To get the conversation started M. Lee
Upcraft and Thomas I. Wortman introduce us to
several issues and challenges facing individuals who
conduct web-based assessments. Having conducted an online
program evaluation this past Spring, I found their
comments in Web-based Data
Collection and Assessment in Student Affairs to
be on the mark.
As a case in point, Kevin Kinser, John A. Mueller
and Jayne E. Brownell discuss their research
project of online communities. Using
Internet Chat Rooms to Study Student Culture
details some of their experiences. (Also, see the
Summer '00 Edition of SAO for a sample transcript from
another online discussion.)
Traditional notions of a what constitutes a "campus
visit" are evolving due to our increasingly wired
society. James H. Banning, Timothy G. Davies
and Donald G. Quick provide us an interesting
comparison of "realtime" and "virtual" experiences, in
their article The Campus Web
Visit.
In Campus Ecology Theory and
Websites: One Example of Applying Traditional Student
Affairs Theory to Technology,
Heather Wallace also takes-up the issue of
campus websites and provides a model to assess them in
light of environmental theory.
Some students need not even go onto the Internet to
explore university and college environments. Rather, they
can now pop a CD into their computer and "mouse around"
the campus. Nathanael C. Barnes provides one
example in Interactive CD-ROM's,
the future of student affairs recruiting?
Technology is changing the very fabric of our
profession's organizational culture. Charmane K.
Corcoran offers some thought in this regard in her
article, The Intersection of
Technology and Organizational Culture.
Our regular contributor, Will Barratt also has
some thoughts on how technology can be integrated into
our standard operating procedures. In Four
Elements of Information Technology in Student
Affairs, he offers an interesting conceptual
model.
Will has also been appointed to lead a new
initiative to address the intersection between technology
and student affairs practice. A summary of this effort
appears in ACPA Task Force on
Information Technology in Student Affairs.
