College students’ development is impacted by social media and digital technologies. As a student and future practitioner, I have to adapt to the current situation on campuses. As an adult learner, I was born before the digital age. All my studies were done without digital interaction. We used hard copies of the syllabus and the teacher used a piece of chalk to write on the blackboard. According to Prensky, I “belong to the group he called digital immigrants because they have to enter the digital world as opposed to being born into and raised in it “(Patton & et al., 2016).
A quick glance at the campus will show that the era has changed. Students have smartphones, in classrooms, faculties have desktops connected to the internet, students and faculties can access books online. This new ecosystem where technology supports studies requires student affairs professionals’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions to be in tune with students, or even above, to be able to navigate well in this new world and promote the educational process.
“New wine, new wineskins”, says a French proverb. I took some classes at Educational Opportunity Center-University at Buffalo for improving my skills (Microsoft applications). Topics in Higher Education and Supervised Practice classes were very helpful by immersing me in the social media and technology atmosphere. The covid-19 period allowed me to learn to use Zoom because the lessons were given by this means. I continue to enhance my knowledge and skills in this competency.
NASPA/ACPA Competencies doc states for the intermediate outcomes that one’s promote adaptability among students, colleagues, and educational stakeholders, anticipate potential problems with software, hardware, and prepare multiple strategies to troubleshoot these problems, facilitate educational interventions that are based upon research, cultivate a digital identity, presence, and reputation… That are the skills and pieces of knowledge I have. A few years ago, if you searched for my name on Google or some other search engine, you were not going to find anything. But now, I have a digital identity that asserts itself day by day, because of the different skills and knowledge that I add. This blog is a perfect illustration.
Reference
Patton, et. al. (2016). Student Development in College: Theory, Research, and Practice, Third Edition, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
Artifacts
1/Access Certificate
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16AFz-A67ocmq-D4MT9tRBTig-5CGZdLZ/view?usp=share_link
2/Excel Certificate
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16W5HhrPW0qPcjuZEC8ByJKvKXbgeKNSW/view?usp=share_link
3/Teams account
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16W5HhrPW0qPcjuZEC8ByJKvKXbgeKNSW/view?usp=share_link