CampusPack Fusion, an add-on for Blackboard Learn, helps students in the health professional field track their academic, career, and personal progress for references in future job opportunities.
Dwina Willis, chair of the pre-professional health arts program and associate professor of biology and Bible, attended the National Association of Advisors of Health Professionals (NAAHP) conference in Atlanta last June. Dr. Dan Scheirer from Duke University presented a template know as ‘myHPA’ or ‘my health professions account.’ Willis was impressed, “After seeing Dr. Scheirer’s presentation I knew Freed-Hardeman University could use this technology to help our pre-professional health arts program,” she said.
Willis brought the template to A.B. White, an instructional technologist for the university, who integrated the program into Blackboard Learn under the Personal Learning Space as a wiki-based portfolio. Now, all pre-professional health students are cataloguing their activities, jobs, and personal information to present professionally to prospective employers. Students can also share this information with their FHU professors who can advise the students on the proper track for success all while being online.
Alaina Daniel, a freshman pre-med biology major, now uses myHPA and firmly believes in the benefits of this account. “I really like how you can put everything into one program. It is such a great way to keep track of activities, grades, and your personal information that will be needed on applications and in recommendation letters. It allows professors to access your resume and give you advice on how you are doing,” she said.
Chris Wright, a sophomore biochemistry and missions major, applauds the way professors are so involved in a student’s education at FHU. “MyHPA lets us keep track of all our science-related extracurricular activities. It will make applying for grad school so much easier. The science faculty always works very hard to take care of us as students and this is just one more example of the many things they do for us,” he said.
CampusPack is accessible by all FHU professors and students for new opportunities in teacher/student collaboration. Besides myHPA, programs for small group collaboration, journals, blogs, and other various documents, managers encourage other fields of study to make use of these new Blackboard additions.