Location
Natural Resources Room 108
Event Website
http://uenr.warnercnr.colostate.edu
Start Date
3-24-2012 10:15 AM
End Date
3-24-2012 10:45 AM
Description
For students, connecting through text, email, chat, and social media has become an integral part of their daily lives. The near endless supply of digital media outlets and information sources has created a new landscape at the interface of the student-professor relationship; incorporating these emergent platforms into hybrid educational environments can enhance student engagement with course material while improving communication between and amongst classmates, including the instructor. This new hyper-connected reality, however, presents both challenges and opportunities in educating tomorrow’s natural resource leaders and professors must “meet students where they are” by communicating and teaching in relatable ways (i.e. through emergent digital platforms). Students are increasingly being called upon to provide the “digital voice” for employers as new professionals, acquiring these requisite skills is now an essential component to a satisfactory education in the field of natural resources that must be met through adapting traditional classroom approaches. This presentation outlines the creation and use of a hybrid digital learning environment and provides a road map to start integrating various platforms into the classroom. Integrating digital media into traditional classroom dynamics can be difficult, confusing, and scary but also rewarding and beneficial. As such, the discussion answers two pertinent questions: how can natural resource educators utilize digital outlets to enhance the learning process? And, how can natural resource educators modify course requirements and expectations to better develop contemporary skill requirements? Considerations of privacy, content, digital lifespan, and communication are explicitly touched upon along with a review of current trends in the use of social media and other digital outlets amongst students and, increasingly, a wide variety of natural resource stakeholders (i.e. managers, environmental organizations, locals).
Meeting Students Where They Are: Adapting Natural Resource Education to Emerging Digital Landscapes
Natural Resources Room 108
For students, connecting through text, email, chat, and social media has become an integral part of their daily lives. The near endless supply of digital media outlets and information sources has created a new landscape at the interface of the student-professor relationship; incorporating these emergent platforms into hybrid educational environments can enhance student engagement with course material while improving communication between and amongst classmates, including the instructor. This new hyper-connected reality, however, presents both challenges and opportunities in educating tomorrow’s natural resource leaders and professors must “meet students where they are” by communicating and teaching in relatable ways (i.e. through emergent digital platforms). Students are increasingly being called upon to provide the “digital voice” for employers as new professionals, acquiring these requisite skills is now an essential component to a satisfactory education in the field of natural resources that must be met through adapting traditional classroom approaches. This presentation outlines the creation and use of a hybrid digital learning environment and provides a road map to start integrating various platforms into the classroom. Integrating digital media into traditional classroom dynamics can be difficult, confusing, and scary but also rewarding and beneficial. As such, the discussion answers two pertinent questions: how can natural resource educators utilize digital outlets to enhance the learning process? And, how can natural resource educators modify course requirements and expectations to better develop contemporary skill requirements? Considerations of privacy, content, digital lifespan, and communication are explicitly touched upon along with a review of current trends in the use of social media and other digital outlets amongst students and, increasingly, a wide variety of natural resource stakeholders (i.e. managers, environmental organizations, locals).
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cuenr/9thBiennial/Plenary/21
Comments
Citation: Cole, Zachary D. 2012. Meeting Students Where They Are: Adapting Natural Resource Education to Emerging Digital Landscapes. UENR 9th Biennial Conference. http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cuenr/9thBiennial/Plenary/21/