Learning Log #5

Tackling College Jargon

School counselors are tasked with preparing students to be college ready. Often we are so focused on scheduling, working with students on ensuring they are choosing a rigorous course load that aligns with their postsecondary plans all the way to preparing for graduation. Juggling all of those tasks, can leave space and absence of preparing them for what they will actually encounter once they grace those halls.

My intended audience for this project is professionals that work with students that are preparing for college. This could be useful for school counselors, teachers, or even parents. Teaching students common college jargon will be a helpful tool as they prepare to navigate the postsecondary landscape. Often times they do not know what they do not know. Office hours could be interpreted as when a professor works in their physical office, rather that built-in, publicized time that the professor offers help to students in need.

This digital story utilizes the personalization principle by using a very conversational and informal tone. This is a short instructional video, speaking directly to the learner. Our authors share that people learn better when e‐learning use a conversational style of writing or speaking (including using first‐ and second‐person language), polite wording for feedback and advice, and a friendly human voice (Clark & Mayer). I use my own voice to ensure that the voice is human like. Clark reports that learners grasp more when the narrating speaker is human rather than machine generated (287).

My digital story focusing on how to tackle college jargon can be found here. My greatest challenge was getting the audio and the video synced.