Advice to Baruch College

If I were hired by Baruch College to use new media to improve the college I would do the following:

Firstly, I would utilize Twitter by making every student and professor make one for their courses.  After following one another, they will use Twitter as a way of making announcements, sharing ideas, and helping each other with questions they may have in relation to assignments or exams.  Since many individuals already use/check Twitter in their daily lives, this will be a fast and efficient way of getting and receiving information in a few words.  Additionally, the ability to use # will help them quickly filter the information they need to find.  There can also be Twitter specific assignments/projects assigned in classes.

Secondly, I would have each class make a class wiki.  The class wiki can act as a term project that can be worked on for the entire semester or it can act as a sort of class description.  When deciding on the classes to take, sometimes the description is very vague.  If a class wiki was made for each CIS 3810 class for instance, then students and professors can contribute to a detailed description of how the class is run and what the learning objectives are and even the specific material covered in that specific class.

Thirdly, I would have all the teacher evaluations that are given at the end of the semester done online.  Just like how there are the anonymous online surveys, I would send out the link to every student so that they can complete it for their professors in a quick and easy way without having to take out their pencils or even tare the sheets.

Finally, I would add more online classes, at least 1-2 for each class, so that those students who have a busy schedule have the option of taking classes virtually.  Aside from the online assignments that are submitted online, I would have these online classes meet through a video chat at least once a week so that the professor and students are familiar with one another and this would also be a way to explain the week's assignments/tasks and leave room to answer any questions.

Overall, these suggestions are meant to not only take advantage of new media in a college environment, but bring about more interactivity and communication to the classes.