Goal

To significantly enhance and become recognized for the quality of our academic programs and the academic achievements of our faculty and students.

Our challenge is immediate. With an anticipated decline in graduating high school seniors we are challenged with finding new methods for reaching and attracting students. Traditional marketing efforts have worked well in the past but are unable to showcase achievements that are not easily measured. GPA's, Dean's List, Honor Society membership, conference presentations, and other formally recognized awards are important accomplishments to be honored however we need to think hard about 1) the defintion of achievement and recognize that students and faculty achieve in a variety of venues and 2) capitalize on new technologies to spotlight our success. Limiting our definition and our scope does a great disservice to our students, faculty, and our institution.

"The public discourse suggests that the time has come to show – more transparently than ever before – that our approaches to teaching result in the kinds of learning we have identified as important for students today. Aligning our learning outcomes assessments with the multitude of creative technology-enabled faculty and student activities already under way is a significant step toward understanding the progress we have made in higher education to this point, and it might also provide useful pointers to progress in a new economy". <Moore>. Providing the outside world an opportunity to experience what authentic learning is (and what authentic teaching is) is the first step towards transparency.

There is no loss for high quality material that represent the achievements of our students and faculty. Many of the achievements are familiar gems that we regularly showcase as evidence that we are educating intelligent, creative, critical thinkers. Unfortunatley many of the greatest accomplishments aren't shared beyond the classroom walls. How then do we capture and share with the world the great intellectual work of our students and faculty?

 Approach

Transparency.

The rapid growth of user friendly technology specifically the birth of social networking applications have transformed how we interact with and understand information. Stephen Downes points out that the particpatory nature of the web has shifted from being a medium in which information was transmitted and consumed, into being a platform, in which content is created, shared, remixed, repurposed, and passed along. We are no longer tied to traditional avenues of information-getting but instead have we've shifted, as John Seely Brown states, "from an intellectual economy of push to one of pull".

What does this mean for us? Simply put it means that we embrace the evolution of technology and become authors of our own story. This can be realized in two ways.

First, we recognize that technology can be used to engage students in the learning process. By using it creativley and thoughtfully students can produce content that demonstrates their understanding of a topic. Content that might traditionally be presented in venues such as the Academic Excellence conference or a recital at the end of the semester could be publicly shared giving authenticity to the learning process. 

It means that students chronicle their own learning by capturing moments in which they demonstrate deep understanding. And they share it. And it's not hard to do.

Achieve in a variety of ways

    Technology nurtures creativity and supports knowlege building which can lead to innovation

Become recognized for the accomplishments of our students and faculty

Desired Outcomes

Technology nurtures creativity and supports knowlege building

Recognition that transparency

<Anne H. Moore: http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eqm0730.pdf>

<John Hagel & John Seely Brown: http://www.johnhagel.com/paper_pushpull.pdf>