EDUCAUSE | Students

Computer Security Student Video

drupal — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:25:26 -0600

The largest group of victims of identity theft is between the ages of 18 and 29. Students need to understand the risks and how to protect their personal information, computer, and campus networks. Student winners, faculty, and judges will discuss how you can use the resources of the Computer Security Awareness Video Contest to raise awareness on your campus and get students involved in the 2009 competition.

Encouraging Colleges to Look Within

ckeller — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:33:35 -0600

The National Survey of Student Engagement — an annual report providing comparative data on student experiences at four-year institutions nationwide — is entering its 10th year. Now that the survey is reaching what some consider a critical mass of participants, this year’s report finds that variations in educational quality are more prevalent within institutions than among them. As a result, NSSE officials argue that holistic assessments, such as theirs, provide a more accurate comparison than do those using institution-wide averages.

Thinking Outside the Virtual Classroom

drupal — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:42:55 -0600

Educating our students is certainly our priority, but how can we connect learners to each other in a way that provides more opportunities for personal growth, networking, and connections? By taking advantage of virtual spaces like Facebook, Twitter, and Second Life, we give our students space to learn outside the classroom.

Crafting a Campus Identity: First-Year Students, Residential Life, and Social Networking

drupal — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:22:11 -0600

This session reports on a study exploring the relationship between the use of social networking applications and campus life. Online survey data from 3,000 first-year students living on campus describes how students use Facebook to create academic and social identities. We will discuss the institutional implications of social networking on recruitment, retention, and campus academic technology.

Meeting or Managing? Responding to Student Expectations Through Policy and Practice

drupal — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:36:41 -0600

Students are increasingly demanding and expecting more from e-learning provision. Based on data collected over five years, this session will explore trends in student e-learning expectations at a U.K. university, outlining the main themes that emerged from the study and how these have been used to develop policy and practice.

Answering the Value Question: Does Technology Impact Student Success?

drupal — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 08:49:29 -0600

In measuring the value of IT as it relates to student success, a recent study at 16 community colleges examined student technology skills, usage patterns, and preferences for technology at their institution. Many significant findings revealed a strong connection between student technology characteristics and student academic success.

Disconnects Between Learning Management Systems and Millennial Generation User Expectations

drupal — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 12:12:01 -0500

Educational technologists and librarians will follow up their well-received EDUCAUSE 2007 panel session on library disconnects to focus on millennial user expectations concerning learning management systems. Bringing together a diverse set of perspectives and outside-the-box thinkers, this session will feature panelist discussion interspersed with new media demonstrations and audience participation.

Tomorrow's Students, Today's K - 12 Digital Learners: Are You Ready for Them?

drupal — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 09:15:39 -0500

Since 2003, the Speak Up National Research Project has collected authentic feedback about technology and education from over 1.1 million K–12 students. Learn about the expectations of today's digital learners for 21st-century learning environments, and how you can be prepared to address the technology needs of your future students.

Assessing the Student Experience in Second Life

drupal — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:00:20 -0500

For several years, educational innovators have experimented with using virtual worlds such as Second Life to enhance student learning. Though many of these implementations seem successful, few have incorporated structured assessment. This panel brings together practitioners from four institutions that have conducted such assessments to discuss their results.

This session will be simulcast in Second Life.

The World War II Poster Project: Building Information Literacy Through Collaboration

drupal — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:05:34 -0500

As information literacy is incorporated into accreditation standards, the teaching of these skills is becoming a broader campus concern. In this session, we will present the World War II Poster Project, a unit developed collaboratively by faculty and members of the library/IT staff to address these skills.

Social Media and Education: The Conflict Between Technology and Institutional Education, and the Future

drupal — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:10:01 -0500

Today's technology enables users to form and join communities of common interest to learn and share information. In opposition to the privileged learning spaces of higher education, social media encourage learners to seek out their own answers and construct knowledge as a community rather than as individuals. Twitter, Flickr, Facebook, and Second Life offer new learning spaces, but how do they fit into the learning expectations of institutions?

