Stand out in the crowd during academic job search
With competition in the academic job arena at an all time high, potential employees frequently scramble to figure out how to differentiate themselves from the pack. In a great article this week, Inside Higher Ed argues what we've been arguing for a long time now: be TECH SAVVY.
This applies across disciplines, career levels and desired position. To be a truly effective educator and stand out from your peers, you need to be at least as tech savvy as the young adults sitting in your classrooms. Why?
Well, it's not just about being able to use Facebook or Twitter or even things like wikis and other learning tools. Increasingly, professors across the board are expected to use online tools to teach and manage classes, and departments use the measurement functions of these tools to track the instructor's time and actions. Time spent on student engagement outside the classroom used to be a relatively enigmatic thing to try to track but has now been facilitated by options like Blackboard and Moodle that allow administrators to see how many times you login, how long you spend interacting with students within the application, and what tasks you performed within the system.
What does this mean for educators as they begin their careers? It means that a solid understanding of and comfortable working relationship with technology will help you to demonstrate a skill set beyond that of your peers. Being tech savvy will make your life easier too. Don't wait until you land your first adjunct position to start trying to learn the tools. Beginning early will mean that when you start working, you'll already be ahead of the rest and be able to spend less time learning and more time showing what an excellent hire you were.
The bottom line? It's no longer an option for academics to rely on the age-old assumption that a certain degree of technology reticence and stubbornness to adopt new tools is normal and fine. You'll be expected to have experience using technology inside and outside the classroom, so learning to use those tools well, and early, will be a major boon as you start your career.
Don't know where to start? Read the Inside Higher Ed piece, they give some great tips on how to begin, at many different comfort levels. And check back here often, as we share tips on technology use in the classroom all the time!
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