Minding their i’s and e’s:
The Use of iPods and ePortfolios
to engage first-year students
with emerging technologies.
By Agnes Hooper Gottlieb, Ph.D.,
Dean of Freshman Studies
Seton Hall University
Seton Hall University
 Catholic
diocesan university
 5000 undergraduate, 10,000 students overall
 New York suburb/city is a train-ride away
 150 years old
 Six undergraduate colleges: A&S, Education,
Diplomacy, Nursing, Business, and Theology
Pre-Fall objectives
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The student will confirm attendance at orientation.
The student will complete placement testing before
attending orientation.
The student will become more comfortable with the laptop
computer that is distributed at June orientation.
The student will complete alcohol.edu.
The student will read the summer book.
The student will complete a library tutorial.
The student will become familiar with the learning portal
Blackboard.
The student will become familiar with the university, its
policies and services.
Nine Distinct Components
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Technology IDs and
user accounts given
early
Early introduction to the
university’s learning
platform
Placement tests
adminstered through
university portal
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Laptop distribution in
June
Scavenger hunt
Weekly chat sessions
Summer homework
Podcasts
Summer Reading
How we get the students involved
 Beginning
in March, Freshman Studies
sends home brochures to engage the
students and invite them to involve
themselves in the life of the university
 A Blackboard community is populated as
early as March so that the new students
learn to enter the technology portal the way
we want them to.
Blackboard as the portal to reach new
students
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We created a “Class of 2011” portal in Blackboard.
We use it for Placement Testing.
We use it to communicate with the new students.
We use it as the repository for all the forms that students
need to submit (health forms, immunizations, insurance
waivers).
We use it to make announcements and to connect
students with their University Life course before the
semester begins.
Laptops are an integral part of the
program
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Seton Hall’s mobile computing program is now eleven
years old.
All new Seton Hall students receive a laptop when
they come to Pirate Adventure orientation in June.
University shifted to this because we thought it would
help students connect to the university and bring
more students to the June orientation sessions.
It worked!
But we didn’t want them to have laptops with nothing
to do. So…
We put them to work over the
summer!
And here’s where the
iPods came in.
Laptops in June
 We
didn’t want to just hand students a laptop
and let them play.
 Created a deliberate program to encourage
students to interact with the university’s IT
throughout the summer.
 Gave the students assignments that required
them to use their laptops.
iPods: two approaches
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Students listened to their summer reading last
year. The assignment was an audio CD of Billy
Collins, the former poet laureate, reading his
work. This year, the students are reading The Kite
Runner, but can also download the audio version,
which is read by the author (interesting possibility
for a research presentation – is there a difference
between the students who read or the students
who listen to the book? Stay tuned!)
iPods
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We also introduced the students to the use of
podcasts to learn about the university.
Last summer, we created 11 podcasts to introduce
students to Freshman Studies, the summer reading
project, counseling and health services, the Violence
Prevention Project and other areas. One podcast, for
example, explained to students how to listen to
poetry. We interviewed an English professor for that
one.
Podcasts: finding a place beyond
Freshman Studies
 The
university also began using podcasts to
preserve lectures and archive cultural
events.
ePortfolios
 Project
is the outgrowth of a Curriculum
Development Initiative with the university
Teaching, Learning and Technology Center.
 Project began in Fall 2005.
 Involved the entire Freshman Class.
 Required the re-design of our University Life
freshman seminar to accommodate the new
initiative.
Assessment
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Freshman class was assessed after the fall semester.
84 percent of the class participated in the survey.
Of this group, 66.7 percent said they understood the
importance of the ePortfolio assignment.
68 percent said the ePortfolio system was easy to use.
And, 89.4 percent said the mentor, who teaches the University
Life course, and the peer adviser who assists were able to
answer the technical questions.
33 percent said the podcasts helped prepare them for the first
year of college.
The Doubloons Project
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Plays on the SHU Pirate mascot
Seeks to engage SHU students as soon as they have
completed orientation.
Encourages students to familiarize themselves with the
SHU web site, with SHU departments and services that
could benefit them.
Prompts the students (and rewards them) to complete
the “chores” that they must accomplish in order to be
students in good standing.
How it Worked
 We
distributed a notice to all students at
orientation telling them to log on to
blackboard to start the search.
 We gave them hints that encouraged them to
explore our academic and student oriented
departments.
 We posted regular hints to continue use.
What the Students Said:
 42
percent of the freshman class participated
in 2005; 56 percent participated in 2006.
 And 53.7 percent of the entire freshman class
said the project was helpful in learning how to
locate important SHU resources on the
website.
 The hunt was active for 104 days.
 5983 doubloons were collected in 2006.
Doubloon hunt 2007
 The
Doubloon hunt began in earnest this
year on June 22 – just as the first Pirate
Adventure orientation ended.
 In just three days, 1,400 doubloons were
collected.