Myel Simmons -The Yelling Wall

 Include a conversation about what two new to your tools you explored for this challenge. What was your experience with each tool? Would you use it again? Why/How? What helped you decide what you ultimately chose? 

For this challenge, I explored Pod-O-Matic and Vocaroo as podcasting options for showcasing my Epiphany. Ultimately, I ended up settling on Pod-O-Matic for the final product. Both tools help offer voice engagement for various assignments, and there is no doubt in my mind that both items could be used to produce a fully functioning podcast that could be uploaded to Spotify or SoundCloud. however, when exploring Pod-O-Matic,  I felt that the website was much more established than that of Vocaroo. Vocaroo did not seem to have a solid interface, where I could Make edits, add sound effects, and depend on my work to be properly saved in a  draft. not only that but there is no pause and resume function, which I believe is an instrumental tool to have when recording a podcast. sometimes we stumble over our words or need to take a break to recap on what topics we need to touch. without the function, I felt that the software would not be effective in allowing me to properly explore my Epiphany subject. I think Vocaroo is a good tool for small projects or beginners who are only keeping their work for personal use, but I wouldn’t suggest it for larger projects. I think Pod-O-Matic was the stronger recording tool of the two, with a drafting box, pause and resume function, and fun sound effects to include within your recording (which I did)!

2. Talk about your plan to share your Epiphany. 

I have already uploaded my Epiphany to Pod-O-Matic for public users to view–I hope that other individuals within my field can use the item to get some understanding of the importance of technology in ResLife, or even snag an idea or two to implement in my hall. I ultimately will be adding this item to my PLN, but in uploading to Pod-O-Matic, I have a greater outreach. By tagging my podcast with keywords like ‘ResLife’ ‘Education’ and ‘Student Experience’, I may be able to reach teachers, administrators, and other hall staff members who are looking to build engagement within their community by altering their outlook on available resources. In my epiphany, I placed a lot of emphasis on meeting students where they are, and I fully stand on that. I believe technology should be embraced and used as the new norm. so many of our students miss out on crucial information because we remain unwilling to adjust our curriculum to meet students where they are. By placing certain items of importance within the frame of student focus, I hope to further student engagement, boost retention, and overall enhance the residential experience within residence halls.

My podcast will be in my PLN, but if you’re super eager to hear my Epiphany, you can check it out here!

Completing the Challenge

How do you plan to continue to connect with other educators? 

As much as I’d love to interact with other professionals on the internet, it’s not very easy to find other Student Affairs online. Student Affairs is a very private practice, as there are a multitude of rules as it relates to FERPA and student privacy. On that end of the spectrum, there are not many online spaces for current residential life employees. However, there are lots of events and opportunities available to connect with other student affairs employees at conferences and orientations marketed toward student retention. At events as such, there are lots of seminars to assist employees in adjusting their curriculum, as well as a multitude of networking opportunities to learn from housing employees across the country. I hope to continue to take advantage of every conference and workshop that appeals to my interests to build my team! I do believe there is an opportunity to potentially build a collaboration space for student affairs employees using digital resources such as Piazza or Padlet for real-time social interaction! It’d be great to get a forum of sorts added to specialized software like Roompact using the same design tools.

What sites do you prefer to use to make connections? Why? 

I believe LinkedIn is an excellent resource for connections—it’s even in the media tagline! Every person you add to your network is labeled as a “connection” which really sends home the purpose of LinkedIn as a whole. I have had many opportunities to chat with others within my field using the site, in addition to being able to reference certain tools and services being utilized by other institutions by evaluating posts from connections. Considering the nature of student affairs, where employees live where they work, a lot of housing staff prefer to keep their social media under wraps. It’s understandable—it can be difficult treading the line of personal and work life when you sleep at your place of employment. This makes LinkedIn the most ideal and accessible site available for creating networks and sharing resources with others. 

How do you currently or hope to collaborate with other educators? 

