The Student Leader Blog

Getting more bang for your $0 from Google Docs.

That's right; it's another Google dedicated post. And no, they're not paying me to go on and on about them (I wish). Rather than writing another ode to Google tools however; I'm going to share some tips I've picked up about getting the most out of a Google Doc (so that you too can come to truly appreciate it).

The first time I entered a collaborative doc, I was completely at a loss: "You mean I just write over other people's stuff?? It seems so... wrong." The answer is: it depends on the rules that each group creates. It helps to make sure they are prominent and clear. And remember, you can always see previous versions, so nothing is ever lost. Docs can be used for planning an event, deciding on the content of a promotional flyer, developing your group's constitution, or anything else your collective heart desires. So without further ado, I offer you:

Tania's Tips
- Pick the doc type that fits your needs:
    Document: editing and brainstorming
    Spreadsheet: tracking and categorizing
    Presentation: presentations
- Invite lots of collaborators.
- Have collaborators leave comments (Ctrl + M) and change their color by right-clicking the comment.
- Edit at the same time with your group and use the chat window to chat (way more fun).
- Throw in a table of contents so people don't get lost.
- Add links to other docs and reference materials.
- Know when to switch to a Wiki: docs are great for small groups and private collaboration, but Wikis are a better pick for larger, more involved projects.

Have more suggestions? Let me know, or...hey... start a Google Doc and send me an invitation :)

 

Accidental Leadership or rethinking our roles as leaders.

I just had a moving and puzzling experience during a meeting with a group I've been a part of at work. We got together a few months ago because we were all looking for feedback and support for our writing. Our meetings came together naturally, and in no time, we built an inspiring, motivating, and warm mini-community that was often the highlight of our week.

Today, some members of the group mentioned kind of matter-of-factly that I was the group's leader. And I said "Huh???" We have no titles, no structure, and my knowledge and experience level are way below many of the members'. So this got me thinking: either I'm an "emergent" leader, or it is a group with shared or shifting leadership.

Emergent leaders are individuals who naturally gravitate toward organizing or facilitating. Some say every group has one. In my group, I tend to be a bit OCD about organizing our notes and plans (a role I always saw as secretarial). But my own experience has been that of a member, not a leader (as I'm used to defining it). I feed off the other members' enthusiasm and initiatives, and try to compliment their strengths as well as I can. And we all bring different things to the table. Some people encourage us to open up more. Some are best at making sure we all meet up, some challenge our thinking, and so on. In short, it is a group of leaders.

If that's really the case--and I think it is--what does this tell us about leadership? Maybe (as anthropologist MWesch) is fond of saying, we have to rethink a few things. Especially, especially with the advent of collaborative tools and equal access to information, can we still look at organizations and leadership in the same way? I think we may have to rethink groups, rethink participation, and rethink leadership.

Wondering why I don't want to go to class.

It's 7:43PM and my class starts at 7:45. All day I've been telling myself that I'm going to go this time around, but now it's 7:44, and it doesn't look like I'll be finished with this post by the time I need to leave. So I'm going to make the most of it and examine why I am not going, and hopefully learn something about the nature of motivation and education.

My thought process inevitably starts with excuse-making: "I'm not feeling well and going to class requires too much energy." Then the truth: "My class is a 3 minute walk from where I am right now, and all I have to do is sit there. Writing this post requires a lot more energy."

In the past I've thought that doing stuff meant using up energy, but the reality seems to be that it completely depends on what it is I'm doing. Doing too little leaves me feeling more exhausted than doing a lot. Okay, so why am I doing "too little" in class?

#1 the topic isn't particularly interesting to me, so I am not intrinsically motivated; it's a general education requirement. This means I'm doing less cognitive work than I do in classes that interest me.
#2 the structure of the class doesn't engage me. I listen, I watch, I doodle. That's the experience.

So what can the instructor do to change this?
Personalize the experience; take the time to find out students' interests (shift to intrinsic motivation). Perhaps get some more debate or discussion going (more cognitive work).

But the class and each student can be doing things to improve the experience as well. We can form teams of devil's advocates, do collaborative research, or create a discussion board.

This is wonderful when it happens, but for a student, the cost of initiating this approach is often too high. You run the risk of instructor or class disapproval and the responsibility of maintaining the collaborative process. I've taken this risk in a few of my classes, and when it pays off it is well worth it, and when it doesn't, it is not.

It seems that the solution is instructor-coordinated dynamic education. Just sanctioning collaborative initiatives and recommending a few tools to use (like Diigo or Google Docs or a Wiki Space) could make a huge difference. There needn't be a mandatory class forum, just the encouragement and the establishment of collaboration and individual initiative as a norm.

In conclusion, along a somewhat related vein, here's an goosebump-inducing video that's about as inspirational to me as my class isn't:

My latest love-affair: Google Sites

I've admired Google for a long time now: giggling like a school girl at its quirky sense of humor, blushing at how deeply it understands the contents of my inbox, and trembling with inspiration every time I see its creativity and ingenuity in action.

A little while ago, I discovered a new side of Google called Google Sites, and my feelings grew stronger. Google Sites is a free tool that allows you to build an intranet for your group, with lots of storage, a simple way for everyone to edit and collaborate, a blog feature, a task assignment feature, and widgets galore.

