Change, Challenge and Communication

The planets aligned around three themes in my twitter feed and my classroom this week: change, challenge, and communication.

Inside Higher Ed reported on what Provosts' think about the future of higher education. The times they are a' changing. But Provosts' still believe in liberal arts and learning. They believe that their institutions are healthy despite financial challenges. Perhaps classrooms will continue to exist -- at least for the remainder of my career.

My first full week in the classroom this semester brought both change and challenge. I struggled with new-to-me instructional technology. But I managed to muddle through by pushing buttons until things worked. I even digitally brought a former doctoral student (@kfreberg) into @461SocialMedia with a new-to-her online teaching tool that allowed me to record her presentation and post it online for students who were absent because of snow and travel. Despite all the technological delivery, I think the classroom added value to learning for those who were there. I hope so.

Perhaps the biggest test of the classroom as a value-added proposition will be for students in my Advertising Media Strategy class. Less than half of them were in the classroom yesterday. Many were iced into their apartment complexes. Almost a dozen were in New York on a @utadpr excursion: #utkadclubnyc16. All the readings and lecture notes are online. But will those students who missed class learn the tough stuff of audience and cost metrics as well as those students who were in the classroom to talk about gross impressions and GRP and reach and frequency and CPM and CPP?

Communication is where the classroom and twitter feed really aligned. Bob Blaisdell compared writing and dancing. Learning both can be a challenge. Students in my public relations writing class want more structure. I am grateful they were able to express their frustration in a constructive way. I'm revising future assignments to add more specific instructions and examples. I'm a free-form kind of dancer. Never took a dance class. Never wanted to waltz. But my dance style doesn't translate well for my writing students.

@markwschaefer wrote about the future of blogging. It is changing and challenging. Timely article for #461social students who are just starting their blogs.

@joshmkim suggested that an increase in social media outlets might help professionals listen more and talk less. Good advice for educators whether they are in the Provost's office or the classroom.

@nytegan reminded me what the 8-second attention span means for me as a writer and a teacher. As a writer, I'm lucky if you've gotten this far in my blog post. As a teacher, I need to listen more and talk less to make the classroom a valued place of learning.