EDUCAUSE | ELI

New ELI 7 Things... Brief Explores Ustream

pkurkowski — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 12:52:55 -0500

Ustream is an interactive web streaming platform that lets users broadcast their own channels on the Ustream network or on a third-party website such as MySpace or Facebook. Ustream offers a platform for users to host events, promote their own shows, or set up interactive conversations with participants across the globe.

The 7 Things You Should Know About Ustream, EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative’s (ELI) latest brief in the monthly series, examines how Ustream’s broadcasting model offers an attractive new way for Internet broadcasters to connect with audiences, allowing dialogue between users and opportunities to build connections across the globe.

Browse the complete 7 Things You Should Know About… monthly series.

ELI Launches Top Teaching and Learning Challenges Survey

pkurkowski — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:50:44 -0500

Assessment. Learning space design. Changing student and faculty practice. When polled, focus groups within the EDUCAUSE teaching and learning community identified their top “challenges” in teaching and learning with IT. But how does your list compare? What big issues dominate your campus conversations and water cooler debates? What challenges would you add?

This fall, the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative is asking members to "weigh in" with their biggest challenges through a community survey, open through October. This brainstorming survey kicks off the EDUCAUSE Top Teaching and Learning Challenges project, a new community effort to both surface issues and to aggregate resources that can help to address them. Through online brainstorming, face-to-face sessions at the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference, and an EDUCAUSE-wide community vote, participants will identify the top-five issues in teaching and learning with technology. With the list in hand, the community will begin building content around each challenge, creating dynamic resource pages in wikis within EDUCAUSE Connect, and through collaborative working groups on the Challenges Ning Network. Adding to the readings and resources, community members will also be asked to contribute new content by drafting case study "community solutions" or creating podcasts and videos to illustrate solutions from their own campuses.

Help set the agenda and collaborate with colleagues around real solutions and innovative directions. Visit the project home page for more details.

New ELI 7 Things... Brief Explores Geolocation

pkurkowski — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:14:34 -0500

Geolocation, also called geotagging, is the practice of associating a digital resource with a physical location. A photographer, for example, might include the longitude and latitude coordinates for where a picture was taken, allowing others to pinpoint that location on a map.

The 7 Things You Should Know About Geolocation, EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative’s (ELI) latest brief in the monthly series, examines how geolocation is increasingly being applied to infrastructure components and end-user devices for the purpose of knowing where people are. This additional layer of location data can make resources much more useful to a broad range of users.

Browse the complete 7 Things You Should Know About… monthly series.

ELI Releases New White Paper on Collaboration Tools

pkurkowski — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:00:07 -0500

ELI has released a new white paper, Collaboration Tools, by Cyprien P. Lomas (The University of British Columbia), Michael Burke (The University of Tennessee), and Carie Lee Page (EDUCAUSE). This paper discusses how easily accessible and user-friendly collaboration tools allow students to explore, share, engage, and connect with people and content in meaningful ways that help them learn. By relying on the familiar ways students use these tools, faculty can enable new forms of communication and engagement in the classroom, permitting extensions and variations of the informal interactions already occurring in classrooms and hallways, and creating new frontiers for collaboration across geographic boundaries.

New ELI 7 Things... Brief Explores Wii

pkurkowski — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:26:51 -0500

The Wii is a video game system that uses a wireless controller capable of sensing position and motion, allowing users to interact with the game applications through physical movements. The controller has captured the interest of academic researchers and hackers, who have used the technology to create applications such as a collaborative choreography tool and an inexpensive, interactive whiteboard.

The 7 Things You Should Know About Wii, EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative’s (ELI) latest brief in the monthly series, examines how Wii technology is used as an input device in virtual worlds and as a training tool that allows learners to perform physical tasks in a digital, risk-free environment.

Browse the complete 7 Things You Should Know About… monthly series.