Currently, I work very closely with the other hall directors in my area (West Campus). We work on initiatives together and bounce ideas off of each other to see how we can best engage our RA teams. We have weekly meetings in which we discuss certain issues and discuss potential solutions as they relate to our individual communities. However, as my time as a hall director progresses, I’d like to work more expansively. There are a multitude of opportunities to connect with other Student Affairs employees on campus, including Admissions, Conduct, Assignments, Facilities, and more! These departments have offered to be present for RA meetings to further enhance the student experience and allow all members of the team further insight on the on-campus resources available for them and other students. There is also opportunity to connect outside of campus by attending conferencing events, such as NACURH, which is NACURH, the National Association of College and University Residence Halls is one of the largest student-led organizations in North America. NACURH is comprised of eight regional affiliates and a corporate office. Each region supports and engages with member schools in their respective boundaries, so events like these are perfect for networking and learning about other institutions’ policy and procedures that could potentially be integrated into my own curriculum. 

In exploring TCH, I was able to explore and gather resources that I otherwise might have never encountered, had I not taken the course. And taking this class, I was given the opportunity to see how we can use technology to shift the lands on what student affairs and residential life as a whole have to offer to students to promote engagement as well as residential retention. As residential life workers, we were close with admissions to see what resources we have available for students to courage them to reside within the halls for the year. By exploring what technology has to offer, and developing new resources for students to use to enhance their experience, I truly do believe that we can lift the burden off of professional staff members, and offer residents a new fresher experience within the residential halls. How did I come to this conclusion? Go ahead and give my podcast to listen to find out!

The Final PLN

You can view my PLN Slide Deck here. For the best viewing experience, I would suggest downloading the file rather than viewing it in Google Slides, or viewing the PDF. Cheers!

What tools you picked and what criteria you used when choosing?  Are there tools that you considered but decided against using because they did not meet a piece of criteria? How many of the tools were new to you (ideally all of them would be new to you but at minimum, a majority of the tools on the choice board should be new to you)? 

I chose the majority of my tools based on accessibility and ease of use. More times than not, a new piece of software can show itself to be very daunting, especially for incoming students who do not know much about the platforms we routinely use in Housing. For my resources, I sought to source easy-to-use, straightforward, and simple platforms to boost the resources that RAs might provide to their students across the school year. My main intent was to provide the RAs with resources they may use in future endeavors for projects unrelated to their role within Housing. I worked to find items that they may find useful in the classroom or at internships.Out of 13 resources provided, only 4 of them I’ve used prior! I feel confident in the new tools I was able to explore, and I do believe they will work effectively in aiding RAs to become creative with how to communicate with their residents about policies, rules and regulations, and events on campus.

How the choice board helps you answer the three questions (1. Is this occurring at the moment of need? 2. Is there a caring human being behind this? 3. Is this value-added?) 

I believe the choice board allowed me an opportunity to put in perspective how I should approach navigating various policies that may not be as clear to raise, as they are to me, a seasoned housing professional. I was able to look at the activity from a less evolved lens and work to mold my activities around the concept that an RA may be fresh to not only housing but Residence Life in general. I’m by providing my audience with choices on how they would best navigate providing resources for their first time dealing with a likely incident, I certainly feel as though they are more prepared to have hands-on experience with violations. Not only that, but the prompts also allowed me a chance to put further emphasis on collaboration, as there are returning RAs and first-year RAs. this distinction can be quite stark at the beginning of their responsibilities, so assessing the importance of having a value-added, caring experience for someone navigating housing for the first time, was a very important point for me.

What is the learning goal? How does this choice board support students in achieving their learning goals? What data do you hope to gain? How will this drive instruction move forward? 

My top two goals with this activity were to provide RAs with a greater understanding of what it means to live on a dry campus and establish various resources that they may use to further engage students within their community. By prompting RAs to explicitly detail their understanding of the policy, I can see their point of view as it relates to regulations, and steer them in the right direction If they need to be rerouted. Not only that, but I was able to curate a connection between various tools that can jump across platforms for student engagement. for example, using Google Slides and integrating the presentation into Screencastify Is a secondary step that most students would not think to include on their own. By providing this tool, I have made it that much easier for them to actively use the resource in future endeavors.At the very end, I prompt all of the RAS to revise and offer feedback to their peers. now I can take a further glimpse into fresh ideas that the team may be able to provide and implement for future projects. An RA who chooses to make a poster may revise a comic for their assignment, and come up with a great idea that the original poster may not have led them to come to. And seeing the changes between platforms, I can further assess what resources work best for the REM question, as well as what ideas they might bring to the table to further foster information development within the community.

