1. Integrating web 2.0 and cloud services into RA training programs can be an
exciting and innovative way to hold your RA’s attention. Below are some useful
sites, apps, and services that you can use and some examples of how to use
them. Have other ideas? Please share them in the comments on Slideshare
here: http://www.slideshare.net/paulgordonbrown. This document is posted
there.
Poll Everywhere www.polleverywhere.com
Poll Everywhere allows you to set up online polls that can be displayed in real-
time in a web browser or embedded in a PowerPoint or Keynote presentation.
RAs can txt their answers to a poll-specific phone number and results will be
displayed instantly. Poll Everywhere allows you to set up multiple choice or free
response type polls. Basic level access is free and should be sufficient for your
group even though it limits the number of responses.
Facebook www.facebook.com
Creating a Facebook group and inviting RAs to join is a great way to
communicate messages to staff, allow them to share and post common group
photos, and comment on almost anything. You can also integrate it into
icebreakers where groups need to take team photos or videos and post them to
the group. It’s also a great way to collect quotes or photos for later use in RA
Recruitment materials.
Twitter www.twitter.com
Establish a hash tag for your training and advertise this at the start. Hash tags
are basically common search terms that you can establish that allow you to set
up your own virtual “chat room” of sorts. Searching for that hash tag produces
an entire threaded conversation from your community. Avoid using something
generic like #RATraining to avoid confusion with others that may be using that
term. You can use this to start conversations, allow students to submit
questions, and even stream the results on a projector at the front of the room.
Apps like hootsuite.com allow for constantly updated streaming.
You Tube www.youtube.com
(alternative sites: vimeo.com)
YouTube is a great way to engage students in training videos over the summer
or during RA Training at night as “homework” or prep work for the next day. If
you find videos you want to include in your training presentations, you can also
use a site like keepvid.com to download them and embed them in a
presentation to be able to show them without needing an internet connection.
www.paulgordonbrown.com © 2011.08.11

2. Google Docs docs.google.com
(and related Google products like Google Sites and Calendars)
These online collaborative tools are excellent resources for creating and sharing
duty calendars, sign-up lists for opening tasks, program tracking, polling, and
many other collaborative projects. Docs allow you to change sharing
preferences so students don't even need an account to edit them. Two often
overlooked features include the ability to distribute surveys (Google Forms) and
create staff-specific web portals (Google Sites).
GroupMe www.groupme.com
GroupMe is a group SMS txt messaging service. Add your hall staff into a list
and it creates a virtual text chat room. Members can send txts to a common
number and they get sent to all members of the group. Services like this are
great for keeping in touch with a NACURH student delegation or for a staff to
share timely information and coordinate during opening or other critical times.
This can be used with or without a GroupMe smartphone app (although the app
enables many additional features).
SlideShare www.slideshare.net
SlideShare is an online repository for different presentations and documents.
You can easily upload PowerPoint, Keynote, and PDF presentations and tag
them so others can easily search for them. This offers a great way for RAs to
review presentations later. You can also do a search for presentations designed
by others.
Prezi www.prezi.com
Prezi is an online app that allows you to create interesting “zooming”
presentations for your training program. It’s a great alternative to the standard
boring PowerPoint and can be accessed online at anytime. Another alternative
is to use Apple’s Keynote (available only on the Mac). Keynote is similar to
PowerPoint but was built with much more cinematic transitions and the ability to
more easily integrate multimedia.
A Note About Social Media Social Justice
When engaging in any of these technologies, it is important to think about
universal design and the ability of all of your RAs to participate. Although many
of these sites allow increased accessibility for some, they can create new barriers
for others. Additionally, the socio-economic status of your participants, and the
cost of smart phones and txt messaging plans can also present a barrier.
www.paulgordonbrown.com
paulgordonbrown@gmail.com | @paulgordonbrown
The original of this PDF can be found here: slideshare.net/paulgordonbrown
© 2011.08.11