Poet Ponders the Digital

Visalia Direct: Virtual Valley September 26, 2011 Deadline November 2011 Issue Crafting a Résumé for the Digital Age Job hunting is tough enough without companies forcing applicants to use poorly designed online résumé submission databases. A reader emailed me asking why some companies rejected her résumé, despite great qualifications. Based on my experiences assisting students on the job market, I suggested the reader’s résumé might have the wrong margins for some online systems. Yes, the wrong margins can lead to rejection in today’s digital job hunt. Hiring committees tell me they receive 200, 300 and, in one case, 500 applications for job openings. My students want every edge they can get when applying for positions. I’ve had to learn a lot about the hiring process to help students craft résumés for this strange new reality. The university where I work uses an online career database. Many employers have turned to these systems. You might have used one already, via the...

Every instructor using a course management system / learning management system (CMS/LMS) ends up discovering the various annoyances unique to the system. Some have more annoyances than others, which is one reason I prefer Moodle but still have plenty of "kind suggestions" for the developers. I also like that if you do spot a problem with Moodle, you can participate in fixing the weakness or error. Then, there is Blackboard. It isn't one or two annoyances. It seems there's one annoyance after another when I try to deal with Blackboard. The hosted Blackboard Learn system we use at my university seems to be one challenge after another. I don't know why, but it is more annoying than the previous versions of Blackboard and its other products I have used as an instructor. Tonight's list of complaints is incomplete, a mere hint of my frustrations. 1) Editing announcements, discussion threads, and other content is inconsistent. I've tried editing the HTML di...

As the second week of courses ends at my university, and I have prepared for the third, I finally have a bit of time for reflection. First, let me state that the department in which I work is dedicated to delivering an online degree program that is equal in value and student experience to the on-campus degree. This task is not easy, since online courses by nature are different. From the delivery method itself to the nature of assessing students online, there are differences we cannot ignore, so we must adjust to ameliorate those imbalances. Unfortunately, the university is running an ad campaign in local media that suggests online degrees are "convenient" for students. Nothing could be more misleading, in my opinion, than suggesting that an online degree is somehow more convenient or in any way "easy" compared to traditional studies. Online education requires more time, not less, and requires more self-discipline of students. The accelerated pace and the lack of...