Professors/Librarians: Sharing personal life in digital format

Julie Frechette recently wrote an article in Inside Higher Ed called Crossing the (Digital) Line.

She examines the New York Times article- The Professor as Open Book.

I think Julie makes some great remarks about professors. She writes that many of the most memorable and effective instructors were the ones that shared their perosonal stories. I agree. My favorite instructors were willing to share their failures and triumphs. Being open to expressing personal information shows positive communication with students.

In the past, this storytelling was verbal and in the classroom. Now, we have options like Facebook where instructors/librarians can display information from their personal life and/or history. They can post websites/articles that interest them, leave a "note," for students, or write a descriptive "about me" section on a Myspace page.

I am intrigued by Julie's idea of physical limitations of large class sizes, time constraints, and interpersonal hindrances having a negative effect on instructors sharing experiences and/or connecting with students. The digital format can help instructors with displaying this information if they are suffering from these constraints. Also, we already know that Millennials are already "living" and "loving" this format. They eat, sleep, and dream social networking zones.

Julie writes: "The new millennium may be the right time to reexamine our philosophical hesitancies to cross the digital line and engage in pedagogical experimentation online. For instance, online social networking and 3D simulations between faculty and students may help colleges and universities foster a stronger sense of community in the class, regardless of the physical limitations imposed by class size, or the interpersonal limitations contingent upon traditional markers of experience and identity through race, class, gender, etc."
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