Developing a professional presence & presenting at a national conference March 7 – April 17
An important part of becoming a leader is developing a professional presence. In the next set of assignments we will work on developing this aspect of your professional life (using social media, your website, presentation skills, etc.) culminating in a group presentation at a national conference (the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association).
The Digital Makeover March 09 to March 29
- Part 1: Conduct a Background Check on Yourself March 09 to March 15
1.1 Conduct searches via major search engines and see what the top 20 links say about you in Bing, Google, etc. and evaluate your public profile on social media platforms.
1.2 Write a 300 word profile of what you learned about yourself and what is available about you on the web. Was there anything that surprised you? What would you like to change? - Part 2: Evaluate STEM Educators March 16 to March 22
2.1 Identify three STEM educators who have online portfolios you think are well designed and information.
2.2 Write a 300 word profile describing what you like about the design of their page. Describe the types of information have they shared about themselves as well as the types of information (if any) is missing that you believe should be shared? What elements of their site (design and content wise) will you consider incorporating into your site and why? - Part 3: Complete a Digital Makeover of your Brand March 23 to March 29
3.1 Delete risky content from your website and social media sites wherever possible. Delete any content from accounts no longer in use. Once the content is deleted, it is safe to delete the account.
3.2 Check the privacy settings on all social media sites and make sure the content is only viewable to the audiences you want to view.
3.3 Check content for currency/accuracy; make sure information is up to date and no spelling or grammatical errors are present.
3.4 Complete usability/accessibility testing on website with another fellow.
3.5 Create Google Alerts based on the same criteria you used to do your background check in Step 1.
3.6 Write a 300 word paper describing the choices you made to improve the privacy, design, usability, and accessibility of your website.
Presenting at a national conference March 30 to April 19
- Setting groups and selecting topics related to STEM & Leadership
- Developing your presentation
- Showcasing your work (both group and individual) at the AERA conference
One of the most important assignments that you will have to work on this semester is preparing and presenting at AERA. American Educational Research Association (AERA) is a national interdisciplinary research association for scholars in educational research. Their international and national acclaim makes this platform our goal for you this semester to present yourself as leaders in STEM in your respective settings.
Leadership is about taking charge and presenting yourself and your ideas in social situations, online, at work, and among colleagues. This includes convincing people of change. In this task, as a part of your leadership initiative, you are required to work in groups with other people in your cohort on a topic under STEM and Leadership. Working in groups, you will decide on a topic under this umbrella theme, and prepare for your presentation in April in Chicago at MSU’s event.
More details will be provided as we go along.