Residence life and education, residential curriculum and curricular approaches, student housing, and technology.
Roompact "Perspective" posts are opportunities for individual staff members to work out ideas and provide their individual thoughts and opinions on a given topic. Now, more than ever, residence life professionals are competing for students' time. Technological change has brought about a revolution of choice for self directing one's learning and a multitude options for... Continue Reading →
At Roompact, we love technology. We are, after all, a software company. But we also love learning. Our main mission is to enhance the educational experience in the residence halls and to enhance learning for all students. We do this through providing both student and educator-facing tools. Sometimes our tools help make processes more efficient, so that... Continue Reading →
Integrating digital and social media tools into student staff training programs can be an exciting and innovative way to hold your staff' members' attention. Below are some useful sites, apps, and services that you can use and some examples of how to use them. Have other ideas? Poll Everywhere http://www.polleverywhere.com (alternative: sli.do) Poll Everywhere allows you to set... Continue Reading →
One of the most common and important features of modern software is the "tag." A tag is a short keyword or phrase that a user assigns to a piece of information that describes it in some way. You might also be familiar with hashtags, a form of tag used in social media (#thisisahashtag). Tags are... Continue Reading →
When I began my career in residence life, I remember one of my mentors giving me a manila folder full of photocopied handouts. These were handouts she collected from various conferences and colleagues that included sample forms and policies and ideas for icebreakers, teambuilders, and bulletin boards. Although the idea of sharing photocopies seems somewhat... Continue Reading →
As a residential education software company working with many different colleges and universities, Roompact designs its software in a way that can accommodate the range of approaches institutions can take to the learning process in the residence halls. One of the most interesting design challenges we have confronted is how to accommodate both residential curriculum models and category-based... Continue Reading →
Technology holds the promise to help housing and residence life professionals achieve their goals and work with students in a more efficient and effective manner. Deciding what your needs are and what software to purchase, however, requires professionals to approach the purchasing process with intentionality. The ACUHO-I Core Competencies state that when reviewing potential vendor... Continue Reading →
I came of age in residence life alongside digital technology and the World Wide Web. My first professional position was as a First Year Advisor in the Office of Residence Life and New Student Programs at Miami University 2002. At that time, our department was on the cutting edge. We had our own in-house-developed web... Continue Reading →
Higher education and student affairs professionals generally prefer the predictable. And yet, when it comes to engagement with students online, social media is the antithesis of control. For this reason, developing an effective digital engagement strategy in residence life, and in student affairs and higher education in general, requires a great degree of trust and a... Continue Reading →