Want to see my Choice Board? Check it out here!

How you considered the 5+Cs and if they are all represented (and an explanation if you don’t have all of them represented)?

This assignment was a bit daunting, as the issue I was hoping to tackle was quite straightforward. Given that my experience is not the most common among educators, it did take a little bit of tweaking to try and find a fix that would adjust to the situation that I found within my ‘classroom’. When living within a residence hall, you come to understand that students spend more time outside of their room rather than inside it. That’s great! However, what’s not so great is when students are getting involved outside of the building they reside in, rather than indulging in the multitude of programs, initiatives, and events that are specifically curated to them within their respective halls. A big hurdle that I’ve come to recognize is that a lot of students are not familiar with what it means to reside within a residence hall. there are lots of residents who have never even heard of a program, much less attended one. it was also the issue of advertising these items to students. most students do not pay much attention to the postings around the hall, as they tend to blend into the background. Most items must be very explicit and bold, to maintain the attention of students in their very busy lives. I incorporated the 5Cs by focusing on the housing staff’s tools, approach, resources, and options for students. All of my resources have been marked off to contain the answers to the following inquiries:

Connect: Where can we establish platforms of contact? 

Communicate: How can we use these platforms to engage students?

Curate: How can we share digital resources and why would we share them?

Collaborate: How do we encourage students to get involved within the halls?

Create: What opportunities do we offer to get students to apply and enhance what they’ve learned about the halls?

Your problem(s) of practice and how the resources you found may help you solve the problem(s)?

The main issue that we within housing face is getting information to students. we are still newly integrating ourselves into social media, however, most students do not take well to the overarching approach of our current housing pages. students are hoping for more personalized items, which I hope can be achieved through various items such as blogging, specialized Outlook posting, or even specific Discord channels for certain areas on campus. By creating a greater sense of intimacy between housing and residents, we can better communicate with our target audience. I have found that I very much enjoy the idea of weekly newsletters for students. these can be curated by area on campus, and contain specific tidbits about that particular space on campus. it is very intimate and unique to the needs of that community. However, even with a newsletter, we must also maintain the fact that we need a way to provide the resource to students. by using target communication tools such as Outlook, teams, Discord, GroupMe, and other social platforms, we can provide students with their specified resources for the school year.

Your takeaways from curating resources related to equitable access and culturally proactive teaching?

When looking for Illinois State University-specific resources, I noticed that we had quite a few resources that apply across the board. I was very shocked to see how great of a commitment we have to accessibility for students. because I am unable bodied person, I do not often think about the need for accessibility and things like InDesign for example. however, Illinois state made sure to provide documentation on how to make InDesign documents accessible for students who may need them. As a recent graduate from an illustration-heavy program, I can assure you that I never learned about these tools, nor was I ever prompted to use them. As stated in my introductory post, I do hope to become a  director of an art institution. After searching for resources to promote inclusivity, I can confidently say that this would be on the top of my list to incorporate into the curriculum for art students. Though the majority of art is visual and sound-based, that does not mean that we cannot make accommodations for those who may not be able to navigate all of their senses in the same way as able-bodied people can. All people deserve to enjoy the marvels of creation.

What were your criteria for inclusion in your curation? Are there tools/resources that did not make it in?

When providing resources for inclusion, I had two main criteria:

• Most, if not all, resources should be relevant to the Illinois State University-provided platforms and specifically approved by the OEOC resource at Illinois State University.
• Resources provided should be able to easily apply to the general tasks within the RHC role.

With that in mind, I did not provide resources for items such as how to make an InDesign document more accessible. This was a  discretionary call I made, as a majority of members on the housing team cannot use software such as InDesign. more times than not, housing staff uses Microsoft Office to navigate the majority of tasks and share items. all of our items lie within a Q; Drive, that is specific to our staff and common capabilities across campus. I used mainly Illinois State University registered resources, except for the Hemingway Editor, as I felt this was a neat tool that many people would not think to use.

