Aaron Henderson: Blog Portfolio

Introduction

Prior to the first class meeting I had minimal knowledge of what to expect from the Current Issues course experience. From the course description and title I made the assumption that we would be learning about the many issues that have surfaced or have been problems in the field of higher education. I was welcoming the chance to temporarily escape from the field of counselor education into a subject that would provide challenges and learning opportunities.

The blogging aspect of the class was intriguing to me. I’m in the process of determining whether or not the on-line format is worth pursuing as a potential faculty member. Having the opportunity to learn from my peers and interact through blogging was something I was both looking forward to an apprehensive about. I was interested to see how the format of the class would enhance the learning experience. I was new to blogging and was uncertain of how all the pieces were going to fit together. My apprehension was awakened by the idea of having to post my thoughts and beliefs for everyone to see.

I entered this course having limited knowledge on the many current issues in the field of higher education. I was interested in expanding my knowledge while challenging myself to embrace the opportunity to enmesh in a field that I have relatively minimal experience in. Additionally, I had some concern about the time and energy I needed to dedicate to the course in order to keep up with blogging, posting comments, and reading content from my peers and in The Chronicle of Higher Education. I knew that I would have to find a working routine if I was going to manage the workload while honoring other responsibilities as a student and a professional.

In conclusion I was excited about the course format and having the opportunity to enhance my understanding of the field of higher education. Not only was I looking forward to learning the content, I was excited about the course format as well. I have found that the material that I learn in HESAL courses serves me well as a therapist. I believed that this course would only add to the many valuable lessons I’ve learned in previous HESAL courses.


My Blogs: A Few of My Favorites

I chose the following blogs as they represented topics that I am passionate about and blogs that generated a considerable amount of interest in our blogging community. Although I found many learning opportunities with each blog that I wrote and responded to, the following are the three that capture my experiences throughout the course.

1.) Drop the Ball: Really???

To my knowledge this was the first time that I had the chance to connect my experience in athletics to higher education in a written assignment. This blog entry highlighted the many issues that continue to plague the world of college athletics. I found it ironic that the University of Miami scandal was the “big news” in sports at the beginning of the semester only to be surpassed in deviancy by the Penn State scandal at the end of the semester.

I enjoyed voicing my beliefs about the many positives that college athletics brings to universities. Although there are many “issues” that continue to surface amongst student-athletes, coaches, and administrators, I believe that college athletics is a key component in the realm of higher education.

2.) Show Me the Money or Show Me the Door

I was beyond fascinated by this article. This is primarily due to the fact that I had never given thought to the monetary value of my degree prior to pursuing a potential university. I had no idea that companies like PayScale exist and are dedicated to helping potential students/parents identify which schools will provide the best “investment” (if you’re talking dollars and cents). This article challenged my belief system and the many variables (or lack thereof) that students take into account when determining which school to attend.

3.) Education for Our Soldiers

As I have previously stated, on-line learning is an area that I have interest in. I have continued to wrestle with the idea of on-line education and whether or not it is as valuable as traditional learning environments. This article served to strengthen my faith in on-line education. I had never given thought to the many opportunities that the on-line environment provides to military personnel. I was inspired and honored to blog about the soldiers who spend their “free time” enhancing their education in efforts to be competitive in their chosen field once their time in the military is complete.

My Blogging Experience

Looking back on my blogging experience I can say that I’ve learned lessons that won’t soon be forgotten. I reflect back on the first couple weeks when I hadn’t the slightest idea of how to post a blog. Now I’m thinking about how I can integrate blogging into my classroom as an instructor. In my opinion one of the downfalls to on-line learning is the fact that some students are able to “hide” while others are fully engaged in process of learning. Blogging seems to be a realistic solution to students who seem to disappear in class discussions. I trust that having students research an article and make some sense of it and reflect it in a blog post greatly enhances their ability to be critical thinkers.

While blogging I felt a sense of freedom that I haven’t experienced in quite some time. I felt I was able to share my thoughts and feeling on subjects without the fear of facing the scrutiny often found in scholarly writing. I enjoyed reading the ideas and perspectives that others offered at the end of each blog. These thoughts and ideas often caused me to reflect on the topic and search for articles that could either validate or disconfirm their posts.

