Social media and connections to College

Finding ways to engage college students in the learning process can be a challenge, particularly for at-risk students. Students from this population are easily intimidated by technology and overwhelmed  when given the task of using technology. Integrating technology through a method which many are comfortable using can help to break down the barriers that technology presents. Social media such as Facebook is already a part of students' everyday lives. They are comfortable posting and responding and spend a great deal of time checking for updates. Facebook then provides a forum that students are comfortable in. I created a Facebook page that is completely public in order to eliminate the process of adding. All students are able to take advantage of the information provided on my page whether they are seasoned students or first semester freshmen, the information is available to them at any point during their college careers. I also created the page from my own personal account so that I can maintain the page more easily. It is my hope that the page would not only provide students with tools to help navigate college, but also where students can share their ideas and experiences including what has worked for them and what they would like to see addressed. My goal is that the Facebook will help to create a culture of networking between college professionals and the college student community in an effort to support student success.

Creating a YouTube video was an incredible challenge and I will admit very frustrating at times. I am just thankful that I got through it. I do see videos being apart of my learning environment. I think that they can used as warm ups, reinforcement, or even a way to start conversations. Videos are very useful in varying the way in which we deliver information. If I were to use my video in a workshop or classroom I would probably have the students follow up by surveying several different kinds of textbooks and using the information included in the video as both a warm up and as a reference. Students could work in groups or alone and be given an instructor generated guide  to help identify things such as summaries, subheadings, mid-chapter check points, and vocabulary. Students could then share what they learned.  This exercise would actually appeal to more learning styles by providing a variety of ways to interact with the video and material. While making this video proved to be a challenge, I did learn that I would really like to explore some of the other options for adding graphics.