How this curation can help you become a leader in your school/district (consider here connecting back to the text in the Teacher as Leader lesson)?

Across the summer, I have actively been working to see how we can increase the engagement of students on campus. I feel as though this curation is a step in the right direction, in terms of exploring resources we have used, resources we have not used, and delving into resources we plan to use. Not only that, but this curation was an opportunity for me to brainstorm on what exactly is missing from the current housing curriculum we have in place personalization seems to be the largest issue in terms of encouraging students to get involved. everything within Housing typically stands to be blanketed across, rather than customize to fit the singular experience of a certain student within the hall. by customizing certain resources and items to be specific to a community need, we encourage students to become more involved on campus. I believe this analysis allows me to take a lead on the current crisis we are facing regarding retention and admissions on campus.

Include a conversation about what two new to your tools you explored for this challenge. What was your experience with each tool? Would you use it again? Why/How? What helped you decide what you ultimately chose? 

I navigated Symbaloo and Wakelet for this curation but ultimately settled on Wakelet. This was mostly doing parts of one small detail, which was the readability of the software. by being able to focus solely on text, rather than icons, I felt that the document will be more accessible this way. Symbaloo Is icon-based and very blocky. there are lots of spaces for color, but not a lot of space for the eye to rest. not only that, but the site is very busy with advertisements and other distracting factors. As I sought to focus on accessibility for this project, I decided one using Wakelet,  as it seemed more readily accessible. very plain colors, clear contrast, and the essential use of Bolding for important factors, and smaller text for less important factors, I felt that this item would be more comfortable for anyone to interact with one first glance. not only that, but I was able to provide explicit headers on what certain resources were being used for, as well as detail on what the document linked would provide inside one. this was a very strong point for me, hence why I settled on Wakelet for my final curation. I will certainly use the document again, as it was very easy to use and very easy to edit if needed. the software was very straightforward, and I could recommend it to even the least of tech-savvy individuals.  I believe Symbaloo certainly is a resource that could be used, but the context largely depends on the audience. If I had a younger group that was more versed in iconography and resource details, I might consider utilizing the software.

Want to see my curation? Check it out here!

Why you’ve chosen this tool to accomplish your purpose. What was your experience with the tool? Would you use it again? (For this one, let’s stick to a brand new you tool–reach out to Dr. Falbe if you have questions about this). 

For this project, I decided to use Smore as a resource for student engagement. I have never used this platform before, however after exploring the concept, I thought it would be great to incorporate it into the yearly routine for RAs and residents alike. the tool was very accessible and beginner friendly. I think this is especially helpful, mostly because I do understand that students find themselves to be very busy. to ask my Ras to pick up a complicated piece of software directly after summer training seems a bit unreasonable, and quite frankly could be overwhelming for my team. I want to make sure that I am supporting them in the best way I can.  By incorporating user-friendly software for them to use to engage with their students, I feel as though I am setting them up for success. I would certainly use this software again and am currently contemplating potentially using this as a resource for Ras and future endeavors. In my tutorial, I showcase the platform as though I would be using it in my day-to-day as the Hall Director. I don’t think that is a bad idea! I may decide to use the resource to better engage with my RAs and present them with daily digests that they may want to share with their respective floors.

How the tool helps you move along the Technology Integration Matrix, and how you are using it in light of the SAMR model.

I believe I am falling in step with the substitution aspect of the SAMR model. In my tutorial, I mentioned the importance of bulletin boards. in introducing this newsletter, I believe it showcases itself as a digital bulletin board. most students do not engage with the physical boards we put up on each floor. As a result, students end up missing out on a lot of pertinent information and events within the community. By adjusting the concept of a bulletin board and applying it to a digital model, we can better navigate providing information to students on a virtual level that they are more likely to interact with. This approach is active adaptation at its finest, allowing RAs to navigate the resource as they please, adapting the information they provide based on the needs of their communities.

How does the instruction around this artifact support students in engaging in one or more of the ISTE Standards for Students?

