Daniel Miller
Jeannie Sabaroff
Jes Takla

• Institutional Spam
• Blogs
• Web Portals
• Social Networking Sites
• Podcast

• Institutional Spam is the use of mass emailing to simply and efficiently communicate with a large student body
• The name is derived from Internet Spam or
Spamming, which is the use of electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited commercial advertisements and messages that are often undesired
• Overuse can cause students to ignore these emails, therefore it becomes self-defeating

• Efficiently send general advertisements and announcements to students, faculty, and staff
• When used ethically, it targets many individuals at a cheap cost
(Sipior, Ward, & Bonner, 2004)
– Saves paper and other fiscal resources
– These savings can be used for other needs of the institution
• Ensures that each individual has a direct chance of obtaining the information
– Flyers or other modes of indirect communication can easily be overlooked

• The term ‘spam’ has a negative connotation due to commercial internet spam
• Email fatigue can occur easily, causing students to block or delete messages without reading them
• Colleges are vulnerable to commercial internet spam
– Commercial electronic messaging systems can infiltrate or
“hack” into institutional list proc servers
(Olsen, 2002b)
– Institutional spam can be confused with commercial spam
• Over-spamming may discourage use of institutional email account
(Olsen, 2002b)

• Embedding photos increases visual appeal and likelihood of being read (“A Picture is Worth Even More Spam,”
2006)
• When used in combination with other resources, such as
Web portals …
– Can be customized and tailored for individual relevance
– Can reduce need for institutional spam by use of online calendars and announcements pages (Olsen, 2002b)
• Internet Accessibility
– On-campus: computer labs make email more accessible than paper mail, phone messages, and public bulletin boards
– Off-campus: students may not have access to computer/internet, which can limit the effectiveness of this type of communication

• May not appeal to all learning/personality types
(Kolb, 1984;
Myers 1980; both as cited in Evans, Forney, & Guido-DiBrito,1998)
– Should be used to supplement other forms of information dissemination
• Targets Millennial students who expect direct contact
– Less apt to actively search out announcements online
– They expect prompt notification of major events
– Most are accustomed to using technology
– Must address the needs of those who are not technologically savvy (Wilson, 2004)

• A blog is a user-generated website where entries are made in journal style and is intended for general public viewing
• A person who keeps a blog is known as a
“blogger”
• The activity of updating a blog is
“blogging”

• In the classroom as a weekly assignment
• Personal ideas and thoughts
(www.livejournal.com)
• Outlet for professors to vent about their students
( www.rateyourstudents.blogspot.com)
• Living journal for people to record their thoughts of an event (http://www2.tulane.edu/katrina)

• Students can use their blog as a healthy outlet to discuss issues that are relevant to their lives
• Academics can blog their ideas and receive comments without strict scrutiny
• Another form of technology in the classroom
• Great way to learn about careers through other people’s experiences (e.g. http://www.dujardin.blogspot.com)
• Professors and administrators can use blogs to keep in touch with former students and colleagues
• Can be used as a recruitment tool

• Blogs can be used attack college administrators
– An anonymous blogger verbally attacked the president of the
State University of New York College of Technology at Alfred. An example from the blog, “Gupta’s efforts would be laughable if they weren’t so sad.” The president later resigned (Read, 2006)
• Blogs can be used against people when they are applying for jobs, internships, etc.
• Blogs on sites such as IR Rumor Mill
(www.irrumormill.blogspot.com) can harm searches for new employees
• Some academe regard blogs as containing illegitimate content.
Blogs are not peer-reviewed or published

• One success story is Ball State University
– Twelve Ball State students have been given all the equipment they need to chronicle their school year through journal entries, photos, audio podcasts and video
– Two unique features: blogs will be uncensored and the feedback mechanism will always be turned on
– Administrators say these aspects are important so prospective students get a real look at what college life is like, and can ask questions they may not feel comfortable asking administrators
(http://www.bsu.edu/reallife/)
• Companies dedicated to marketing for institutions of higher education are now offering free web sessions on how to create a successful admissions blogs
(http://www.omniupdate.com/webcast/onlineevents.jsp Let’s Get
Blogging!)

• Chickering and Reisser’s Seven Vectors of
Development (1993)
– Managing Emotions
• Blogging can be a form of helping students to learn how to manage their emotions. Having a steady place to write and reflect on their experiences will help them deal with both good and “toxic” emotions
• Blogs are the new “journal”. As many students turn to technology to take notes, communicate, etc, they can use blogs as a way to develop their emotions and reflect on them

• Perry’s Theory of Intellectual and Emotional
Development (1968)
– Using blogs in the classroom can help students reflect on their thinking and how it relates to that of their classmates
– If a student is a multiplistic thinker, they assume that every opinion/thought could be the right answer (i.e. anything goes for an answer)
• As students begin to read their peers’ blogs, they may realize that some of their opinions/thoughts could possibly not be correct. The student who is a multiplistic thinker will begin to realize that opinions need to be supported with facts. Thus, students will begin to develop themselves as intellectual and ethical thinkers.

