A few times a month, I am a guest blogger on  Equality 101. I recently posted a blog about Catching Students: http://equality101.net/?p=2061

I often post blogs that offer me the opportunity to think critically about my pedagogy in the classroom. As the entry notes, I was a Reader at one of the Advanced Placement exam sites last year. And, recently grading assignments reminded me that sometimes you can give your “A” game to students every day and some of them just are not interested. The class is an elective or is something that they are just “phoning in.” The good news is that with lots of students they will remember the material or get “caught” the next term. My class is one in the series and I hope that a lecture, article, discussion or an assignment interests them.

But, alas, it’s not always going to happen. I don’t blame them for this, and I cannot blame myself. I am only one part of the equation. Like me, they have lives outside of my classroom. But, I will show up everyday and continue to try and catch as many as I can!

One of the things that I didn’t share in my short post about the Social Media Camp Victoria #SMCV10 was all the great connections that I made. I attended the day’s events, went to lunch with a “superstar,” attended and participated in a round-table on higher ed, and moderated a panel. I also saw contacts at the event, made new friends, and left with an overall sense that I had spent the day with “my people.”

Yes, I spent the day with other like-minded people who are using social media to engage. I am not trying to sell anything. I am all about engagement online. And, I am happy to say that I made some new friends at the #SMCV10. Here I am some 9 days later and I am still reaping the benefits of the event. I saw some former students at the event and even heard from a current one that she attended the event. I really look forward to the next Social Media Camp in Victoria. Continue reading →

Today I spent my day with approximately another 460 other people at the Victoria Conference Center in downtown Victoria, BC. Simply put, it was a day well spent. The one thing that I was struck with is how some of the panels and keynotes were geared for those in business or marketing. Yet, in so many instances the sentiments are applicable to higher education. Who is our audience? What is our message? Who are we trying to serve? And, how are we using Social Media to do this? Lots of questions.

We are living in a time of a heightened need for recruitment and retention. The old means of catching students will not always be effective for the new breed of students. Particular to BC, there is more competition among the universities trying to get a smaller number of students. How is your university going to stand out?

I think that one way a university is going to stand out–is by the departments. If the students have chosen your campus, what will you do to keep them there? A common theme from today’s events: relationships matter/people matter. How does a department do this? One way is by community building and making the students feel like they are part of the community. How to do this will vary from one department to another, though.

Hi! I am migrating from Blogspot to Word Press. I’ll be re-posting some of my Blogspot posts on my WordPress site.