Retention in the digital age.........
I am certain many instructors and administrators have found the difficulty of reaching students who have elected to stop coming to school due to a myriad of reasons maddening to say the least. To add to that frustration, students can elect whether or not they want to pick up the smartphone/Iphone/IPad when school calls trying to assist them in their success (since the majority of folks no longer have a land line!). We have found a small degree of success with reaching out to students via Facebook and Twitter (from main school accounts--not individual instructors). Does anyone else have an interesting/innovative method of reaching out to students in these times?
One must also remember the economic situation the student is in and was in at an earlier age. Perhaps this student had to work to support his family when the digital age started and because of his/her lack of this knowledge make using this tool scary and presents more added stress. When doing a student history these facts may come out and a custumized learning course can be made to bring the student up to speed with the class.
I have not tried yet Facebook or Twitter to reaching out students. Though I'd like to try these mediums out, do you have a person in charge for this task? Whether this individual follows a protocol designed by the school, what would be the criteria to consider? Thank you.
peter, do think computer literacy should be a requirement for admissions? If they don't have basic skills, should they be required to complete some rudimentary training before being admitted to classes?
Loren Kroh
Facebook is a great tool to reach out to students, our team collectively use facebook to reach out to students and to check their status to see if there are any clues or redflags that may lead to a withdrawl. We have also created a page for the school and encourage our students to like our page so that they can be updated on different "need to know" information and events on campus. Facebook has becaome a strong communicating tool to connect our digital age students.
Tasha
Do you get any negative push-back from students who feel you are invading their personal space by going to their Facebook page? If so, what happens next?
Loren Kroh
