The Red Rover Wiki

1.0 - Identity and First Impressions

Exercise

Go around the room, introduce yourself, and share one quality that people have falsely believed you to have and one quality that you actually do have (e.g. Hi, I'm Amy. People think I'm a space cadet, but I actually daydream because I'm really creative).

Class Discussion

• How do we form first impressions? (e.g. the way people look, dress, sound, act)
• What mistakes do we make in our judgment of people? Explain stereotyping / representativeness heuristic and the fundamental attribution error, and come up with examples together (e.g. When someone doesn't return your smile you might assume he's rude, but he may have just gotten fired).
• How do we avoid making those assumptions/mistakes and having those assumptions/mistakes made about us?
• How about online first impressions? How do we judge people online? (e.g. Facebook profile or photos, comments on blogs, YouTube videos)
• Does it matter to you how open you are with your digital identity? How do you limit who can see what from your digital identity?

Small Group Discussion

In groups of 3 or 4 come up with ways in which your online identity can harm you or help you. (e.g. angry lyrics on your Facebook profile could prevent someone from asking you out, but showing your interests on your Facebook page could make you a more competitive job applicant.) Share ideas with the whole class.

Exercise

Have everyone write down 3 tags/interests (e.g. hiking, singing, basketball, etc). Go around the room and have each person read his or her tags aloud. Write each tag on the board and ask the people who relate to the tag to raise their hands. Write down how many people raised their hands for each tag. At the end, explain that you have made a "tag cloud" for your class. Briefly discuss how tags are used online and why they are useful.

Exercise

Identify 10 characteristics about yourself that you feel provide a good sense of who you are and what interests you have. Write them on a sheet of paper and hold it in front of you. Get in groups of 5 that all share one of those interests, then introduce yourselves and check that interest off your list. Split up and get into another group of five based on another interest from your list until time runs out.

Homework

• Create a personal blog using Tumblr.com. Write your bio and post pictures, keeping in mind the digital identity that you want to create for yourself. Print it out and bring it to class.
• Write one blog post (at least 300 words in length) on your first impressions of college thus far and about how you felt on your first day.
• Find at least 3 student groups you'd like to explore and explain why you're interested and what your next steps will be in getting involved.

FOR RED ROVER USERS:

• Add at least 10 tags to your Red Rover profile. See who's most like you in your year, major, dorm, and class. Based on the tags you create, you will get recommendations of student organizations and campus activities to check out.
• See what groups Red Rover recommends, and write down the ones that interest you and what opportunities, knowledge, or connections you think they might give you. (e.g. Toastmasters because it will help me get good at public speaking so I could go into politics). Bring the list to the next class.

Sample List:

2.0 - Networking and Connecting

Reading (Before Class)

“Six Degrees of Lois Weisberg”

Exercise

Speed Networking game:
In pairs take 2 minutes to figure out what you can teach one another (e.g French, tap dancing, plumbing). Go around the room and tell the class your partner's name and what he or she can teach you.

Exercise

Go around the room and meet as many people as you can in 3 minutes; your goal is to find something in common with each person (aside from your institution and taking this class). Note: This same process is done with online interactions with much more rapid and widespread success.

Class Discussion

• How did you network with your partner?
• Who has the ability to teach you something you want to know?
• Why is Lois Weisberg so good at networking? How does she do it? (e.g. introducing friends, talking to anyone and everyone)
• How can networking with people be useful? (e.g. information, getting a job, finding friends).

Small Group Discussion

In groups of 3 or 4 talk about opportunities you or someone you know has gotten by connecting with a person or a group (e.g. your friend got you a job). Share them with the whole class.

Exercise

In groups of 2 or 3 share the printouts of your new blog. Give one another feedback on the first impression that the photos/design/content create (i.e. Based on his or her blog, how would you describe your classmate? Creative? Adventurous? Shy?). Share your reactions to the feedback with the class. Did people react to the blog as you expected?

Exercise

Go around the room and tell everyone about the student organizations that you found (on Red Rover or on your own). Pick the one that seems most interesting to you and explain what opportunity, knowledge, or connection you think it may give you. (For Red Rover users: identify which tags you put up that led to that recommendation [e.g. Red Rover recommended that I join the equestrian club on campus because I used the tag "horse-back" riding in my profile])

Homework

• Go to the next meeting or event of any of the student organizations you chose. Try to go with at least one classmate.
• Find an upper-class student on Red Rover or on your own with similar interests (career or major, ideally) as you. Send a message to ask if she or he would mind if you asked for advice and answers from time to time. Chat with your new mentor.
• Write one post on your blog (at least 300 words in length) about the above experiences. What was the club meeting or event like? How did you choose the upper-class student you contacted and how did he or she respond to your message? Pose 1 question to your classmates (e.g. ask for advice or request information about a particular topic).

3.0 - Social Responsibility and Contributing

3.1 - Helping and Sharing With Others

Exercise

Go around the room and share what you need help with and what you can help others with.

Small Group Discussion

In groups of 4 or 5 share your first experience talking to an upper-class student mentor. Also share your experience from attending the first meeting of one of the student organizations Red Rover recommended to you. What did you learn from it?

