Technological Aspects of Student AffairsEAF 409, Fall 2004

3 semester hours

Syllabi

Professor: Ben Gray, Ph.D.331 Degarmo Hall, Campus Box 5900

(309) 438-7719bjgray@ilstu.edu

Office hours by appointment

Catalog Description• TECHNOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF

STUDENT AFFAIRS

• Co-enrollment in EAF 461 required

• Issues of technology, affecting student affairs practitioners. Tools and implications to empower new professionals in reaching students on today’s campuses.

Course Overview The goals of this course are to introduce graduate

students in the College Student Personnel Administration master’s to technology and how it

affects their effectiveness with college students. It is imperative for College Student Affairs

Professionals to consistently be aware of the constantly changing technological society. They

must also continue to display their proficiency of the tools and applications used in the college atmosphere. This core course will lay the

foundation for all remaining courses in the CSPA program.

Student ObjectivesStudents taking this course will be expected to

achieve the following specific objectives:• Demonstrate a proficiency, using the Microsoft

Office packages, including Access, PowerPoint, FrontPage, and Excel

• Apply Excel and Access to reality situations, through the utilization of case studies

• Develop research skills, using internet and library resources

• Explain potential, legal and ethical issues in using technology in Student Affairs

Objectives, Cont’d

• Design web documents and present them professionally

• Understand the implications of distance learning

• Utilize technology for assessment and evaluation

• Build skills needed to be successful in future program coursework

Required Texts:

• Brady, J. A., & Monk, E. F. (2003). Problem solving cases in Microsoft Access and Excel. Course

Technology, Inc.• Tivani, H.T. (2004). Ethics & Technology: Ethical

issues in an age of information and communication technology. Hoboken, NJ: John

Wiley & Sons, Inc. • Course Packet

Course Requirements and Student Assignments:

• Participation, 10 pts: “Attendance” is defined by being present body, mind, and voice. Because much of our class time will be spent in activities, attendance in class is vital to your success. For every day you are not in attendance, 1 point will be deducted from this total.

• Group Presentation, 30 pts: Develop a PowerPoint or web presentation on any aspect of the student affairs profession. Presentations will be 15-20 minutes in length.

Assignments, Cont’d• Research Paper, 20 pts: A 7-9 page paper (APA

format) on an ethical or legal issue, incorporating technology, of your choice. This paper must include:

– 3 primary sources

– 2 secondary sources

– 1 professional organization’s web site

– Access and attach 3 sources, obtained from an academic database

Assignments, Cont’d

• Personal Web Page, 20 pts: Design your own professional web page, including the following elements:

– Resume

– Portfolio of work samples

– Contact information and professionals references

• Midterm Exam, 20 pts: Take-home exam, covering concepts discussed in the first half of the semester.

Calendar of Topics• Week 1 Introduction to Technology

• Discuss Schedule/Expectations

• Student trends in technology

• Preparing student affairs professionals in technology

• Read articles by Broughton and Bowman

Calendar of Topics• Week 2 Desktop Application Training

• Microsoft Excel

• Microsoft Access

• Microsoft FrontPage

• Microsoft PowerPoint

Calendar of Topics• Week 3 Databases in Student Affairs

• Review Microsoft Access and Excel basics

• Case Studies

• Read book by Brady

Calendar of Topics• Week 4 Research and Technology

• Professional organizations

• Primary sources

• Secondary sources

• Read article by Williams

Calendar of Topics• Week 5 Library Research- Meet in

Library

• Introduction to database research (i.e., ERIC/Ovid, Lexus-Nexus, Academic Elite)

• Online library catalog resources

• Research Proposal Due

Calendar of Topics• Week 6 Ethical and Legal Issues

• Ethical Issues– Disclosure

– E-Mail

– Campus Policies

• Legal Issues– Confidentiality

– Plagiarism

– Research

• Read book by Tivani

Calendar of Topics• Week 7 Incorporating Technology into

Professionalism

• What does Professionalism mean?

