tonyarcher97

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Archer, Nathan. “Seen.” Tallahassee Democrat, May 23, 2021. https://on.tdo.com/2nUeq7o.

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Archer, N. (2018, November 15). Stan Lee [Cartoon]. Tallahassee Democrat. https://on.tdo.com/2nUeq7o

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Educator Digital Identity & Reputation Project

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To tweet, or not to tweet: Questioning the role of social media in academia

As long as there has been social media, there have been scholars debating its purpose and function in academia. Times Higher Education’s recent publication of opposing op-eds reignites this discussion and seeks to determine whether or not academics should make time for social media.

Pros and Cons

Egan (2016) feels scholars should not make time for social media declaring it “irrelevant to [their] work as an academic” (para. 2) and stating that it exists solely to feed “our narcissistic craving for others’ approval” (para. 12). The author claims that social media sites “restrict free expression” (Egan, 2016, para. 8) and warns of excessively intrusive “terms of service” (Egan, 2016, para. 12). The author’s arguments feel overly paranoid and with no specific research to support his assertions, they appear rather unfounded.

A review of some additional literature indicates that stronger deterrents against academics’ use of social media often involve concerns surrounding academic freedom (Murphy, 2014) or idea theft (Veletsianos, 2016).

Miah (2016) takes the position that academics should make time for social media proclaiming that it can help them “achieve a bigger impact in the public domain” (para. 1). The author focuses on the various and plentiful platforms scholars can use to connect with the online academic community listing LinkedIn and Twitter as two “must-haves” (Miah, 2016, para. 3).

Other pedagogical benefits often cited for justifying academics’ use of social media include publicizing work, building professional networks, engaging with the public, managing information, and monitoring professional identity (Veletsianos, 2013; Carrigan, 2016).

Neither of the Times Higher Education articles is particularly convincing in its attempt to sway opinion, but both articles—and others like them—acknowledge (and contribute to) the continued debate on this topic.   

Benefits and Pitfalls

Regardless of your personal feelings towards social media, its use in the academic world is already prevalent and prolific. Sana J. Ono, the current president of the University of British Columbia and former president of the University of Cincinnati, is a staunch proponent of social media in higher education. President Ono has built quite a following on Twitter and effectively uses the platform to increase “enrollment, donations, [and] public engagement” (Friedman, 2015).

However, college and university personnel are not immune to controversies surrounding the use of social media. Numerous academics “have found themselves in hot water over both online comments made on both personal and professional bases” (Johnson, 2017). A professor from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville was recently fired after inappropriate online interactions between her and a student were shared with the university’s administration (Johnson, 2017).    

Conclusion

The question of whether or not academics should use social media has already been answered by the fact that scholars already are using it for teaching and research (Veletsianos, 2013). In fact, “in the near future . . . active use of [social media] may be a full-blown requirement” (Zalaznick, 2013).

The more relevant question academics should be asking themselves is how: how will they determine what content to post, how will they conduct themselves online, and how much time will they devote to these activities? Addressing these issues before jumping into social media should ensure that academics are thoroughly prepared to navigate those waters.

References

Carrigan, M. (2016). Social media for academics. Los Angeles, California: Sage.

Egan, G. (2016). Why academics should NOT make time for social media. Times Higher Education. Retrieved from https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/why-academics-should-not-make-time-social-media

Friedman, A. (2015). College president uses Twitter to grow university’s brand. American Marketing Association. Retrieved from https://www.ama.org/events-training/Conferences/Pages/college-president-uses-twitter-to-grow-university-brand.aspx

Johnson, S. (2017). Not just for students. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2017/06/28/advice-professors-using-social-media-discuss-controversial-topics-essay

Miah, A. (2016). Why academics should make time for social media. Times Higher Education. Retrieved from https://www.timeshighereducation.com/comment/why-academics-should-make-time-for-social-media-app

Murphy, M. H. (2014). The views expressed represent mine alone: Academic freedom and social media. SCRIPTed, 11(3). Retrieved from http://script-ed.org/?p=1661

Veletsianos, G. (2013). Open practices and identity: Evidence from researchers and educators’ social media participation. British Journal of Educational Technology, 44(4) 639-651. doi:10.1111/bjet.12052

Veletsianos, G. (2016). Social media in academia. New York, New York: Routledge.