I was challenged on a weekly basis to communicate in a way that was respectful yet genuine and realistic. At times I was afraid that my responses would not be taken in the context in which I intended them to be. However, I know that this is experience is consistent with the publication component that faculty members experience in that sometimes words get lost in translation. Once I hit “send” I had to sit back and hope for the best. This forced me to put forth a great deal of thought when determining when and how I wanted to respond to certain posts. I learned the art of expressing my ideas when writing about a subject that I am passionate about and have emotional ties to.

Perhaps what I enjoyed the most about my bogging experience is learning how many different and unique perspectives my peers had on a given topic. I was amazed at the number of different lenses in which people view the world of higher education. I enjoyed meeting people and seeing how their life/professional experiences shape their beliefs. I was able to reflect on my own experiences influence my perceptions.

Overall I found my time spent bogging proved to be a vital element to my understanding of the current issues in higher education. Blogging offered a unique method of instruction that I benefited from as a student and aspiring faculty member. Although blogging was time consuming and challenged me to step outside of my comfort zone, I believe I enhanced my critical thinking and writing ability.

Summary of What I Learned

I learned a great deal throughout this semester. I learned the current state of higher education; the complexities of issues that plague higher education, and how to stay current on the literature in higher education. Although there are multiple discussions, blogs, and articles that I will utilize throughout my professional career, these three areas seemed to consistently surface as topics of interest.

I appreciate learning the different perspectives and how the field of higher education has evolved and reshaped throughout the times. It was reassuring to know that times, perhaps, aren’t as bad as they seem. This belief was captured in both articles and class discussions. Although there are, in fact, many “issues” that are worthy of a great deal of attention it is nice to know that there have always been “issues.” In a world that feeds off of “crisis” it’s nice to know that there are people out there who recognize that there are many positive changes that are being implemented in higher education. I learned how important it is to take the time and energy to research “issues” for myself and not rely on others who are quick to declare a state of emergency.

Having a counseling background allows me to see how complex people’s problems really are. Rarely is there an easy solution for any problem that is worth fixing. I learned that the same is true for the issues present in higher education. This was highlighted in our class discussions as we tossed around ideas and rarely identified and concrete solutions to problems. I enjoyed delving into conversations about the horrific Penn State scandal and Occupy. There were people who had opposing views on these topics and both sides brought up relevant facts to support their beliefs. I trust that discussions like these are the key to identifying workable solutions to inspire change.

By participating in the course I learned how to stay current in the literature. The Chronicle of Higher Education quickly became my best friend early in the semester. The iPad app (thanks Mr. Jobs) allowed me to quickly and efficiently stay on top of the monthly editions. Although I would argue that I learned more from my classmates than some of the articles that are published in the Chronicle, I know that I will continue to use this publication as a way to stay current. The Chronicle significantly reduces the time I typically spend navigating through the on-line database looking for articles, and for that I am grateful.

Summary of Blogs

1. A JOB Well Done: A Legacy to Higher Education

2. The Fix?: Increase Aid, Multiyear Contracts

3. Making the Grade: Helping or Hurting Minority Athletes?

4. Drop the Ball: Really?

5. Library Drama: Forget the Books, Give Me Video Games

6. Show Me the Money or Show Me the Door

7. Teach Me/Give Me Diversity and I’ll Stay

8. Education for Our Soldiers

9. Coming Together: A Gathering of Minority Students and Professionals

Blog Portfolio

Introduction to the semester:

            Entering this class, I was expecting we would be talking about current issues in higher education, but on a much smaller scale. The issues that I regularly hear about are budget cuts, bleak job market, changing numbers and increasing access for students. I think because UNC is dealing with these issues regularly, I naively assumed those were the main concerns of most universities, especially those similar to UNC’s structure and demographics. While I find topics of access and changing numbers interesting to an extent, these topics are not where my passion is within the field of higher education and the constant talk of budget cuts and the competitive job market is anything but encouraging.

I assumed the class was just going to expose me to these topics and force me to stay more current with what was happening within these subjects. I was looking forward to the class and blogging because one of my goals for the year was to stay more current within my job as well as in higher education, and this class allowed me to do both. I regularly deal with issues of mental health, wellness, alcohol, drugs, and tobacco use so staying current is important in order to develop and facilitate effective programming and address issues that pertain to our student population.

