Technology and Engagement

Making Technology Work for First Generation College Students

By Heather T. Rowan-Kenyon, Ana M. Martínez Alemán, and Mandy Savitz-Romer

Rutgers University Press

Winner of the 2018 Association for the Study of Higher Education Outstanding Book Award

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.

The timing of this book could not be better with its focus on first generation college students and social media. It is an empirically-driven and worthwhile read for administrators, faculty, and staff at institutions of higher education in the U.S.’
Kim Nehls, executive director of the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE)

Increasing college completion, particularly among first-generation, low-income, and minoritized students is critically urgent and Technology and Engagement provides 'scalable' ideas. That is the good news. The bad news is that faculty and administrators have not figured out the many ways in which technology can be leveraged to increase retention. This book shows that technology can be a 'best practice' that can lessen the alienation minoritized first generation students experience in campuses that are not structured for their success. This book offers practical and culturally responsive strategies. It should be required reading for all staff and faculty associated with special programs.'
Estela Mara Bensimon, professor and director, Center for Urban Education

Selected New Books on Higher Education: How to Ease the Way for Transgender and First-Generation Students' by Ruth Hammond mention Chronicle of Higher Education

The timing of this book could not be better with its focus on first generation college students and social media. It is an empirically-driven and worthwhile read for administrators, faculty, and staff at institutions of higher education in the U.S.’
Kim Nehls, executive director of the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE)

Increasing college completion, particularly among first-generation, low-income, and minoritized students is critically urgent and Technology and Engagement provides 'scalable' ideas. That is the good news. The bad news is that faculty and administrators have not figured out the many ways in which technology can be leveraged to increase retention. This book shows that technology can be a 'best practice' that can lessen the alienation minoritized first generation students experience in campuses that are not structured for their success. This book offers practical and culturally responsive strategies. It should be required reading for all staff and faculty associated with special programs.'
Estela Mara Bensimon, professor and director, Center for Urban Education

Selected New Books on Higher Education: How to Ease the Way for Transgender and First-Generation Students' by Ruth Hammond mention Chronicle of Higher Education

HEATHER T. ROWAN-KENYON is an associate professor of education at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

ANA M. MARTÍNEZ ALEMÁN is associate dean for faculty and a professor of education at Boston College. She is the author and editor of several books including Online Social Networking on Campus: Understanding What Matters in Student Culture.

MANDY SAVITZ-ROMER is a senior lecturer in education and faculty director of the Prevention Science and Practice Program at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She is the co-author of Ready, Willing, and Able: A Developmental Approach to College Access and Success.

Introduction 1

1. Engagement and Campus Capital 23

2. Being First-Gen on Campus 48

3. Web 2.0 Technologies on Campus 66
with contributions by Adam Gismondi, Kevin Gin,
Sarah Knight, Jonathan Lewis, & Scott Radimer

4. Transition and Campus Engagement 96
with contributions by Kevin Gin & Scott Radimer

5. Bridges to Campus Capital in the Classroom 118
with contributions by Jonathan Lewis & Sarah Knight

6. Propositions for Change 141
with contributions by Kevin Gin

Acknowledgments 163
Appendix: Research Methods 165
References 171
Index 191

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