#slo 1

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The High Cost of Low Technology Skills in the U.S.--and What We Can Do About It

U100 faculty member Matthew Clements found a highly accessible research report explaining that "6 of 10 Millennials Have 'Low' Technology Skills" (see https://thejournal.com/articles/2015/06/11/report-6-of-10-millennials-have-low-technology-skills.aspx). The report is based on an equally accessible four-page brief ("Does Not Compute" at http://changetheequation.org/does-not-compute/), which includes a tantalizing infographic. You might use either reading and/or the infographic to help students engage in some self-reflection about their use of time and technology. Excerpt from "Does Not Compute": Although American millennials are the first generation of "digital natives"--that is, people who grew up with computers and the internet--they are not very tech savvy. That fact would probably come as a shock to most Americans--especially to millennials themselves. After all, millennials are glued to their phones, tablets, and other devices. Many assume that using technology often means using it well.

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Most colleges and universities encourage students to express their views about social and political issues, but the marketplace of ideas often ends inside the locker room. That’s what Josh Rosen, UCLA's standout quarterback, may be learning from his coach, Jim Mora.

U100 faculty member Jeff Sosner says: This piece is poignant and could be very useful. Aside from the central concern of the article--the notion that NCAA athletes' political expression, whether liberal or conservative, ought never be stifled--we could encourage conversations about whether it is ethical to deny college athletes compensation for product endorsements. Another UCLA student athlete, 1990s basketball star Ed O'Bannon, spearheaded a suit against the NCAA and EA Sports for using athletes' likenesses in video games: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/10/sports/ncaabasketball/understanding-ed-obannons-suit-against-the-ncaa.html?_r=0 Cheryl says: Here's a key pull-quote from the article: "Whether liberal or conservative, college athletes have a right to speak out. When they do, they are going to have to defend their ideas."

And Inside Higher Education has published a broader review of similar decision points and episodes that faculty might find useful as background: What Athletes Can Say by Jake New (3 Aug 2016).

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These Are The Skills Bosses Say New College Grads Do Not Have

As college graduates burst out of the gates of their respective alma maters, polished and confident in their abilities, few are probably thinking ahead to a possible speed bump that sits in their paths. That stubborn obstacle would be the disconnect between the jobs they eventually secure and the skills [...]

Lisa Riccomini says: This highly readable brief piece should help freshmen understand that they need to learn basic skills STARTING freshman year. After graduation, when they're starting a job, it's too late to make decisions on how hard to push yourself to acquire these skills. And, she adds, this reading ties in to class attendance, work ethic, challenging courses and professors, goal setting, time management, and more. Cheryl cautions: well, of course the Forbes site has pop-up ads. Forewarned is forearmed. Thanks to Beth Lasky (Professor, CSUN's Department of Special Education) for the link.

[u100facultyfavorites]

Keep Things Simple For A Healthy, Long Life

Most of prevention is fairly straightforward and, unfortunately, there are no shortcuts. Then again, the most important steps you can take to safeguard your health are well within your reach.

Short piece by a physician who includes a colleagues short-short video, "What Can You Do to Get Through a Crap Week?" Either or both might be useful as first steps to conquering stress and getting things (or at least one thing) done. The video, by the way, is an RSA-animate style piece: hand-drawn with markers and a voiceover. (See https://www.thersa.org/discover/videos/rsa-animate/ if you want a reminder about RSA Animate.)

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Op-Ed: "College Kids Have Too Much Privacy." Michele Willens, Los Angeles Times, 8 Sep 2015: http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0906-willens-ferpa-20150908-story.html Submitted by Wendy Snyder, who recommends you ask students to look up the article using the Oviatt Library's resources, and that you ask them to agree or disagree with its premise.

[u100facultyfavorites]

Email Etiquette

Just thought I'd collect a few sites offering advice to students on good email etiquette. I put my favorite one first (and FWIW, my thanks to the national FYE listserv where someone just posted it). Inside Higher Ed, "Re: Your Recent Email to Your Professor." Paul T. Corrigan and Cameron Hunt McNabb. 16 April 2015: https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2015/04/16/advice-students-so-they-dont-sound-silly-emails-essay Cornell University: http://www.it.cornell.edu/services/guides/email/polite.cfm U of Southern Mississippi, Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry: https://www.usm.edu/chemistry-biochemistry/e-mail-etiquette-adapted-academia Penn State U, College of Earth & Mineral Sciences: https://www.e-education.psu.edu/styleforstudents/c7_p2.html

[u100facultyfavorites]

Character and "Grit" is a collection of four short videos and an audio interview, each with following discussion questions prepared by WKCD (What Kids Can Do) for teachers and students. Duckworth's TED Talk (the first listed video) is the most obviously relevant for U100 students and faculty (and it's already listed separately elsewhere in this collection).

[u100facultyfavorites]

10 Things to Do in College (Probably) More Important Than Going to Class

For incoming freshmen, here's some advice. Sometimes ditching is important, in the same way that learning to manage your time wisely is important, and although painful, failing is important, too....

This provocatively titled piece (discovered, like the two mentioned in the last post, by Emily Paramonova in one of the F13 Sample Moodle Sites in our Instructor's Manual) isn't quite as radical as its title might suggest, and may be more likely to draw in freshman readers than the similar list by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan which I posted to this blog awhile back (see http://u100facultyfavorites.tumblr.com/post/59816031071/top-9-things-every-college-freshman-needs-to-know).