New ELI 7 Things... Brief Explores Second Life

pkurkowski — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:21:23 -0500

Second Life is a virtual world with tens of millions of square meters of virtual lands, more than 13 million "residents," and a thriving economy. The ease in which users can build and modify virtual spaces has made it an attractive choice for experiments in learning space design and educational experiences such as virtual field trips or the creation of galleries to display student-created media. The 7 Things You Should Know About Second Life, EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative’s (ELI) latest brief in the monthly series, examines how Second Life lets educators easily build and modify learning spaces to test how different strategies for a physical space affect learning and how a similar approach can be taken toward educational activities in those spaces.

Browse the complete 7 Things You Should Know About… monthly series.

June 5: Free Web Seminar on the 2008 Horizon Report's Emerging Technologies

pkurkowski — Thu, 29 May 2008 12:25:48 -0500

Planning for emerging technologies is an important part of much of the work people do supporting IT in higher education. The Horizon Report can assist with this effort, as it identifies "emerging technologies likely to have a large impact on teaching, learning, or creative expression within learning-focused institutions."

In this free June 5 EDUCAUSE Live! web seminar, The Horizon Report, Inside and Out, presenters Malcolm Brown, director of academic computing, Dartmouth College, and Julie Little, interim director, EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative, will explore how this annual publication, a joint undertaking of the New Media Consortium and ELI, is produced and structured. They will also examine the community resources available through the Horizon Project and share ways in which people can put the report to work at their institutions.

Access the 2008 Horizon Report.

Those unable to attend may wish to visit the archives after the event.

New ELI 7 Things... Brief Explores Multi-Touch Interfaces

pkurkowski — Tue, 27 May 2008 13:50:23 -0500

Multi-touch interfaces are input devices that recognize two or more simultaneous touches, allowing one or more users to interact with computer applications through various gestures created by fingers on a surface. Multi-touch technology introduces users to swipes, pinches, rotations, and other actions that allow for richer, more immediate interaction with digital content. The 7 Things You Should Know About Multi-Touch Interfaces, EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative’s (ELI) latest brief in the monthly series, examines how these devices and supporting applications offer diverse ways of visualizing information to improve understanding, as well as facilitating new ways to foster collaborative creation, permitting several users to work simultaneously on a single screen.

Browse the complete 7 Things You Should Know About… monthly series.

New ELI 7 Things... Brief Explores Ning

pkurkowski — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 17:25:10 -0500

Ning is an online service where users create their own social networks and join and participate in other networks. No technical skill is required to set up a social network, and there are no limits to the number of networks a user can join. The 7 Things You Should Know About Ning, EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative’s (ELI) latest brief in the monthly series, examines how Ning allows instructors to use social networks in a neutral setting to help facilitate a strong sense of community among students and encourage personal interactions that can lead to the creation of new knowledge.

Browse the complete 7 Things You Should Know About… monthly series.

New ELI 7 Things... Brief Explores Google Apps

pkurkowski — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:53:11 -0500

Google Apps is a collection of web-based programs and file storage that run in a web browser. The applications include communication tools (Gmail, Google Talk, and Google Calendar), productivity tools (Google Docs: text files, spreadsheets, and presentations), a customizable start page (iGoogle), and Google Sites (to develop web pages). Google stores all of the files and content centrally and keeps a record of the different versions of a file. The 7 Things You Should Know About Google Apps, EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative’s (ELI) latest brief in the monthly series, examines how Google Apps makes sharing content as simple as granting someone access, which facilitates collaboration, peer review of academic materials, and the collective generation of knowledge.

Browse the complete 7 Things You Should Know About… monthly series.

EDUCAUSE Now - Show #1 - Premiere Episode

gbayne — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 01:46:49 -0500

Welcome to the premiere episode of EDUCAUSE Now!