Fostering Learning in the Networked World: The Cyberlearning Opportunity and Challenge

drupal — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:05:20 -0500

Imagine a freshman college student in the year 2015. She has grown up in a world where learning is as accessible through technologies at home as it is in the classroom, and digital content is as real to her as paper, lab equipment, or textbooks. In high school, she and her classmates engaged in creative problem-solving activities by manipulating simulations in a virtual laboratory or by downloading and analyzing visualizations of real-time data from remote sensors. Away from the classroom, she has had seamless access to school materials and homework assignments using inexpensive mobile technologies. She continues to collaborate with her classmates in virtual environments that allow not only social interaction with each other but also rich connections with a wealth of supplementary content. Her teacher has tracked her progress over the course of a lesson plan and compared her performance across a lifelong digital portfolio, making note of areas that need additional attention through personalized assignments and alerting parents to specific concerns. What makes this possible is cyberlearning, the use of networked computing and communications technologies to support learning. Cyberlearning has the potential to transform education by enabling customized interaction with diverse learning materials on any topic, from anthropology to zoology. Todays students already enter the university with high expectations for the use of technology in their learning and for maintaining relationships with their high school classmates, wherever they may have scattered for college or career. The educational system must respond dynamically to prepare our population for the complex, evolving, global challenges of the 21st century. Advances in technology are poised to meet these educational demands. Cyberlearning offers new learning and educational approaches and the possibility of redistributing learning experiences over time and space, beyond the classroom and throughout a lifetime. This talk will present the report of the National Science Foundation Task Force on Cyberlearning and its implications for higher education.

Can One Institutional Calendar, Used Creatively, Boost Retention?

drupal — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 14:22:13 -0500

The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee needs to improve retention of freshman students. We have creatively used technology to strengthen communication and social networking, and our retention numbers are steadily improving. Can a research university use an old friend—the enterprise calendar—to produce even better results?

Just Published: The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2008

cluckett — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 17:23:17 -0500

EDUCAUSE announces a new EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research (ECAR) study, The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2008, by Gail Salaway and Judith Borreson Caruso, with Mark R. Nelson and an introduction by Nicole B. Ellison. This 2008 ECAR research study is a longitudinal extension of the 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 ECAR studies of students and information technology. The study is based on quantitative data from a spring 2008 survey of 27,317 freshmen and seniors at 90 four-year institutions and eight two-year institutions. Because of the topic's critical importance, ECAR has made the full study, as well as key findings and roadmap, publicly available to all. Visit ECAR on the web.

The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2008—Roadmap

ckeller — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 11:20:15 -0500

This ECAR roadmap synthesizes the important issues and recommended actions drawn from The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2008, by Gail Salaway and Judith Borreson Caruso, with Mark R. Nelson. This 2008 ECAR research study is a longitudinal extension of the 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 ECAR studies of students and information technology. The study is based on quantitative data from a spring 2008 survey of 27,317 freshmen and seniors at 90 four-year institutions and eight two-year institutions; student focus groups that included input from 75 students at four institutions; and analysis of qualitative data from 5,877 written responses to open-ended questions. In addition to studying student ownership, experience, behaviors, preferences, and skills with respect to information technologies, the 2008 study also includes a special focus on student participation in social networking sites.

Citation for this work: Caruso, Judith Borreson and Gail Salaway. “The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2008 Roadmap” (Roadmap). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, 2008, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2008—Key Findings

ckeller — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:15:25 -0500

This document presents the key findings of The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2008, by Gail Salaway and Judith Borreson Caruso, with Mark R. Nelson. This 2008 ECAR research study is a longitudinal extension of the 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 ECAR studies of students and information technology. The study is based on quantitative data from a spring 2008 survey of 27,317 freshmen and seniors at 90 four-year institutions and eight two-year institutions; student focus groups that included input from 75 students at four institutions; and analysis of qualitative data from 5,877 written responses to open-ended questions. In addition to studying student ownership, experience, behaviors, preferences, and skills with respect to information technologies, the 2008 study also includes a special focus on student participation in social networking sites.

Citation for this work: Caruso, Judith Borreson and Gail Salaway. “The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2008—Key Findings” (Key Findings). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, 2008, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2008

ckeller — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:22:00 -0500

This 2008 ECAR research study is a longitudinal extension of the 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 ECAR studies of students and information technology. The study is based on quantitative data from a spring 2008 survey of 27,317 freshmen and seniors at 90 four-year institutions and eight two-year institutions; student focus groups that included input from 75 students at four institutions; and analysis of qualitative data from 5,877 written responses to open-ended questions. In addition to studying student ownership, experience, behaviors, preferences, and skills with respect to information technologies, the 2008 study also includes a special focus on student participation in social networking sites.

