How the Internet Works for Me

[Student Name Deleted] PAC 442 Dr. Burks Oakley II March 12, 2004

“How The Internet Works For Me”

Smile. Welcome to McDonald’s. May I take your order please? Would you like fries with that? Smile. First, you must get the drink, then the entrée, and lastly the fries.

Smile. Do not deviate from this prescribed procedure, as you are being prepped for

Hamburger University! While I cannot argue McDonald’s success, I quickly learned that

I did not fit this mold. Being precocious and resisting explicit instructions were two characteristics of myself that would not allow me happiness in the crew position. So now that I learned what I definitely didn’t want to do with my life, what did I want to do? It wasn’t until about ten years ago that I found my passion, education and communications.

The Internet has allowed me to grow professionally and has made me a valuable asset to my employer. I find the Internet an indispensable tool much like a carpenter would his hammer. Research tasks have become a staple within my position at Lincoln

Land Community College. My personal motivation and interest in my work often finds me scouring the web for the latest and greatest innovations in education. Marketing educational opportunities is another daily task that the Internet assists me with. The

Internet helps me with software questions and keeps me up to date with technology.

Even the simplest every day tasks have been enhanced by the web.

A simple task such as purchasing a transit-level and tripod for a construction surveying class was recently made seamless by the Internet. The professor gave me his specifications and off to the Internet I went. Before the Internet, I would have been sent endless catalogs to pour through by our Purchasing Department. Instead, http://www.google.com to the rescue, within seconds CST Berger Optical Levels Coffey 2 appeared. The order was placed with efficiency in record setting time. Sonya Ann

Chappel has taken purchasing in her position to a higher level through the Internet.

Sonya states, “I created some new and efficient ways to track accounts and how the funds were used. I began to order more of the group’s lab supplies and equipment, instead of using the much slower – go through someone else – procedures. A few months later, I became the model for the other secretaries on how to use a P-card and place orders.” (2)

Along with the Internet, came e-mail. This fascinating information technology has greatly improved many every day tasks too numerous to mention. Whether you need to invoke a new procedure or you want to quickly poll a group of colleagues on a pressing issue, e-mail is far superior to the telephone and the mailroom. The immediacy of e-mail has been a blessing to those of us who are, let’s say, type A personalities. Jean

Stevenson remarks, “…using the Internet technology to improve how we manage day-to- day operations… I like how automation and technology have improved business operations but the best is that the Internet gives me the ability to be proactive, to be the first one with the latest news about a customer, new legislation, or the first to find a great new bid opportunity.” (7)

Currently in my administrative support position at LLCC, I have been given latitude to carry out my daily tasks as I deem necessary. Within those confines, I am allowed to investigate my hypothesis about what other community colleges are doing or to check out the competition so to speak. When I do research on other community colleges I am mainly looking at how they approach issues and convey themselves to their students. Even though in the State of Illinois, there is really no competition for community colleges. Each community college has a gerrymandered geographical district Coffey 3 for which it is responsible. The educational center I work for is responsible for a rural area north of Springfield. Marketing to these students is tough since they are spread out over a vast area. Therefore, I went to the Internet to find local beauty shop, doctor and dentist office addresses to seek their assistance in disseminating LLCC’s marketing literature through their waiting rooms. Without the Internet, this would have proved to be a cumbersome project. However, with a few clicks on the http://www.superpages.com website provided by Verizon, I soon found everything that I needed. When I do research on other community colleges I am mainly looking at how they approach issues and convey themselves to their students.

Being selected to serve on LLCC’s marketing committee was a personal and professional achievement. Serving on that committee faithfully for six years through several public information officers has been an educational experience within itself.