 I wrote several blogs that I really enjoyed reading and writing about and then participating in the discussion following. The discussion revolving around universities changing their Foreign Languages departments to World Language and Cultural Studies department was a great discussion where we were able to talk about our use of words and how it reflects the university and the US in a very egocentric manner. I enjoyed the discussion about Drunkorexia because it is a topic I already needed to stay current in for my position with D.A.T.E. and we were able to develop some educational resources surrounding the issue. Additionally, the discussion revolved greatly around the need to create more sensitive programming on campus from all departments when it pertains to healthy eating, body image, wellness, and exercise. I also enjoyed the discussion about the Australian foreign aid and how it relates or could possibly influence American aid. Typically I do not feel comfortable discussing financial aid because it is something I know very little about, but I enjoyed the discussion and feedback I received about my blog post.

Reflect on blogging experience and how it affected the course

            The blogging experience was initially nerve racking because it can be difficult to be so forward with your opinion about a possibly controversial subject. As someone who typically remains quiet in discussions that can get confrontational, it was a good experience for me to share my opinions about topics and have a conversation with someone who may have disagreed with it.

            I think there were many other people who were much more willing or able to share their opinion about topics. There were a few posts about topics I was very passionate about such as some of the athletics posts, which made me more willing to post my opinions. I think that some of the things that were said in this course either in class or through blogging were offensive, and I think it was good practice to appropriately respond and support our arguments. This affected the way I participated in class, however. I started to get a feel for those who had strong opinions and were unwilling to hear anything that challenged that. It seemed worthless to speak up during some of the discussions because I knew what type of response I would have received. I think the blogging contributed to this because it is not often we, as classmates, are continually reading each other’s work and are consistently asked to speak our opinions in such length.

            I was disappointed with the lack of participation by several of the people in class. I started to see the same people posting over and over again and consistently posting comments, and many of the people that I had met with and worked with in classes were absent from the blogs. It is discouraging to continually post in a timely manner with thoughtful responses and only have the same articles or classmates’ posts to look at. It narrowed our experience and was frustrating to see the lack if participation.  Additionally, I think I valued their opinions less during our class discussion because I felt like they probably hadn’t kept as up to date with the blogs and current issues.

Summarize what you have learned in the course

            I have learned several important skills in this course. I have a better understanding of how to stay current in Higher Education and what avenues to take in order to effectively retain and utilize the information I have gained. I think that blogging has helped me to look at reading current events more effectively and to look at the more analytically, which was something I did not think to do before. It has also encouraged reading and me to discuss what I am learning in order to share with the greater community. I am more willing and able to discuss current events in and outside of the work environment and encouraged to discuss current issues with other student affairs professionals.

            I tend to avoid confrontation with people, especially with people I do not know very well. I rarely see the point in engaging in a debate with someone who does not seem willing to see another viewpoint, but this course almost forced me to engage in conversation I normally would not feel comfortable or inclined to take part in. Since we read everyone else’s blog posts and the articles that went along with them, I think we had to expose ourselves to opinions and issues that we normally would have passed on. There were several blog posts that I completely disagreed with either the blogger’s opinion or the author of the article’s opinion and I felt inclined to comment. I appreciate that it was required to have to comment on the articles since it encouraged me to express my opinion. I am much more comfortable doing so than before this class.

            It was not always conflict that inspired me to write. I enjoyed reading others’ views and experiences that I had not thought of in the context of the issue. I enjoyed the different opinions that were expressed in the athletics blog as well as the international higher education blogs. These were the two topics that I enjoyed the most as well as the “Really, this is unbelievable.” I think that I related most to the articles that were posted in these blogs, which is why I enjoyed them, but I have never had so much exposure to the topics discussed. It was interesting to hear about many of the different protests and cases that were happening in higher education such as the bake sale case posted by Janella, the slut walks that were discussed by many people, and the use of free speech by students during a speaker written by Dana.

            I enjoyed that the class was much more than posting blogs as well. Sharing our opinion publically was taken to another level by having to share our opinions in the letter to the editor. It was really intimidating to talk about an issue or a topic that we had experienced and submit it to the public t view but also scrutinize. The memo to my supervisor was an interesting experience because I didn’t know that people actually still sent memos. I enjoyed sharing an experience that I had with students and what that experience meant for our program. I think it was good practice for when I enter into the field as a professional, not just a graduate student.

