Interactive Web Applications and Their Use
in Academic Advising
Clay Schwenn
Lead Academic Counselor
University of Washington
Many academic advisors find it difficult to keep up with the current iteration of interactive Internet-based services for delivering information to students. Sometimes referred to as Web 2.0 applications, this technology provides the user with the ability to use information not just in a static format (e.g., email or a website that delivers information), but rather allows the user to interact with that information in a dynamic way. It allows not just for the broadcasting of information, but for the creation of new knowledge and the opportunity to build on existing ideas in a virtual space. As an introduction to these technologies we divide the major sites into broad categories, and briefly describe the ways in which some of these interactive applications have been used in the advising community to deliver services and information to students, as well as provide advisors a new learning-centered environment to interact with students.
Social Networking
Social Networks include Facebook©, MySpace™, LinkedIn®, Second Life,® and Ning. While each of these networks has a slightly different focus, they all share the goal of giving people a venue to share information about themselves. As of this writing, Facebook has become the predominant social networking site on college campuses, having grown out of an effort by Harvard University undergrad Mark Zuckerberg to create an online version of a long-running paper-based face book that the university published. While modest in its beginning, within 5 years Facebook’s mission became “to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.”. MySpace bills itself as the place to connect “people through personal expression, content, and culture” (¶ 1), and as such, had come to inhabit a space for people to meet each other in a more personal way. LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site, focusing primarily on opportunities for professionals to work together in making connections for career advancement and professional development. Second Life takes these social networks a step further by building a virtual 3-d world in which the participants can interact, primarily through the use of an “avatar”, essentially a virtual, designed, representation of themselves. Within the 3-d world, people can buy and sell property, create shops to sell merchandise, and socialize in open areas. A number of universities have created virtual versions of their own campus. Finally, Ning is a site that allows users to customize some general settings to create social networks around their own interests and membership. NACADA’s Technology in Academic Advising has had a small forum on Ning with varying membership as its participants collaborate on different projects.
Blogging and Microblogging
Blogging and Microblogging are outgrowths of the types of interactions that people are having on social networking sites. As people interact with each other more frequently, they are more interested in broadcasting a particular message, describing experiences, or providing a forum for like-minded people to interact. Wikipedia notes that blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as images, links, web pages, audio, or video. Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries (¶ 1).
Advising offices, career centers, and faculty commonly use blogs to distribute information about opportunities, deadlines, and other information that they would like broadcast to a large audience.
WordPress in an open-source (meaning that programmers make the code easily available to other programmers) blogging software that is easy to install, and due to the open-source nature, easily customizable to a particular user’s interests. Blogger is Google’s version of a simple to use blogging software that allows the user to publish entries as quickly and easily as they would write an email.
Twitter has created a new methodology in the blogging sphere, commonly referred to as “microblogging”. Twitter blog entries are limited to only 140 characters, which creates more of a continuing conversational style between the blogger and his reader. Additionally, Twitter has trending topics that serve as a quick check of news items and events that are happening around the world. Advisors or an advising center can create an account that students then can choose to follow. “Tweets” posted to the advising microblog account are forwarded to subscribers.
Training coordinators may want to use a training session to help advisors set up a blog and/or a Twitter account and practice using these technologies. Advisors then could discuss how these technologies could be used to better meet student needs and administrators can decide if the use of these technologies is appropriate for their situation.
Podcasting
The use of Audio and Video files in higher education has increased as the power of desktop computers made it easier to edit these files. Podcasting is a method of distributing media files, usually audio or video files, over the Internet. Typically used for playback on mobile devices or a computer, generally a user interested in the subject subscribes to a podcast series using an RSS ("Really Simple Syndication) program that checks regularly for updates to the series and then automatically downloads the most recent episodes for the user to listen to at their leisure.
Audio podcasting has become fairly widespread in higher education, particularly for distribution of lectures and to provide information to students regarding academic and career advising. Apple Computing, Inc. has worked with a number of universities to create iTunes U, a virtual learning space that is populated with audio and video podcasts for higher education. YouTube™ is one of the most prevalent distribution points for users to upload and share videos. Users can create their own channels to upload videos to or choose to subscribe to channels that they find interesting.
Finally, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is gaining popularity as an option for transmission of conversations that might previously been reserved for the phone. Using software such as Skype can bring the face-to-face element to the conversation. but both parties must have the software. Skype allows users to communicate by both voice and more traditional IM-instant messaging and users with a Web cam may see each other. Skype has been utilized for several years by advisors working with students at a distance. Advisors who utilize this software make the best facilitators for training on this technology tool.
Collaborative Document Sharing
Collaborative document sharing is a term applied to two different types of web-based technologies. The first, developed by Google, Google Docs allows users to collaborate in real-time to create and edit documents, slide presentations, and spreadsheets. One of the key components of this online interaction is that the document is automatically saved at regular intervals, allowing a user to go back and use a previous version if they desire, or to view the evolution of the document through time. This readily accessible archive is one of the main advantages this format has over the other type of web-based collaborative document sharing, Wikis. Wiki software allows users to create content for any number of purposes, although it has primarily been used as a repository for information and knowledge.
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References
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the above resource using APA style as:
Schwenn, C.C. (2010). Interactive Web applications and their use in
Academic Advising. Retrieved from the
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