Zalaznick, M. (2013). Do college presidents have to be active on Twitter? University Business. Retrieved from https://www.universitybusiness.com/article/do-college-presidents-have-be-active-twitter

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Using Technology to Assist Student Vets

Different populations of students are going to have different “dispositions, attitudes, and usage patterns” (Brooks, 2016, p.5) when it comes to technology in higher education. This includes our student veterans whose prior training and experience in the military present unique challenges when transitioning to college.

Rallying the Troops

The presence of student veterans at colleges and universities is growing rapidly. “In 2009, there were approximately 500,000 student veterans and beneficiaries receiving education benefits … in 2013, there were over 1,000,000” (Department of Veterans Affairs [VA], 2014). Higher education has quickly responded to this influx of students with “most institutions of higher education serv[ing] student veterans” (VA, 2014). The majority of these students (79.2%) are enrolling in public institutions and pursuing degrees related to engineering, science, business, health, or public service (VA, 2014).

Men make of the largest percentage of student veterans on campuses, but when compared proportionally to percentages in the military “female student veterans are over represented in postsecondary education” (VA, 2014). Student veterans are typically older (between the ages of 24 and 40) with only 15% being “traditionally aged college students (18-23)” (VA, 2014). Almost half (47%) are married and the same percentage have children (VA, 2014).

A Tech Battle Plan

Colleges and universities have the opportunity to assist student veterans in a myriad of ways involving technology. First, “minor annoyances (e.g., closed e-mail accounts, temporary loss of technology and facilities access) could be readily addressed” (Rumann & Hamrick, 2010). Other, more substantial challenges student veterans face demand a more strategic approach.  

The transition from military life to life at an institution of higher education can be incredibly challenging with some citing it as “one of the most daunting life changes” (Marsilio, 2016). As noted above, student veterans do not share many of the same demographic similarities with traditional students. Technology helps play a role in bridging those divides. “Social media may be able to create a medium for student veterans to establish some common ground with these different student groups by identifying commonalities between the groups” (Marsilio, 2016).

To connect with other veterans, many colleges and universities (including Florida State University) have a student veterans center on campus. Cass (2014) advocates that “while a physical veterans’ center is important to building a sense of community, an online version of the community is much more accessible” (para. 7).

The Mobile Solider

The need for flexibility is another major issue facing student veterans—especially if there is the possibility of deployment.

Student veterans have challenging schedules and are not always able to attend classes full time. They need online classes, evening and weekend classes, and other non-traditional methods of obtaining their education. As universities see these demands for non-traditional class schedules, they are altering their program schedules to satisfy this demand. (Marsilio, 2016)

At Florida State University, “more than half of the veterans currently enrolled … take advantage of online study” (“FSU online,” 2015). To help facilitate the demand, the university has stationed a liaison in the Office of Distance Learning specially trained to deal with issues related to student veterans (“Veteran Liaisons,” 2017).  

Conclusion

Student veterans “come from a unique environment that separates them from typical students” (Marsilio, 2016). Using technology tools inside and outside the classroom can have profound impacts for the student veteran before, during, and after their transition from the military to institutions of higher education.

References

Brooks, D. C. (2016). ECAR study of undergraduate students and information technology, 2016. Louisville, CO: ECAR. Retrieved from https://library.educause.edu/~/media/files/library/2016/10/ers1605.pdf

Cass, D. (2014, January 14). New battles for student veterans require fresh strategies from colleges. The Hechinger Report. Retrieved from http://hechingerreport.org/new-battles-for-student-veterans-require-fresh-strategies-from-colleges/

Department of Veterans Affairs. (2014). Characteristics of Student Veterans. Retrieved from https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/studentveteran/docs/ed_todaysStudentVets.html

FSU online graduate programs among best in nation for veterans. (2015, May 21). Florida State University News. Retrieved from http://news.fsu.edu/news/university-news/2015/05/21/fsu-online-graduate-programs-among-best-nation-veterans/

Marsilio, K. (2016). Pittsburgh student veterans’ experience with social media in higher education (Doctoral dissertation, Robert Morris University). Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1803938831?pq-origsite=gscholar

Rumann, C. B. & Hamrick, F. A. (2010). Student veterans in transition: Re-enrolling after war zone deployments. The Journal of Higher Education, 81(4), 431-458.