EDUCAUSE Now is a monthly podcast, focusing on the intelligent use of information technology in higher education. Each episode features a variety of stories, interviews, and views that relate to IT in higher education. EDUCAUSE Now will also inform you about upcoming events, report on past events, and feature the movers and shakers in policy, teaching and learning, security, and a whole host of other important topics for our members. Let us know what you would like to hear at podcast@educause.edu.

This episode of EDUCAUSE Now features:

The EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research (ECAR) Study entitled, "Service on the Front Line: The IT Help Desk in Higher Education"
We talk about some of the surprising findings with ECAR Fellow and author of the study, Mark Sheehan.
ELI in Conversation: Future Learning
A conversation between George Siemens, director of the Learning Technologies Centre at the University of Manitoba, and Michael Wesch, assistant professor of cultural anthropology at Kansas State University. This conversation was recorded at the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative 2008 Annual Meeting. George Siemens is the author of "Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age", and - Michael Wesch has produced two important videos on Web 2.0, "Information R/evolution" and "The Machine is Us/ing Us." You can listen to the full length podcast of this conversation.
A Commentary from EDUCAUSE President Diana Oblinger.
Diana introduces herself as the new president of EDUCAUSE and provides some background information on her career path. She also speaks about her vision for the future of EDUCAUSE.
The EDUCAUSE Policy Office: Update
We check in with EDUCAUSE Vice President Mark Luker regarding current hot topics -- federal broadband policy, net neutrality, and peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing. You can read the EDUCAUSE report, "A Blueprint for Big Broadband", and visit the talking points for P2P filesharing issues.
Music for EDUCAUSE Now:
- "Groove IT" by Denis Kitchen
- "Lorge" by El Ten Eleven
- "Guitar Suite I, Movement I" by Dan Tharp

New ELI Brief Explores Interactive Photo-Sharing Website

pkurkowski — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 12:47:54 -0600

Flickr is a photo-sharing website where anyone can upload and tag photos, browse others' photos, and add comments and annotations. It provides a platform for sharing creative work and allows users to engage in a conversation about a photo, building a sense of community and enabling collective knowledge construction. The 7 Things You Should Know About Flickr, EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative’s (ELI) latest brief in the monthly series, examines how Flickr embodies what has come to be known as Web 2.0 technology.

Browse the complete 7 Things You Should Know About… monthly series.

Wider Access to ELI Discovery Tools Now Available

pkurkowski — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 12:03:37 -0600

EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) Discovery Tools on blogging, podcasting, Net Generation, and learning spaces are now available to non-ELI members.

ELI Discovery Tools help people move ideas into action on campus by equipping them with the concepts and practical guidance to advance their goals, whether it’s a technology implementation, faculty or staff workshop, or any other teaching and learning project. “ELI Discovery Tools focus on student learning and are designed to save you time in creating professional development events, understanding and applying technology, and gathering student/faculty input,” said Julie Little, ELI Interim Director.

ELI 2008 Spring Focus Session: View Full Program and Register

pkurkowski — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 17:12:43 -0600

The full program is now available for the ELI 2008 Spring Focus Session, "Real-World and Technology Rich: Learning by Doing, Learning in Context," being held March 18–19 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Register by February 19 to save money with low, early-bird rates.

Some of the featured sessions and speakers will include:

Making Learning Real: Turning Sim City into "Sim Science"!
Tuesday, March 18, 1:45–2:30 p.m.
Diane Jass Ketelhut, Assistant Professor of Science Education, Temple University
Authentic Learning in History and Social Sciences: How "Real" Can We Make the Classroom Experience?
Wednesday, March 19, 8:15–9:00 a.m.
Scot A. French, Associate Professor/Director, University of Virginia
Authentic Critical Reflection: Critique_It in Second Life
Wednesday, March 19, 9:30–10:15 a.m.
Michael Connors, Associate Professor, Digital Printmaking, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Other focus session offerings will include student perspective videos, digital documentaries, project parlors, and more. View the full program for more details.