• Presentation Tools – PowerPoint

• Presentation Style

• Form 3-4 Person Group for Group Project

•Research Paper Due

Calendar of Topics• Week 8 Web Documents

• Elements included in a student affairs website

• Revisit FrontPage basics

• Design tips for personal web pages

• Read articles by Seabreeze and Cox

• Access and Study 3 different student affairs websites

• Review Midterm

Calendar of Topics• Week 9 Career Services

• How can technology aid in your career?– Virtual resumes and portfolios

– Professional organizations

– Online job banks

• How Career Service offices are using technology to better serve students

• Read articles by Dodson and Dean

•Midterm Due

Calendar of Topics• Week 10 Extended Universities

• View Virtual Universities

• View Continuing Education Institutions

• View Distance Education Institutions

• Read articles by Havice and Chang

•Personal Web Page Due

Calendar of Topics• Week 11 Using Technology for

Assessment and Evaluation

• Discuss elements in article related to evaluation and assessment

• Types of evaluation and assessment

• Read articles by Harms and Hanson

Calendar of Topics• Week 12 How Student Affairs Offices Use

Technology

• Campus office professionals visit to share how technology has enhanced and challenged their offices

Calendar of Topics• Week 13 Group Presentations

• Week 14 Group Presentations

Course JustificationThis is today’s college freshman:• S/He has a laptop computer and a PC.• S/He checks his email more frequently than he

does his voice mail.• S/He doesn’t even own an answering machine.• S/He either never sees a professor or only sees

him/her in class.• S/He never turns in a hard copy of an assignment.• This student is virtually inaccessible by the majority

of student affairs professionals.

Course Justification As student affairs professionals, we need to embrace the fact that today’s college population has become solely dependent on technology for survival. Nearly 20 percent of college students began using a computer between the ages of 5 and 8 and all students participating in the national PEW Internet project had used a computer before they were 18. Seventy-nine percent of college students, participating in this study, either agreed or strongly agreed that using the Internet has affected their education in a positive manner (Jones 2002). The ability to use technology was ranked among the top five in an assessment survey, asking students about abilities crucial to student success (Macklin 2001).

Course Justification While students have always come to expect high levels of technology usage in the classroom, this expectation has now carried over to the non-academic realm. However, students have expressed the feeling that these expectations are not being met. Students demand campus-wide implementation of, instruction on, and accessibility to web sites, PowerPoint and discussion boards, email, web-based research, instant messaging, Microsoft Excel©, and video media (Gustafson, 38-39, 2003/04). As Gustafson states, “Students want technological skills in order to be competitive in their future careers” (Gustafson, 40, 2003/04). To enhance student development, student affairs administrators need to have the capabilities to cater to students’ technological needs.

Course Justification Technology enhances student learning. Student affairs professionals pride themselves in their responsibility for promoting student learning; therefore, future professionals must learn and apply technological methods that will respond to the needs of today’s student population (Engstrom 1997).

Course Justification This introductory graduate course will introduce future professionals to elements of technology that will impact the duration of their graduate career as well as their positions as practitioners. In order to be effective student affairs practitioners, we need to remain current with the new developments and issues concerning technology. To correlate with Bates and Poole, professionals have a smaller chance of being considered “fully educated” if they cannot incorporate web sites, Internet communication, and multimedia presentations into their fields (Bates 2003).

Course Justification With the scope of topics covered in this course, other core courses will be alleviated of the more arbitrary elements of their subjects. For example, in a law course, no time will need to be spent on legal research fundamentals. Additionally, students in research courses will be capable of extending their projects within the time given, rather than focusing on learning the data collection procedure itself. With these remedial aspects removed, knowledge and application in these two areas (Law and Research Methods) will be furthered enhanced.

References

Bates, A.W., & Poole, G. (2003) Effective teaching with technology in higher education: Foundations for success. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Engstrom, C.M. (1997). Integrating information technology into student affairs graduate programs. New Directions for Student Services, 78, 59-69.

Gustafson, K. (2003-2004). The impact of technologies on learning. Planning for Higher Education, 32(2), 37-43.

References Cont’d

Jones, S. (2002). The Internet goes to college: How students are living in the future with today’s technology. Pew Internet and American Life Project, 15 Sept. Retrieved February 13, 2004, from the World Wide Web: www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.Asp?Report=67.

Macklin, S. (2001). Interfacing: Perspectives on teaching and learning with technology.

Keynote presentation for The Collaboration for the Advancement of College Teaching and Learning virtual conference. Retrieved February 13, 2004, from the World Wide Web: depts. Washington.edu/pettt/presentations/april6.html.