            Overall, I enjoyed my experience blogging. It was a good way to develop my writing in a different avenue and find new and more innovative ways to stay current. I also feel like I have developed a stronger network to communicate with and be able to contact if needed. The classes were also a great way to debrief and discuss in more detail the blogs and the issues that are currently facing higher education. It inspired new blogs and further investigation about issues. 

Janet's Blog Portfolio

Introduction

I was unsure of what to expect coming into this course. To say that I was a novice in the realm of blogging is a massive understatement. I had zero experience at writing and reading blogs. Besides using the internet for email correspondence or occasional Google searches, my internet experience was limited to checking in on Facebook for updates and pictures of my grandchildren. I am still perplexed by the whole “tweeting” phenomenon. The practice of using the internet to post opinions, thoughts, and mundane updates is not appealing to me as a reader or a writer. I find the Facebook updates and ramblings amusing at best, and am confused as why a person is compelled to share with cyberspace details of daily living such as “grilling steaks for supper tonight.” Why do folks find such postings to be newsworthy? I have “unfriended” dear close friends from my Facebook because they post so many irrelevant updates that I am less than interested in and I do not wish to waste the time scrolling through the junk to get to relevant and interesting updates.

Prior to this course, I utilized the University of Northern Colorado (UNC) Library databases such as ProQuest Education Journals to research scholarly peer-evaluated journal articles and studies for my coursework in the Higher Education Student Affairs Leadership (HESAL) program. I intentionally avoided online resources such as the Chronicle of Higher Education because the nature of the majority of the articles was opinion based and were rarely primary sources. So, it came as a bit of a surprise to me that as a part of this course, the students were directed to subscribe to the Chronicle of Higher Education and the students were encouraged to review the articles and use articles of interest to base their weekly blogs. I was also unprepared for the extensive use of technology utilized for the coursework. Although I have taken online courses during my undergraduate experience, the HESAL courses I have taken did not contain an online aspect beyond email for turning in assignments and using databases for research.

Best Blog Entries:

Defining Community College Student Success
High School Endorsement
Online Community College Students Struggle with Completion and Transfer?

Reflection on Blogging Experience

Despite my early reservations, trepidation, and technology ignorance, I came to appreciate the format of this class and the blogging experience. I was particularly impressed with the peer to peer learning I observed as well as experienced myself. The individual perspectives and rich diversity of the students in regards to the postings and the class discussions challenged my paradigms and allowed me to expand my viewpoints. The weekend classes were ideally scheduled to reinforce and compliment the postings. Although I was able to explore the various experiences and perspectives of the students by reading their postings, the classroom discussions allowed for in depth analysis which gave me a deeper understanding of the issues at hand. The combination of online and face-to-face discussions, in my opinion, exemplified the peer-to-peer learning environment. The postings allowed for topics to be introduced and explored and the classroom discussions allowed for the intricacies of an issue to be examined in layers. This was my last semester in the HESAL program and although all of my classes have had a focus on peer-to-peer learning, the format of this course captured the epitome of a peer-to-peer learning environment.

I was especially impressed with the vastly different viewpoints shared by students while maintaining a respectful and engaging environment. It was obvious from the postings and the classroom discussions that the students brought with them an assortment of backgrounds in relation to age, education, religion, politics, etc. Given the connection between the aforementioned aspects and the issues facing higher education, it would seem likely online and classroom discussions could become heated and emotional. Although many issues raised triggered passionate input, the participation demonstrated civil discourse. I found myself on several occasions starting out the face-to-face portion of the class on Friday evening with a certain stance on an issue only to find by the end of the day on Saturday, I was questioning my stance if not of a completely different opinion. This was not the result of anybody’s attempts at persuasion but rather the presentation or examination of an issue in a light that I had not considered or perhaps fully understood. More often than not, it was the result of the latter.

Summary

Although I was initially intimidated by the technology involved in this class, I found it to be an enriching experience. The combination of researching topics to post about and reading the posts published by other students allowed me to consider issues I otherwise would not have explored. I tend to be narrow-minded in my focus on higher education as my blogs reflect. Community college had the most impact on me as a student, it is where I currently work, and it is where I plan to continue my career in higher education. However, reading the blog posts, forming comment responses, and the classroom discussions expanded my body of knowledge to the world of higher education across the board and gave me insight to the connections between higher education in society as well as globally.