Citation for this work: Salaway, Gail and Caruso, Judith B., with Mark R. Nelson. The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2008 (Research Study, Vol. 8). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, 2008, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

Understanding Students Who Were ‘Born Digital’

ckeller — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:01:29 -0500

Authors of a new book from the Berkman Center at Harvard talk about technology in the classroom, digital literacy and changes in the library.

Sharing Your Notes Online — and Getting Paid for It

ckeller — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:18:28 -0500

A new Web site brings social networking and ad revenues to the traditional note-taking service, but the model could raise copyright issues.

E07 Podcast: Using Emerging Student-Centered Technologies to Enhance the Curriculum

gbayne — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:18:15 -0500

This fifty-one minute podcast features the session from the EDUCAUSE 2007 Annual Meeting. "Using Emerging Student-Centered Technologies to Enhance the Curriculum," consists of a report on the Digital Enhanced Learning Initiative (DELI), which explores how student-centered technologies can enhance students' academic experiences. Students in five freshman seminars received an iPod or a digital camera to complete course work. Students keep the technology in exchange for sharing information on their use during their remaining four years at the college. You can also view PowerPoint slides for this presentation.

This session is presented by:

W. Lee Hisle, Vice President for Information Services and Librarian of the College, Connecticut College
Chris Penniman, Director, Instructional Technology, Connecticut College
Session convener: Sherida Downer, Coordinator, Educational Media and Technology Department, Auburn University

Virtual Worlds as Digital Playgrounds

ckeller — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:57:41 -0500

The ACT experience is designed to immerse students in a high-tech playground where they can acquire civic knowledge and skills, as well as experiment with civic behaviors and democratic participation.

Keeping Track of Students, and Staying in Touch

ckeller — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:19:37 -0500

A start-up company from a former Blackboard executive is positioning itself to help colleges boost retention with communication tools ... and lots of data.

EDUCAUSE Now - Show #6 - Back To School: Helicopter Parents & Emergency Notification Systems

gbayne — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 10:35:01 -0500

Welcome to our back-to-school 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. Let us know what you would like to hear at podcast@educause.edu.

Subscribe to EDUCAUSE NOW RSS feed

This episode of EDUCAUSE Now features:

Helicopter Parents and Technology
(01:18–12:32)
The term “helicopter parents” refers to parents that are overly involved in their child’s life, usually at an educational institution. Why do some parents have trouble letting go once their child is ready to leave the home for university? Can technology help parents feel connected? We speak with three professionals that have extensive contact with parents and students:
Barrie Smith is the founder of MOFchat dot com, a support website for parents who are having difficulty adjusting to their children being on their own at school.
Terry Winters has been the Director for Academic Technology in the department of Computing & Information Services at the University of New Hampshire since 1996. She has been key in developing a Blackboard portal for parents, allowing them to access to instant bill pay and information on parent's association and student life at the university.
Tracy Mitrano is Director of IT Policy and University Computer Policy and Law Program in the Office of Information Technologies at Cornell University and has extensive contact with both parents and students through her office.
A Commentary from EDUCAUSE President Diana Oblinger
(12:33–15:33)
Diana considers the various facets of openness in higher education.
Emergency Notification Systems - Everyone on the Same Page
(16:13–23:30)
Choosing and implementing an emergency notification system is a complex undertaking. We speak with Mark Katsouros, Director of Telecommunication & Network Services at the University of Iowa (which underwent tremendous flooding in June ’08), and Bruce Myers, Business and Technology Analyst at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. They give their thoughts on the multitude of considerations when taking a layered approach to emergency notification.

Music for EDUCAUSE Now:

”Groove IT” by Denis Kitchen
“Lapse” by Might Could
“F1-11” by Blues Garden
”Lorge” by El Ten Eleven

Students, Technology, and Learning: Strategies for Success—Proceedings

ckeller — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:20:47 -0500

Cosponsored by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), EDUCAUSE, and the University of Central Florida (UCF), the Students, Technology and Learning: Strategies for Success Conference (formerly the Key to Competitiveness) provides AASCU institutions with an opportunity to learn more about the next generation of students—a group with much greater expectations for the use of technology in higher education than previous generations. The event allows teams of presidents and senior institutional leaders to explore new ways of using technology to meet student expectations and more effectively serve the next generation learner.

