by Dalene Aylward
Sr. Academic Advisor/Prehealth, University At Buffalo Technology and its usage is growing at an exponential rate. As individual advisors and as an advising community, we need to be aware of the latest technological tools and resources available to us so that we may advise our students in a way that is not only relevant to their attention, but efficient for us in our day to day endeavors. If we can utilize new technology to reach our students in a manner that they will enjoy while simultaneously providing them with important information, guidance, and sound advice, then we excel in resourcefulness. Jon Bonebrake, UB Sr. Academic Advisor/Pre-Law, has spent a good amount of time using YouTube to learn the ins and outs of recording screencasts and is using his newly acquired skills to create videos students can view online. Our office, Student Advising Services at the University at Buffalo, is embedding the videos on our websites, linking to them on our Facebook and Twitter pages, sending out to student and staff listservs, and adding buttons to our email signatures to promote these informative videos. Since prehealth & pre-law students can choose any major to complete their degree, and because students transfer between our institutions, we want to share these screencasts with all of you in the WNY Advising community. Most recently, Jon has done a fantastic job of editing & animating our prehealth committee series of screencasts I recorded. They range from about 2.5 -7.5 minutes each. If you meet with any prehealth students, feel free to share these with them, & perhaps even forward on to your student listserv if you are inclined. The first link below in particular is a series about the UB Prehealth Committee process of application & attaining letters of recommendation. We have recorded other prehealth screencasts as well that will be published at a later time. In addition, we are writing scripts for more general academic topics that will be of use to all students, so stay tuned! You can subscribe to our UB Academic Advising YouTube channel on the second link below. Technological developments and learning how to properly utilize them is a facet of professional development that isn’t always explored, but can become a worthy use of our time. I encourage you to use the annual UAC Conference on February 26, 2014 and other opportunities for professional development to fully explore the technological resources available to you and your students. Enjoy!
46 Comments
by Dr. John Sauter, Jr.
Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs, Niagara University This week Apple's Free App of the Week for iphone/ipad is Scanner Pro. It can scan single or multiple page files to PDFs which can be added to or edited. This can be particularly useful for advisors or professionals who need to send documents to students quickly, are out of the office, or don't have a copier handy when doing research. The interface takes a bit getting used too, but once you have figured it out (and the editing feature is helpful here) it can be quite helpful. |
WNY Advising
|