For example, I had not contemplated the effect of technology on the continued need for a space to be dedicated to house books. Imagine a university sans the library as discussed in “Multi-Tasking Technology and the ‘Need’ for Physical Campus Libraries” by Kylie? Academic freedom was a concept I took granted prior to reading “Sexual Harassment or Limiting Academic Freedom at University of Denver?” by Lori Kester. Before reading this post I was unappreciative of the balancing act professors must exhibit in this era of hyper sensitivity and potential for leaving an institution in a legally vulnerable situation.

Given my limited exposure to the four year university setting, I was quite enlightened by the social, financial, and cultural perspectives shared in the online and classroom discussions. I believe this was best illustrated by the blog posts and classroom discussions related to the Occupy Protests and the Penn State scandal. I had formed opinions based on headlines but after reading the numerous blog posts, comments, and participating in the class discussions I realized my opinions were founded on traits that merely scratched the surface of the actual issues.

In addition to the blog posts that illuminated the complexities involved, the classroom discussions made me realign my formerly simplistic view of the fiscal elements of higher education. I now realize that throwing money at an issue may merely address a superficial aspect and even worse, may cause more problems than it fixes for the long-term. There were several blog posts about the financial aid system in Australia and I would whole-heartedly support such a system being implemented in the United States. However, as I mentioned before, I tend to lean towards simple fixes and as Kelsi pointed out in her blog “Australia Might Have the Answer” the system may be detrimental to scholarship awards. These are just a few examples of what I learned from the informative, thought provoking, and well written blog posts from my classmates.

As outlined in my introduction, the technology component of this class presented me with a steep learning curve. I have this course to credit with the fact that I am now proficient at inserting a hyperlink. Before this class, I will admit that the mere mention of the term “hyperlink” made me hyperventilate. Furthermore, navigating and disseminating the massive amounts of emails from the Chronicle of Higher Education and Inside Higher Ed proved to be a challenge for me early in the semester. Eventually I adapted and discovered that I did not need to read every single article and instead focused on areas of interest. The number of blog posts and comments came as a surprise to me and had I realized the time required for the researching and reading each week I may have postponed taking this class until the spring when I could devote the time to it that the class deserved. This is not a reflection on the class, but rather a testament to my life outside of school at this particular time.

In summation, I would be remiss if I did not address what I learned about myself as a result of this endeavor. In retrospect, I recognized that I veered towards safety and avoided taking risks. This is evident in my choice of blog posts and blog post titles. In reviewing the blog entries of myself and others, I saw that I restricted myself primarily to areas related to community college issues. At the time, I thought I was selecting the topics based on interest, but if I were to be honest I would have to admit that my selections had far more to do with comfort level. I do not believe I wanted to take the risk of addressing issues that I had little familiarity with and run the risk of failing to grasp the issue in a critical fashion. Even the titles of my blog posts were uninspired and bland. After reviewing the blog posts, I noticed the creative and innovative titles associated with the majority of the blog posts and I regret taking such a “vanilla” approach in my writing.

Blogfolio- Lisa Forbes

Introduction:

Coming into this course the current issues I thought we would discuss were issues that were facing higher education, specifically. I imagined these topics would include: budgets, access and cost, online learning, grade inflation, hiring freezes, international students, etc. While each of these topics was in fact a part of our class, I was pleased to learn about an even wider array of topics. For me, I enjoyed discussing the "breaking news" issues such as: the Penn State scandal, slut walks, occupy protest, loan repayment, drunkorexia, etc. I believe these issues made searching The Chronicle and Inside Higher Education an exciting process.

As for the structure of the class, I honestly had not given much thought to how this class would be structured or if it would be structured any differently. After learning about the class structure and requirement of weekly blogging I felt unsure of how the process would go. On one hand, blogging for a current issues class seemed appropriate and almost necessary considering the ever changing topics we would discuss in the class. Textbooks and even journal articles would be outdated material. On the other hand, blogging was a foreign skill to me and was definitely outside of my comfort zone.