Textbook Piracy Grows Online, Prompting a Counterattack From Publishers

ckeller — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:12:17 -0500

College students are increasingly downloading illegal copies of textbooks online, employing the same file-trading technologies used to download music and movies. Feeling threatened, book publishers are stepping up efforts to stop the online piracy.

What the Army Taught Me About Teaching

ckeller — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:25:27 -0500

The author has found that her military experience has proven to be good training for teaching ill prepared students.

Student Input in College Decision Making

ckeller — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:55:58 -0500

Students—often the largest group of users of institutional services—can be a pivotal voice in campus technology decisions involving outsourcing.

Assessing Learning and Scholarly Technologies: Lessons from an Institutional Survey

ckeller — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:00:11 -0500

Surveying the university community taught us about the importance of the process as well as the survey results.

Ford Policy Forum 2006

ckeller — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:24:17 -0500

Ford Policy Forum 2006 contains the papers presented and discussed at the Ford Policy Forum, held during the Forum’s 2005 Aspen Symposium. The Ford Policy Forum studies key economic issues affecting higher education and is designed to develop policy recommendations and initiatives. The 2005 Ford Policy Forum focused on racial, economic, and political diversity in higher education. Scholars include Marta Tienda, Shirley Ort, and Edwin Feulner. The monograph opens with an introduction by the Ford Policy Forum’s co-chairs, Michael McPherson of the Spencer Foundation and Morton Owen Schapiro of Williams College.

Exploring Tangible Benefits of e-Learning: Does Investment Yield Interest?

ckeller — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:40:38 -0500

The first decade of the 21st century is already on the wane and we stand at an interesting point as regards the use of technology to support and enhance learning and teaching. The fact that we still refer to much of this enhancement as e-learning (and still disagree about what the term actually means) signals that the relationship between technology and learning is not as yet an entirely comfortable one. e-Learning still carries with it a sense of something 'other' and few institutions can say that a sound understanding of available technologies, their capabilities and current examples of appropriate usage, forms a cornerstone of the curriculum design process.

Within the academic community there remains a sizable proportion of sceptics who question the value of some of the tools and approaches and perhaps an even greater proportion who are unaware of the full range of technological enhancements in current use. Amongst senior managers there is a concern that it is often difficult to quantify the returns achieved on the investment in such technologies.

On the other hand those in the vanguard of technical developments are already signalling the 'Death of the VLE' (Stiles 2007) and heralding a new set of approaches based on a different pedagogic outlook and on the underlying technologies and social and collaborative tools that are collectively labelled the Web 2.0 phenomenon.

Today's Clash of Cultures on Campuses and the Role IT Needs to Play

drupal — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 11:28:36 -0500

Campuses today face a growing number of clashing cultures. Faculty struggle with traditional methods of teaching in an environment where demands for flexibility and convenience are rising. Learners increasingly treat a college degree like a commodity. Battles rage over resources allocation. Politicians are exerting influence on campus operations and outcomes. This session will address these issues and the role IT departments need to play to help higher education not just survive, but thrive.

Podcast: Today's Clash of Cultures on Campuses and the Role IT Needs to Play

gbayne — Fri, 30 May 2008 22:12:34 -0500

This 47 minute podcast features a keynote address from the EDUCAUSE 2008 Enterprise Conference. The speech, "Today's Clash of Cultures on Campuses and the Role IT Needs to Play," is by Morris W. Beverage Jr., President of Lakeland Community College.

Campuses today face a growing number of clashing cultures. Faculty struggle with traditional methods of teaching in an environment where demands for flexibility and convenience are rising. Learners increasingly treat a college degree like a commodity. Battles rage over resource allocation. Politicians are exerting influence on campus operations and outcomes. This session addresses these issues and the role IT departments need to play to help higher education not just survive, but thrive.

Developing the IT Workforce at the University of South Australia

elilly — Fri, 30 May 2008 11:55:22 -0500

This ECAR case study complements the 2008 ECAR study by Philip J. Goldstein, Leading the IT Workforce in Higher Education. Developing the IT Workforce at the University of South Australia describes both the commitment of the University of South Australia (UniSA) to its workforce and the information technology organization’s successful effort to create and foster a high-performing IT team. Since its formation in 1991, UniSA faced exceptionally stiff challenges in transforming itself from a technical institute and college of advanced education into a comprehensive research-oriented university. This evolution brought with it workforce misalignments in both the academic and professional staff. With its longstanding and explicit commitment to equity and a great deal of foresight, UniSA’s leaders have established the institution’s reputation as an employer committed to the well-being of academic and professional staff even in the face of major competition in the turbulent financial environment and the local employment market.

