Flipping Higher Educaiton in the 21st Century

With so many articles flying around these days, the future of higher education is once again in question. How will society shift now that learning is so clearly not confined to a library or a classroom? Local professors are no longer the source for knowledge in a given field. Currently, if learners – young or old - want to know something, they have the tools at their fingertips to navigate more sources than ever before to gain knowledge. Will this make the concept of the traditional college obsolete?

One might argue, it’s the time to get rid of higher education institutions altogether. The education system of the future, in my mind, is not an absence of higher education institutions, but rather a restructuring and refining of skills and concepts taught to young people to help them learn how to think and operate successfully in the modern world, with an option for further studies built in.

Regardless of the wealth of knowledge available to the world at large, one thing remains the same; learners must still be taught how to navigate massive amounts of information and decipher good sources from bad. Learners must be taught the skills to be able to think critically, make decisions, and work together.

At a very basic level, to be equipped to navigate the world effectively, learners need to know how to ask difficult questions and sift through the loads of crap the internet gives them to find the true answer. In education, we need to start challenging students to think about big philosophical concepts and that the “right” answers may be grey, as opposed to black and white. There can be a strong resistance to new ideas or the knowledge that not every answer is easy, but these are the thoughts and ideas that learners must grapple with in order to be critical thinking adults.

Empathy is another skill being lost upon young learners of the 21^st century due to their heavy reliance on technology. No longer do younger generations think about how their words and actions might impact those on the other side of the screen. They cannot see reactions, so the ability to think about emotional reactions or even find emotional reactions valid is being lost. Encourage learners to engage with technology when and where appropriate, and to connect with the people around them by regularly turning off the electronics in their vicinity and having meaningful conversations. If future generations lack empathy, it is likely that their decision making will also be impaired when it comes to decisions and actions that impact others.

Leadership and teamwork are also important skills for functional adults to have in the work place. It is my belief that these experiences, provided in a college atmosphere, are critical to growth and future success. Learners must be taught to listen to others and work together on projects in order to be successful later on in the working world. Rarely is any occupation truly a singular endeavor. Offices have individuals of different backgrounds, ages, races, political beliefs, and more. Being able to work with others

If I could turn the world of higher education on its head, I would institute 1-2 year learning centers where students would live in the center, learn leadership skills by taking classes and working in teams to complete goals, be required to take philosophy and current event courses, learn basic vocational skills of their choice in order to obtain basic jobs in various sectors upon graduation, and have the opportunity to supplement their learning abroad.

Upon completion of the 1-2 year program, these students would be ready to take on jobs in the private or public sector, depending on their own developed skill set or vocational knowledge, and would also have the opportunity to continue their learning at a 4 year institution, online or in person, where they would start with 30-50 credits from the program, vastly shortening their degree timeline. They would have up to 20 years to complete their specialized degree.

Because the model I’m proposing does not depend on educators with doctoral degrees or research backgrounds, overhead would be slashed dramatically. Instead, this sort of program would rely heavily on student affairs professionals educated in student development theory to help students work through their hang ups and team building skills, in addition to adjunct vocational professors to teach skills and provide additional certifications. Business partnerships and sponsorships would also provide funding to learning centers for students who would like to go into certain fields.

Completion of the program would carry with it a great deal of respect because only those students who have shown themselves to be well rounded, bright learners, who can work in teams will be granted a completion certificate, much like a diploma. If students were deficient, they would have to take remedial courses and perhaps be assigned an employee mentor to help them gain the skills needed to be successful in the working world beyond the program. One-on-one guidance would play an important role for those students struggling with philosophical, leadership, and teamwork concepts.

Regardless of what path is taken by colleges and universities, one thing is evident, the high price of education and presence of student loans is making higher education less attainable and more of a gamble. After all, if your future job doesn’t pay you adequately enough to repay your loans, why go to college in the first place? Learning can happen anywhere, but learners need to know how to learn and develop critical skills to be successful in life.

Will higher education step outside of the box and develop new models in the 21^st century? Only time will tell.

Friends vs. Facebook "Friends"

When social media first hit the scene in a big way, we had no idea the possible challenges that would come along with connecting to everyone we would meet; we just thought it was fun and exciting to collect friends and interact in a virtual space, not to mention stay connected as our lives naturally diverged from one another. However, as time has pressed on, social media is presenting social challenges (and opportunities!) that no one could have predicted when current popular platforms were in their infancy.