In addition to blogging being a new skill, keeping up on current issues is not generally my strong suit. I usually know what is going on in the news but not in enough detail to talk about or inform others on the issue. My experience in this class really helped me focus on and learn in depth about an issue. After finding an article on The Chronicle or Inside Higher Ed I would then need to research the topic further and develop a more complete understanding of the issue. This class pushed me outside of my comfort zone not only because I was forced to more thoroughly understand the current issues but also because I publicly posted my opinions for others to comment on.

My blogs:

This new experience became easier each time I posted. Some of the blogs I feel particularly proud of are:

1) In the College Athletics blog I posted the blog: Are the New Academic Requirements forDivision-I Athletics too Strong? In this blog I argued that the Academic Progress Rate that athletic departments implement for team eligibility are too stringent. Although I support the need for eligibility requirements to help keep student athletes accountable, I believe individual consequences are a better approach than punishing an entire team and, in some cases, an entire athletic program.

2) In the Access and the Cost of Higher Education blog, I posted: Should CollegesWithdraw Students who Threaten or Attempt Suicide? For this blog I came across an article that described a student who was withdrawn from his college because he admitted himself into the emergency room because he took too many pills. In my blog I acknowledged the liability universities face yet I do not support the act of withdrawing students who attempt or threaten suicide.

3) In the blog Really, this is Unbelievable, I posted: Addition of a Gay, Transgender,Bisexual Question on the College Application. My blog was based off of an article about an addition of a gay, transgender, bisexual question on the Elmhurst College application. I supported this addition and believe that the more inclusive universities can be the better. Since answering this question on the application is optional, students can feel included without feeling marginalized.

4) In the Changing Numbers blog I posted the blog: Words Hurt! Changing the Way We Speak. This blog focused on the power of language and how hurtful or ignorant we can be. I stated that it is important for higher education professionals to educate their students and coworkers and help them be more aware of the messages their phrases send.

5) In the Changing Numbers blog I posted: Changing the Way We Work- CultivatingCreativity. This blog basically discussed the issue many professors face that students resist thinking critically or outside the box because they are so focused on knowing the right answer or the answer that will be on the test. It is important to begin to change the culture in higher education, not only for our students but also among our coworkers. Critical, creative thinking will transform our universities.

Reflection on blogging experience:

This class gave me a good idea of a creative, interactive pedagogical tool that I can incorporate as a faculty member. I could see myself using this medium as a way to get my counseling students thinking about certain issues in the counseling field. One course that blogging may prove to be an effective tool is for counseling ethics. Students can find old or current cases related to counseling and ethics and create a blog based on that case while providing their opinion and displaying their ethical decision making. Since there is a lot of room for possible answers in ethical decision making, I believe blogging would be an interesting way to learn how my students think about decision making.

One thing in particular I appreciated about the blogging component of this class is that everyone was given equal "air time". I think it is natural to have a class that is mixed with various levels of knowledge, experience, and participation style and so blogging gave each person a chance to discuss something they relate to and in a time frame that fit for their style. Blogging allowed me to take enough time to conceptualize the content of an article, process my opinion about it, and put into words a way to share it with the class. My style of learning tends to consist of learning new information, considering every angle before taking a stance and then verbalizing my opinion. Blogging gave me the space to thoroughly go through this process. Higher education classes tend to be material that is relatively new to me as compared to my counseling classes and so I enjoyed learning from my classmates who each have diverse experiences from various universities and personal backgrounds.

One aspect of the class that was interesting and at the same time confusing was that there really is no clear cut answer to most of the issues. This was interesting because I like to discuss every possible solution before having an opinion. The class certainly examined every side of each issue. At the same time, it occasionally became confusing because it seemed like we talked in circles about an issue. Some topics seemed as though each point was valid which made the entire topic complex and confusing. I think this is what makes higher education so exciting yet so demanding.

Summary of what I learned:

This class allowed me to learn in many different formats: keeping up to date with online current issue sources, sharing online blogs, reading and learning from online blogs, large classroom discussions, small group discussions, and reading selected articles. Each of these formats aided to my learning in different ways.

