Book Review #16: Hacking Your Education

Mind = Blown

That is the best statement I can say in relation to the book Hacking your Education: Ditch the lectures, save tens of thousands, and learn more than your peers ever will by Dale J. Stephens and published this year. I found out about the book from @joesabado's Goodreads list and am glad I did!

Stephens begins the book by recounting his own experience dropping out of school in the fifth grade, and then out of college in his freshman year, to become an unschooler.  This book is not in fact a call to action, asking everyone to drop out of school.  Instead, the author encourages readers to create their own intentional learning opportunities, whether within the post-secondary system or not.

Stephens offers several suggestions for those looking to 'hack' their education, from broadening social networks, to taking out books from the library, and hopping on a place across the globe.

I think that working with students, we often hear them complain that they don't really know what they want to do, and are only in schools because that's what is expected of them.  This book encourages those students to take some time to figure out why they are in school, and determining whether that is the best way to achieve the goals they have in that moment.

I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone, as we all know that learning is a lifelong process, and it's never to late to start!

Book Review #12: Drive

This book has been recommended to by so many people in the #SAchat community, and I just never got around to ordering it until last month. Drive, written by Daniel H. Pink in 2009 explores new motivational techniques aimed at increasing results in twenty-first century workplaces.

Pink's work is based on three elements of motivation: Autonomy, over task, time, team, and technique; Mastery, becoming better at something that matters; and Purpose, making a contribution and supporting a cause greater than oneself.

One of Pink's concepts that particularly resonates with me is that of the 'carrot and stick' approach to rewards. By using an 'if, than' approach to rewards, we are reducing creativity, productivity, and ensuring that we will not see desired results without offering a reward in exchange.  The author uses the example of giving a child allowance for performing chores.  If children know that they can get paid to perform household tasks, it will become almost impossible to get them to help out around the house for free.  On the flip side, if one offers 'now that' rewards to randomly recognize good or hard work, it will boost morale and thus increase productivity.

I would recommend this book to just about anyone, as it offers some great insight into not only how to obtain better results from employees, but also how to create more motivating situations within our own lives.

Book Review #5: Five Seconds at a Time

I mentioned in my last post that I have recently joined the #sareads group through Goodreads (which, by the way is an awesome way to track readings and receive recommendations for new books). The first book for this group is Five Seconds at a Time, written by Denis Shackel (with Tara Bradacs) in 2010.

Shackel begins this book with a tragic personal experience, and how he survived almost insurmountable odds by breaking the challenge down into manageable bites, five seconds at a time. The author then continues by applying the techniques which helped him survive to a basic leadership model.

The Five Seconds at a Time Technique:

Breathe and pause to reflect on the goal, how you feel and whether you are still headed in the right direction. 

Prioritize what's most important

Break down top priorities into manageable intervals or tasks with specific timelines assigned to each

Acknowledge when tasks along the way have been accomplished and reward yourself when they have

A nice part of this book is that at the end of every section, Shackel encourages readers to 'take five seconds' with points to ponder, quotes to remember, and questions to consider.

All in all, the tools and techniques outlined in this book are simple enough for anyone to begin incorporating into their daily life. The only complaint I have is that much of the narrative is faith-based, and although I respect that faith played an enormous role in allowing the author to survive his ordeal, I'm not convinced that every element of leadership also directly linked to a reader's faith.

 

 

Book Review #3 - Achieving Student Success

I've just finished reading my third (not for pleasure, but still quite pleasurable) book of 2013, Achieving Student Success: Effective student services in Canadian higher education, edited by Donna Hardy Cox and C. Carney Strange, and published in 2010.

This book came up on my 'recommended reads' list on Amazon, and I immediately ordered it (along with about 10 other books last month - thank you Amazon Prime free trial!). What attracted me to this one, was that it is CANADIAN, unlike so many other Student Services references books out there. Although it can be expected that student services aren't very different between the US and Canada, our histories are still different, as are our practices. This book is a compilation of chapters written by Canadian #sapros (or pros in the US who began their careers in Canada), and divided into sections: 

•  Historical, Philosophical, and Theoretical Foundations of Student Services
•  Forms, Functions, and Practices: Structuring Services for Student Success
• Matriculation
• Accommodations, engagement, and involvement
• Support and adjustment
• Institutional Mission and Context
• Achieving Student Success: Conclusion

What I enjoyed about this book is that although it had the expected 'textbook' feel, it offered an analysis (and sometimes critique) of student services as they currently stand in Canada. Most notably was the observation that so few graduate/doctoral programs are offered to individuals interested in student services as a career. As I am currently in the process of researching Master's programs (with hopes of a 2014 start), I have noticed this void myself, and am hoping that I will be able to build a more specialized program through the ones already available. 

This book also mentions the importance of building and maintaining relationships with alumni, not only for the financial benefits to the institution, but because individuals may only be students for a few years, but they will be alumnae for life.  

A quote I found particularly notable (especially given my positon on UOIT's brand new Alumni Association):

Student services programs can contribute expertise about how to help current students begin thinking as "alumni/ae in residence" and seeing graduation as a process of joining something for life rather than departing the institution.

I would recommend this book to any student services professional who wishes to supplement the existing resources with some Canadian information, and believe it will be a useful reference in my library.

I'm beginning to think that my 'one PD book per month' goal is going to be easier to achieve than I thought! I am especially excited about #sareads, and am looking forward to adding those books to my monthly reading list.