Technology in Careers Work
8 July 2009
Jane StandleyDirector Placement & Careers Centre
Brunel University
Our agenda
• Why use technology?• Higher Education in a Web 2.0 World • Definitions• Use of technology at Brunel PCC• What we wish we’d known• Positive outcomes• Other obstacles and how we overcame them• Engaging Generation Y
Why use technology?
• It can be attractive and high profile
• It can add value
• It might save time
• ‘Competitors’ do it
• Students are used to it/expect it
• Universities (will) expect it
Drivers for changeHigher Education in a Web 2.0 world
• “Students are looking for traditional approaches, notably personal contact, in a modern setting, ie web supported.”
• “Learning that is active – by doing – undertaken within a community and based on individual’s interests is widely considered to be the most effective”
• “There is a match between what are seen as 21st – century learning skills, 21st – century employability skills and those engendered by engagement with Web 2.0 – communication, participation, networking, sharing.”
http://www.clex.org.uk/
Effective Practice in a Digital Age
Press release:
JISC launches a new guide Effective Practice in a Digital Age
Not sure about a website and a wiki, a podcast and a sound recording, or how best to use them for teaching and learning?
www.jisc.ac.uk/practice
Preparing for practice in a digital age
Starting point – e-Learning = enhanced
learning – Defining effective practice in
a technology-rich context – Writing about practice
Designing for learning – Approaches to learning – Learning activity design – Learning activity design in
context 1
Preparing for practice in a digital age – Effective practice planning
activity
Conclusion – Key principles for designing– technology-enhanced
learning
Glossary Sharing effective practice
– Effective Practice Resource Exchange - supplementary online resources
Popular examples of:
• Social networking• Blogging• Media sharing• Virtual world• Social bookmarking• Syndication• Wikis
Use of technology at Brunel
What we haven’t done• Audio podcasts
– SMS (but wondering about it for workshop reminders)
– Email management systemMarketing/information
– Networked plasma screens for marketing– Fairs video for students and employers– VLE sites for all the placement info for
specific disciplines– Social networking – Facebook, Twitter
and LinkedIn (latter being explored)– Virtual PCC tour– Interactive section on the website
including streaming of AGCAS and other videos under licence
– Placement blog stars– Brunel @ work videos – placement
students, graduates and employers– Email student vacancy alerts– RSS feeds about significant new website
features
Careers education/guidance– Use of VLE for postgraduate distance
learning module– Discipline specific VLE sites
incorporating Destinations– Employer Web chats on VLE and
commentary on videoed interviews– Videoed careers workshops/employer
interviews– Individual application feedback with
screen capture software– e-tutorials with screen capture software – InterVisual
Administration– Online event booking and email
reminders– Online vacancy form for all but graduate
training schemes and sandwich placements
– Swipe keyboards for student registration– New database– Online surveys
What we wish we had known …
Dangers of:• Underestimating workload/timescale• Underestimating technical problems• Inappropriate use of tool• Inappropriate purchasing decision• Forgetting the sound bite• Being reliant on one expert• Not everyone makes a good interviewee• Production control
Positive experiences
• Student involvement • Student feedback• Personalisation• Interactivity and immediacy• (Semi) permanency• Staff interests and skills• Funded projects as a springboard• Piggy-backing on other projects• One thing leads to another …
Blogging – an internet-based journal or diary in which a user can pose text and digital material while others can comment, eg blogger; technorati; twitterMedia sharing – uploading or downloading media files for purposes of audience or exchange, eg flikr; YouTube, Daily Motion, VimeoVirtual world – themed environments that invite live interaction with other internet users eg Second Life, Open SimSocial bookmarking – users submit their bookmarked web pages to a central site where they can be found and tagged by others, eg del.ic.ious, Digg, Yahoo! Buzz, StumbleUpon, redditSyndication – users can subscribe to RSS (Really Simply Syndication) feed-enabled websites so that they are automatically notified of any changes or updates in content via an aggregator; eg bloglines; podcastWikis – a web based service allowing users unrestricted access to create, edit and link pages, eg wikipedia
Obstacles … and how we overcame them (if we did)
• Lack of co-ordination within the institution
• Need for clarity for students
• Too much direction within the institution
• Changing stories• Unreliable systems• Old rules
• Cost• Need to keep it fresh • Staff skills • Staff security• Disability• Crystal ball
Engaging Generation Y
• Signpost to engage
• Give them the vision
• Short is sweet
• New ways of talking
• Involve influencers
• Give them a voice
Intervisual
• http://intervisual.brunel.ac.uk/intervisual/
Sample InterVisual videos
• http://www.brunel.ac.uk/pcc/videos/6245042.wmv
• http://www.brunel.ac.uk/pcc/videos/8902804.wmv