Wed., Jan. 30: Live, Streaming Sessions from the ELI Annual Meeting

lgesner — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 17:53:19 -0600

Announcing two live, streaming conference sessions tomorrow from the ELI 2008 Annual Meeting in San Antonio:

Sarah "Intellagirl" Robbins, Jan. 30, 9:00 a.m. ET, "Virtual Worlds as Web 2.0 Learning Spaces," in which she will discuss Second Life, its use as a learning space, and its predictive role in the future of learning.
Bob Young, Jan. 30, 11:45 a.m. ET, "Educational Publishing: Moving from the 18th to the 21st Century in One Step," in which he will look at today's competitive education industry and how to efficiently deliver more relevant information to our students.

Tune in to these and other conference sessions. Check out more conference highlights, including blogging, Twitter, and other buzz on the Net.

ELI thanks Sonic Foundry, An EDUCAUSE Silver Partner, for their assistance in recording the general and featured presentations.

2008 Horizon Report Profiles Six Key Emerging Technologies

cluckett — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 12:10:13 -0600

2008 Horizon Report

The 2008 Horizon Report, released today at the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) Annual Meeting in San Antonio, TX, spotlights six emerging technologies that are likely to have a significant impact on higher education in the next one to five years, presenting an overview accompanied by examples and suggested readings for each technology. The report is based on research by the New Media Consortium (NMC) and is a collaborative effort of the NMC and ELI. Read the press release for more information.

ELI 2008 Spring Focus Session: Register Now

pkurkowski — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 16:30:43 -0600

The ELI 2008 Spring Focus Session, "Real-World and Technology Rich: Learning by Doing, Learning in Context," will be held March 18–19 in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The conference program will address these topics and more:

What it means for students to “learn by doing” and “learn in context”
The value of using authentic activities and information technologies to support student learning
Projects that model best practices
Assessment strategies tailored to these experiential learning environments

View a list of speakers and register by February 19 to save money with low, early-bird rates.

Tag for ELI 2008 Annual Meeting Entries

jcummings — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 09:38:42 -0600

This posting is intended to establish a common tag for Connect entries related to the upcoming ELI 2008 Annual Meeting, Connecting and Reflecting: Preparing Learners for Life 2.0. The conference is scheduled for January 28-30, 2008, at the Hyatt Regency San Antonio-Riverwalk in San Antonio, Texas.

When posting content from or related to the conference in Connect, please be sure to tag it with:

ELIAnnual08

This will ensure your content appears on the Connect page for the event and is available to the larger community sharing ideas and reflections related to the conference.

Podcast: Prisms Around Student Learning: Information Literacy, IT Fluency, and Media Literacy

gbayne — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 11:52:58 -0500

In this 37 minute podcast, we feature the opening plenary session from the ELI Fall 2007 Focus Session. The speaker is Craig Gibson, Associate University Librarian at George Mason University. His speech is entitled, "Prisms Around Student Learning: Information Literacy, IT Fluency, and Media Literacy"

The family of literacies now promoted in higher education (information literacy, IT fluency, and media and visual literacies) continues to multiply. These educational agendas call for more pervasive collaboration among all stakeholders (faculty, administrators, librarians, technologists, student life staff, assessment specialists, and others) because of conceptual and programmatic linkages and convergences among them. The blending of these literacies can become a catalyst that taps into student learning and engagement at a deep level and effects cultural change within and across institutions.

New ELI Brief Explores Twitter

ecoghlan — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 10:34:18 -0500

A quick snapshot of Twitter, a microblogging and social networking site, is presented in 7 Things You Should Know About Twitter, a new EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) brief. It also highlights Twitter's potential value for teaching and learning.

ELI Video Delves into Immersive Learning Environments

ecoghlan — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 10:30:14 -0500

The pedagogical applications of online games, simulations, virtual worlds, and other immersive environments are discussed in the new full-length video from ELI, Immersive Learning Environments: New Paths to Interaction and Engagement. The video draws on the ELI 2007 Spring Focus Session on this topic and includes discussions by Gary R. Bertoline, Phillip D. Long, Constance Steinkeuhler, Richard Van Eck, and others.

