What does the dog say?!  "No More Woof" translates canine thoughts to English

4 reasons (out of many probably) as to why this is important for education in general:

• It may open doors for similar devices to help hearing and speech impaired individuals and persons with conditions that impact communication interact in a broader set of circumstances
• It may open doors for individuals requiring motorized assistance vehicles or digital devices to control them sans any physically manipulated interface.
• It may replace the mouse, keyboard AND gestures!  Imagine scrolling through your iPad or turning on the Xbox Kinect simply by thinking….
• Edit (12/23/13) - It may also allow for the thought-based control of prosthetics. 

“If Colleges don't change the way they do business, students will…”  Looking back at an article from 2010 following TIAA-CREF's Higher Education Leadership Conference - how well have their predictions turned out?

Predictions

• Students will change the way colleges do business - partially true.  Fairly large numbers of students have started seeking credit for prior learning, such as military experience, MOOCs, etc.  But several institutions began offering it on their own, too.
• The landscape/paradigm will change and not in favor of traditional colleges and universities - somewhat true.  The landscape is clearly changing and becoming more difficult for institutions to function as they traditionally did.  It is not cataclysmic, yet, though.
• Disconnects between policy makers and institutions would lead to unclear paths and benchmarks - mostly true, I think.  Performance based funding, more budget cuts, etc. are leading to unclear and sometimes dysfunctional relationships and funding systems.
• Higher Education Funding is the next bubble - Unclear now, but recognition that it is the next bubble has been growing widely among those in and outside higher education.
• Outdated systems of teaching and preparing students will lead to a decline in US's competitive position - Unclear, but it is clear that the US has been losing ground in several benchmarks, including global economic markers, degree attainment markers, etc.

Bl g e r's B war : G v ng On y H lf of th St ry

Recently I saw a link on LinkedIn sharing a blog by Dr. Rey Junco, who blogs about college students' use of technology and its impact on their experience and performance.  This particular blog entry highlighted 2007 data from the Higher Education Research Institute and a much smaller 2008 study by Heiberger and Harper.

Junco highlighted that students who reported higher levels of social media use also reported higher levels of involvement in student clubs and organizations.  Comments on his blog were generally favorable with a few asking critical questions about "how is student involvement defined" and "selection bias."  Others though were seemingly blindly accepting; one such response was, "I Love this chart! it is a great way to show non SM users what a positive effect SM can have on student engagement."

Junco did provide links to the sources, and it's clear not all of the commentators viewed the sources; however Junco only shared part of story (as did Heiberger and Harper as well).  There's more, and it's important.

The HERI study also showed that students who reported higher levels of social media use also reported higher levels of partying and greater frequency and amount regarding their drinking habits.  On top of that, they reported greater difficulty managing their time and developing effective study habits.

This is why it is important to try and view the whole picture.  If we were to look at just the involvement data, we would naturally conclude that social media use is correlated with positive student behaviors and possibly act in ways to increase use of social media (disregarding that correlation is not causation).  However, if you look at the broader picture, social media use is also correlated with undesirable behaviors that would lead us to respond more cautiously and thoughtfully.  Any information related to student involvement has to include its relationship to academic performance, for if a student who is thoroughly engaged is unable to study and learn effectively to maintain sufficient grades, their involvement has cost them dearly and we have done them a disservice.

"Wikid, dude!"

For once it feels good to be Wikid...

I remember in circa 2000 when I was living in the Middle East and I had been paying attention to my students (female, arab national University) and their online connections...email, IM, etc. I was fascinated how fast they would scan shared network drives (it was a completely networked and mobile campus). My colleague who had taken photos of my wedding had copied them to a shared drive so I could save them on my laptop (his office was across campus), and within the 4 minutes that it took me to download them, the photos had already been copied by students and shared with other students on campus! I got an IM from a student before the download was complete complimenting me on the photos! I didn't realize it then, but I was watching Web 2.0 take hold.

As I was interviewing to return to Student Affairs in the states, I began to intertwine the traditional value for community in residence halls with the online behavior of my students in the Middle East, and I began fermenting an idea of an online community for a residence hall.

I got here and everyone was talking about Facebook and MySpace... "Doh!" My inspiration and aspiration had been deflated instantly. I wonder now if these sites were blocked where I was or if I was really that oblivious... (I'd hate to say how I usually answer that...)

Now, though my inspiration has been renewed with WikiSpaces. http://www.wikispaces.com

WikiSpaces (akin to Wikipedia) allows individuals, teachers, classes, schools, clubs, study groups, etc., etc., create their own Web 2.0 environments, with multiple pages and the flexibility to customize the degree of access, from totally public (true Web 2.0) to more controlled and even private access. The more basic levels are offered for free, while the more sophisticated and option-rich levels are available for somewhat reasonable prices.

This presents the opportunity for individuals to create intensely rich interactive efforts around a shared cause. On his own WikiSpace, Will Richardson presents this WikiSpace as a prime example of the potential of online collaboration between motivated individuals. Memory Alpha

Memory Alpha was created and is constantly enhanced through the combined contributions of hundreds of Star Trek enthusiasts, resulting in a "sum greater than its parts" online phenomenon.

(Will's own Wiki, hosts many educational and technology resources and links, in addition to Wikispaces. )

I want to help create that for my students in the residence hall. With Facebook and MySpace, the center of the network is the individual...all others link to the individual and through the individual to all the other individuals linked to him/her. Even with "groups" and what not, it is more a chaos structured network. With Wikis, though, the designation of pages within a Wiki-space allows for a structure to be placed around the online environment. Instead of individuals interacting around other's individual spaces, in a Wiki, individuals interact around a single space.




This provides unique opportunities in terms of creating a shared communal space in which all of those involved can contribute to, set standards for, and interact. In terms of education and community building within Residence Halls, it allows for the creation of individual pages for individual floors and the building as a whole, in which individuals from those areas can post and create content. The possibilities of content are endless, but could include favorite quotes, upcoming events, latest personal news, floor programs, trivia, etc. It also allows for the creation of special pages for study groups and online learning, i.e WebQuests, Podcasts, etc., which few residence hall environments have taken advantage of to date. Residence hall staff can have their own private spaces as well where staff meetings could be podcasted for those who miss it, special instructions for nightly duty rounds could be maintained, etc. There is a great amount of potential for residence hall staff to utilize WikiSpaces and bring Web 2.0 to Residence Halls 1.o.