Mistaken Goal: Where Higher Education & Technology Meet


"...technology is not something that happens to us. It is something we create. We must not confuse a tool with a goal. We must, therefore, be sure that technology serves the fundamental purposes of higher education." Stanley N. Katz in "In Information Technology, Don't Mistake a Tool for a Goal"

Me

My name is Kevin R. Guidry and I am a scholar of U.S. higher education. Formerly an Information Technology Fellow at Sewanee: The University of the South, I am currently a PhD candidate in Indiana University's Higher Education and Student Affairs program where I have minored in Social Informatics. I am also a Research Project Associate for the Center for Postsecondary Research, the research unit that conducts the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and other related surveys.

As indicated by the title and tagline of this webpage, my primary interests lie in the areas where higher education and technology intersect. Within the Center, my research has focused on student and faculty use of technology as it relates to student engagement, satisfaction, and self-reported gains in learning. Outside of the Center and predating my employment there, much of my work examines issues related to college and university residential computer networks ("ResNet") as reflected by my previous employment supervising a ResNet program and past membership in the ResNet Applied Research Group. I also perform research and work related to the use of technology within the broader area of student affairs, including historical and contemporary uses of technology by student affairs professionals. I have been heavily involved in the NASPA Technology Knowledge Community, an organization I co-chaired for nearly three years. And my interests are becoming broader as I continue to learn and gain experience. I am developing significant experience in survey methodology as reflected in my dissertation-to-be. I am also developing experience and interest in pedagogy and assessment through experiences with IU's Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning and ongoing collaboration with Dr. Joan Middendorf and her colleagues involved with Decoding the Disciplines.

From its creation in late 2006 until early 2012, this website had the tagline "Where Student Affairs and Technology Meet." My roots and much of my education are in student affairs but my interests have grown broader. My interests had been growing broader well before 2012 but hitting the job market and being forced to publicly reconcile what I was saying to prospective employers with my public persona finally convinced me to make this (seemingly trivial) change.

My CV, last updated on January 12, 2012, can be found here and my Google Scholar profile is here.

This webpage

This webpage is merely a place for me to (a) organize and share my thoughts, (b) share resources and links to resources, and (c) place files or tools online useful to me or others. The general design of the website is based on Kaushal Sheth's Fluidity3c WordPress template which is itself a modification of Dave Reeder's Fluidity website template.