ELI 2007 Fall Focus Session Tag

jcummings — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 10:03:30 -0500

I'm making this entry to establish the common tag for event content from the ELI 2007 Fall Focus Session, "Being Net Savvy: Developing Skills for a Rapidly Changing World." All participants developing blog entries, posting photos, creating podcasts, etc., from the focus session are encouraged to tag their entries in Connect with:

ELI07NetSavvySession

This will ensure those entries are aggregated on the event page created by the tag.

If you would like to submit content but don't already have a Connect account, please see the Connect FAQ, which provides directions to do so.

Authentic learning: some great examples

dianao — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 14:57:02 -0500

For the last few months, ELI has been focusing on authentic learning--learning by doing rather than learning by listening. Authentic learning allows students to use the practices of professionals to gain experience, understanding and motivation. ELI just released the second white paper in its Authentic Learning series: "Approaches that Work: How Authentic Learning is Transforming Higher Education" (see http://connect.educause.edu/library/abstract/ApproachesThatWorkHo/44821). The paper provides multiple examples of how colleges and universities are using these unique environments to improve student engagement and knowledge.

Indications are that this type of hands-on, participatory learning is particularly important for students who may not be highly engaged by more traditional lecture environments. Reaching these less engaged students is critically important. As I learned from colleagues who focus on workforce issues, we are going to need all the successful college graduates we can find. Projections are that most states are going to need to "import" degree holders to meet their workforce needs. If they don't find enough qualified employees, the state economy will suffer. But where will we import the college graduates from? If most states are short of graduates, we can't get them from each other. We can't count on greater numbers of non-domestic students are staying in the US after graduation--their opportunities at home are bright. If we can't "import" more degree holders, perhaps we need to improve our graduation rates. If authentic learning can help motivate students and ensure they are more successful, then there is one more important reason to consider authentic learning.

ELI Fall Focus Session on Net Savvy, Aug. 15-16 in Boulder

ecoghlan — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 18:57:41 -0500

How can you prepare your students to be responsible, self-directed, lifelong learners, who understand the implications of how they use information and technology? Explore answers to this question at the ELI 2007 Fall Focus Session, Being Net Savvy: Developing Skills for a Rapidly Changing World, August 15–16 in Boulder, Colorado. The event will be held at the new ATLAS building at the University of Colorado at Boulder. You can view the program, speakers, and session readings online. If you plan to participate, register by July 18 and reserve your accommodation by July 14 to receive discounted rates.

ELI White Paper on Authentic Learning

ecoghlan — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 13:50:03 -0500

The Internet and a variety of emerging communication, visualization, and simulation technologies now make it possible to offer students authentic learning experiences ranging from experimentation to real-world problem solving. Explore authentic learning, what it is, how technology can support it, what makes it effective, and why it is important in Authentic Learning for the 21st Century: An Overview, by Marilyn M. Lombardi, ELI scholar-in-residence and director of the RENCI Center and senior IT strategist at Duke University. This piece is part of the ELI white paper series.

7 Things You Should Know About Wikipedia

ecoghlan — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 13:24:18 -0500

Wikipedia—a free, online encyclopedia that anyone can contribute to and edit—is one of the most visited Web sites in the United States, with millions of articles in multiple languages. For a quick overview and the challenges and benefits it presents for teaching and learning, read 7 Things You Should Know About Wikipedia, the latest brief from the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative.

Gary R. Bertoline on Cyberinfrastructure-Enabled Learning Environments

gbayne — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 12:25:34 -0500

In this podcast of “ Cyberinfrastructure-Enabled Learning Environments for Gen Z,” Gary R. Bertoline, distinguished professor of computer graphics and assistant dean at Purdue University, discusses the ways cyberinfrastructure is positioned to revolutionize learning as it has already revolutionized scientific research. He outlines how computation, visualization, storage, and high-speed networks can bring together the best of traditional pedagogy with new paradigms that reflect our times.