Veteran Liaisons. (2017). Florida State University. Retrieved from http://veterans.fsu.edu/resources/veteran-liaisons/

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Reviewing Facebook’s Boosted Post Feature (5/5 stars)

Since the invention of the internet, universities have long used “digitally targeted advertisements” (Gross & Meriwether, 2016) for everything from student recruitment to institutional fund raising. In recent years, social media has given rise to a type of marketing less concerned with “big advertising claims [and more] focuse[d] on storytelling” (Feldt, 2016). Content marketing, as it is known, offers benefits different from traditional digital advertising that “can help brands increase awareness, change perception, strengthen trust and create a sustainable interaction with users” (Feldt, 2016). This is where boosting Facebook posts comes in handy.

It is naïve to think that everything posted by a university Facebook page is served up to all Facebook users. In fact, “Facebook lowers the organic reach capability for brand pages in order to balance out the personal versus commercial content on the users’ news feed” (Sorokina, 2014). Boosting a post from your university page is a “quick and easy way to show your content to people who might be interested” (“Boost Your Posts,” 2017).

Reaching the Audiences that Matter

If you have a specified role (admin, editor, moderator, or advertiser) for a Facebook page, you will see the “Boost Post” button in the bottom-right corner of posts that have been published on your page. Once clicked, you can choose your objective (engagement or website visits), the audience demographics, your budget, and the duration of the boost. Facebook then uses a complex set of algorithms to serve your post to “new people who are likely interested in your content but don't currently follow you on Facebook” (“Boost Your Posts,” 2017).

Facebook does a great job helping you balance your budget with your intended audience. They include an audience selection tool that helps you determine if your demographic parameters are either too specific or too broad. Since most people include their alma mater(s) in their “Education” section on Facebook, finding people connected to your institution makes things extremely simple.

Metrics and insights for a boosted post campaign are available almost instantaneously on Facebook and updates can be sent directly to you through Facebook Messenger. If necessary, it is possible to make changes to your boosted post while it is running in case you need to revise your budget, change the audience, edit the text, or pause the boost. The ability to make these kinds of alterations during a traditional digital advertising campaign are far more difficult.

Great Results

Because of the opportunities to target such specific audiences, boosting posts has a very high engagement rate. After deciding to boost posts—as opposed to run traditional digital advertisements—Florida State University saw a 134% increase in traffic to the official news website (news.fsu.edu) and our click-through rate went from 0.17% to 2.9%. These results were achieved while spending less money and using fewer human resources (since we were boosting posts that already existed verses having to design additional digital advertisements).

Final Thoughts

Boosting posts offers colleges and universities (and their respective divisions) an opportunity to “increase engagement with your audience and get people interacting with the content you share” (“Boost Your Posts,” 2017). If this is your desired outcome, then you will find boosting Facebook posts convenient, cost-effective, and incredibly effective.  

References

Boost Your Posts. (2017). Facebook. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/business/help/547448218658012/?helpref=hc_fnav

Feldt, L. (2016, June 29). Native advertising vs. content marketing – where is the difference? [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://blog.plista.com/native-advertising-vs-content-marketing

Gross, L. & Meriwether, J. L. (2016). Student engagement through digital data. New Directions for Student Services, 155, 75-89. doi: 10.1002/ss.20184

Sorokina, O. (2014, October 24). What are Facebook boost posts and how they can help your business [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://blog.hootsuite.com/how-does-facebook-boost-posts-work

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Auditing the technology of FSU’s Creative Services

Regardless of whether you work in a university department, college, school, center, institute, or office, “an internal [technology] audit offers you crucial insights into your computing system’s overall functionality, potential security risks and various possible solutions available” (Dunkelberger, 2016). These insights are increasingly important to administrative units that rely heavily on technology.  

Welcome to Creative Services

Creative Services (part of the Office of University Communications) was established in 2012 to serve the graphic design, web design, and photography needs of Florida State University. Creative Services produces a wide variety of products annually including recruitment materials, websites, alumni publications, annual reports, and event photographs. Based on the nature of the work produced by Creative Services, the office depends almost exclusively on technology to complete daily tasks.  

Current Technology

A thorough technology audit was conducted on the graphic design branch of Creative Services the week of July 17, 2017. A copy of the results of that audit can be found online.  

The technology audit was completed with the assistance of Marc Thomas, assistant director of Creative Services, and multimedia design specialists Amanda Hartsfield and Benjamin Moten.

