 "Photo: Courtesy of MCT Campus")
It is time for the old people to get hip
On more and more college campuses today there is a growing minority of students who are not fresh out of high school or in their early twenties. We are all called nontraditional students because we are returning to college after being away from institutions of higher learning for various lengths of time. In my case I am a forty something who has decided on a career change. I needed to return to college to achieve this.
What I discovered upon returning to school is the magnitude in which the younger generation of today has embraced technology. I do not mean just the ability to send texts to your BFF’s, but how almost every student who attended UNCC has a Facebook or a MySpace page, in some cases both.
Some students even have their own blogs where their friends can see what they are up too. If that isn’t update enough for them and if their friends are on twitter they can find out their friend’s status by tweeting them.
There is another new and exciting technology being used by college student. It is called social book marking. By using Delicious or Diigo you can share your favorite web pages with you friends. If you are on a different computer where you do not have your book marks saved, you can go to the social book marking site and access them.
There are many other great technologies out there which would be very beneficial for non tradition students like me. You don’t have to be in you twenties or a college professor to use them.
Facebook and MySpace are great social networking tools that allow you to keep up with family, friends, or old classmates. It can also be used by perspective employers to research your social life, so don’t put it in cyberspace if you don’t want a future employer to find it. You can also keep up with groups, clubs, or special events that you are interested in. In my case I follow veteran groups such as the American Legion and Gulf War Vets through their Facebook pages.
If you do not have a webpage or blog I strongly suggest that you learn how to make one. It is fairly easy and you can follow step by step instructions from internet sources like Google. I mentioned Google because people are always being Googled nowadays so you should embrace it by building your own blog and putting your message out there, especially if you are looking for a job.
On your blog you can have the current weather and news updates delivered from another webpage using Really Simple Syndication (RSS) technology. RSS technology uses feeds from another webpage and delivers it to your blog or desktop. Some professors on campus have their own blogs and web pages and use them to connect with their students about assignments, due dates, or any changes in the class schedule. We could use blackboard but with a blog we can look cool, stylish, and trendy.
Being up to date with technological tools of the internet and communication is the way of the future. It is not just a talent for kids, college students, or professors. In the second decade of the 21st century more and more things will be done on the internet besides paying bills or checking the weather. If you are not up to date with the latest technologies you will get left behind and in today’s tight job market that is not where you want to be.
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