Class Discussion

• What stood out about your networking experiences with mentors and clubs? Who might be a good campus resource/staff member to network with?
• How do you go about asking for help? Are you comfortable or uncomfortable with it? Why?
• How do you feel about helping people? Do you feel comfortable giving help when asked? Will you offer help before someone asks?
• Tell the Kitty Genovese story and discuss why people didn't help. Discuss diffusion of responsibility.

Small Group Discussion

Pair up and share an instance in which you helped someone or contributed in a significant way. Give each person 3 uninterrupted minutes to speak. Go around the room and summarize to the class what your partner told you.

Class Discussion

• How did it feel to share your story/experience with your group?
• How did it feel to listen to a story/experience uninterrupted, and then be able to share your reactions and feedback?
• What are some ways in which people can contribute to knowledge online (e.g. wikis, web forums, blogs, social bookmarking)? In what ways is contributing to knowledge or helping others important/beneficial/rewarding?
• What is our responsibility when contributing online (e.g. referencing sources, clarity, honesty)?
• What benefit would you get out of sharing useful websites with each other? (Mention that this is social bookmarking)

Homework

• Post a response (minimum 100 words) to at least one of your classmates' blog posts. What was your reaction to what you read? What story, experience, advice do you now want to share? How did you find an answer to the writer's question?
• Make an account at www.delicious.com and bookmark at least 5 websites that have useful or interesting information about your college and its nearby neighborhoods. Tag these sites "FYE."

FOR RED ROVER USERS:

Log onto your Red Rover class page and add a link to least one site that you found and your delicious.com account.
Search any of your interests on YouTube and watch one of the videos that comes up. Share this video with one friend or classmate.

3.2 - Searching and Sharing

Small Group Discussion

In groups of 4 to 5 discuss your reactions to the comments your classmates posted on your personal blog. Discuss the content of the YouTube video you watched and your reaction to it. How did it feel to share some of your personal thoughts online in your own blog? How did it feel to read someone else's blog?

Class Discussion

• How did you go about searching for useful websites to bookmark?
• Discuss web search strategies (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWHPf00Jkqg)
• How can you tell a trustworthy source of information from an untrustworthy one (e.g. checking for sources, spelling and grammar, whether it is .com, .edu, or .gov, official publication, peer reviewed, checking whether other sites link to this site, searching for comments about the site)?
• How about Wikipedia? Do you trust it for information?

Exercise

Let's imagine that we're throwing a party together. In groups of 3 or 4 make a list of what you have to do to plan the party (e.g. make a list of necessary food and who's bringing it). Come up to the chalkboard/projector and write down your plan together. Reorganize other groups' additions until you have a clear plan. (Potential sections: list of attendees, to do list, list of food, who's bringing what, list of music, potential dates and times, activities, locations, roles [dj, host, bouncer], themes).

Class Discussion

If what we just made were a website, what kind of site would it be? (A wiki). What advantages do wikis have over traditional websites?

Small Group Discussion

We're going to create a wiki about our college using the websites you've found and your experiences thus far. In groups of 4 or 5, make a list of resources, opportunities, places, and/or pieces of information that you think would be useful for freshmen and students considering attending the school. Reach a consensus on 8-10 things you love about college (you college in particular and college life in general).

Homework

• With your group, shoot a 1-3 minute video over the next week about your college/college life, and post it on YouTube.
• View all of the videos posted by your class, and make comments on at least two of them.
• Share your bookmarked websites with the class on delicious.com. Using the websites and your class discussion, make at least 3 additions to your class wiki, without looking up your college on Wikipedia. In a later class you'll compare what your class comes up with to the Wikipedia entry, and be able to compare what your class says about your institution to what other FYE classes have said.

3.3 - Bringing it all Together

Class Discussion

• How did it feel to make a video about your college? Do you think your video is an accurate depiction of life at your university? What elements did other groups highlight that you wished you had included?
• After posting this video YouTube, did any of your friends check it out? What was their reaction?
• How did it feel to share this video?
• How has your class wiki description of your university evolved? How does it compare to the Wikipedia entry?

Exercise

In groups of 4 or 5, identify some web tools that you want to learn more about, and create a plan to actually learn about them and share those experiences with your classmates. Present this plan to the class.

Class Discussion

1. Why is it important to make use of available tools for the classroom and out-of-class learning experience?
2. Why did we focus on web tools other than chat rooms and discussion boards for the technology pieces of this curriculum?
3. What are some other things you wish we had discussed?

Homework

1. Review the wiki page your class created as a comprehensive description of your university. Compare it to the wiki page created by other FYE classes from your institution. Compare that to the Wikipedia entry for your university.
2. Create a new blog entry (minimum 250 words) about what you've learned so far in your FYE seminar. Focus on the content related to transitioning into the university and not the technology pieces specifically.
3. Respond to at least 3 of your classmates blogs (minimum 100 words). Read the responses to your own blog.

Other possible assignments

• Create a class Wiki about the first year experience at your university. Have upperclass students review and make comments so see how that compares to their experience. What's changed on campus from when they were in their first year to now?
• Meet up with the upperclass student who you found online to mentor you in person.
• Set up a meeting with the staff person you reached out to online