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Earlier this year I bought a Groupon deal for an indoor skydiving session.  I’m not sure why I bought this particular deal, especially since I’m deathly afraid of heights and this just didn’t seem like something I would willingly do. Nevertheless, I suited up this weekend and took on the challenge! Even though it was not real skydiving, it was just as frightening as I would imagine it to be, it felt so real and with the video and fan blowing, the instructors had very seamlessly simulated reality.  I even had that crazy sinking feeling in my stomach the whole time!

This got me thinking about Jacksonville State University‘s ability to simulate the experience of actually being in class…when in fact one third of their student body is taking their classes online. JSU is successfully creating an online version of the traditional classroom because they understand that to really connect and communicate with their students, they need to “reach the students where they are,” and incorporate a synchronous component to their online classes.  Not only are the students able to attend the class lectures online, but they are able to connect with faculty using education technology for office hours, questions on assignments  – all in real-time, all online.  So that scary sinking feeling that you’ll be called on when you haven’t completed your assignments/reading for the week?  Yup, it is just the same.  Just as real – only your peers might not be able to see you actually turn red.

In today’s fragile job market and tumultuous economy it’s important for educators to do whatever we can to make sure we are equipping our students with the tools to set them up for success. More and more we’re seeing that employers are looking to social media to identify potential hires – which means that it’s our responsibility to lay the groundwork for a positive professional online presence for our students.

So how do we go about preparing our students to achieve success today?

In case you haven’t heard, Jared Slayton is now the proud owner of his very own pink unicorn.

Guest blog post from BbWorld 2012 Blogger, JD Ferries-Rowe. For additional content, click here.

Harnessing the Power of Social Media with @NMHS_Principal
Talk about a change…this session is what keynotes should be: focused on education, challenging and inspiring, with real-world examples and a smattering of sappy inspirational videos.
The lead in was a challenge: It is a problem that those who are tasked with leading our schools, with developing 21st century skills are sometimes the least knowledgeable. While a few schools are reinventing themselves for the digital age, most are not.

We want our teachers to be adapters, communicators, learners, visionaries, leaders, models, collaborators, and risk-takers. — whew. When you look at that list, it is overwhelming. But imagine if we created a system where the teachers who left the profession left because they did not fit that model, not because they were drained from 45 days of examinations per year or because their checklist evaluations combined with a metric of student-value-add indicated that they were only so-so. Its a stretch goal, but its achievable.

How do we start? We start by getting teachers to share their visions…by getting teachers to converse with others…by using social media.

Interesting point: Education is changing (collaborative, student centered), the landscape is changing (content overload, distributed learning opportunities, free sources), the learners are changing (connected, social learners, gamers, tech-as-default) — but education keeps looking the same.
He preached the #digcit mantra and talked about PLNs

He showed the social media revolution YouTube video

This post was written by guest writer and BbWorld 2012 VIP Blogger, Lacie Crone.

Remember the days when student orientation began with “look to the left, now look to the right, our goal is that all three of you graduate.” No? That wasn’t the speech you heard? Me neither, until today. Conference keynote speaker, Dr. Freeman Hrabowski took the stage with a dynamic and engaging message of responsibility, creativity, innovation, and student success.

Before the keynote address began, I had the opportunity to chat with Dr. Hrabowski in the green room. It was evident to me from the moment I shook his hand that we were in for a powerful afternoon. There are plenty people who can get on a stage with a well-written speech and with enough effort generate excitement. After all, we have how many products being sold on TV? This however, is not the case with Freeman Hrabowski; he is genuinely invested in his message and excited to share it with the everyone, particularly the next generation. While discussing student engagement and success, he shared a text message he had received the previous week from a former student. The message included words of thanks for previous encouragement she had received from him during her education. Included in the message was a picture of her employee ID…as a physician. As an undergraduate student she hadn’t believed that she had what it took to take on a medical career but credits her success in part to the consistently encouraging message she had received from him. How many university presidents do you think receive a text like that?

Once on stage, the magnitude of belief in his message was clear. After sharing some stories, and pointing out why he used stories instead of just concepts, he left us with the challenge to be the leaders who educate the campus leaders to elevate our student’s experience and success. We need to stop making decisions based on anecdotal information and mine Blackboard for the data: what works, what doesn’t, how does student engagement with the LMS relate to student success, and how do our students want to learn. We have been talking about access, but now it is time to be talking about success. Lastly, we must believe that the student to the left, the student to the right, and the student in the middle all have the power to succeed.

Don’t miss the opportunity to read about Dr. Hrabowski. You can also have the opportunity to become infected with his enthusiasm by watching this CNN interview.