This was presented as a general session at Immersive Learning Environments: New Paths to Interaction and Engagement, the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative's Spring 2007 Focus Session, held at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation in Raleigh, North Carolina, March 27–28, 2007. Additional resources from the event, including session recordings and audio interviews, video, presentation materials, and photos, also are available online.

Implementing Immersive Learning Environments—Panel Discussion

ecoghlan — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 01:06:26 -0500

This podcast presents a panel discussion with four experts on immersive learning environments (ILEs), covering the operational aspects of implementing an ILE, including infrastructure, user support, and pedagogical and policy requirements. The panelists for this session, “The Bar May Not Be as High as You Expect: Considerations in Implementing an Immersive Learning Environment,” were:

Phillip D. Long, Associate Director, Office of Educational Innovation and Technology, MIT
Jeffrey K. Sarbaum, Assistant Professor, Economics, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Heidi Trotta, Instructional Designer, Seton Hall University
Moderator: Alan Levine, Director, Member and Technology Resources, The New Media Consortium (NMC)

The discussion was presented as a general session at Immersive Learning Environments: New Paths to Interaction and Engagement, the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative's Spring 2007 Focus Session, held at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation in Raleigh, North Carolina, March 27–28, 2007. Additional resources from the event, including session recordings and audio interviews, video, presentation materials, and photos, also are available online.

ELI Brief Focuses on RSS and Its Teaching Potential

ecoghlan — Sat, 12 May 2007 14:56:46 -0500

Would you like to know what RSS is—or simply find a way to explain it well to others? Read 7 Things You Should Know About RSS from the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI). This brief provides a jargon-free overview of RSS as well as tips on how to use it for teaching and learning. It is part of the 7 Things You Should Know About... briefing series from ELI.

New ELI Briefs on Creative Commons Licenses and Open Journaling

ecoghlan — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 18:10:46 -0500

Find out how Creative Commons copyright licenses offer greater flexibility for both intellectual property owners and users than traditional copyright in the 7 Things You Should Know About Creative Commons brief from the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI). Another recent ELI brief, 7 Things You Should Know About Open Journaling, spotlights how open journaling tools can be used for publishing peer-reviewed journals online. Browse the complete 7 Things You Should Know About… monthly series.

ELI Immersive Learning Environments Focus Session--March 27-28, Raleigh

ecoghlan — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 13:50:56 -0600

How can immersive learning environments (ILEs)—virtual reality, games, simulations, and the like—be used to support teaching and learning? Find out at the ELI Spring Focus Session 2007, March 27–28 in Raleigh, North Carolina. The session will cover:

The effective pedagogical uses of ILEs and their impact on learner engagement
The interactive capabilities of ILEs that encourage the development of creative thinking and problem-solving skills through direct engagement
Implementation issues, such as design challenges, technical constraints, curriculum integration, and faculty development

View the program and speaker list.

NOTE: EVENT NOW SOLD OUT.

Digital Storytelling Spotlighted in Latest ELI Brief

ecoghlan — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 15:21:42 -0600

In the new 7 Things You Should Know About Digital Storytelling brief from the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI), you'll learn about the practice of combining narrative with digital content and its potential value for a variety of teaching and learning settings. Browse the other briefs in the 7 Things You Should Know About... series and the many other ELI resources on teaching, learning, and technology.

Nobody Learns from Comfort--Including Students

fritzumbc — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 12:30:18 -0600

I "get it" that new learners are digital natives, but I worry a tad about falling all over ourselves to adapt what higher education does best: critical reflection and self awareness. I don't want to be a catalyst for an unthinking, lemming-like lunge over the ever-rising cliff of new media "edutainment." We can NEVER compete with the education industry's resources to create "junk," as Chris Dede pointed out today. Should we even try? Isnt' this an arms race we can't win?

