Technology and Engagement: Making Technology Work for First Generation College Students

Technology and Engagement is based on a four-year study of how first generation college students use social media, aimed at improving their transition to and engagement with their university. Through web technology, including social media sites, students were better able to maintain close ties with family and friends from home, as well as engage more with social and academic programs at their university. This ‘ecology of transition’ was important in keeping the students focused on why they were in college, and helped them become more integrated into the university setting. By showing the gains in campus capital these first-generation college students obtained through social media, the authors offer concrete suggestions for how other universities and college-retention programs can utilize the findings to increase their own retention of first-generation college students.

Computers & Technology

Rowan-Kenyon, Heather T.

Savitz-Romer, Mandy

Martínez-Alemán, Ana M.

Computer Science

Rutgers University Press

Technology and Engagement is based on a four-year study of how first generation college students use social media, aimed at improving their transition to and engagement with their university. Through web technology, including social media sites, students were better able to maintain close ties with family and friends from home, as well as engage more with social and academic programs at their university. This ‘ecology of transition’ was important in keeping the students focused on why they were in college, and helped them become more integrated into the university setting. By showing the gains in campus capital these first-generation college students obtained through social media, the authors offer concrete suggestions for how other universities and college-retention programs can utilize the findings to increase their own retention of first-generation college students.  

Ready, Willing, and Able: A Developmental Approach to College Access and Success

How can an understanding of adolescent development inform strategies and practices for supporting first-generation college goers? In Ready, Willing, and Able, Mandy Savitz-Romer and Suzanne Bouffard focus on the developmental tasks and competencies that young people need to develop in order to plan for and succeed in higher education. These include identity development, articulating aspirations and expectations, forming and maintaining strong peer and adult relationships, motivation and goal-setting, and self-regulatory skills, such as planning. The authors challenge the predominant approach of giving young people information and leaving it to them to figure out how to apply it. They show how well-intended college-access efforts can miss the mark—for instance, by focusing on students who already see themselves as college material, rather than working to help all students develop a “college-going identity.” In addition, most college-access programs and practices focus almost exclusively on providing academic preparation and financial support. In Ready, Willing, and Able, Savitz-Romer and Bouffard call for a new approach: one that emphasizes the key developmental tasks and processes of adolescence and integrates them into existing college-access practices in meaningful ways. Rather than treating young people as passive recipients of services, they argue, adults can engage them as active agents in the construction of their own futures.

Education & Teaching

Bouffard, Suzanne M.

Higher & Continuing Education

Harvard Education Press

How can an understanding of adolescent development inform strategies and practices for supporting first-generation college goers? In Ready, Willing, and Able, Mandy Savitz-Romer and Suzanne Bouffard focus on the developmental tasks and competencies that young people need to develop in order to plan for and succeed in higher education. These include identity development, articulating aspirations and expectations, forming and maintaining strong peer and adult relationships, motivation and goal-setting, and self-regulatory skills, such as planning. The authors challenge the predominant approach of giving young people information and leaving it to them to figure out how to apply it. They show how well-intended college-access efforts can miss the mark—for instance, by focusing on students who already see themselves as college material, rather than working to help all students develop a “college-going identity.” In addition, most college-access programs and practices focus almost exclusively on providing academic preparation and financial support. In Ready, Willing, and Able, Savitz-Romer and Bouffard call for a new approach: one that emphasizes the key developmental tasks and processes of adolescence and integrates them into existing college-access practices in meaningful ways. Rather than treating young people as passive recipients of services, they argue, adults can engage them as active agents in the construction of their own futures.

Bouffard, Suzanne

Fulfilling the Promise: Reimagining School Counseling to Advance Student Success

Savitz-Romer offers a strategic approach to school counseling that enables educational leaders to draw on existing staff to create supportive contexts and programs for students. In this model of the “academic home,” counselors serve as the first point of contact for student support, connecting and coordinating services much like primary care physicians coordinate patient care in medical settings. They serve as the hub of a network of supports to prevent students from falling between the cracks. By highlighting promising practices in schools, districts, and states, and the efforts of individual school counselors and leaders, Fulfilling the Promise presents a conceptualization of school counseling that is relevant for all educators, as well as policy makers and funders. In order to create the conditions for school counselors to be most effective, however, systemic barriers must be addressed. This book brings together research, practical experience, and policy recommendations to envision a focused and practical role for school counselors in the twenty-first century.

Schools & Teaching

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Savitz-Romer, Mandy. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Savitz-Romer, Mandy

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Savitz-Romer, Mandy. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Technology and Engagement: Making Technology Work for First Generation College Students

Technology and Engagement: Making Technology Work for First Generation College Students

Ready, Willing, and Able: A Developmental Approach to College Access and Success

Ready, Willing, and Able: A Developmental Approach to College Access and Success

Fulfilling the Promise: Reimagining School Counseling to Advance Student Success

Fulfilling the Promise: Reimagining School Counseling to Advance Student Success