Beep, beep! Technology coming through (the Writing Centre) Jordana - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Beep, beep! Technology coming through (the Writing Centre)

Jordana Garbati, PhD Haydn Lawrence Boba Samuels

Inkshed – May 28, 2014

Our goal:

To increase engagement with technology to better serve the Laurier community

Our challenges:

• Limited resources & time
• Limited expertise
• Institutional restraints

Technology in Higher Education

• 21st century learning will “take advantage of

technology in ways that truly enhance the learning experience” (Mintz, 2014).

• Social media support collaboration, community

building, participation, and sharing (HERI, 2007;

Junco, Heibergert, & Loken, 2010).

• 94% of first year college students use social

networking (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace) websites (HERI, 2007).

Social Media & Student Engagement

• A greater percentage of high users of social

networking websites participated in and spent more time in campus organizations than low users (Heiberger & Harper, 2008; HERI, 2007)

• Faculty who are more engaged with students
• n Twitter see greater gains in academic
• utcomes (Junco, Elavsky, & Heiberger, 2013)
• In-class (academic) engagement and out-of-

class engagement in educationally relevant activities are important to student success (Kuh,

2009).

What about outside

• f a classroom setting?

Technology Use outside of Class?

• source of information (open days, word of mouth

and, increasingly, websites) – a top 10 factor influencing student choice of university (Briggs, 2007)

• Potential students want to “interact” with universities,

not just read content (see Gordon & Berhow, 2009)

• Web 1.0 & Web 2.0

Five Principles for Facilitation of Relationship Building Online

• 1. Create websites that allow the public to ask

questions of the organization & for the

• rganization to respond
• 2. Provide content that is useful for the user – not

just the organization’s needs

• 3. Create websites that inspire users to make repeat

visits

• 4. Create websites that are easy to navigate and

understand

• 5. Links should not lead visitors astray

(Kent & Taylor, 1998; Taylor & Kent, 2004)

Customers’ Perceptions & Expectations of Companies

Five factors: 1. Tangibles – up-to-date equipment, physical facilities are visually appealing, materials are visually appealing (e.g., web site) 2. Reliability – doing what is promised, doing it at the promised time 3. Responsiveness – gives prompt service (e.g., time to download a web page) 4. Assurance – knowledge to answer questions (e.g., customers expect to find everything they want on a web site) 5. Empathy – missing on web sites because there is no human interaction; advanced sites try to create a face-to-virtual-face interaction (see van Iwaarden et al., 2004)

YorkU’s SPARK DePaul’s Writing Center

University of Chicago’s Website Redesign

OLD SITE NEW SITE Visually stale; the last major design overhaul was in 2008 Updated design Limited platform for

• messaging. Not ideal for

ambitious photography and storytelling Wider open design to create an appropriate canvas for messaging Technically dated Modern content management, coding standards Limited mobile/tablet experience Responsive design will allow content to grow & shrink depending on screen size No space to communicate to or about faculty Dedicated faculty section Lots of information on homepage felt crowded and made some items difficult to find Wider open design, rich navigation to bring utility to top of the page Analytics and/or comments re: finding Arts, Diversity, Medical Center, Academic Calendar Cleaner design, logical filing No space to communicate about our global centers and endeavors Dedicated space to link to a new site in the works via University Affairs

Our Writing Centre

Existing Our Vision

Static, dated website Updated design Text-heavy website Increase use of visuals Inactive Facebook account Increase social media/networking presence No Twitter account, blog, etc. Manual scheduling system Online scheduling system Random/disconnected promotional material Promotion plan (BU352)

Marketing Strategy Recommendations

• Increase advertising
• Increase visibility on social media
• Contests & giveaways
• Continuous improvement via feedback
• Online booking

(via BU352 marketing plan)

Our Programs

How can we align our technology and social media use with our program goals?

Outreach: Campus- wide Initiatives

Outreach: External Community

Research Program Faculty Support Tutoring Program

Stage 1: Social Media Initiative

Tutoring Program

Outreach: Campus- Wide Initiatives Outreach: External Community

Growth of Twitter

50 100 150 200 250 July August February May

@LaurierWriting Twitter Followers 2013-2014

Twitter engagement: students, staff, faculty, external

Stage 2: Website Redesign

Tutoring Program Outreach: External Community Outreach: Campus- Wide Initiatives Faculty Support

Website Redesign

On our To Do list:

• Reduce clicks
• Include graphics, photos
• Reduce text
• Include Google calendar
• Begin a blog

“if a website design is simple, people are more likely to use it” (see Kim, 2011, p. 64)

Old website

New website

Reduce clicks Graphics, photos Blog, resources Calendar Text moved to below the fold

The Writing Centre Blog

tutor spotlight essays, advice columns recipes photos events

Stage 3: VocApp

Outreach: External Community Outreach: Campus- Wide Initiatives Faculty Support

Emerging Technologies & Language Learning

• “smartphones are ideal for individualized informal

learning” (Godwin-Jones, 2011, p. 8).

