Productivity @ Home

A Shocking Vision of Students, New Media and Technology

With a teen headed to college next year and a tremendous interest in New Media, this video caught my attention when I saw it recently on a friend's blog.  I've seen my kids "multitask", seen how they interact with their friends online and in person, seen them turn off the TV but live out loud to iTunes, and seen the way they obtain their information.  What are we, the grown ups who love them doing to realize and communicate with them in their changing world?  Fascinating - please take five minutes and watch this video.  I'd love to hear your take.

College Admissions and Facebook: To Friend or Not To Friend?

 Many of you know that my son Eric is in the throes of applying to college. It's likely during the next several months that I'll be writing a great deal on this topic, not only for those of you with high school seniors, but also for those with younger children too. You'd be amazed how quickly this process sneaks up on you, and it seems impossible to be "overprepared" to apply to college.

So many things have changed since I applied to college, including the many technological advances that now exist. So when I ran across this USA Today article this week entitled To friend or not to friend? College admissions in the age of Facebook, it caught my eye immediately. This article deals with the ethical issues that surround college admissions officers' use of social networking sites. Here's an amazing statistic from the article:

While 86% of college students have a Facebook account, according to a 2008 survey by Harvard University's Institute of Politics, only 13% of the 401 admissions officials surveyed this year say their schools have a policy about interacting with students on social networking sites, Olson says. "That's the picture of the changing landscape that we are in right now."

I'm certain that most of you with teens who are online are carefully supervising your kids' use of tools such as Facebook. But it's worth having a discussion today about the types of "friends" your child should be accepting online. We had a personal experience of this during the summer, when Eric received a personal letter from the Dean of Admissions at an Ivy League school. This professional shared all of the usual information about their wonderful college and then invited Eric to be his "friend" on Facebook. Thankfully, I was standing nearby when my son zealously grabbed the letter and headed to the computer. I was able to stop him and have an immediate conversation about the propriety of this use of Facebook. While I'm certain that the college official in question is likely simply using Facebook as another marketing tool, we were able to discuss the importance of Eric's personal profile - both his own postings there and what his friends write on his profile.

It seems that history is now being written about the role of Social Networking profiles in the college admissions process. We've always discussed around our home the need for Eric to have the attitude that his Facebook profile serves in a way as his "online resume". In other words, don't post (or allow the posting of) anything you wouldn't want a potential college or future employer to consider.

For those of you who use Facebook or have teens who are on any social networking site, I'm curious to hear how you handle these issues around your home. How do you regularly monitor your child's online presence? Do you feel it is ethical for colleges and universities to consider information posted online as part of the application process? Please chime in with your thoughts!

Beating the Back to School Budget Slash Blues

On Wednesdays, I share my thoughts on Learning and Professional Development.

My son, a high school senior, has been fighting the budget-cut blues this week. If you live in California, you may be aware of the impact the state's budget crisis has had upon the California State University system. 

Eric happens to attend a very fine charter school at California State University Fresno, where students in their junior and seniors years have access to Fresno State classes.  They are permitted to take two college classes each semester, enabling many of them to accrue quite a few college credits prior to graduation.  This year, however, budget cuts have resulted in drastic slashing of courses offered resulting in quite a lot of schedule wrangling for all of the students impacted.  Today, well into his second week of school, Eric is still working on finalizing his schedule.  College students in the CSU system are facing tuition increases, decreases in services provided (for example, shorter library hours), and amped up student fees.  It's stressful on them, to say the least, and will result in many students missing out on prerequisite courses required for their degrees.

My son is only a high school student, so the impact of this is much less critical than it is on the college students involved.  But I've been trying to work with him this week to see some of the positive skills he's acquired in working through this mess:

• Planning skills - Eric has had to come up with a broad variety of options and plans for the various alternatives that he could face when he walks into a college class and tries to register.
• Research skills - My high school senior is now pretty well versed on the college registration system and its ins and outs.   He has handled the scheduling "mess" independently, with his counselor as an adviser.  This knowledge will serve him well when he heads off to college next year on his own.
• Patience - It's a virtue, right?  In today's "now" society of instant messaging  and real time video alerts, it can be a difficult thing to learn to wait for things to work out properly.
• Diplomacy - Gaining entry into a class when you are wait listed frequently involves speaking with the professor and gaining his approval.  The likelihood of receiving an affirmative response is greatly heightened if you address the professor courteously, yet assertively.  Learning to speak with those in authority is a valuable life skill.
• Gratitude - We don't stop frequently enough in life to count our many blessings.  It can be easy to fall into the trap of complaining about what we don't have rather than embracing and being truly grateful for the things that are going right in our lives.

I'm hoping that Eric comes home today bearing news that his schedule has been worked out.  I'm also hoping that students everywhere who face stress and uncertainty will receive the assistance they need to continue to fruitfully pursue their educations.  Finally, I'm praying for wisdom and guidance for our elected leaders, that they can come to some decisions soon that will minimize the impact of crises such as this one upon families around our state.  In the mean time, Eric and will be dwelling on lessons learned and trying to beat the blues with a positive attitude.

Home-work for Today:

• If  your children have headed back to school, review the syllabuses from their classes and discuss with them their learning goals for this year.

Reading Room Resources:
The Best of the Blogs from this week on the topic of Learning and Professional Development

• 5 Minute Stress Relievers - Taking a Mental Break
• Freshman 15: Coping with the First Year of College
• Back to School: Talk to Your Professor

On the Bookshelf:
The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Teens

iPhone Productivity App of the Day - NYTimes iPhone App

Today's iPhone productivity app of the day won't be found in the "Productivity" category, but rather in the "News" category. Now, thanks to my iPhone, I have daily access to the New York Times through this convenient, free application.

We've had access to the Times for years through the website, but now with my iPhone and a few spare minutes I can get caught up with all the latest news and information. The app is free and does not require registration or subscription to the newspaper. The features vary daily but include most major sections of the paper (excluding classified adds and movie times). A small, unobtrusive banner ad appears at the bottom of each article page but is not a hindrance to reading the information listed on the page.

Upon initiation, the app takes less than two minutes to sync on my iPhone. Syncing is an important feature, as it allows the content to be viewed even when you are offline, including in airplane mode.

Individual iPhone users can configure the content you choose to view and select your favorites for the bottom row icons. In your iPhone settings, you can determine the amount of days for which you would like access to news and articles, up to seven days.

Apps like the NYTimes iPhone app make waiting situations much less painful - I enjoyed reading the Times yesterday while waiting for my son's clarinet lesson to finish. You don't need to bring anything with you but your iPhone to make smart use of a spare ten minutes!

What's your favorite new iPhone app? I'd love to hear from you!

NYTimes iPhone Application - FAQ - NYTimes.com