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 […]
Let’s Make Education Feel More Like Cocaine
Think of your college’s orientation process.
Ask a few students how they felt during the orientation days, when they went through them.
Then spend two minutes with this slide deck, with your orientation and intake process in mind.
Assuming: You and Me, and Hopefully Good (Opposed to . . . ) Software
When reading a review of the new iMovie ’08 on macworld.com, I was struck by how much hope, belief, educated guessing, and philosophy hardens into assumptions to inform software design. In the review, Macworld says that many of the iDVD integration features have been dropped from iMovie, because Apple believes that the web is the […]
Why Red Rover Matters to Increasing Engagement on Campus
The 2006 National Survey on Student Engagement said, “The most important factor [to increased engagement on campus] was relationships with faculty and other students.” The 2005 National Survey on Student Engagement reported that 60-84% (non-commuter vs commuter campuses) of college students will never participate in a college sponsored activity. On the flip side of that. […]
Announcing Events Without Clogging The Drain: Recommendations for Student Affairs Professionals
Facebook debuted as a way for students to network and find “friends”. When asked, some professionals in Student Affairs are hesitant while others support its use as an innovative channel of communication – a place to directly connect with students and encourage their involvement on campus. In theory, it’s a great tool; however, quickly the […]
A Guide to Facebook for School Faculty, Administration and Staff
“Should I, as an academic professional in higher education, have an online social networking account?” Yes, and here is why and how. The phenomenon of Myspace and Facebook snuck up on us like a freight train with a silent running motor. In just 4 years, social networking sites grew to over 300 million accounts with […]
When the Content is Crappy, the Pipe Doesn’t Matter: Colleges and Facebook
After realizing the headline made all the difference in click through on my own RSS reader, I decided to spice up my own headlines. How’d I do? Left a post about this on Kevin Guidry’s Mistaken Goal and wanted to back up to some thinking and follow up with some visuals. We spend so much […]
Interview with Facebook’s Youngest Employee – Dan Weatherford
At the writing of this blog, Dan Weatherford is at the ripe young age of 20 + 1 month. What makes him special is he’s currently the youngest full-time employee at Facebook.com. Though most of you don’t know him, he programmed the ability to sort your Facebook photos which was a highly celebrated addition released […]
Officially Partnering with APCA
Exciting news. Eric Lambert of APCA has agreed to be the title sponsor of the Swift Kick platform in the college market for the first year. It was a very friendly negotiation and I do hope it is the start of a long relationship. I think Eric’s heart is in the right place. From his […]