Recalling one of our first tasks years ago, what should our web presence be? I remember rushing back to the office and looking at every community college web site in the state of

Illinois. One by one, book marking them, as I tediously found them. Only to find a couple of days later they were all nicely listed at the Illinois Community College Board’s website, http://www.iccb.state.il.us/HTML/colleges/colleges.html. Most of the committee members had their own thoughts about what should be on LLCC’s website. I brought to the committee my findings to which I received a lukewarm response. After all, I was the least educated person on the committee, what can I know? There is no happy ending to this story, I am still the least educated person on the committee, but occasionally I find someone interested in what I have to say. The funniest thing is eventually my input does get through and implemented but only after several years have Coffey 4 gone by and someone else has presented the idea again. Burks Oakley tells how the

University of Illinois uses the Internet to assist them with marketing initiatives. Burks states, “When we first started marketing our online programs at the University of Illinois, we wanted to make sure that we would have good placements with the search engines.

What did we do? We went to the University of Phoenix website – they are the experts in

Internet marketing – after all, they spend about one-third of tuition on marketing! We looked at all the meta tags on their home page – all the key words. And we copied them onto the U of I online homepage.” (4) Just recently I was given the duty of creating and maintaining LLCC’s regional education website. Once again, the Internet provides me with sites like http://www.boogiejack.com that keep me up to date with the latest trends in web page design. Along the same lines, I often seek advice from Microsoft’s newsgroups located at http://support.microsoft.com/newsgroups/default.aspx for software questions. Experts who readily share their knowledge monitor these newsgroups.

Research is another area in which the Internet has improved my effectiveness.

Not too long ago I was given the task to research a hot educational topic, dual credit. A class taken in high school that also meets criteria for college level credit is called dual credit. Some department chairs at Lincoln Land Community College do not favor dual credit. They even want to eliminate existing dual credit contracts with some of the area schools for which the education center that I work at is responsible. Therefore, my supervisor asked me to see what I could find on the dual credit issue. I found several articles that gave the pros and cons of the dual credit scenario. In a Community College

Research Center Brief, the authors write, “Though such programs have existed for over thirty years, their enrollments have increased rapidly of late.” (1) The United States Coffey 5

Department of Education reports, “Dual enrollment programs appear to offer much promise in adding academic rigor to the high school experience by proving students with opportunities to experience college level work.” (9) Through the Internet, I was able to find what other community colleges were doing in the field of dual credit. I was also able to find that the State of Illinois does not have comprehensive polices for dual credit like several other states have implemented. I plan to continue using the Internet to track standards, participation and policy decisions regarding dual credit initiatives. My employer respects my genuine interest in educational issues and my motivation to be involved in issues.

Joan Marie Fritsch asks, “Is there some centrally located website where the college gets their research in order to develop/improve classes?” (3) I wish there was such a repository. Reviewing other college’s web sites is one way to see what classes are currently being offered. Looking to see what other colleges find successful and implementing these programs or classes can ease the learning curve. Suggesting new just-for-fun courses is another responsibility in my position. Through the Internet, I have been able to come up with several courses: Smart Couples Finish Rich; A Butterfly

Garden; Computers, Who Me?; Ebay Tips and Tricks; Laughter is a Healthy Matter.

Most recently I looked for an advertisement idea for the upcoming summer semester. I was looking for something to implement on the web page I am responsible for. I found a graphic design under the image feature of Yahoo. I then used the image to construct my graphic.

My next assignment is to find research on online dual credit offerings. I found quite an extensive site offering information about freshmen English on-line dual credit. Coffey 6

This is a real problem that my educational center is researching. Students in small high schools are not afforded the same opportunities as those in larger ones. One immediate case in point is the availability of dual credit. My thoughts are if a college credit course can be offered online to these smaller schools the digital road divide can be addressed.