The audit reveals that the design branch of Creative Services has the essential tools necessary to do the day-to-day work of the office, but many opportunities exist to streamline operations. Also, while most of the technology is relatively new (purchased within the last two or three years), color calibrating monitors and the printer should be considered since school color accuracy is so vital to colleges and universities.

Designing in the Cloud

Without question, the biggest use of technology in Creative Services’ graphic design area is the Adobe Creative Cloud. This suite of software programs allows each employee to perform their primary job function: creating designs.

The Adobe Creative Cloud—commonly considered the industry standard—has many strengths. One such strength is the software’s subscription-based structure that routinely updates and ensures that employees always have access to the latest version of each software program.

Because of the popularity of Adobe Creative Cloud within the design community, many training opportunities exist for the various programs including hundreds of free online courses offered to FSU through Lynda.com.

Adobe Creative Cloud is also incredibly customizable, allowing employees to manipulate software settings for a tailored workflow based on individual needs.

As powerful as the software is, the audit revealed improvements Creative Services can make to more fully exploit the software’s capabilities. For example, customizing settings (as mentioned above) could create shortcuts and increase an employee’s efficiency.

Creative Services can also use Adobe Creative Cloud to more effectively down-sample images to preserve storage space. Storage space at Creative Services is always at a premium since they work with multi-gigabyte files.

Creative Services can also explore additional Creative Cloud programs (i.e. Adobe Bridge) that could assist with font, image, and file management.

Being the primary software tool for Creative Services, most attention is paid to supporting Adobe Creative Cloud. Still, it became apparent during this audit that there are other technologies that could also benefit this unit.

Improving Workflow with Technology

As stated earlier, the mission of Creative Services is to create designs for the university and the primary tool for accomplishing that objective is Adobe Creative Cloud. However, Adobe Creative Cloud does not encapsulate the entire graphic design process. The four key segments of this process include:

Job Requests & Kickoff: How teams process incoming project requests and assign resources and priorities

Project Management: How teams monitor the status of projects and deadlines

Review & Approval Process: How teams manage the routing of proofs for review and maintain version control

Metrics & Reporting: How teams track key performance metrics to improve productivity. (Munz, 2016)

Creative Services currently uses a hodgepodge of tools to address each of these segments. For example, incoming projects are submitted through various sources (email, web forms, hallway conversations, texts, etc.). Munz (2016) recommends “develop[ing] a formal request process and adhere[ing] to it” (para. 5). An on-campus resource worth exploring is SharePoint Online, a product of Microsoft Office 365 and available through FSU’s Information Technology Services (“Service Catalog,” 2017). This product could allow for a centralized location to capture job requests.

Project management is extremely important at Creative Services and there has always been a project management system in place to track the hundreds of assignments that come through this office. Originally, TaskAnt was used, then Go, then Asana, and currently the team uses MeisterTask. This program works well for sharing information and balancing work assignments, yet does not require a large time commitment to be effective. It is recommended that the Creative Services team continues to use MeisterTask for project management.

The review and approval process at Creative Services consists mainly of generating PDFs from one of the Adobe Creative Cloud programs and emailing (if file size is small) or sending through the FSU Dropbox (if file size it large). After that, there is no formal structure in place for how clients review and approve designs. Tools like LayerVault, DesignSignoff, or Pixelapse could be used “to collaborate with your design team, present design options and the ideas behind your work, and handle version control” (Hodge, 2015).

Finally, Creative Services does not currently have any metrics or reporting mechanisms established to improve productivity, but time tracking data could be captured and analyzed to assist with those efforts. Common tracking applications worth exploring include Harvest, Toggl, and Everhour (Cowan, 2016).  

Going Social

Finding time for traditional engagement on social media through platforms like Facebook or Twitter have proven difficult given Creative Services’ typically heavy workload. However, Creative Services does create content for the university and finding an appropriate platform to share that content (and encourage engagement with the content) could benefit the university. Therefore, it is recommended that the university create an institutional issuu account where these publications can be hosted and shared with the world.  

Conclusion

Looking holistically at the entire workflow system in Creative Services highlights many opportunities for technological upgrades. Many of the recommendations in this report (streamlining operations, finding shortcuts) are in service of building capacity and allowing Creative Services to service more clients. In addition, promoting the work produced by the office through social engagement can have benefits as well.