Shifting focus specifically to Facebook, the platform has some definite benefits - it provides a multifaceted venue to connect with current friends, while also providing us with a window to peer into the lives of those who we used to know, even if we only knew them for a very brief time. There’s no longer a need to sever ties, as Facebook allows us to feel connected with little to no actual personal relationship maintenance. Yet, with no personal relationship management, how is peering into the lives of acquaintances impacting the way we feel about ourselves? I have reflected on this question over nearly the last year and a half I have gone with a deactivated personal Facebook account, and  though my experience is unique to me, others may have experiences similar my own, which is why I’ve chosen to write about my journey and explain why my “friend” count on Facebook will plummet when I return to Facebook.

Before the days of remaining Facebook “friends” indefinitely, people made an effort to stay in contact, they ventured out, visited one another, they wrote letters and more if they wanted to nurture the relationship. While focusing on specific relationships, they lost touch with other people who had floated into, then subsequently out of their lives. It didn’t mean individuals didn’t care about the people with whom they lost touch, it was not one person’s fault they lost touch (or maybe it was, I’ll touch on this in another blog down the road), relationships simply faded away after priorities, jobs, and geographic locations changed. Before Facebook we were allowed to lose touch without anxiety or hurt feelings on either end. However, with Facebook, we are expected to remain “in contact” with anyone and everyone we have ever met ever, which is overwhelming and can carry personal and interpersonal consequences.

The impetus for deactivating my Facebook account stemmed from the unintentional pressures I felt while on Facebook from “friends” with whom I rarely, if ever, interacted with after our paths diverged. My Facebook feed was littered with stories including marriages, trips, growing families, and more, which was exciting news that I was eager to see from family members and close friends. However, I was seeing updates from a multitude of people I went to high school or college with and no longer have a relationship with, which when compounded one upon another made me feel somehow left out and caused me to perceive terrible shortcomings in myself, even though I should not have been ashamed or sad when reflecting on my own accomplishments - since graduating high school I have lived in a total of six states, including living in the two largest cities in the United States, I obtained a master’s degree, and am well on the way to a career I can be proud of. Hopefully, someday family will be in the cards, but for now I’m happy with what I’ve accomplished and I’ve done just fine on my own. Even considering my accomplishments, the social pressures I encountered on Facebook made me feel entirely bad about myself, so in October 2012 I deactivated my account.

Now that I’m faced with reactivating my personal Facebook account in order to maintain relationships with my close friends and see photos of their children, I am forced to reflect on the reasons why I deactivated in the first place and consider new reasoning for whom I should be allow to be my Facebook friend in order to avoid undue social pressures.

As I see it, there are six primary reasons we accept and remain “friends” with people on Facebook – some of them well intentioned and others not so well intentioned

1. The person is a member of your family or a close friend
The best reason to be “friends” with someone on Facebook is because you are actually connected to the person in real life. As a family member or a close personal friend, you have a vested interest in the course of the other person’s life and your relationship will withstand the test of distance and differing life goals. Whether you connect online or in person, you make them a priority, and these people should remain your friends.

2. We genuinely like the other person and consider them a friend, though they are not a close friend who knows us or has known us well in the past

Likely the primary reasons to remain “friends” with someone on Facebook is that the platform allows people to passively stay in touch should their paths ever cross again. As we go through life we collect these “friends” and we feel badly clicking a little box that says “unfriend” if we wish the person on the other end no ill will. What will they think of us? It is safer to simply allow the person to remain our “friend” even if we don’t talk and the information they post is irrelevant to our lives.

3. We live vicariously through the other person

The person you are connected with travels while you stay close to home or they are single and date a litany of people while you are faithfully married, or any other host of topics make you different and their life is interesting to you and you live vicariously through their posts and photos.

4. We feel badly unfriending someone, though we don't really know them

This is a silly reason, but a valid one. For some reason, some people seem to go through the rotary of every person they have ever met in their lives ever and request them to be their virtual “friend.” For whatever reason, we feel badly unfriending people, even if they are not our friend or barely an acquaintance. 

5. We think the person we are "friends" with is a train wreck

On the flipside of the above reason, this is a genuinely awful reason to stay connected to someone on Facebook, but many of us have done it. You know that one person who posts things so out of your realm of ordinary or acceptable that the content they post blows your mind just a little bit every time. For example, they are excited that their boyfriend just got out of prison, they post cursing rants at the parking authority every other day, or they are getting married for the fourth time in three years. Whatever this person is doing, their life makes us feel just a little bit better about our own, so why not remain “friends” so every once in a while you can take a peek and breathe a sigh of relief? It’s not right. In fact, it’s totally wrong, but people do it. Confession time… I’ve done it.

