Eric Stoller wrote today about a social media blackout that has been announced at the Harrisburg University of Science and Technology. The Provost at Harrisburg decided to shut off these outlets after watching his 16-year-old daughter multi-task on her phone and computer. So, after the week “without” the students will be asked to write essays reflecting on the experience of being unconnected (at least through the schools network) that week. While I applaud the reflective piece of this, I have to agree with Eric that it seems a bit silly.
Granted, I’m still a neophyte in the social media world and learned more yesterday about what I don’t know, but that said, our profession has spent the last couple of years trying to cultivate ways to connect with our students through these outlets. We can look at ACPA and NASPA conference programs and see the proliferation of social media type offerings – heck, Mr. Stoller has even been able to cast away his campus based job and create a consulting business (one that I would absolutely pay for if I had the budget). This isn’t going away, it isn’t just a fad.
The great thing about social media is that it frequently evens the playing field. Yesterday, speaking with Teri Bump (one of the keynotes at the NASPA IV-West Conference this fall), she joked that she was glad I’m getting on Twitter, but Twitter is already old news for many of our students. She is going to be able to challenge us to think about how we can use social media to supplement (not replace) our services to students and our own personal development.
I’m excited that Teri will be able to join us – this proactive approach strikes me as a much better idea than “seeing what happens” when we shut off for a week.
No comments:
Post a Comment