This project falls under 2.3. a) Create experiences for learners to make positive, socially responsible contributions and exhibit empathetic behavior online that builds relationships and community. I stated earlier, this project was built upon the fact that a lot of information is not properly received when posted on physical bulletin boards within the community. I hope that by having RA’s create an individual newsletter for their community, they can create a newfound sense of community through a digital lens. their newsletters will be used to provide insight and details on events happening on campus as well as within their respective communities, details on resources students should have access to at all times, as well as personal highlights that they would like to showcase in their community. There are no limits on the creativity RAs are allowed to showcase within their newsletter. if they want to post memes, I’ll let them post memes. if they want to post homemade videos on how to check out for spring break, they have the freedom to do so. This allows them to form a sense of intimacy within their community, and create an understanding of how they would like for their community to interact with them. 

How this re-examined project is more student-centered and helps you (the teacher) take the role of facilitator (refer back to the readings in the lesson).  

This project especially focuses on the characteristics of current students. it is our reality that students are more likely to engage with data they can easily access (i.e.: The item can be accessed outside of physical confines). By incorporating the use of a digital newsletter, students can easily access various bits of community information anytime, anywhere. for example, a student may be feeling ill. they may be sick to the point where they are unable to get out of bed. One of the resources that may be provided in an RA’s newsletter may have details about the dining hall food delivery option that we have available for on-campus students. by making this information easily accessible, we have now given the student more incentive to review the information provided by the respective RA while also providing them the resources that they need without the inconvenience. It has truly been quite a battle with the concept of bulletin boards. RAs put a lot of work into their monthly bulletin board postings, but a lot of students end up vandalizing the work or ripping down the content. Not only does this ruin the RAs morale as it relates to their effort for bulletin postings, but it also strips away pertinent information that may have been useful for another student within the community. By adjusting the narrative and allowing students a resource that is not so easily changed, we have now provided all students with equal resources and opportunities to be engaged with their community.

You can view the Artifact here!

Why you’ve chosen this tool to accomplish your purpose. What did you find out from reading the accessibility statement? Did the accessibility statement play a role in what tool you used? 

I decided to use Microsoft PowerPoint to recreate my presentation. I made this choice mostly due in part to the fact that PowerPoint has been a beloved part of the Microsoft Office Suite for over a decade and has a multitude of resources available for various inquiries that I may have had while developing my presentation. Thus, PowerPoint is the most optimal in terms of support throughout my Endeavor. Not only that but there is a wide range of tools available regarding accessibility. From Live Accessibility Inspection to alt text and voice-over options, I felt that this software was the best method as it relates to promoting accessibility. In understanding the purpose of an accessibility statement, but it does not hold back in terms of what communities deserve to be supported and seen, thought it was within my best interest to try and meet as many guidelines as possible to best support all individuals who may interact with the presentation.

What two new to you tools did you explore for this challenge? What was your experience with each tool? Would you use it again? Why/How? What helped you make a decision about what you ultimately chose? 

One new tool that I was able to navigate was the content read-aloud tool. I have never used the read-aloud tool before and did not know there was such an item available for individuals to use to navigate the web. Tools as such this are not only useful for the blind, but also for the elderly. The first people to come to mind when I explored this resource were my grandparents. My grandfather often uses the extra large text on his smartphone and other devices. I believe a tool like this would be helpful for him to navigate content on the web. Another tool that I really enjoyed was the Hemingway editor. It broke down the basics of the content of my presentations, providing me with an understanding of the simplicity of the content provided. I have a hard time narrowing down content to bite-sized portions. I believe the Hemingway editor tool allowed me a space to see in real-time the changes that I could put forth to make sure the information that I am providing is concise clear and understandable. It was fun to see the data change based on what words I altered within my sentences. I would certainly use it again, as I have received feedback from our A’s that sometimes they get lost in certain bits of information I might provide and often come back to speak to me in person for additional clarity. In using a tool as such this, I may be able to eliminate the need for extra supplementary dialogue.

What intentional choices did you make around the POUR guidelines? What worked well? What do you think might still need some work in terms of accessibility? 