6. Facebook provides us with the latest gossip

It is human nature to want to be in the know. Facebook allows us to peer into the lives of people we were connected with in the past and gather only the information we want, “She gained weight since high school.” “She had a baby, I saw the photos on Facebook.” “I think so-and-so got divorced, her name changed when she was married and now it’s back to what it used to be!” If you can’t tell, gossip triggered on Facebook often surrounds women and isn’t necessarily fair.  

Of the reasons listed above, only reasons 1-3 are remotely valid and I have made the decision, that from this point onward, though it may not be popular, I’m going to make Facebook friendship decisions based on reason number 1. It hurts me to seemingly sever ties with people I care about among the other categories, but it is important for me to be vigilant in my efforts to maintain close friendships while also maintaining my own sanity. 

I apologize if you look at your friend feed and I’m no longer a part of it – you really shouldn’t miss me too much since I haven’t been a part of any Facebook feed for nearly year. However, if you notice, please do not take it as a slight. If we haven’t spoken since we graduated high school together or since we sat next to each other in that class in college, it may be time that we stop creeper stalking each other until our paths cross again – and I hope that they will! However, if we do interact in real life or online about shared interests and life, of course I hope we will remain friends – on and off of Facebook.

For those individuals who are in parallel industries including education and technology fields, I also have a professional social media presence where I engage in discussions about work and projects I'm excited about, along with posting content that is relevant to the lives of the students I work with and I am happy to connect with you on a professional level there.

For those who say, “Well how can we contact one another if we ever want to?” The answer to that is simple – Linkedin, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, other less invasive forms of social media where only information we are comfortable sharing with the general public exists and every aspect of our lives is not intimately on display for all to see, or we could exchange email addresses or phone numbers. I am very open to interacting with people from my past, but I think it is healthier in the absence of a genuine intentional friendship for boundaries to exist to avoid peering into the lives of one another.

Everyone has a Recording Device

The a couple weeks ago there was a newsworthy item coming out of an academic institution, but it certainly wasn't good news. I won't go into detail, but hockey helmets and sticks were everywhere while punches were flying among both players and coaches. With our mouths gaping open in the stands, all we could do is say, "Is this really happening?!" And about as long as it took us to question what we were seeing out loud, the event was posted on social media for the world to see.

Yes, my students and colleagues, everyone has a recording device and there is no escaping them.

It's difficult to keep one's professional online presence free and clear from every possible smudge that we could possibly encounter, but why fuel the fire and do something so outrageous in real life that can then be attributed to you online indefinitely? It is nearly impossible to remove your name from a viral online event.

The students from the incident I am referencing may pay consequences for years to come. A good many of these students will not play their sport professionally and may face challenges when finding that coveted first job after graduating. When they are in their final year of college and finish constructing their resume and present it to a future employer, that employer can turn around and say, "You were on X team in 2014? Were you a part of the xyz event?!" Better yet, they might not ask but may simply plug your name into a search engine and find out you were suspended for fighting.  That future employer is going to have to ask themselves, "Is this a person I want on my staff? Are they violent? Will they lose their temper and cause problems within the work environment?"

Is a mistake on the playing field going to cost you for your entire life? Probably not. However, it's an example of what can happen when anyone behaves poorly in the presence of others. To keep your professional online presence clean, don't say or do anything in public you wouldn't want attributed to you indefinitely online. You never know who might be watching, much less recording.

Prioritizing Platforms for your Professional Online Presence

I have written about needing to create a professional online presence and some may argue that they don't have the time to monitor and nurture their presence on every platform I have discussed. It's true that very few people have the time to be everywhere consistently, but there are some important things to remember when it comes to being active on on more than one platform.

Firstly, you have to decide which platform you will focus on the most. Your decision should hinge on any platforms that are standard for your chosen field. Your choice should also be impacted by the platform(s) you enjoy using the most. For me, I enjoy my time spend on Twitter, but my Twitter account is linked to other accounts, which is key.

After you decide on your platform of choice, make sure all other platforms are connected in some way to your platform of choice. I mentioned, my Twitter account is the most active and regularly updated. On my Twitter profile, I list my professional online portfolio subsequently has links to my LinkenIn, About.me, Facebook, Blogger, Tumblr, and Twitter - many of these platforms also link to one another. In addition, on my professional online portfolio there are links to platforms I manage, which are relevant to my career, including Pinterest, Instagram, and Google+.