Although keeping up with online current issue sources at times became overwhelming, I learned to sort through current issue topics and mainly focus on issues of interest. Once I was able to easily sort through topics, it became much more manageable. I do not believe one can be an expert on each an every issue that surfaces but by sorting through issues, I could become informed enough to create a weekly blog and comment on others blogs. One aspect to current issues that was reiterated for me during this class is that it is something that I will constantly need to be updating myself with since current issues are ever changing.

By forcing myself to create weekly blogs I not only needed to stay up to date on certain current issues, I also needed to develop my opinion enough to write a comprehensive blog to share with the class. I do not have trouble developing an opinion but I generally do not argue my opinion to others. I enjoy hearing others' opinions but do not frequently assert mine. Blogging forced me to do so and I believe helped me learn how to continue.

I enjoyed reading others' blogs because it helped me learn more about an issue and helped me learn about the person and, in some cases, their personal experiences. It was interesting to go to class and put a face with the name of certain blogs I read over the past few weeks. This was a unique way to get to know classmates and the way they think.

The large classroom discussions seemed to move quickly. I found each discussion to be interesting and I certainly learned something from each topic discussed in the large group however I found more difficulty inserting my opinion in this setting. This is another reason why the blogging experience was so useful for me. Everyone was given space to discuss issues that were pertinent to them and were given feedback or varying opinions to further consider the issue. Small group discussions were exciting because this is where there is a more interactive conversation. I enjoyed discussing my ideas as well as learning other perspectives and background experiences.

Below is a list of each blog I posted this semester:

1) College Athletics

Are the New Academic Requirements for DI 

2) Access and the Cost of Higher Ed

Should Colleges Withdraw Students who Threaten or Attempt Suicide?

3) Changing Numbers

Changing the Way We Work- Cultivating Creativity

4) Really, this is Unbelievable

Addition of a Gay, Transgender, Bisexual Question

5) Changing Numbers

Words Hurt! Changing the Way We Speak

6) Graduate Education

The Art of Being Present

7) Higher Ed in Colorado

Rival Colorado Schools, How Do You Recruit?

8) Graduate Education

Building a Sense of Community Among Faculty

9) Protest and Conflict

How far would you go to pay off your student loans?

Aldo Romero Blog Portfolio and Reflection

1. Introduction

Although I have participated in online interactions and blog posting sessions previously, I had never made as many blog entries as frequently as were required for this class. In my current position I have used various technological platforms for teaching and professional development such as Blackboard and Mylanguagelab.com, both of which demand that students make regular contributions to and participate in discussion boards.

After signing up for The Chronicle and Inside Higher Ed online I became overwhelmed by the daily updates and emails that I received. However, I learned to scan and prioritize the various stories and news that were of interest to me and applicable to our selected topics.

Blogging for this class was an interesting and challenging process, both intellectually and practically. Once general topics were determined, I had to think not only about what my interests were but also had to substantiate, analyze and in some cases critique each topic thoroughly. What was most interesting was the fact that even if I were familiar with a specific topic I needed to research it further in order to provide the most current state of affairs. Thus, this process provided both individual and group learning experiences about various topics in higher education.

The topics we discussed and blogged for this class were in my opinion relevant and varied. They were related to specific issues faced by faculty, administrators and student affairs professionals in public and private higher learning institutions in the U.S and internationally. The interaction and engagement of all students via their blog entries and follow-up comments provided real life applicability of the topics discussed. This interaction provided me with a rich and substantial learning experience.

2. My Best Blog Entries

There were several topics that interested me more than others, either because of my previous training and education, or because of my interest in learning more about these specific topics. This was reflected in my contributions to and participation in this class.

The first blog was about the The Cost of Higher Education Beyond the U.S. It provided information about how public higher education institutions in the U.S and overseas should be viewed as vital resources to the democratic and civic life of the nations against the current trend to privatize education at all levels.

The second was about the online multilingual encyclopedia Wikipedia and how this technological web-based could be described as one of the most revolutionary and democratic web forums in the 21^st century for the dissemination of knowledge.

The third was about Undocumented Students in Higher Education. This blog argued that a healthy society’s obligation is to afford opportunities for all to attain the highest degree of education relevant to their interests and needs. Thus undocumented students deserve equal opportunities to access the institutions of higher education, and therefore contribute to the socioeconomic development of our communities, and our society.

