Embracing change: New words, new acronyms? LOL!

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If you want to know about the latest terminology and acronyms, ask a young person!

It seems that the only thing you can really count on in this world is change, and we have certainly lived through huge changes in education as well. How do we keep up with changing and new terminology and new sources of information?

Librarians became media specialists. Assistant principals became instructional leaders. And, then there’s the long list of acronyms! It seems that young people are able to keep up much more readily than we are and they manage to forever stay one step ahead…

My niece is a junior at one of the universities in Atlanta, Georgia. How can I keep up with all of the accomplishments and roles she has with all of the acronyms she shares as she describes her education experience?!

She is an RA (resident assistant) in her dorm, although many colleges now call them CAs (Community Assistants). She is on a medical track to become a PA (physician’s assistant) so she just took the GRE (Graduate Record Exam) so she can get her MS (masters of science) after she completes her undergraduate BS (bachelor of science) degree.

She has also become a CNA (certified nursing assistant) to log clinical hours which has led to her part-time job as an ER (emergency room) scribe at Emory Hospital. She is a member of a sorority…I won’t even start with the Greek alphabet…

And, she along with other college-aged students began their social networking with MySpace and FaceBook but have moved on to Foursquare and Tumblr and get their news through Reddit while tweeting like crazy AND watching CRAZY videos on YouTube. And, then there’s the whole online gaming world—WOW (World of Warcraft), for example. Go figure. It’s no wonder we can’t keep up…

And, btw (by the way), IDK means I don’t know!  LOL (laugh out loud!)

Here are some interesting links for gaining further knowledge about today’s acronyms!

Cartoon: OMG, What does THAT mean?

Teen Chat Decoder

and here is a list of educational acronyms published by the Georgia School Boards Association!

Our contributor, Diane Sandifer

From local to state and national roles in public service, Diane Sandifer served on the Harris County Schools GA Board of Education from 1998-2008. Additionally, Diane was elected as president of the Georgia School Boards Association in 2006 and was a member of the National School Boards Association Board of Directors in 2007 and 2008. Diane advocates 21st century governance from the board room to the classroom through her passion for integration of technology as well as effective strategic planning. Diane represents school board members in statewide commissions and projects and has played an integral role in educational research through groups like the Wallace Foundation. Diane lives in Pine Mountain, Georgia and is currently the account executive for eBOARDsolutions.