Don't Sweat It

Don't Sweat it, there is a solution to every problem. Everything will work out.

You will mess up and when you do, learn from it and move on. If everything was perfect, you'd never learn.

Ask questions, if you don't ask you'll never know.

D's Get Degrees

When I was in college, a number of my peers lived by the slogan “D’s get to degrees”.  Most of the time they weren’t being serious, but it’s alarming that there is truth in such a silly statement.

Just because we sat in our seat in the classroom for three hours a week, took notes and were able score higher than 65% on exams, we somehow were experts in Finance or History or Marketing, etc. Oh, and expected to be ready to enter the workforce--skilled and well prepared.

It’s time to move forward, a time for students to be evaluated on what they know, not how much time they’ve spent in a class. NY Times columnist Tom Friedman, quoting historian Walter Russell Mead, “Institutions of higher learning must move from a model of “time served” to a model of “stuff learned".” 

Best Practices for Social Media

I recently read an article on SocialMediaToday.com titled “The 5 Pillars of Social Media: There is no Box!” The article identified and expanded on “five pillars” of social media strategy:

1. Listen, Search, Walk a “Daily in the Life” of your Customers
2. Rethink Your Vision, Mission and Purpose
3. Define Your Brand Persona
4. Develop Social Business Strategy
5. Build and Invest in your Community

For any industry, it is important to follow these Five Pillars when implementing your Social Media Strategy. However, in the world of Higher Education, I feel that number five, Build and Invest in your Community, might be the most important.  On any physical campus or online university students want to feel connected, have their ideas heard and connect with other members of the campus community whether it be students, faculty or staff.  Social Media Today explains that “Community is much more than belonging to something; it's about doing something together that makes belonging matter.” Institutes of Higher Learning can use social media as a way to establish community with their students, faculty and staff. On Twitter, the use of Hash tags can connect people; with twitter, the university responding to the needs of students and highlighting positive events on campus can bring the community together.  Google+ takes it even further by allowing you to create your own community to connect with others all over the world to discuss anything; the community is your own to create.

(Personally? More people need to get on Google+.)

http://socialmediatoday.com/briansolis/1249946/5-pillars-new-media-strategy-there-no-box

Taking the University Brand Social

College kids are online all the time. I can't walk through the Student Center, the cafeteria or even Larkin Field with out seeing a smart phone or tablet in hand, or a lap top on the table. For this reason it is important for institutes of Higher Education to go social. In my totally unbiased opinion, Southern New Hampshire University has done a fantastic job at brining the brand of the University social. It seems like their is a Twitter and/or an Instagram account for every department on campus. But whatever it takes to connect with your future, current and former students.

Obviously there are many rewards to being able to connect with students online: positive stories of things happening on campus, perspective students snapping photos of their acceptance letters, etc.; however, bringing the University brand social can also have it's risks. A student who is upset, like any customer, can tweet to one of these SNHU accounts, talking about the experience they had. SNHU now has the responsibility to respond in the appropriate manner.

Entrepreneur.com recently posted an article titled "4 Quick Tips for Using Social Media for Customer Service:

1. Have a Separate Customer Service Account

2. Aim for Single-Contact Resolution

3. Be Smart With Handling a Crisis

4. Train Your Staff

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/225912?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews

SNHU has an account on Twitter: @SNHUsolutions, which I think is supposed to be a Customer Service account but they haven't tweeted since December 15, 2012. Most of SNHU's CRM happens on @SNHU or @SNHUoncampus, and most interactions seem to be positive which is a good thing.
Southern New Hampshire University cares about their students, and it shows by how far SNHU is willing to go to connect with their students online.

Evernote-A Great Tool in Any Industry

I work in Higher Education as the Learning Experience Project Coordinator for College for America at Southern New Hampshire University; a low-cost, open sourced, competency based Associate’s Degree program for working adults. A few of my co-workers and I rely on a Mobile App called Evernote; between our meetings, interactions with students and keeping track of our own projects, Evernote has become a life saver.

A few weeks ago I was in a meeting with a few special guests. One of the guests typed out every word spoken into a Microsoft Word Document. The mobile App, Evernote, would have made her meeting and post-meeting life much easier.