• Colleges and universities will begin using blogs as an interactive way for future students to see what life at their institution is
• Blogs can be used in the classroom as a journaling activity
• Students can watch certain blogs of other people that interest them professionally (e.g. http://www.studentaffairs.com/blogs/)

• A figurative gateway to other institutional links relevant to the individual user
• Often includes an option for course management software
(Blackboard, Sakai, WebCT)
• Links to the Library for online resources
• Based on search engine sites like Google and Yahoo
• Customizable: allows one to have own space on any computer, creates psychological niche, increases use
(Kalyanaraman & Sundar, 2006)
• Goal is to be daily home page for students, faculty, and staff at a university

• University websites can be confusing and intricate mazes of information
– A customizable search engine for the institutional website
– Routes users to pages directly relevant to them
– Templates for users to create personal Web pages
• Unites physical communities in the virtual world
(Meyer,
2000)
– Allows students to easily keep in touch with peers, faculty, staff, and alumni (Fliegler, 2006)
– Used for student groups, clubs, learning communities, and classes
• Option to include commercial advertisement to generate revenue for institution

• Multiple student services available online increases students accessibility to and use of these resources
(Olsen, 2002a)
• One stop shopping, instead of visiting multiple offices to take care of personal business
• Updated daily so information is always current
• Student services include:
– Web based student advising, online registration, online bookstore, chat rooms, online bill pay and statements, financial aid, student loans, grades, transcripts, parking permits, email, calendar of events, and online course management (Olsen, 2002a)

• Providers include:
– Blackboard, Sakai, eCollege, Angel, Desire2Learn, and
Intralearn (Carnevale, 2005)
• Used for online courses and hybrid courses
• Student benefits:
– Submit homework digitally, discussion threads and class email, prompt one on one feedback from professors, monitor grades and progress, never loose syllabi or course documents, increased access to calendar and assignments, and announcements of upcoming events
• Faculty benefits:
– Access to grade books online, contact students, produce Web pages, academic descriptions of enrolled students, reserve equipment and library books, automatic grading of online quizzes and tests (“Profile:
University of Washington's MyUWClass Web Portal,” 2002; Keel, 2000)

• A system crash can greatly impact campus events and classes, and temporarily paralyze institution
• Can be expensive to implement and maintain
– However, open source or community source software like uPortal or Sakai are decreasing cost and increasing availability
(Powell, 2005; “Portal to Higher Learning,” 2003)
• May not appeal to all students, personalities, and learning types
• Not all students, faculty, and staff are technologically savvy
– Must incorporate training sessions

• Online courses are inevitable and a necessary step to increase access
(Moskal, Dziuban, Upchurch, Hartman, & Truman,
2006)
• Technology suits students’ lifestyles, appeals to Millennial students, and increases access to institutional resources
• Can help create a strong alumni connection and virtual community of scholars
• Requires constant innovation to keep up with the latest technology
• Technical support staff on campus to avoid system crashes
(Powell, 2005).

• Increase of online courses and electronic communication may hinder development along certain developmental vectors
(Chickering & Reisser, 1993):
– Development of Mature Interpersonal Relationships
– Interpersonal Competence Skills
• Increasing interactions conducted online removes the human element from the classroom
– Students have trouble developing assertiveness, emotions management, personal confrontation skills, and capacity for teamwork
• Increased access to online information and research can potentially augment cognitive development
(Perry, 1968, as cited in Evans, et al., 1998)

• Social Networking Sites are categories of Internet applications to help connect friends, business partners, or other individuals together using a variety of tools

• Facebook was founded in 2004 by four Harvard students
• It is a social networking website that was began to specifically target college and university students
• The name is based on the paper facebooks that many colleges give to incoming students, faculty, and staff depicting members of the campus community
• As of December 2005-Largest number of registered users among college sites (6 million)
• Culture: personal profile, exchange public, private messages, pictures, groups of friends

• MySpace is a free service that uses the
Internet for online communication through an interactive network
• MySpace is a very active site, and additions and new features are being added constantly
• Culture: photos, blogs, user profiles, pictures, e-mail, messaging, groups, web forums

• Professors and administrators can use these sites as a form of communication
• Student organizations can use the sites as a means to advertise events and publicize their groups
• Professors and administrators can have pages to show to students what an acceptable personal profile looks like
• Professors and administrators can look at students before meeting with them
• Great way to stay in contact with people

