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Extreme Makeover: Technology's Effect on Student Affairs
By Leslie P. Hitch, Ed.D.
Director Academic Technology Services
Northeastern University, Boston, MA
l.hitch@neu.edu
Posted: March, 2005 Student Affairs Online, vol. 6 no. 1 - Winter 2005
Just 10 years ago the venerable America OnLine let plain, non-technical, ordinary people take on screen names, send and receive e-mail. Soon we all could see real photographs on our once boring computer screen. One night I watched a photo of a cup, complete with AOL logo, download onto my ancient, reliable MacIntosh. It took nine or so minutes, but there it was, resplendent in its vibrant hues and pixilated definition.
The freshmen living now in our residence halls were eight years old then. Many would have screen names before they finished elementary school. By the time they arrived on our campuses, they could download entire full-length feature films in minutes and use their cell phones to take and send pictures of cups.
This article, an expansion of a workshop presentation to NASPA Region I conference in November 2004, proposes that students – resident, adult learners and/or commuters – are creating the need for an ‘extreme makeover’ of the student affairs function. The article concludes with ways for student affairs professionals to undertake their own extreme makeover to keep pace with unrelenting technological change.
Here They Come, Ready or Not
Whether we, as individuals, or our campuses, are ready for a makeover is, to be frank, irrelevant. Today’s typical student considers technology a fact. Jason Frand, offers a precise description of who these students are. To them,
computers aren’t technology, the Internet is better than TV, reality is no longer real, doing is more important than knowing, learning more closely resembles Nintendo than logic, multitasking is a way of life, typing is preferred to handwriting, staying connected is essential, there is zero tolerance for delays, [and] consumer and creator are blurring. (Oblinger, 2003, pp. 40-41)
They are always on. Watch residential students on move-in day. No longer are they primarily interested in actually meeting their roommate or people down the hall, or discovering where to get food. Their first acts are to find the port in the room, do what is necessary to get connected, and then get connected. They are what Marc Prensky (2001) has coined “Digital Natives.” Their expectation is that everything works 24/7, that it works fast and that it is available to them throughout the campus.
A report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project (2005) belies any protective response that adult and/or commuter students are any different from their traditional age counterparts. According to the report,
34% of all adult Americans have access to broadband either at home or in the workplace. Much of the growth in broadband adoption at home is attributable to users’ unhappiness with the dial-up doldrums – that is, people growing frustrated with their slow dial-up connections. Price of service plays a relatively minor role in the home high-speed adoption decision. (p.41)
Unstrung
Just when we thought we had wired every conceivable place on our campuses, along came wireless. Wireless is the physical manifestation of what students expect. And, why shouldn’t they? Starbucks is wireless. Newbury Street, the trendy shopping street in Boston’s Back Bay, is wireless. For $99 and a little bit of time reading the directions, anyone can make a home wireless.
Wireless affects student affairs professionals in a variety of ways. Many colleges and universities now are wireless in the library, common areas, dining halls. The next obvious wireless space will be the residence halls—rooms as well as open space. With wireless comes an increase in the number of laptop computers in use. Laptops, easier to transport, are also easier to steal. These changes put pressure on student affairs to continually emphasize ethics, on one hand, and to be cognizant of how technology works (or doesn’t sometimes) on the other. Knowing how to configure a laptop for wireless may become an integral part of the job of residence hall staff members. Ensuring that there are enough power plugs in areas for commuting and adult students will become a student affairs crusade.
IM, SMS and Thou
Seen anyone reading his or her phone lately? Heard little chirp-chirps coming from areas where there are no birds in sight? IM (instant messaging) and SMS (text messaging) are how students communicate bypassing the phone as a device to hear someone speak. A recent news article said that many youngsters under 12 years old are racking up huge cell phone debt because they are sending multitudes of instant messages.
To the uninitiated, this type of quick shorthand messaging seems to be either uncivil, illiterate, or both. Undoubtedly, Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone was considered uncouth when it emerged over 100 years ago. Regardless of attitude toward IM or text messaging, both forms of communication are essential to students. With pictures, music and data available on cell phones, the use of text messaging will increase for older students as well. And, many companies are turning to instant messaging as both a formal and informal communication channel.
