Thanks for all of the suggestions on what to teach this years seniors technology
wise to help them when they become freshman college students. The responses were:
1. Blackboard: I had several people discuss this and said it is highly used in
almost all of the colleges around Kansas. My son, who is currently a college
freshman, told me that this is a must to show to the seniors and has even
volunteered to let me use his login and username in my demonstration so they can
see what an active students site looks like. We use Moodle here at the high school
and so students are aware of the program but many people said that I will need to
show them BlackBoard too as there is a difference.
2. Email: again, several people said to make sure to tell the students that
although they may not use email that much now - they will need to get in the habit
of using it daily in college. Not only do you receive important information from
the college via email but it is the easiest way to communicate with your professors.
3. Databases: basically, each department seems to have their own databases that
they prefer. For example, my cousin who is a science professor in Missouri said
that he has his students use www.pubmed.com or google scholar. And I had others
say the same thing but with different specific databases. But the important thing
to remind them is they have to STOP the habit of just typing in a keyword into
google and get INTO the habit of using databases. They also need to be aware of
the differences between academic journals and magazines.
4. Alternative search engines: I know that FHSU in Kansas stresses that the
students use Clusty.com as one of the search engines to use and I am sure there are
others that have their own preferences as well. Many college libraries are going
into Federated Searching which means that students have the ability to search for
books and articles from databases at the same time (like www.kslib.info).
5. HomeworkKansas: I did have someone mention to remind them that they can still
use homeworkkansas as they do have college courses. I think this was a wonderful
suggestion. They can connect with a live teacher who can help them with their
introductory classes and resume writing assistance. They also have a very nice
collection of links to help study for a multiple of state and national tests.
6. Citations: The students need to be aware of the different citations college
professors may require and the tools that will help them cite their paper correctly.
7. Google Scholar: surprisingly, this was the only google ap that was suggested. I
asked about Google Docs and Google Notes to several college freshmen and professors
from around the state but no one really seems to be using them a whole lot. As
several of them said - it's easier to just take notes the old-fashioned way with a
highlighter and a pencil and paper than anything else. Kinda interesting
response.......the students say they prefer it this way as its simplier and they
don't have to worry about getting on a computer, battery power, connection time,
ect. Plus, as my son pointed out - a pencil doesn't weigh as much as a computer
and I can put it behind my ear to carry it to class :) .
8. Online textbooks: many colleges are starting to switch from required textbooks
in print to online textbooks.
9. Social sites: people mentioned that although this doesn't really have to do with
college education, it still affects the students personally and is worth
mentioning. Such as Second Life, Delicious, Facebook does and don't, Twitter,
Glogster and more
10. INFORMATION LITERACY SKILLS: this was probably the one that was mentioned the
most by college professors. They basically said that they see too many college
freshmen who do not have any of these skills.
*on a secondary note, when I was talking to some of my family members who happen to
be college professors, they all started by saying how the students need to know
when NOT to use technology. For example, if they are in front of the class
lecturing - they don't want to see the students on their cell phones texting or on
their blackberries. They also don't want students on their computers as too often
the students are not using them to take notes but rather using them to chat, check
facebook, or email and thus are not actively participating in the class. In fact,
I had more of a response in this realm than anything else. They also said to
make sure this years seniors understand that not everything can be found on the
internet and that they will need to think critically inside and outside of their
class.
Well that is about it. I am getting started on preparing my lecture now that I
have what I need to talk about handy. I plan on spending the majority of the time
on Blackboard and email and then just touching on the rests.
Thanks for all of the suggestions and help
Brenda Lemon
District Librarian
Chapman Kansas
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