References

Cowan, K. (2016, June 23). 10 of the best time tracking tools for freelancers [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.creativeboom.com/resources/10-of-the-best-time-tracking-tools-for-freelancers

Dunkelberger, D. (2016, April 12). Top 5 benefits of an internal audit for your company [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.ispartnersllc.com/blog/top-5-benefits-internal-audit-company

Hodge, S. (2015, February 24). 55 time-saving, productive workflow tips for designers [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://design.tutsplus.com/articles/55-time-saving-productive-workflow-tips-for-designers--cms-23401

Munz, R. (2016, March 16). Implementing best practices for creative workflow management [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://gdusa.com/career/implementing-best-practices-for-creative-workflow-management

Service Catalog. (2017). Florida State University. Retrieved from https://its.fsu.edu/service-catalog

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My Tech Timeline

There have been three specific dates throughout my life that profoundly shaped my attitudes towards technology and played significant roles in the evolution of my digital life.  

December 25, 1984. When I was nine years old I received an Apple IIc for Christmas. That particular computer housed a DOS-based operating system running the BASIC programming language. When you turned the machine on, there was no graphic user interface, just a green command prompt awaiting instructions.

Popular periodicals at the time (Games magazine, for example) would published code you could use to make simple computer applications. I spent hours programing dice games, card games, and Mad Libs-style word games. Copying pages of code into that machine taught me the fundamental ‘if this then that’ (IFTTT) principle of computer science.

August 20, 2001. The day I began my master’s degree at Florida State I was introduced to Adobe PageMaker (now called InDesign), Photoshop, and Illustrator—tools I still continue to use in my role as director of creative services at Florida State University.

My knowledge of these three software programs (commonly referred to as the Creative Suite) has opened may doors: from job offers to teaching opportunities. Since technology relies so heavily on displays, having the ability to manipulate pixels has proven quite useful in today’s world.

June 29, 2007. On an exceptionally hot Tallahassee afternoon, I waited in a long line outside the AT&T store on North Monroe to purchase one of the first-generation iPhones. I obsessed for months about that device and was constantly refreshing websites like MacRumors.com to obtain any bits of information I could before its debut. Launch day, at least to me, was the day we began living in the future.

Fast-forward ten years and that piece of technology is still with me (albeit in a newer model). My iPhone wakes me up in the morning and lulls me to sleep at night. It’s my wallet, my keys, my stereo, my television, my flashlight, my camera and so many other things accessible to me at a moment’s notice

Current Likes and Dislikes

Because of my early exposure to its products, Apple continues to dominate as my preferred maker of technology tools. I use both their hardware (iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, etc.) and their software (Apple Pay, Safari, Keynote, etc.) on a daily basis.

One of the main reason for my brand loyalty towards Apple is their appreciation for aesthetic in both form and function. Tools that frustrate me are poorly designed (physically) or offer an inferior user experience.

The technology tool I would like to learn more about is augmented reality. While not an avid player, I am fascinated by games like Pokémon Go that use augmented reality to blend the physical and digital worlds. I especially like the fact that programs like this encourage movement.  

Technology and Society

Overall, I belief technology exists in our society to help us “connect with others, organize for change, and spread [our] ideas and information with relative ease” (Cabellon & Brown, 2017, p. 9). In essence, it helps support us in our day-to-day quests.  

Related to higher education, I feel that technology’s role is also to support. It should exist to “engage the university community in support of the university’s mission of teaching, research, creative endeavors and service” (Florida State University Information Technology Services, 2017).

I believe technology and higher education have always had a symbiotic relationship. Teller (1962) professes that “today’s science is tomorrow’s technology” (p. 146). I like to believe this is true and that the research happening today on college campuses will inform the technologies developed in the future. At the same time, cutting-edge research and creative activities require state-of-the-art technology. Therefore, we could assume that the relationship between technology and higher education will continue to inform each other indefinitely.

References

Cabellon, E., & Brown, P. (2017). Remixing leadership practices with emerging technologies. New Directions for Student Leadership, 153, 9-20. doi: 10.1002/yd.20226

Florida State University Information Technology Services. (2017). Mission. Retrieved from http://its.fsu.edu/about-us

Teller, E. (1962). The legacy of Hiroshima. Garden City, New York: Doubleday.

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Go Noles!!! http://gifshop.tv/m/ISGJ7EK6D3/