The paradox is that instant and text messaging may be highly beneficial to student affairs professionals. Both forms of communication make it easier to reach students for advising or routine messages. Conversely, both forms allow students to more easily reach student affairs personnel.
No Pain, No Gain, No Guarantees
As in any makeover, there is an element of uncertainty in the outcome and some pain in achieving the desired look. The uncertainty is that the devices, software, and concepts are exponentially evolving. Streaming media, gaming, improvements to learning technologies and the Ipod will further change higher education’s landscape.
The pain may come in thinking about conducting business differently. One way to minimize the angst that often comes with change is to look at technology as a tool to achieve many ongoing processes. Student affairs and other sectors of the university can use these new devices and methods to better communicate with each other; to offer more choices to students with disabilities; to keep students traveling abroad connected to what is happening on campus; to build stronger advising programs.
Another way to mitigate the pain is to learn how to use programs such as Blackboard or WebCT; how to send text messages; and how to manipulate, to its art form, digital photography; how to become a blogger. This article includes a bibliography of daily newsletters on information technology and higher education which are excellent sources of what is already current and what will most certainly be a future makeover.
Yes, there is also a large dollar amount needed for this extreme makeover. For many institutions, the cost of technology is not ingrained as a recurring expense. Changes to networks, hardware, and peripheral devices are doled out incrementally and almost always at the expense of some other campus need.
The real cost, however, is in not embracing the makeover.
References
Foderaro, L., et al. (2005, January 9). Young cell users rack up debt, one dime message at a time, New York Times, p. 1.
Oblinger, D. (2003, July-August). Boomers, gen-xers, millennials- understanding the new students, Educause Review, 37-47.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital game-based learning. New York: McGraw Hill.
Pew Internet & American Life Project. (2005). The future of the internet. Retrieved January 10, 2005 www.pewinternet.org
Further Suggested Reading
Chronicle of Higher Education- www.chronicle.com
This is the Bible of the industry and a must read. To receive the daily report you must be a subscriber but you can read the headline stories on the homepage daily.
Educause – www.educause.edu
Considered to be the flagship of technology in higher education, this professional organization offers a myriad of listservs to join as well as has national and regional conferences. The organization has a series of books on educational technology that address current issues. Go to the web site and then click on publications.
Distance Educator- www.distance-educator.com
A good overview of what is going on in distance and electronic delivery of education.
Campus Computing Project – www.campuscomputing.net
Each year this organization produces a report. The Summary report is free. It is an interesting way to see the trends in computing on campus.
Wired Magazine – www.wired.com
Just a scan of their daily web newsletter will keep you current on trends.
Duderstadt, J. et. al (2002). Higher education in the digital age. Oryx Press: USA.
A terrific overview of the issues we face now and will in the future.
Rheingold, H. (2002). Smart mobs. Perseus Publications: Cambridge, MA.
He is considered the pundit of the technology gadget age.
A very short technology quiz
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| Router- What RotoRooter(TM) uses: |
True |
False |
| Open Source - What you get from a fresh water well: |
True |
False |
| Blackboard - Something black with chalk on it: |
True |
False |
| Port - An after dinner drink: |
True |
False |
| Portal - What you look through on a ship: |
True |
False |
| CMS - A cousin to a well-know pharmacy chain: |
True |
False |
| CRS - A euphemism for a ‘senior moment’: |
True |
False |
| Streaming - What college kids did naked once : |
True |
False |
| Threaded discussion - A crochet stitch: |
True |
False |
| Applet - A military insignia : |
True |
False |
| Workstation - Playstation’s next release: |
True |
False |
| Gaming - What they do in Las Vegas: |
True |
False |
| Always on - The fraternity culture: |
True |
False |
| Digital native - An anthropological find: |
True |
False |
| IT in the Classroom - An oxymoron: |
True |
False |
| Broadband - A wide elastic : |
True |
False |
Click here for printable version
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