Laura Pasquini: Leveraging Technologies for Student Success

Presenter: Laura Pasquini is a lecturer in the Department of Learning Technologies in the College of Information at the University of North Texas in Denton, TX and she is a Researcher with The Digital Learning and Social Media Research Group at Royal Roads University in Victoria, BC.

Day 2 Presentation

Higher education is becoming increasingly networked and in emerging technologies are transforming the way we teach, learn, and research. It is more critical than ever for faculty and support staff to consider pedagogical implications in technological-mediated environments. Developmental approaches for supporting our learners should provide intentional learning environments with interpersonal interactions, behavioral awareness, problem solving, decision-making, and evaluation skills (Hurt 2007). It is imperative to consider sustainable and resilient technology practices and approaches for learning, which support learning outcomes and help our students persist.

Emerging technologies are transforming the way our higher education institutions teach, learn, support, and research. We need to expand and enhance students’ involvement in technology in higher education, especially the technological methods we deliver student services and support with technological-mediated environments. Chickering (1994) believed the purpose of learner support in higher education is “to help students become effective agents for their own lifelong learning and personal development…to increase their capacity to take charge of their own existence” (p. 50). As we learn about the barriers for distance education and the strategies to overcome challenges (Veletsianos, Reich, & Pasquini, 2016), we need employ approaches and services that allow our students to persist.

With the affordances and opportunities learning technology provides, it is imperative we consider sustainable and resilient ways to support and empower our students, which includes making campus decisions for the design and delivery methods using innovative technologies (Pasquini & Steele, 2016). By evaluating how technology and digital tools support our courses, we can provide our students with the resources and pathways for academic success.


References
  1. Chickering, A. W. (1994). Empowering lifelong self-development. NACADA Journal, 14(2).
  2. Hurt, R. L. (2007).  Advising as teaching: Establishing outcomes, developing tools, and assessing student learning.  NACADA Journal Volume 27(2).
  3. Pasquini, L. A., & Steele, G. (2016). Technology in academic advising: Perceptions and practices in higher education. NACADA Technology in Advising Commission Sponsored Study. figshare. Retrieved from https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3053569.v7
  4. Veletsianos, G., Reich, J., & Pasquini, L. A. (2016). The life between big data log events: Learners’ strategies to overcome challenges in MOOCs. AERA Open, 2(3); 1–10. doi: 10.1177/2332858416657002

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