• “technologies, mobile or otherwise, can be instrumental

in language instruction. (…) they are not in and of themselves instructors; rather, they are instructional

• tools. (…) effective use of any tool in language learning

requires the thoughtful application of second language pedagogy” (Chinnery, 2006, p. 9).

WLU VocApp

• Version 1.0 went live in January 2014
• Promotes academic vocabulary development
• Available for free on iPhone & Android devices
• Collaborative initiative with Haydn Lawrence

(MSc student tutor) & Nadine LeGros (Intercultural Development Office) & the Writing Centre

WLU VocApp

• source of words - Academic Word List
• storage & categories of words
• specific word lists for disciplines
• cost - $100 – registration/Google/Apple

+ developer’s time/salary

• knowledge of tech/programming for

app is required

• Phone Gap – simplifies work
• graphics via Marketing Department
• version 2.0 to come

Stage 4: Online Scheduling System

Tutoring Program

Online Scheduling System

• Old:

– Paper, pencil, appointment book – Telephone, email, & walk-in appointment booking

• New:

– WCOnline online system – available to all registered Laurier students

Student Testimonials

“Overall I found the year went well. The new appointment system is working well and helping with preparatory measures.” –graduate tutor “I feel like the writing centre was very lively this term, and we kept active.” –undergraduate tutor

“I like the [AP] dates and links attached that helped make a thesis.”–undergraduate student

Future Projects

Continue:

• Photo album – historical record
• More interactive blog
• Increase Twitter & Facebook followers

Possible initiatives:

• My Learning Space modules
• Investigate online tutoring options
• Promotional videos (like DePaul)
• App design/revamp & assessment
• Assignment Planner 2.0

Thank you.

Writing Centre - DAWB 1-102 wlu.ca/writing @LaurierWriting Laurier Writing Centre Boba Samuels – bsamuels@wlu.ca Jordana Garbati – jgarbati@wlu.ca

References

Chinnery, G. M. (2006). Emerging technologies: Going to the MALL: Mobile Assited Language Learning. Language Learning & Technology, 10(1), 9-16. Godwin-Jones, R. (2011). Emerging technologies: Mobile apps for language learning. Language Learning & Technology, 15(2), 2-11. Godron, J., & Berhow, S. (2009). University websites and dialogic features for building relationships with potential students. Public Relations Review, 35, 150-152. Heiberger, G., & Harper, R. (2008). Have you Facebook Astin lately? Using technology to increase student involvement. In R. Junco & D. M. Timm (Eds.), Using emerging technologies to enhance student engagement (pp. 19-35). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Available at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/sites/cyber.law.harvard.edu/files/Chapter%202%20- %20Facebook%20and%20Student%20Engagement.pdf Higher Education Research Institute/HERI. (2007). College freshman and online social networking sites. Available at http://www.heri.ucla.edu/PDFs/pubs/briefs/brief-091107-SocialNetworking.pdf Junco, R., Elavsky, C. M., & Heiberger, G. (2013). Putting twitter to the test: Assessing outcomes for student collaboration engagement and success. British Journal of Educational Technology, 44(2), 273-287. Junco, R., Heibergert, G., & Loken, E. (2011). The effect of Twitter on college student engagement and grades. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 27, 119-132. Kent, M. L., & Taylor, M. (1998). Building dialogic relationships through the world wide web. Public Relations Review, 24(3), 321-334. Kuh, G. D. (2009). What student affairs professionals need to know about student engagement. Journal of College Student Development, 50, 683-706. Mintz, S. (2014, March 5). Five ways that 21st and 20th century learning will differ. Available at http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/higher-ed-beta/five-ways-21st-and-20th-century-learning-will- differ#sthash.oF35l0yI.dpbs Pascarella, E. T., & Terenzini, P. T. (2005). How college affects students: A third decade of research. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Taylor, M., & Kent, M. L. (2004). Congressional web sites and their potential for public dialogue. Atlantic Journal of Communication, 12(2), 59-76. McGowen, S. (2013, July 10). How do you design an award-winning university website? Available at http://www.universityaffairs.ca/how-do-you-design-an-award-winning-university-website-uchicago.aspx