08/01/2014Best Practices for Using Blogs as a Student Engagement ToolBy Emily Gomez and Katherine NoblesBlogs are an excellent tool for connecting and engaging with digital natives on the topic of career development. Digital natives are those who have interacted with digital technology from an early age and may include K-12 students, four-year college students, community college students, and even private practice and government agency clients. In our career development work with an undergraduate course and student organization, we found that blogs increased shared knowledge among students, allowed them to learn and utilize new technology, and enabled them to collaborate easily outside of class. Testing out new technology can sometimes feel like a daunting task, but the following tips may prove useful as practitioners consider adding a blog to encourage student engagement.
There are many best practices, sources of inspiration, and resources available as counselors consider adding blogging to their student engagement efforts. For example, the vast Smithsonian network has a number of blog platforms where students share their projects and internship experiences, including http://www.smithsonianofi.com, which is media-rich and full of descriptive, yet succinct posts. These blogs are a great way for prospective students to understand the vast opportunities available to students and researchers. Another helpful blog, The Savvy Intern, shares a wealth of information on how to make the most of an internship experience. The site itself is a blog and the authors often link to relevant career-related posts or professional development-type articles. American University’s Career Center features student interns through blogging. Interns share about their internship experience and perspectives on what they are learning. This provides a great tool for other students to see what internship possibilities may exist and how they can grow from the opportunities. Finally, Dr. Mark Sample of George Mason University and Davidson University has been utilizing blogs in his classes for years. He posts basic course logistical information such as course calendar, contact information, and guidelines to the blog. In addition, he has used blogs to encourage and continue learning beyond the brick and mortar classroom by having students post on course-related topics. These examples and others show that there are many ways to connect with digital natives on the topic of career development, encouraging them to expand on what they learn in the classroom and share what they discover in the real world.
Possibilities for utilizing blogs in career development work are wide and could be taken in many different directions. Counselors should consider employing a blog to engage students or client groups, whether the purpose is:
No matter the overarching goal, blogs are a great way to use technology to engage with clients or students in an interesting way and take the conversation online.
Emily Gomez, M.S., serves as a Career Counselor for all students, and particularly enjoys working with transfer and veteran students within University Career Services at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition, Emily works collaboratively with diverse student organizations to assist in their professional development and in connecting them with employer partners and was a finalist for 2014 National Association of Colleges and Employers’ Diversity and Inclusion Award. Emily earned her B.A. and M.A. in Anthropology, prior to completing her M.S. in Counseling at California State University, Sacramento. You can connect with Emily via email at ejgomez@email.unc.edu.
Katherine Nobles, M.Ed., is currently the Assistant Director of Social Media & Branding for University Career Services at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to taking on this role, she served as a Career Counselor at UCS. Katherine has presented at state, regional, and national conferences and was a finalist for the 2013 National Association of Colleges and Employers’ Innovation Excellence Award for Research. Katherine earned her B.A. in Communication from Virginia Tech and M.Ed. in Higher Education Administration from The College of William & Mary, where she served as a Career Center Graduate Assistant. You can connect with Katherine via email at kgnobles@unc.edu. 1 CommentDisclaimer: The opinions expressed in the comments shown above are those of the individual comment authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of this organization.
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Juliet Wehr Jones on Wednesday 09/03/2014 at 12:38 PM
Excellent article! I think your recommendations tie in well with recent findings about how student engagement and achievement improve from more interactive learning. The New York Times just published an article today about it: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/03/education/active-learning-study.html
More students will understand and successfully apply career development concepts having seen and experienced it as you recommend. Thank you for sharing your insights!