning.

Back to School

Earlier this week, I sat through an excellent presentation on social media.  And in terms of my skill set in this area, I consider myself to be an effective communicator.  I was a very early adopter of email.  I enjoy using PowerPoint.  I blog on a regular basis.  In addition, I text message regularly;  I Google often; and I  Iook at various YouTube postings relatively often.  I also have a Facebook page that I hardly ever look at and a LinkedIn page that I look at occasionally.  After the presentation, I have come to the conclusion that this is not good enough and that I need to upgrade my social media skills.  No, I am not about to share my  life story on social media nor am I interested in commenting on every place I’ve been to or everyone I’ve met, or everything I’ve eaten.  I am not even interested in using social media to brag about my kids or our new family dog (and she is incredibly cute).  Instead, I think that any provost or dean or other higher education administrator as well as faculty member should be as up-to-date as possible on the key tools of communication.  We all need to know the different ways we can engage in a conversation.  And we all need to be part of the conversation on social media.

I have only a limited knowledge regarding Twitter.  I don’t “Tweet.”  I don’t  use “hashtags” and I have seen only one Tweet deck in my life.  But I am convinced that Twitter is, within the constraints of 140 characters, a very effective way to communicate quickly.  For example, I have heard about an occupant of an elevator that was stuck, Tweeting for help and through that Tweet receiving help very quickly.  We have sent Tweets to various groups of students in various situations and the results have been good.  I should know more and I should have more Twitter experience.

My knowledge of Zinch, Foursquare, Google +, Pinterest and other forms of social media is extremely limited.  Up to this week, I am not sure I have even come across some of these terms previously.  My interest in knowing more is to fully understand how to best reach whatever audience I need to reach. My interest in knowing is to help determine how we can best reach out to the vastly increasing number of social media users that almost solely rely on mobile access to the internet.

In summary I need to go back to school (and I’m sure I’m not alone in that regard) so that I am aware of all the best practices in  effectively communicating with students and, through effective communicating, enhancing the educational experience and learning of our students and the interest of our potential students.  As noted above, I want to be a knowledgeable part of the conversation.   So let the conversation continue and my learning continue … but for the immediate future, please send me your comments only via email, a text message, snail mail, or through Inside Higher Education.