Reflections on "Reimagining Your Campus Communities in Digital Spaces"

Dr. Josie Ahlquist is an adjunct faculty at Florida State and bimonthly, she sends out a bimonthly "Your Digital Leadership Download." I have subscribed for about a year. These are jam packed with information, resources, podcasts, and her own blog posts on digital leadership (often focusing on campus-based practices and college students). She recently shared one of her blog posts that I found very impactful and resourceful and I wanted to share a synopsis here as well as some of my own reflections. First, let me share the link to the blog post here. Enjoy some of my big takeaways and reflections below:

"Help students build capacity, community, and belonging using the features of digital spaces." Dr. Ahlquist mentions this early on and while it may seems straight forward, this is the continued challenging work of my colleagues in both academic and student affairs at the moment. How do we replicate the collegiate experience online at the drop of a hat? I remember talking with the class I teach the Wednesday before spring break and asking how many of them had heard of Zoom and zero of the 18 raised their hands. Yet, many faculty and staff expected students to start using it that next week for their education. I threw out my intended lesson for the day and we did a 50 minute class on Zoom 101. While all of the students in this class would fall under the concept of digital natives, not a single one knew how to use Zoom. Dr. Ahlquist mentions later in the article that we should not just adopt platforms but begin with our purpose. This is when I challenge people who assume all Gen Z students know how to operate all technology. This is also where I challenge the misinterpretation of Web 2.0 and social media being total synonyms. Dr. Ahlquist even shared that Pascarella and Terenzini (2006) found that interaction with peers is critical to persistence and degree completion. How can we build "capacity, community, and belonging" of these students if they are not familiar with the digital spaces we are using to do so? 

"Crafting digital communities means creating spaces that engage students in meaningful ways- aligning our digitally based work with the mission, vision, and values of our organizations, using technology not just as a substitute but as a fortifier for the college experience." This is an immensely powerful concept presented by Dr. Ahlquist. As we continue to see stay at home orders extended and semesters continuing to be facilitated online, this is an ideal concept. What I struggle with this in practice is that when we first got the "move online" orders, it was only for 3 weeks, then it was until the end of spring semester, then through Summer B, now at least through Summer C with an uncertain fall semester. This progression (especially the beginning) made technology feel like a temporary substitute; that we would only be virtual for a short while until like could "get back to normal." So now I pose the question of how do we shift faculty, staff, and student mindsets to this "fortifier for the college experience?" How do we stop seeing technological engagement and instruction as a temporary solution and more of a way for us to reimagine engagement, educational delivery, and community building? 

Intentional. Interactive. Inclusive. Impactful. Why? Who? What? The four I's and three questions in Dr. Ahlquist's article on creating community online. As we see the quick need to implement solutions to create a college experience online, I worry we miss these elements in our simple need to produce outcomes and create resources. In this, I worry the mark is missed on creating the best spaces through the best platform for students. For example, many instructors record lectures on Zoom, yet Kaltura (free through Canvas and FSU) closed captions all videos to 75% accuracy within the software, making it often more inclusive for learners and potentially more impactful. Being intentional in software mediums in this examples, leads to the increase of other "I's." Dr. Ahlquist also poses more questions to consider in selecting platforms for community building at the end of the blog.

Overall, I think this a great resource for educators navigating a lot of pressure to create communities for their learners online. I'd love to hear others thoughts for those who happen to read it or have thoughts on my reflections!