Net Gen Students and the Future of Learning

I just returned from a trip to Atlanta to attend the Southeastern Regional Educause Conference. Among the most fascinating topics explored was the workshop on "Building a Blueprint: Net Gen Students, Web 2.0, and the future of Learning" conducted by Carie Page, ELI Program Administrator.

Here are some of the fascinating topics with related links that were discussed:

1) Living and Learning with New Media

2) Students and Information Technology (Educause Center for Applied Research):

• more than 85% of undergraduates are logging onto social networking sites like Facebook.
• More than 83% are text messaging from their phones.
• more than 2/3 are downloading music and videos from the web with 77.3% creating and sharing web content
• Almost half are contributing to sites like Flickr and YouTube
• Approximately 38% are contributing to blogs and wikis
• Almost 1/3 are acessing web content from handheld devices like mobile phones with internet connectivity

3) Still hadn't caught the Twitter bug yet. Any suggestions on ways to incorporate it into higher education classroom?

4) Top 100 Tools for Learning, 2009

5) 7 THings you Should Know About

Jeremy Tuck, An Athens State Success Story

Just recently I ran into a former student, Jeremy Tuck, a graduate of Athens State's computer science program. It warms my heart to see how successful, both personally and professionally, students like Jeremy have become.

First, he was awarded the Outstanding CIS Student award from his Masters Degree program at Florida Institute of Technology. I feel proud that Jeremy has continued to meet with academic and professional success. See article to the left.

In addition, he volunteers his time to help students at Morris Elementary School with reading and other skills. Read about the program here: http://www.whoswhoinhuntsvilletechnology.com/wwhsvtechmag_issue9/wwhsvtechmag_stories_issue9.htm#Lockheed

Way to go, Jeremy! You are an inspiration to us all.

Wikipedia as Academic Source

Often times, I'm asked by students why they can't use Wikipedia as a source for information systems research for papers and project. Read this article for an understanding of why this isn't sound source of academic research information. The piece shows why we also should not rely on popular media for facts of any import.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30699302/

Thank you to Dr. David Nye, Professor of Human Resource Management for sharing this resource.

Wiki for Collaboration

On March 20, I had the opportunity to present a paper titled "Collaborate, Engage, and Interact in Online Learning: Successes at Athens State University" at the Instructional Technology Conference held at Middle Tennessee State University. The presentation received rave reviews and I am excited to share our paper, presentation, and resources with you

Colbert on Wikiality - Gotta See this One

Thanks to Dr. Robert Burkhardt, Director, Athens State University, for sharing this one.


Link for the Colbert Report on Wikiality :
http://www.comedycentral.com/colbertreport/videos.jhtml?videoId=72347

Recession-Proof Jobs

In giving career advice to several graduating students, I've found there is something to smile about for many college graduates. Take a look at the most recession-proof professions and see if there's any correlation to what I've been teaching you! Anyone needing counseling to earn the Information Systems minor, come see me!!

http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/career-articles-five_high_demand_jobs_in_2008-279

http://www.forbes.com/2008/07/18/recession-proff-jobs-lead-careers-cx_tw_0718recessionproof.html

http://www.forbes.com/2008/07/18/recession-proff-jobs-lead-careers-cx_tw_0718recessionproof_slide_2.html?thisSpeed=15000

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jul2008/tc20080717_842379.htm

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1858788,00.html?referer=sphere_related_content

http://www.careerbuilder.com/Article/CB-829-Who-is-Hiring-Is-Your-Job-Recession-Proof/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/01/AR2008110100229.html

http://www.jobfox.com/Site/Employer/pdf/TopJobsJuly08.pdf

Web 2.0 in Classroom

Blogs in Education:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfJETK3am1M&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRyh4UeP-IY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKoEZJseVXU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYAestYcLww&feature=related