Confidentiality, Technology, & Collaborating with an IT Workforce

Academic advisors are faced with many issues of confidentiality in their work. The use of social networking and other web based tools for academic advising seem to increase these concerns. The information technology community has struggled with these issues for many years. The way that systems and solutions look and feel is important to academic advising, but sometimes we get left out of the decision making. How can academic advising, and academic advisors (not just administrators) find their way to the IT decision making table? Working together with the IT workforce, academic advisors can increase their understanding of IT solutions and the benefits and limits of web security. Learn more about how to collaborate with the “techies” in your midst…they may even be on your advising staff!

Using Web 2.0 Tools for Professional Development and Administrative Tasks Often our first thoughts for using technology is how we will use it in working with our students. This session will provide an overview of a wide variety of Web 2.0 tools that include: visual, video, and image manipulation tools; writing, audio, and social networking tools; and other tools for advisors own professional development as well as for administrative tasks. Over 50 tools will be presented and a smaller number will be demonstrated.

Web 2.0 and an Advising Communication Plan  Blogs, Microblogs, RSS, Podcasts, Vodcasts and several other forms of social media are all components to today’s advising communication plans. Communication plans articulate what you want to accomplish, the ways in which you will accomplish it, with whom you will communicate, how communications help accomplish your goals, and how you will measure the results.  This session will feature numerous Web 2.0 tools that can enable advisors to reach students where they are. Participants will see examples of how to incorporate technology to produce a communication plan that is user-friendly, cost effective, accessible, and assessable. This session will be a prelude to hands-on concurrent sessions on blogs/microblogs and making connections between tools.

Advising 2.0: Engaging Students with Collaborative Online Tools

To increase student success, it is critical that professionals in higher education are aware of the technological changes and needs of the new student learners who “continue to push learning and research to be more self directed, focused on group knowledge, open to interdisciplinary work, and focused on producing content” (Rainie, 2006).  This presentation will demonstrate Advising 2.0 through the use of different web tools.  The presenter will review an advising 2.0 model that is currently being used by showing the specific tools (blogs, podcasts, wikis, social bookmarks and photography applications.) Details of the experience gained in development and working with these social learning tools will be outlined.

Web Based Surveys

Want some fast feedback from students, colleague or administrators? Why not use an easy to use survey tool? This session will review several uses of these tools, options when considering vendors, and the pros and cons of using these easily assessable tools.

Customer Relationship Management Systems (CRM)

CRMs are enterprise level systems that integrate a variety of communication tools so marketing strategies and campaigns can be implemented This session will demonstrate these tools as they apply to advising. It will also show points of reference to Web 2.0 tools that have similar capabilities. Also discussed will be assessing the pros and cons of using enterprise level vs. Web 2.0 technologies as well as how they can complement each other.

Photo Sharing

Online photo sharing has changed the ways we look pictures and how we learn.  Instead of keeping our photographs and videos on a shelf, it is now possible to share these visual representations with a variety of individuals and groups online.  Photo sharing websites not only serve as storage spaces for pictures, they also provide us with an arena to organize, tag, share, comment, create, and enhance the learning experience.  Advisors are able to engage students with collaborative photo sharing by displaying visual information, linking academic resources, connecting to various learning styles, and engaging in group-based advising.   

Wikis

Why wiki?  Because learning is social.  Wikis encourage collaboration, learning from each other, and allow for quick information sharing.   This session will emphasize the importance of how collaborative learning works and expectations for those who engage in wiki group learning.  There might be a short-lived project, open-ended goals, updates to a list of references, or extensive group research required for your students, staff and faculty at your campus.  If you are thinking about collaborative advising & learning with your students and/or staff, you may want to further explore the wonderful world of wikis.

Social Networking Sites

The most commonly known social networking sites (and a few new ones) provide a starting place for understanding the use of small world theory and its application to web based networks of people. Social networks provide members with ways to communicate, share images and interests, and become acquainted (or reacquainted) online. Get your hands on the social networking tool that seems to be most used by your students.

Advising Management Systems

Your campus student information system has all the student data you need to do your work, but sometimes it’s hard to get the data you need when you need it. Third party tools are often used "to get the data out." Some such tools are being developed to respond to the specific needs of academic advising. These provide advisor scheduling, data management, contact information, advising notes and communication, assessment tools, and more all in one place. How do we make decisions about these tools, which most often are purchased and require the time and resources of more than one unit on campus? Hear about a few tools, and see what they might do for you. In addition, get some tips on how to think through whether an advising management system is right for you.

Making Connections Between Tools

So you take the time to make a blog, take, upload, and share photos and videos, and podcast important advising information. Content aggregators allow us to collect information from various sources including blogs, microblogs, photo-sharing services, and other tools and data in one place. The result is a webpage that is constantly refreshed with new information. Making better use of the content created and available for students and others is crucial to a successful advising communication strategy. This session will delve into the process, creation and tactics involved with an advising aggregator website.  Remember, Alligators live in Florida, Aggregators "live" on the Internet!

Blogs and Microblogs

Blogs and microblogs are all about content, what’s happening now, mobility and the ability to find what you need, or “searchability". In advising, they provide a form of social media that enables us to reach our students in a manner that is accessible and user-friendly. This session will focus on blogging tools that are available on the web. These tools can be implemented within minutes but have a lasting impact.