If that still seems like a lot, remember that not all platforms require regular monitoring. For example, LinkedIn and About.me can be updated each time you change jobs and when you received a new award or have finished a critical project. The messaging feature on LinkedIn can also be forwarded to your regular email address so you won't miss an important message.

Despite how active you plan to be on each individual platform, it's important to claim your identity across many (if not all) of the most major platforms. Keep your name consistent to keep intruders from hijacking your online identity pretending to be you without your permission. Your online presence is sacred, the only way to ensure it's legitimacy is to be the person in control of content produced under your name.

Professional Online Presence Required

Only a decade ago a person having an “online presence” was nearly unheard of aside from the occasional myspace.com account, and even then we didn’t think of those profiles as a “presence.” With the availability and prevalence of social media platforms today, an online presence is expected and nearly unavoidable; thus creating an online presence you can be proud of and share with an employer is a necessity.

When hiring for a new position employers are going to seek out information about candidates online, so the information they see might as well be the information you, the candidate, want them to see. Current job applicants need to make information about their career easy to find in order for them to rise above their fellow candidates and increase their chances of successfully landing the job of their dreams.

When employers search for information on prospective employees, they have an expectation that they will stumble upon a Facebook profile, a Twitter page, or a LinkedIn account. The thing that employers don’t necessarily expect to find (and are happy when they do) is clear evidence of the accomplishments a candidate has had during their career and proof that the individual is continually making strides to improve and be known as a leader among their peers within their industry. The kind of employee who demonstrates dedication to their career will be an asset to a company and push colleagues to new levels of excellence.

Here are some very simple rules to follow when creating content for your professional online presence.

1. Write well and pay close attention to details

When you are posting online, digital lingo should be used sparingly (if ever) and proper English should be used whenever possible. For example, you should talk about the things you’ve done well and never talk about the things you’ve done “good.” Ask for multiple reviewers, friends and family, to proof read your work. If employers will be judging you, it’s best to ask those who love you to judge you first. 

2. Remain credible at all times

A quote by Mark Twain has hung in my home for many years, “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.” Just as you shouldn’t lie in real life, you should never lie online. Make sure your content is well written, while also being sure to represent yourself truthfully. Provide proof to your work including photos, link to articles written about projects in which you played a part, and links to charitable organizations where you volunteer, if your volunteerism can be verified should someone decide to do a reference check.

3. Document your experiences

If you do not have evidence to back up your efforts within your industry, create it. By all means, I do not mean you should fabricate ANYTHING, but take photos of the projects you do complete, ask colleagues for LinkedIn endorsements and recommendations, blog about a success you had at your or a new technique you’re using to accomplish objectives in your current position, or a host of other things. No one will document your experiences for you; it is up to you must be proactive in documenting your own professional successes and challenges to make you a credible candidate that stands out among the rest.

4. Observe industry standards

Always adhere to any standard set by your current employer or your industry as a whole. Do not post sensitive or confidential information online. Before posting, think “Would I want my current or future employer to read this?” If the answer is no, don’t post it.

5. Create content regularly

Cleaning up a professional presence during a job search is commendable, but what is impressive is evidence of regular posts. What makes a person credible online is a proven track record of posts and evidence of engagement across key platforms.

6. Be your own advocate

Promote your own posts – share them on multiple platforms and participate in conversations that interest you about your industry. Connect with other professionals – you never know how or when your paths might cross and they could be the greatest asset in obtaining the job of your dreams, but you’ll never know them if you don’t make a proactive effort to participate. For tips and ideas on what platforms to utilize, please view my blog post, Tools and Platforms for Creating your Professional Online Presence.

7. Keep your personal presence clean, too

Anything you say or do online can (and will) follow you. Just because you have one Twitter account for your job and another “private” account for your personal life, don’t think that the things you say won’t come back to haunt you. Whatever you do in real life, online or otherwise, has the potential to help or hurt you professionally – don’t let it hurt you.

In short, to be the dynamic and impressive prospective (or current) employee we wish to be, it’s important to have a credible professional presence online that is maintained regularly. Building and maintaining a professional online presence will demonstrate to an employer your proven track record and, while interviewing for a new position, it will be clear that you’re not just offering lip service when you talk about work experience – you have the evidence to back up answer.

Who knows, maybe if you build your professional presence online, you won’t have to search for a new job ever again. Instead, just maybe, new jobs will find you as a result of the networks you nurtured and the professional online presence you’ve created.

Tools and Platforms for Creating your Professional Online Presence

Many people who find their way to my blog may not know, in September 2013 I started a new job. For many reasons, this was a very exciting and timely change for me – I could not be happier where I ended up or with what I’m doing in my current position, but that’s another blog for another time.