As of today, I have 5 Google Sites: (1) the first houses my college group's discussions, blank forms, and resources; (2) the second keeps my writing group's writing, reader feedback, and notes in one place; (3) my third is for a project I'm coordinating with goals, assignments, meeting agendas, minutes, and to do lists; (4) the fourth holds class readings, notes, syllabus, and an about page for the instructor and each student; and (5) the last is a site I'll be using in the Fall in my Freshman Orientation class to house resources and information, discussions, FAQs, and assignments.

In short, the possibilities are endless, and like all true love, it is completely free. I'm sorry for my gushing, but I'm not sorry for the way I feel. Though I am kinda sorry that I posted the following photo:

Organizing your web life with RSS and website updates.

RSS is generally symbolized by a button that looks like this:
and stands for Really Simple Syndication. Instead of going into an explanation of what it is, and how it works, I'm including a wonderful video by CommonCraft.com that tells the whole story MUCH better than I ever could.

My own contribution to this post is encouragement to start using RSS readers asap, if you aren't already. For me, being a student leader (and a human being) has meant keeping track of lots of different blogs and websites for news, events, and information. RSS probably saves me at least a couple of hours a week of web surfing, and makes me feel nice and organized.

If you are following a site that doesn't offer RSS (though this is becoming increasingly rarer), you can also use a Firefox browser extension called Update Scanner

And suddenly the World Wide Web feels a little bit more manageable :)

Building a website for your organization - PART II

So you've got your web-building tools and your domain name. The only thing left is banging out the content of your website, and then you're good to go, right? Not so fast, speedy. Before you do so much as create a homepage, I highly recommend taking the time to plan out your brand new, baby www.

The first question you'll have to tackle is: who will be responsible for updating the content? You might be shouting "me, me, me!" but even the most dedicated student leaders don't stick around much longer than 4 years. For this reason, it's best to use a web-based tool (so that the website files aren't stuck at your apartment). And since student leadership is usually team focused, sharing the responsibility of the site's content is usually a good idea too. Collaborative websites (think Wikipedia) can be more useful, fast-paced, and a lot more fun.

Now that that's settled, decide on the goal of your site. Collaboration? Recruitment? Information? Or all that and more? Let this direct the style and the content.

Decide on how information will be distributed on the site. Some popular page choices are:
- News and updates
- Resources and information
- About us
- How to join
- Calendar of events
- Image/video gallery
- Forum
- Contact us

And last but not least, get people's reactions to the design and structure. No one will use your site if it isn't user-friendly, it doesn't matter how nice your font is. Make sure that all information is easy to find, that it's up-to-date, and that the whole thing is easy on the eyes too. Then spread the word and enjoy your new presence on the world wide web.

P.S. In case you didn't believe me when I said in my last post that everyone has a website, please take a look at kaacoo.com.

Building a website for your organization (for free) - PART I

It's 2008 and everyone from Staples to my friend Luke's cat seems to have a website. But before you start getting .com happy, figure out whether your organization really needs a website because frankly, the only thing worse than no website at all is a website that's built once and never updated (or visited) again.

Chances are that your website will be useful if:
- you need to store group relevant information in one easily accessible place (e.g. forms)
- your group has members that aren't always communicating with you and one another
- you have frequent updates to send to the whole group
- you want to recruit new members
- your group is centered around or really benefits from on going discussions between members.

There are lots of simple and free options available.
Personally, I like to use Weebly.com for free websites, but there are lots of others.  This is your best bet if you want your site to be versatile (e.g. blog + info pages + photo gallery) and easily accessible to all on the web.

If you don't need a blog, another fun and free option is making a Wiki space. These are particularly awesome if you want to let everyone collaborate on the content of the website (which I highly recommend).

If all you need is a blog, then check out Wordpress and Blogger.

And if you want the content of your site to be collaborative, versatile, but only accessible to your group members or college, then try making a Google site.

And, of course, you'll need a domain name (i.e. the thing that comes before the .com).
If you really want to keep the experience free, your domain name will most likely be followed by the web tool of your choice (e.g. mysite.wordpress.com). If you really want that mysite.com, you'll have to cough up around $10 per year for it (or go with a .info for as little as $3 per year). You can usually buy a domain from the site you choose or use an independent site like GoDaddy.com (my own fav).

I'll go over some tips on creating the site in my next post, but in the meanwhile, if you have any questions about starting a site using these web tools or have suggestions please let me know at TaniaDudina@gmail.com.

When to call it a day (and when not to).

Let's face it. There are times when leading your organization suddenly doesn't seem like such a great idea. Some symptoms include:

• dreading showing up to meetings/events/etc.
• having panic-inducing dreams about your organization.
• compulsively faking sick.
• suddenly realizing that you can't speak without whining.
• guilt is your main source of energy.

As nice as moving to Thailand may seem at times like these, a more reasonable approach may be to figure out what's really bothering you.

Spend a little time away from your group, try explaining the problem to a neutral party, and write about it nonstop until your head feels empty. Make a list of what excites you and energizes you most in your organization and what frustrates you and sucks out your energy. Figure out where most of your time is being spent.

Sometimes having numerous sources of frustration leads our brains to turn the entire situation into one mish-mosh of badness. Taking the time to break your feelings down into manageable units makes it easier to pinpoint the real problem and deal with it. In many cases, the desire to quit is simply an indication that you are overwhelmed and need to share your responsibilities. Often it is a lack of organization or structure.

But there are times, of course, when quitting really is the best option for you and your group. So if your "pros" pale in comparison to your two-page "cons" list, if you're frustrating yourself and your team, and if the idea of quitting feels like a pillow being lifted off your face, then by all means, just do it. It's usually not as hard as we imagine to train a replacement. No, you do not need to clone yourself.