A Vision of Students Today

As it says on the YouTube page for Michael Wesch’s video “A Vision of Students Today”:

[This is] a short video summarizing some of the most important characteristics of students today – how they learn, what they need to learn, their goals, hopes, dreams, what their lives will be like, and what kinds of changes they will experience in their lifetime. Created by Michael Wesch in collaboration with 200 students at Kansas State University.

How similar are these students to your students?

Wesch wrote a post last fall as a way of Revisiting A Vision of Students Today. It’s definitely worth a read.

Letting Students Inside Your Head

When you were in college, did you ever want to know what your professor was thinking or where he or she was coming from? I know I did.

I shared tips on how to arrive, survive and thrive in my classes with my students at Georgia Southern University earlier today. I figure it’s only fair. It helps to get my new students on a somewhat level playing field with those who have had me as a professor before.

Do you ever share tips like these with your students? I’d like to see what you do. Please comment and link to your blogs.

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[Cross-posted from Public Relations Matters.]

An Open Note to All of Prof. Nixon’s Students at Georgia Southern University:

We’re off and running in our Fall Semester classes at GSU. This semester, I’m teaching five classes; the classes, with hyperlinks to the syllabi, are listed below:

• Corporate Public Relations
• Public Relations Publications
• Introduction to Public Speaking
• Making Connections: Facebook & Beyond (a first-year experience course)

So that we can make the most of this semester, please (PLEASE) take some time to read through the blog posts I’ve included here. I promise you, it will be well worth your time. (How often do professors let you get inside their heads, letting you know their tips for success and their pet peeves?)

• Prof. Nixon’s Teaching & Learning Philosophy
• How to Fail a Class (WIthout Really Trying)
• Ten Ways NOT to Prepare for College Advising
• My End of Semester Rant, Kinda

Additionally, here are a few more tips:

• When communicating with me via e-mail (or Facebook), please put your course number (such as PRCA 3339) in the subject line to help me immediately identify who you are and frame your questions or comments.
• When submiting an assignment in WebCT Vista, always put your last name as part of the file name, and also include your name in the document itself.
• Follow me on Twitter, if you really want to get inside my head. (What’s Twitter?)

Let’s make this a great semester together!

Facebook & Skype & Twitter . . . Oh My!

The new technologies available today make it easier than ever to meet our students where they are. And where are they? Connected, 24×7. In a workshop created for the New Faculty Forum at Georgia Southern University, I demonstrated how I’ve used available – and free – technology to connect with my students, both academically and personally. Participants from the workshop, and all other interested faculty members, are invited to participate in this blog following the workshop to continue the conversation.

NOTE: If you click on the SlideShare logo at the bottom right of the presentation, you’ll go to the SlideShare website, where you can download the presentation in PowerPoint format, complete with speaker notes.