• Students use these sites to “pre-judge” roommates and peers
• Students post inappropriate photos and information about themselves
• Employers can use these profile pages against interviewees for jobs
• Internet safety
– A student at the University of Kansas learned the consequences of revealing too much information on Facebook when she was stalked by a man who encountered her class schedule
– Virginia Commonwealth University student Taylor Behl was murdered her freshman year by someone she met at MySpace.com
• Violation of judicial policies

• Chickering and Reisser’s Theory of Identity
Development (1969)
– Developing Mature Interpersonal Relationships
• Using social networking sites takes away the physical socializing. This may cause students to lack in developing mature interpersonal relationships if their communication and interactions can be done on the internet.
– Developing Integrity
• Students may be humanizing and personalizing their personal values but they may not be congruent with what they post as their internet profile
• Being able to post everything on the internet may not give students the chance to reflect on what their actions are really saying about their values

• Institutions should develop and provide information on internet safety to give to students
• Facebook and MySpace should be addressed at orientations to address what is appropriate by that institution’s standards
• Student group advisors should communicate what these sites are to be used for by the group and its members

• A podcast “enables users to quickly and easily download multimedia files, including audio and video, for playback on mobile devices including iPods and other MP3 players”
(Bausch & Han, 2006, p. 1)
• Professors wear a small microphone during the lecture that records simultaneously
• A technology firm, or a group of motivated students, digitize the recording and make it available on the Internet for download

• Increased reach to Millennial students
• Make-up for lectures missed
• Review for exam
• Students can review information on their time, whether it is waiting for the bus or doing laundry
• Classes can be more focused on student interaction and participation, thus gaining attention of different learning styles
– Podcast Lectures appeal to Assimilators, because it incorporates abstract conceptualization and reflective observation (Kolb, 1983)
– Interactive discussions during class time will appeal to Divergers, who prefer discussion
• Allows professor to self-critique
• Non-traditional students have the ability to listen to course content on their time

• Training
– Allows time and place to become less relevant for staff development and training
– Serves as reinforcement for instruction and application of knowledge throughout the year
• Students are podcasting
– Another way to break into the student culture and provide learning and resources where they will use it most
• Quick learning curve
– The download and upload might seem tricky at first, but once learned is relatively easy
– Institutions will provide training on best practices for podcasting

• Students no longer need to be in the classroom to access learning
• The information is on the Internet, and many times not password protected, thus raising a privacy issue
• Intellectual property – does the podcast and the information within belong to the professor or the institution?

• Will the staff of generations past buy into the new technology?
• Quality Control
– Podcast producers also need to be aware of background interference as well as “the quality of speakers’ voices, speech patterns, intonations, and other sound effects [that] may not be the same as those of a professional broadcast”
(“7 Things,” 2006, p. 2).
• Proper equipment and training
– Money will always be an issue in student affairs. Is funding resources to the development of podcasting worth it?

• Chickering and Reisser’s Seven Vectors of
Development (1993)
– Developing Mature Interpersonal Relationships –
“Development of interpersonal tolerance and appreciation of difference and the capacity for healthy partners and close friends”
– With the advent of podcasting, students will have less interaction with their professors and peers, thus not allowing for maturation through this vector
– Students will have less confrontation with diversity, thus inhibiting a major task in college development

• Apple has a free podcast hosting service for colleges and universities designed to provide access to educational content, including lectures and interviews,
24 hours a day, 7 days a week
• Users can download content to their Macs or PCs regardless of their location. They can then listen to and view content on their Mac or PC or transfer that content to their iPod for listening or viewing on the go
• iTunes U complements on-line portals, including
Blackboard, WebCT, and Sakai. Students can access iTunes U content from within these systems with one click

• Purdue BoilerCast service available to all credit courses held on the West Lafayette campus and is capable of recording lectures from over 70 classrooms on campus with no lead time
• Duke University – iPods to all incoming students
• Drexel University – hand out iPods to education majors
• Stanford University – lectures by professors, music by students, and play-by-play descriptions of football games

Web References
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MySpace
• http://www.facebookprofile.com/category/facebook-screenshots/
• http://www.studentaffairs.com/blogs/
• http://www.omniupdate.com/webcast/onlineevents.jsp - Let’s Get
Blogging!.
• http://www.bsu.edu/reallife/
• www.irrumormill.blogspot.com
• www.livejournal.com
• www.rateyourstudents.blogspot.com
• http://www.dujardin.blogspot.com
• http://www.studentaffairs.com/ejournal/Summer_2006/StudentAffairs andPodcasting.html
• http:/www.itap.purdue.edu/tlt/BoilerCast /

References
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Chickering, A. W., & Reisser, L. (1993). Education and Identity . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Dutton, Chelsea.Kansan Newspaper, Users abuse Facebook, February 10, 2005
Evans, N. J., Forney, D. S., & Guido-DiBrito, F. (1998). Student development in college: Theory, research, and practice . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
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References (continued)
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