21 Tips that will CHANGE your COLLEGE LIFE!
It’s a rainy but exciting day! It’s official; I am finally here. As my parents and I are unloading the car that holds of all my belongings, I am looking around at the place that I will call home for the next 5 years. I know this experience will definitely be worth it, even if […]
Sleep is Neat (And Makes Your Community Better)
Recently, I was averaging going to bed at 2:00am and then waking up at 8:00am. That’s what about 6 hours of sleep every day of the week. Ahhh, not good! In fact, it was so “not good” that I was sick over the entire Easter weekend while I was supposed to be relaxing and enjoying […]
Newsletter: November 2010
As the month of November wound down to a close, we found ourselves reflecting on the things for which we are thankful. In a world of increasing digital noise, we are most grateful for the meaningful relationships and serendipitous discoveries that new technologies can bring. Stay tuned—in the next few months, we’ll be […]
Connecting at Georgia Highlands College
Here at Red Rover, student engagement is pretty much our raison d’être. From the moment a bright-eyed high school kid starts thinking about admissions essays, through the college years and beyond, we want to provide the tools and opportunities for students to get involved—to build relationships, to contribute, and to be successful. That’s why we […]
The First Year Experience Curriculum
Although the vast majority of first-year students are using Facebook and Myspace, and spending a great deal of time on the web, many still aren’t familiar with the web tools that are most conducive to enhancing their education. Helping students develop positive digital identities sets them up for success in an increasingly digital age – after […]
Your New Best Friend, Social Networking in the First Year Experience (Part 4)
Comfort is curing the loneliness that inevitably comes with moving to a new peer network. Some evidence suggests that the brain may even process social exclusion using the same circuitry as physical pain. Loneliness hurts.
Your New Best Friend, Social Networking in the First Year Experience (Part 3)
A values debate that might lead to learning, about what is useful or appropriate, gets confused with simple fight about control of technology. High schools ban cell phones. Higher education fumes about behaviors it sees as unwarranted risk, unjustified by student benefits that are often dismissed as “not real”. Overvaluing control, prevents the institution from recognizing other possible institutional values, like connection and mentoring, in the new technology.
Your New Best Friend, Social Networking in the First Year Experience (Part 2)
The following is the second draft slice (here’s part one) of an upcoming curriculum supplement I am writing for Bedford / St. Martin’s press. Long time readers of this blog will recognize these ideas. Swift Kick, and Red Rover, have been focused on social capital and engagement for some time. As the overall curriculum comes […]
Your New Best Friend, Social Networking in the First Year Experience (Part 1)
All technology must be connected to the goals. We have good theoretical models for the first year experience. Let’s use them to frame and analyze technology initiatives.
At Student Orientation, Don’t Forget About Bridging Social Capital
The Bystander Effect is a well-known psychological study conducted by Bibb Latane and John Darley that grew out of the stabbing death of Kitty Genovese in 1964 while eyewitnesses looked on but did nothing to help. According to Wikipedia: …individuals are less likely to offer help in an emergency situation when other people are present. […]