CUNY Commons, Now What?

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Alyson Vogel

When people first join the Commons they frequently ask me, now what? With the wealth of opportunities to learn and exchange with like minded colleagues, its understandable to feel overwhelmed… For starters, take a look at the slideshow on the Commons homepage where you’ll find tips on searches to fit your academic or personal interest. From the most recent posts you can see the list of ‘most actives’ as well.

Truth is, I devote a portion of each day right here to garner information that seems to not only closely cater to my interests but I find that the relevance is as fresh as information I can get from the headlines of my morning newspaper!

One of the most recent examples of the power of social media to effect change can be found latest headline in this afternoon’s New York Times: Cancer Group, Reversing Course, Says It Will Maintain Planned Parenthood Funding. After only a few days via the blogosphere, Twitter and facebook, it was discovered just how unpopular their move to cut funding to Planned parenthood was:

“According to the Times: Susan G. Komen for the Cure said on Friday it was retreating from a decision to cut funding to Planned Parenthood, which provides abortion and birth control services, and apologized for a move that thrust the breast cancer charity into a deeply politicized controversy.”

Pure and simple illustration of the voice of the people in action and you’re reading it here just shortly after the turnaround was announced. Ten minutes after this announcement, no fewer than 15 mentions were made on my facebook and that list included NPR, New York Magazine, a professor colleague of mine and my 21 year old daughter’s best friend.

Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com/?emc=na

About Alyson Vogel

I started in education 10 years ago starting a media center and television studio for students in District Ten in the Bronx. Middle school students and teachers were introduced to media and media literacy projects designed for active learning in real world contexts. For the past 5 years I have been an academic program developer, coach and workshop leader. I have significant expertise in course design, curriculum planning, online teaching, training, coaching & mentoring and major event logistics & execution. My emphasis is on integrating the Internet and new media into teaching and learning. My background in television and radio, teaching teachers in K-12 through Higher Education, professional life coaching, and yes, even my newly acquired professional chef skills brings depth to my latest position of Associate Director of Online Education at Lehman College. I am very excited to be among this group of professionals to take my understanding of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning to even greater heights.
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2 Responses to CUNY Commons, Now What?

  1. Alyson Vogel says:
    February 3, 2012 at 2:16 pm

    Thanks Sara, perfect addition. I believe I started out with the intention of calling out ALL the ways and got… um… lost in the headlines!

  2. Sarah Morgano says:
    February 3, 2012 at 1:09 pm

    I didn’t know that the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation foundation reversed their decision, thanks so much for posting about this!

    Regarding the title of your blog, I agree that new members can feel overwhelmed by the various options on the Commons. One of the things that the community team has focused on over the past few months is making our Help section more robust and user-friendly. I would highly recommend that new members take a look over our “10 Things To Do to Get You Started!” page: http://help.commons.gc.cuny.edu/10-things.

    Best,
    Sarah

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