After today's general session, I heard a good nugget from my Frye 2005 colleague Barron Koralesky at McCalaster Collge: "People don't learn from a position of comfort, but if you make it safe for them to try, they can do it." This is a good support strategy in our dealings with faculty "learning" to adopt technology into their teaching and learning pedagogy. But I think the same could be applied to today's tech-saturated students. I know it's important to meet people where they are, but we must remember to take them where they are not. I'd even say students and faculty can learn from each other in a true partnership.

I admit, I don't understand the world of today's multi-tasking, highly connected students who play games and communicate 24/7, almost in single-celled, Borg-like communities. But if we meet them half-way and try to understand what they do natively, can we expect them to hold up their end of the bargain and attend to the difficult process of hewing out an identity? They may need to unplug, reflect and discover their own voice, and who they are as individuals.

I know I sound like a crank: I'm a bit geeky myself. But as I look back on my own rich and very "analog" college education, I just don't want to underestimate the unique role higher education plays in society. Our students need to reflect and find their own voice to be productive citizens, parents, employees, partners, neighbors and friends. I'm all for using technology toward this higher purpose, but we may need to remind ourselves what that feels and looks like periodically, too.

Climbing off the soap box,

John Fritz
University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Horizon Report from New Media Consortium and EDUCAUSE Identifies Six Learning Technologies to Watch

cluckett — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 12:50:58 -0600

The 2007 Horizon Report spotlights six emerging technologies that are likely to have a significant impact on higher education in the next one to five years, presenting an overview accompanied by examples and suggested readings for each technology. The report is based on research by the New Media Consortium (NMC) and is a collaborative effort of the NMC and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative. Read the press release for more information.

Bryan Alexander on Ubiquitous Computing

jcummings — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 18:05:30 -0600

In my final preconference interview before the ELI 2007 Annual Meeting, I talk with Bryan Alexander, Director of Research for the National Institute for Technology and Liberal Education (NITLE). Alexander is presenting the 3:00-4:00 PM featured session on Monday, January 22; his topic is "First-Generation Ubiquitous Computing: Social, Mobile, and Gamelike."

Our conversation starts with Alexander explaining what NITLE is and what it does, and how his role as research director allows him to explore emerging trends in teaching, learning, and technology. He then discusses some examples of how gaming, social software, and mobile technologies are converging to create the ubiquitous computing environment of which he speaks. Alexander also highlights the implications this developing environment holds for higher education, as well as the importance of gaining and maintaining historical perspective on these changes.

For more information about NITLE, please see http://www.nitle.org.

Smith & Lomas on the 2007 Horizon Report

jcummings — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 16:24:11 -0600

Continuing my preconference interview series for the 2007 ELI Annual Meeting, I spoke with Rachel Smith and Cyprien Lomas on Friday, January 12, about their upcoming featured session at the conference.

Smith is Director of Special Projects and Publications for the New Media Consortium (NMC), while Lomas serves as an ELI Scholar in Residence and Director of the Learning Centre in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at the University of British Columbia. Their featured session will take place from 4:30-5:30 PM on Monday, January 22, and they will be joined in conducting the session by Larry Johnson, CEO of NMC, and Diana Obinger, EDUCAUSE Vice President and ELI Director.

In the interview, Smith provides some background on NMC while Lomas reviews the key aspects of the partnership between NMC and ELI around the development of the Horizon Report. Smith and Lomas also explain the report's approach to highlighting emerging technologies likely to have a significant impact on teaching, learning, and creative expression. Finally, each of them discusses the finding from the 2007 Horizon Report they find the most compelling.

The 2007 Horizon Report will be released publicly at the 2007 ELI Annual Meeting. It will be made available after the conference from both the NMC (http://www.nmc.org/horizon/index.shtml) and the ELI (http://www.educause.edu/ELIResources/10220#horizon) Web sites.