As stated previously, I believe the Hemmingway Editor guided a lot of my content in terms of verbiage and sentence structure, as I wanted to make sure my instructions were concise and easy to follow. However, as I continued the presentation, I also began to place a little bit more focus on the size of my content. Some bits were sold off as large walls of text initially, which can be daunting to read and a bit difficult to follow. The majority of my work with this project was focused on divvying up text while still providing enough visual interest on each slide. I also became preoccupied with the size of the text and the font used, as that is another accessibility point that is not often considered. I originally started off with Times New Roman but eventually came to the conclusion that sans serif may be the better option to ensure no ‘connected’ texts. I believe there is still work to be done in terms of understanding contrast and color correction, but I did feel quite confident in my ability to properly arrange text. 

How will this presentation of content fit inside the context of the larger lesson? What would you imagine comes before or after this? Will you use this to flip your classroom? Will it be something students access independently or something you play for the whole class? 

I believe this resource would work best in being used as an introductory tool that can be accessed later on. For Housing Staff, RAs are expected to participate in a 2-week training period during the summer and winter to become familiar with the various software we use and how we engage with certain sites to implement policy. I believe this item would fit right into the training offered as something to enable prospective RAs to get their feet wet and do a walkthrough. This would be a presentation I would place in our hall’s Teams, where RAs could reference the slides later if they forget a step. 

How the tool helps you move along the Technology Integration Matrix, and how you are using it in light of the SAMR model. 

I believe the modification aspect of the SAMR model is the most fitting, especially given the assignment’s guidelines. By looking at content previously created in the vain of providing stimulation through colors and funky text, that mode of thinking can actually be exclusionary for students who struggle with colors, fonts, and imagery. Technological advancements have significantly altered how we provide information and present content, as we now have the tools to engage differently-abled people simultaneously. For example–funny photos and memes are still permissible to encourage engagement, but technology now enables us to add Alt-Text and use screen readers. With advancements as such, those who may be visually impaired now have an opportunity to get in on the joke that originally couldn’t be accessed.

Interested in seeing how I used POUR? Check out my PowerPoint here!

Digital Access: Ensuring Digital Equity and Inclusion In this lesson, we are going to use this Hyperdoc to explore the concept of Digital Access. In this document, you may jump around as you see fit. All of the content will be beneficial to you as you work to complete the final activity. Have fun, and take notes!

“DIGITAL ACCESS AND LITERACY IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF LIFE, AND ENSURING THAT IT IS AVAILABLE FOR THOSE WITH DIFFERENT ABILITIES, LANGUAGES, AND ALL AGES IS VITAL.”
–Brandy McNeil, Director of Digital Literacy for The New York Public Library and Director at Large for the Public Library Association

How does Digital Access impact students?
Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8tcVksiXhc
Read: https://www.digitalinclusion.org/definitions/

As a resource for residents, do you feel prepared to meet ISTE standard 2.2.b? Can you advocate for equitable access to educational technology, digital content, and learning opportunities to meet the diverse needs of all students?

Review this presentation that offers further insight into the concept of Digital Access. Use this item as a stepping stone to launch your ideas for the Thinglink Activity.

Further your understanding of the importance of Digital Access:
Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCIB_vXUptY&feature=youtu.be

What can you do to assist residents who are facing Digital Inequities?
Read: https://blog.ed.gov/2022/06/helping-students-families-and-communities-access-the-internet-and-technology-enabled-learning-opportunities/

How do these topics show up in your day-to-day as a student?
Reflect: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1G80VYXJemTnHtLbUhFTYOAkfhUSUd8CeXqEUbSdTmHU/edit?usp=sharing

Activity: What is Digital Access?
In ThingLink, please post 3 examples of digital inequities you have seen in your community or classroom. Please post a final response on what solutions you might have to help students struggling with Digital Inequity. Resources must all be found on campus.

Following Up:
Choose one of the comments your peers made in ThingLink and create a thoughtful response. You can agree, disagree, add a suggestion, or offer an alternative. Email me with your response and attach the comment you are responding to. I will share these with your peers anonymously!