However, the current school of thought at LLCC is online was not meant for this group of students. My argument is online education might not have been developed for this group, but why not include this group? Even taking this class has allowed me to assist colleagues in the area of online learning. Burks Oakley shares the following information,

“In the area of online learning, Sloan-C has a website where practitioners can submit

“effective practices” in all areas related to online learning. The idea is that others can read about these practices and implement them in the own online teaching.” (5)

Along with the all the positives the Internet has brought to my professional career,

I would be remiss if I did not also discuss the negative side. My employer does not always recognize that I keep my skills fresh and up-to-date. Other Administrative

Assistants at Lincoln Land Community College are not required to use the Internet technologies to the depth that I do. Jean Stevenson shares my frustration when she states,

“I do feel like I am being taken advantage of but I do not know how to address it.” (8)

Jean continues to address the negative side of being Internet literate. Jean states, “People like people that take initiative and have access to new and different information. More and more people will start coming to you and you will have more and more work and people to keep happy. Could your fellow employees do your job if you left? If not, you are performing a different role that requires different skills and the organization should recognize this.” (6) Coffey 7

In summary, the Internet has allowed me to become an integral part of the education community. It has allowed me to grow professionally and personally. Topics that I am passionate about can be further explored such as education. I have become an asset to my employer. I can agree with Jean’s remarks, “I know my boss is partly mystified, partly awed, however, I can do something he cannot and I think it hard for him to acknowledge that. He does not understand what it is.” (8) Assuming “it” is the

Internet and its never-ending source of knowledge and information. The Internet is literally my right hand at work. Coffey 8

References

Bailey, T., Hughes, M., Karp, M. (March 2003). Dual Enrollment Program:

Easing Transitions from High School to College. Community College Research Center

Brief. Retrieved February 21 from http://www.tc.columbia.edu/~iee/ccrc/PAPERS/Briefs/brief17.pdf

Chappel, Sonya. “My Job Influenced How I Now Use the Internet.” Online posting. 27 January 2004. Paper One – Phase One Assignment Discussion Forum. http://bb.uis.edu/bin/common/msg_view.pl? pk1=66451&sos_id_pk2=1&context=default&nav=discussion_board_entry. Accessed

January 28, 2004.

Fritsch, Joan Marie. “Educational Research.” Online posting. 5 March 2004.

Paper One – Phase One Assignment Discussion Forum. http://bb.uis.edu/bin/common/msg_view.pl? pk1=111867&sos_id_pk2=1&context=default&nav=discussion_board_entry. Accessed

March 6, 2004.

Oakley, Burks. “Internet Search Engines – We Copied What the University of

Phoenix Does!” Online posting. 30 January 2004. Paper One – Phase One Assignment

Discussion Forum. http://bb.uis.edu/bin/common/msg_view.pl? pk1=70406&sos_id_pk2=1&context=default&nav=discussion_board_entry. . Accessed

February 2, 2004.

Oakley, Burks. “We Have a Knowledge Site for Online Learning!” Online posting. 4 March 2004. Paper One – Phase One Assignment Discussion Forum. http://bb.uis.edu/bin/common/msg_view.pl? Coffey 9 pk1=111341&sos_id_pk2=1&context=default&nav=discussion_board_entry. Accessed

March 5, 2004.

Stevenson, Jean. “It Snowballs – and You Will Burn Out.” Online posting. 8

February 2004. Paper One – Phase One Assignment Discussion Forum. http://bb.uis.edu/bin/common/msg_view.pl? pk1=81598&sos_id_pk2=1&context=default&nav=discussion_board_entry. Accessed

February 9, 2004.

Stevenson, Jean. “Jean’s Paper.” Online Posting. 7 February 2004. Paper One –

Phase One Assignment Discussion Forum. http://bb.uis.edu/bin/common/msg_view.pl? pk1=81034&sos_id_pk2=1&context=default&nav=discussion_board_entry. Accessed

February 8, 2004.

Stevenson, Jean. “The Mystery of the Internet.” Online posting. 8 February

2004. Paper One – Phase One Assignment Discussion Forum. http://bb.uis.edu/bin/common/msg_view.pl? pk1=81591&sos_id_pk2=1&context=default&nav=discussion_board_entry. Accessed

February 9, 2004.

U. S. Department of Education. Dual Enrollment: Accelerating the Transition to

College. Issue Papers. The High School Leadership Summit. Retrieved February 21 from http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/hsinit/papers/dual.doc