For many people, the job search process can be a long and arduous one, filled with many applications and interviews. However, I think my most recent search might have been a bit less stressful because of the professional online presence I worked to create and maintain, which accurately marketed my skills and abilities within my industry during the interview process. 

With the various platforms and tools available to use, there is no excuse not to develop some sort of professional online presence if you are serious about your field of work. After all, as the number of available positions decline, the number of qualified candidates competing for each available position seems to go up invariably. To distinguish yourself from the pack, be sure that your presence online is excellent and relates back to your field. Give employers something to see and concrete evidence of your expertise and passions.

If you are confused about how or where to start your professional online presence, or feel you do not have the technical skills to do so, here are some quick platforms that are easy to use and will set you off on the right foot. However, be sure to always think before you post and proofread any information your current (or future) employer might see. 

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a platform that has undergone many changes over the course of the last year and is almost a requirement for every job seeker, regardless of industry. Having a complete LinkedIn profile allows you to be somewhat easily searchable from most major search engines. One major benefit to this platform is the fact that it negates needing to keep your resume to a specific 1-2 page length; you no longer have to fit a prescribed industry-standard length and can leave a litany of accomplishments for employers to see. However, you should still be sure keep descriptions fairly brief to encourage readers to engage fully with your content.

In addition, LinkedIn allows users to list accomplishments and awards, which can also be linked those to articles written about your successes. The platform has hyperlink capabilities, which allow your candidacy for a position to be dynamic and engaging, not to mention, credible. LinkedIn also now allows users to claim their own custom URL (here’s mine, http://www.linkedin.com/in/hollynelsn) and create a richer presence with endorsements and recommendations from peers.

About.me

This lesser used platform has great capabilities for people who don’t feel like they are savvy enough to build their own website portfolio featuring their work. About.me essentially is designed to create a vibrant one-page virtual business card for an individual. By simply following the prompts, adding a description about who you are as a professional and making minor layout and design decisions, a professional looking page is constructed that has the capability to be hyperlinked with other media (blogs, social media, etc.). This platform is also widely sharable and encourages users to post pages to social media, like Twitter.

About.me also includes social networking abilities within the site where you can “like” or “compliment” another person’s page, but you really don’t have to participate in the About.me internal engagement tools. You can simply use this page as a jumping off point to the rest of your activities and have a simple url, like mine, http://about.me/holly.nelson. 

Blogger

Chances are if you’re reading this Blog, then you’ve found your way to Blogger.com! Blogger is a fairly easy to use platform owned by Google where you can select and modify templates and post blogs online. I prefer Blogger because the platform easily ties to my Gmail account and Google+.

Word to the wise, when posting blogs it’s important to remember to edit, edit, edit! Even with a mother who was an English teacher, I still make mistakes. If you’re putting your professional stamp of approval on what you’ve written, do your due diligence to make sure you’re publishing something that won’t get you a reputation for being lazy or for not paying attention to detail. 

Tumblr

Another platform which is fairly easy to use to develop your professional presence is Tumblr.com. By utilizing Tumblr, users can essentially create their own microblog (small snippets of content, like a Tweet) by creating their own content and sharing content originated by others. Tumblr is a growing platform among young adults and the blog site created by utilizing Tumblr is easy to share with folks who don’t use Tumblr since your account creates it’s own site. Here is a public link to my Tumblr http://hollynelsn.tumblr.com/.

  

Build a Custom Website

I know this might be overwhelming to some people, but rest assured, new platforms are available that are highly customizable and do not require any code or backend technological skills, whatsoever. My favorite of these is wix.com. 

Wix.com contains a multitude of features, designs, and templates that make it easy to plug in your information and be set with a professional presence. The best thing about Wix.com is that the platform is totally free! The company often offers free webinars and workshops to non-paying members and even has workspaces in major metropolitan cities, like New York City. However, if you choose to be a paying customer, you can purchase your URL from Wix.com and pay minimal fees for hosting. The website I built using Wix.com when I was applying for my current job features photos of projects, links to social media, and more. An updated version of the website is available here http://hollynelson25.wix.com/hollynelsn. 

The above websites and platforms are simply suggestions to get you started on your way to building your professional online presence; there are many other options for how and where to get started. Many professions where practitioners are expected to have an online presence or artist portfolio will have specific sites and platforms that are overwhelmingly preferred by their industries. It’s important to investigate others in your field and find out what they are using, but if people in your profession are not reaching out online, you should be the trendsetter begin finessing your professional online presence first!