Want to learn more? Check out these articles:
https://www.vox.com/ad/23309990/digital-divide-broadband-adoption
https://www.thepattersonfoundation.org/blog/the-three-essential-elements-of-digital-access.html

---

Completing the Challenge

I chose to focus on Digital Access and Inequities. As a Black American, I connected the most with this topic connected. Marginalized communities have had a history of access denial across the decades that have ultimately contributed to the lack of generational wealth, status, and success within the community. When it comes to Digital Access, there are two marginalized communities that are most impacted: Minorities and Elders. Digital Access, despite the name, is more focused on one’s ability to navigate the digital world, rather than the lack of a computer itself. We’ve all seen it–the scenario in which the elder doesn’t know how to send an email, or perhaps believes Siri is an actual person. This is an example of Digital Inequity, as many aspects of the physical world require one to access the digital world. An example may be job applications. Many institutions no longer use paper applications but rather encourage applicants to submit online. This may not be an option for everyone. The young Latinx teen may not have a computer at home, while the elder has no idea how to navigate to the careers site.

My goal within my Hyperdoc was to create a space for residents who might be facing Digital Inequities, as much of a college student’s career depends on the digital world. From Canvas to Outlook, the majority of the ins and outs of higher education rely on one’s access to a computer, smartphone, or tablet. In creating this module, my hope was to focus on advocating for equitable access to educational technology, digital content, and learning opportunities to meet the diverse needs of all students (ISTE 2.2b)–in this case, RAs providing resources and spaces for their residents who may be struggling with Digital Access.

I myself struggled with Digital Access whilst creating the Hyperdoc. Prior to this assignment, I’d never used ThingLink or created a linked document in Google Docs. All of the tools used were very new to me, which is why I eventually opted to create a Hyperdoc using Excel to create a practical outline for me to shift into Google Docs. I work best in familiar environments, but I do work to integrate into other spheres as well by using recognizable spaces to guide my work. I did the same as I worked to create a collaboration group in ThingLink. By using Canva, a resource I am comfortable with, I was able to create a collaborative space for RAs to interact with in ThingLink. I feel as though this approach could work anywhere, as students and staff alike work to understand the scope of new tools, sites, and areas of digital literacy in action. I feel very confident that my RAs would be able to support their students by following this tool, and I certainly believe Hyperdocs may keep the team more engaged!

My name is Myel Simmons. I am a second-semester Creative Technologies student. I started the program mid-year, in January 2023.

Some things about me:

• I graduated with a degree in Illustration in May 2022. I doodle a lot in my free time!
• I am a Hall Director at ISU, so I work to educate students on housing policy and residence life.
• My hope is to continue my education and pursue a Ph.D. once I complete the Creative Technologies program.
• Once everything is all said and done, I hope to become the director of the School of Art at an esteemed institution or work in UIUX at a respectable corporation.
• I draw comics and would like to continue to do that alongside a full-time career.

I was in an MFA program from August – December 2022 prior to attending ISU. During my time there, I launched a passion project that I am still working on in my current program.

My passion project is called The Misery Catalog. It is a satirical, auto-biographical comic series that focuses on the various scenarios I find myself in as a Black American. I use this comic to reflect. It is my hope that the production of items like this makes it easier for non-Black individuals to interact with race-related content.

In addition to The Misery Catalog, I work on webcomics that follow the same premise of exploring race as a Black American. Another project of mine that is similar to MC is the Beswitched! web series, which follows the story of a Black teen named Kiki who can change identities.

Most of my work seeks to inform outside groups about the Black Experience, which is why I focus on the matter so heavily within my pieces. It is a fun, experimental outlet that I hope to share with the world. This project played a large part in the creation of my site name–Yelling Wall. To me, items like The Misery Catalog serve as an opportunity to yell without yelling. There is power in speaking one’s truth. Whether it is to inform, complain, laugh, or cry, the expression of a personal experience is pure and can alter the lives of others in ways that are greater than we think.

I use a lot of my personal experiences to empower students who live in my hall and inform my RA team of potential situations they may encounter within the role. For some students, my experiences are a first-hand retelling–for others, my experience is something they’ve only been able to spectate. It is my hope to equip students on both ends of the spectrum with the resources, tools, and advocates they need to succeed at ISU. Here’s to yelling and putting our feelings up on a wall!