Latest ELI White Papers Explore Web Savvy and Information Fluency

ecoghlan — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 18:34:01 -0600

The EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative has taken on information fluency and Web savvy in the Net Gen age in three recent white papers:

E-Books, Student Success, and Interactive Spaces Spotlighted in ELI Briefs

ecoghlan — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 18:26:52 -0600

The EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative’s 7 Things You Should Know About E-Books offers a quick introduction to the potential instructional value of e-books. Two new ELI Innovations & Implementations case study briefs present snapshots of the Student Success Initiative at Montgomery County Community College and the Learning Grid at the University of Warwick.

New ELI Resources on Wiki Applications and Information Literacy

ecoghlan — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 23:57:57 -0600

Two new white papers on ensuring today's students are Web savvy, as well as an Innovations & Implementations case study brief on USC Confluence, a campus-wide academic wiki service, are now available from the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI).

New ELI Briefs on Google Earth, YouTube, and Texas' Polaris Portfolio System

ecoghlan — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 18:57:59 -0600

Find out more about the educational potential of Google Earth and YouTube in the latest ELI 7 Things You Should Know About… briefs. Also, the latest ELI Insights and Innovations offers a quick snapshot of the Polaris online portfolio system at the University of Texas at Austin.

New ELI Case Studies on the Open Learning Initiative and Mekong e-Sim

ecoghlan — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 19:43:05 -0500

The Mekong e-Sim cross-disciplinary online role-play simulation and the Open Learning Initiative's stand-alone online courses are covered in the latest ELI Innovations & Implementations case studies.

7 Things You Should Know About Mapping Mashups

ecoghlan — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 19:38:38 -0500

The 7 Things You Should Know About Mapping Mashups brief by ELI spotlights the use of online mapping services to display customized, clickable markers showing points of interest and related information.

ELI White Paper on Technology Assessment

ecoghlan — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 19:34:09 -0500

Technology and Learning: Defining What You Want to Assess, the latest white paper from ELI, sheds light on technology assessment by looking at the various ways it can be defined and approached as well as by setting realistic expectations for what it can address.

Virtual Worlds and UBC's Ancient Spaces Covered in Latest ELI Briefs

ecoghlan — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 10:09:51 -0500

Quick overviews of the educational potential of virtual worlds and the University of British Columbia’s Ancient Spaces program are available in two new briefs from ELI.

Two New ELI Briefs on Remote Instrumentation and Cornell's SciFair

ecoghlan — Tue, 02 May 2006 11:15:19 -0500

Cornell's SciFair virtual worlds project and remote instrumentation—or the control of scientific instruments from remote locations—are covered in two new briefs from the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative.

Horizon Report Names Important Emerging Technologies

ecoghlan — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 17:05:15 -0600

The 2006 Horizon Report spotlights six emerging technologies that are likely to have a significant impact on higher education in the next one to five years, presenting an overview accompanied by examples and suggested readings for each technology. The report is based on research by the New Media Consortium (NMC) and is a collaborative effort of the NMC and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative.

7 Things You Should Know about Grid Computing

ecoghlan — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 18:24:22 -0600

A snapshot of what grid computing is and its value to teaching and learning is offered in a new ELI brief, 7 Things You Should Know About Grid Computing.

Collaborative Editing Spotlighted In Latest ELI Brief

ecoghlan — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 16:54:50 -0600

What is collaborative editing, and why does it matter to teaching and learning in higher education? Find out in 7 Things You Should Know About Collaborative Editing, a new brief from the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI).

VP Oblinger Receives Distinguished Service Award

ecoghlan — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 15:56:51 -0600

EDUCAUSE Vice President and Director of the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative Diana G. Oblinger has been honored with the National University Telecommunications Network 2006 Distinguished Service Award.