Evernote is a free Mobile and Desktop App that allows you access your notes, ideas, projects, photos, voice recordings, etc. on all of your devices. It’s quite simple, really: you just sync your account on multiple devices, write something down on your mobile device and access it from anywhere on your computer or tablet. Let’s use my friend from the meeting as an example, if she had an Evernote account, she could have recorded the meeting and gone back to listen to it later. Or she could have searched through all of her notes by keyword or tag. I often review my notes from the day on my phone before I go to bed.

Evernote was ranked #5 on Edudemic’s Top 25 most used Mobile Apps in Education because it allows you to "sort digital files into scrapbooks and make sure all necessary class materials sit in the proper place with one of the mobile world’s most lauded organization applications of all time.”  (Evernote.com). Evernote is not required for our students, however I highly suggest the Mobile App to our students if they are having trouble keeping organized. Also, some of their assignments require voice recordings, and Evernote is a simple, easy way to record and upload your voice.

I would recommend Evernote to anyone in any industry who wants to “Capture anything, Access anywhere, Find things Fast.”

http://evernote.com/

http://edudemic.com/2012/10/most-used-mobile-apps-education/

Google+ and Education

“The nature of college computing is rapidly changing. Connectivity is the new essential for students. So much of education now relies on students being able to communicate and collaborate effectively. Google Apps will take them one step closer to living and thriving in a virtual world, not just while they are students here, but after they graduate as well.”

Ron Bonig, Executive Director of Technology Operations, George Washington University

I took this quote from Google Apps for Education's site. Ron Bonig is right, connectivity is essential for students, and education is relient on the capability of students being able to collaborate effectively. Google+ also allows students to collaborate in real time, and teaches students how to communicate effectively in the virtual world. 

Google Docs are online spreadsheets, documents and presentations that are created online and be accessed from anywhere. Students can share with one another and edit together, in real time.

Google Hangout is a real time video chat feature, allowing up to 12 participants. Students can collaborate in real time, online. Students can share their screens, and work together on a Google Doc.

Google Communities are a place where people with similar interests can get together to discuss the topics of their choice. Students can create their own communities for research and discussion. 

Other Google Apps include Gmail, Google Sites, Google Drive, Google Vault. The best part about this, it's all free and available on mobile devices. 

My Top 5 Favorite Moments as a Soccer Fan

I have been playing soccer since the age of 5; I have been a die hard fan of the sport since age 9. I support Liverpool, all thanks to a hat given to me as a gift from my cousin when I was a boy. Playing soccer has left me with a few emotional highs and lows, however nothing compares to the highs and lows of being a supporter of the most beautiful game on the planet. I would like to share with you my top 5 most memorable moments as an unbiased soccer fan.

5. World Cup '94- Hosted in the United States, World Cup '94 was my first true exposure to professional soccer, I've been hooked since this tournament. The final was held the same day as my 9th birthday, while everyone was outside eating food and playing games (for my birthday party!), I was inside, alone, watching Brazil beat Italy in Penalties. 

4. My First MLS Match- Major League Soccer began play in the spring of 1996, that is when I attended my first match, which was also my first professional match. The New England Revolution beat D.C. United in a shoot out, on a cold, rainy April day in Foxboro, Ma. It was an amazing experience to see in person; the atmosphere, the fluidity in play.

3. Chelsea's 2012 Champions League Victory- Yes, I am a Liverpool Supporter, but Chelsea's 2012 Champions League run was amazing and was hard not to root for. 

2. Liverpool's 2005 Champions League  Victory- That night in Istanbul. Liverpool were down 3 nil to AC Milan at halftime and came back to win in penalties. Not only one of my most fond soccer memories as a fan, but one of the best nights of my life. 

1. Singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" at Fenway- Liverpool had a pre-season tour of the United States during the summer of 2012, one of their stops was at Fenway Park in Boston. Singing "You'll Never Walk Alone", the anthem of Liverpool Football Club, with 40,000 Liverpool supporters is a moment I will never forget and is hands down my greatest soccer memory of all time. Hopefully, one day I will get to sing at Anfield. 

My wife, Jordan, and me at Fenway Park for Liverpool v. AS Roma, July 2012

Liverpool v. AC Milan Champions League Final 2005