09 autumn reporter 1-20 - Franklin College

FC talks
tech with
Intellagirl
Sarah Smith-Robbins ’96
stands back-to-back with her
avatar, Intellagirl.
By Amy (Kean) VerSteeg ’96
Editor
She’s a self-described “researcher,
academic, writer, speaker, marketer, mom
and geek.” She spends her time blogging,
researching and traveling to speak to
groups about Second Life, virtual worlds,
Web 2.0 technologies and “general digital
coolness.” She’s also a Ph.D. candidate
and digital coach who helps people use
available technologies to become more
productive and creative. In the past two
years, she’s lectured on social media at
conferences in Brazil, Finland, the United
Kingdom and the United States.
She’s “Intellagirl” Sarah Smith-
Robbins ’96.
We recently caught up with Smith-
Robbins after the Independent Colleges
of Indiana Sixth Annual Instructional
Technology Summit, where she was
keynote speaker. We asked her to take a
few minutes to share her perspective on
social media, ideas about technology in
higher education and thoughts on the
Franklin College liberal arts experience.
Our Q&A session follows:
FC: Tell us about your alternate identity —
Intellagirl. Who is she, and why is she
important to your work?
I wouldn’t say that Intellagirl is an
alternate identity but rather my
nickname or logo. My maiden name
is Sarah Smith. Fifteen years ago
when I created my first e-mail address
“ssmith” was already taken. After a few
years, I got tired of trying to find new
user names and came up with
Intellagirl. At first, it was just a
handy nickname, but when I
began working in Second Life,
Intellagirl became a person,
my avatar. Since then, my
pink streak and nickname
have become really effective
personal branding.
(Editor’s note: Avatars are
computer users’ representations
of themselves; they can be either
pictures or personalities associated
with a screen name.)
FC: How did an English major end up
making a career in the information
technology field?
It’s a bit of a misnomer to say that I’m
in “IT.” My doctoral work is in rhetoric, the
art and study of persuasive communication,
which I think is key in just about all areas
of life, from personal relationships to
education. Because most communication is
now mediated by some kind of technology,
I became intrigued by how technology
changes how we communicate and
especially how we learn.
When I graduated from Franklin
College I went on to work at a technology
publishing company, and I became
more interested in how technology was
changing the way we all work. I got to
work with dozens of tech authors who
were immersed in the industry, and I
made some great contacts. When I went
on to the University of Indianapolis for
my master’s degree I focused on English
higher education, and I guess all the bits
came together.
FC: What are some of your duties as
senior director of emerging technologies
for Indiana University’s Kelley Executive
Partners?
My primary duty is to help develop
technology-augmented education
programs for executives at Fortune
500 companies. I’ve created alternate
reality games using iPod touch and
Twitter as well as social media tours to
help large companies learn to leverage
Web 2.0 tools to increase employee
learning and satisfaction. (Editor’s note:
Web 2.0 examples include social-networking
sites, video-sharing sites, blogs, etc.) I’m also
responsible for helping the Kelley School
of Business make decisions about
implementing new technologies for the
graduate and undergraduate programs.
FC: Your career shows a consistent overlap
between work in the fields of education
and information technology. What can you
tell us about the correlation?
IT is now inseparable from any area of
our lives. From the cars that we drive to the
phones in our pockets we’re surrounded
by technology, and all of these tools change
the way we live and how we learn.
60 FRANKLIN REPORTER WWW.FRANKLINCOLLEGE.EDU