The fourth was about Latina/o Students Serving Institutions: A Better Understanding. The central argument of this blog was how the pursuit of UNC to obtain Hispanic Serving Institution (HIS) status would benefit not only Latina/o students, but also the institution and the community as a whole.

The last of my “best” blog topics alluded to social democracy and argued how this system would mitigate the worldwide social protests by promoting equality and social and economic justice. Worldwide Social Protests: How Is Higher Education Affected?

3. Reflection on the blogging experience and how it contributed to the class

The overall experience of this class is positive, not only from the teacher-student relationship, but also because of the effective learning outcomes. Blogging proved to be an effective and rewarding pedagogical experience. This could have not been accomplished without the face-to-face interactions that guided our topics and our discussions. The expertise and experience of all students made this class highly interactive and productive. The online setting required for this class allowed for all participants to express their opinion and perspectives freely and equally. This promoted highly motivated interaction and engagement of all individuals. All blog entries were respected and all contributed to the overall success of this class. Clearly, we all learned from each other in the process. Providing blog entries that were consistent with the requirements of the class demanded intellectual effort, practical knowledge, and in many instances continuous research with respect to the most current issues in higher education. This process was challenging, rewarding and contributed to the effectiveness of the class. Participants’ perspectives enhanced the richness and variety of the topics discussed. Furthermore, student participation made me aware of some relevant cultural aspects of the U.S. higher education system. One of which is the dominant and often unquestioned role college athletics play in academic life.

4. Summary of what I have learned this semester

There are many aspects of the blog postings that were fundamental in my learning experience. I became more familiar with current issues in higher education not only from a theoretical perspective but also from a practical viewpoint, since all students were able to provide their own insightful and reflective perspective on specific topics.

I learned not only about issues facing higher education institutions but also as a class we were able to provide in depth discussions on issues encountered by student affairs practitioners, faculty, students and all stakeholders involved in higher education. This allowed all participants to evaluate specific issues and also provided informed perspectives about them.

I also learned that contemporary issues affecting public and private higher education institutions are not simple and easily approachable. Instead, they are complex and in many instances far-reaching challenges related to the political, socioeconomic, cultural, historical, philosophical, financial and legal contexts facing societies. The environment of a specific time and place in history is a determining factor.

I learned that the issue of college athletics captivates the American public in ways that could be unthinkable in other higher education systems in the world. College athletics play a major role in many instances as students decide which college or university to attend, and are intrinsically linked to the competitive nature of professional sports.

I corroborated through this experience that each individual has different opinions and perspectives and these varied from one extreme of the ideological spectrum to the other. However, within a professional and academic context all participants were able to embrace democratic values which allowed for all individuals to express freely and equally their own opinion.

The face-to-face readings and discussions provided an opportunity to learn about specific concepts that supported particular trends that connected or related to contemporary challenges and issues facing higher education.

This educational experience reinforced my conviction that well-supported data is necessary to advance an argument and influence positive public policy changes. I reinforced my commitment to equal access to public higher education and affordability within a context of social justice and democratic values. Furthermore, I learned that because of the current efforts made by extreme capitalist strategies to privatize and corporatize public higher education, thus I must continue to advocate for underrepresented students, faculty and administrators to be equally treated within a social justice context. Overall, my learning experience in this class has been filled with rich interactions with my classmates and instructor. Their comments and opinions offered me a better understanding of current issues facing the institutions of higher education within the U.S. and beyond its borders.

The following is a list of the blogs entries I made for this class

Blog Category	Blog Entry	Blog Date
Access and the cost of higher education	The Cost of Higher Education Beyond the U.S.	Saturday, September 24th,
International Higher Education	Wikipedia	Sunday, October 2nd,
Technology in Our Colleges and Universities	Steve Jobs: Technological Progress…For Whom?	Sunday, October 9th
Access and the cost of higher education	Undocumented Students in Higher Education	Tuesday, October 25th
Higher Education in Colorado	Faculty and Administrators in Higher Education: Poles Apart?	Sunday, October 30th
Higher Education in Colorado	Latina/o Students Serving Institutions: A Better Understanding	Tuesday, November 8th
Protest and Conflict	Worldwide Social Protests: How is Higher Education Affected?	Tuesday, November 15th
International Higher Education	Public Higher Education: A Case in Mexico	Wednesday, November 16th