Citation for this work: Dodds, Ted, and Richard N. Katz. “Developing the IT Workforce at the University of South Australia” (Case Study 2). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, 2008, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

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.

Tune In April 18 for a Free Web Seminar on Identity Management at Duke University

pkurkowski — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:04:50 -0500

The EDUCAUSE Live! Spotlight on Identity Management series is a six-month series that will feature one or two speakers from a campus that have analyzed or solved a problem in a way that many people will find instructive.

The meaning of "student" is evolving at Duke University in response to many institutional and faculty outreach efforts. This trend is mirrored at many of Duke's peer institutions. In this free seminar on April 18, The Evolving Definition of “Student”: Identity Management at Duke University, presenters Klara Jelinkova, Director, Computing Systems, and Lynne O’Brien, Director, Academic Technology and Instructional Services, Duke University, will discuss the issues, concepts, and solutions surrounding identity management proposed and implemented at Duke University.

The event is free, but registration is required and virtual seating is limited. Register now.

Growing up with Google - what it means to education

ckeller — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 13:24:55 -0500

Diana Oblinger explores the 'net generation' who can seamlessly move between their real and digital lives. Their behaviours, preferences and expectations may be very different from those of their teachers. Diana examines the characteristics of these learners, the possibilities offered by new technologies and the skills that an education system needs to provide for the 21st century. She also argues that we need to adapt to this rapidly evolving context and goes on to explore the implications for learning space design, assessment and learning and teaching.

U.S. Proposes New Rules on Student Privacy

ckeller — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:46:08 -0500

"The federal law designed to protect the privacy of students’ educational records has been under scrutiny and stress from a variety of angles in recent years, most recently from those concerned (in the wake of last year’s shootings at Virginia Tech) about whether the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act gives college officials sufficient latitude to report their fears about mentally ill students. "

One Collaboration Platform for All: How an Integrated E-Mail and Calendaring Solution Can Help Bolster Student Retention

drupal — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:29:55 -0500

The University of Wisconsin and Zimbra will discuss how they have led an effort at UWM to deploy high-quality enterprise collaboration tools and allow for the retirement of pockets of diverse, uncoordinated services. These efforts have focused on cost-effectiveness and community-building. This presentation will take a deep dive into how e-mail and calendaring can be used universally to benefit all campus stakeholders.

Enhancing Retention: A Tool for Communication Between Faculty and Advisors

drupal — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 10:15:01 -0500

This presentation will demonstrate Northeastern University's new online CRM application to increase student retention through communication between faculty and advisors. This tool allows faculty to identify students with poor or declining performance or other performance difficulties and easily report these issues to advisors.

Ten IT Goals: Information Technology Goals for Liberal Arts Students

elilly — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 11:41:45 -0600

George Mason University's Technology Across the Curriculum Program has established ten technology goals that have the greatest relevance for liberal arts students. These goals were developed with input from faculty, students, technology professionals, and prospective employers.

Connecting with Students: New Tactics to Improve Communication

drupal — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 10:42:10 -0600

Over the past two years, the IT Marketing and Communications group at Rice University has actively searched for new methods to reach undergraduates. We ask students how they want to hear from us. Then we extrapolate the feedback we gather to guide our campaigns to reach the entire undergraduate population.

Many Students Loosely Joined: Social Software to Support Distance Education Learners

ckeller — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 11:18:22 -0600

Over the past decade, colleges and universities have increasingly turned to the web to increase student access, expand course offerings, and reach out to adult learners through online courses. The growth of distance and online education has been mirrored by a similar explosion in social software tools such as Facebook, Second Life, blogs, wikis, Flickr, and a host of Web 2.0 competitors that offer new ways for us to learn with and from each other. As our Web 2.0 toolbox grows, so do faculty and administrator concerns about control, privacy, assessment, and the effectiveness of these tools in the classroom.

In this seminar, Anderson will highlight an educational model for distance and online learning that leverages social software to help both learners and educators determine the most effective tool and granularity of application for their learning needs. He will also demonstrate a number of current and emerging tools and share practices that promise to help us learn from and with each other with an emphasis on social learning that includes groups, networks, and the collective.

Students Knowledge of and Attitudes Toward Podcasting in Teaching and Learning

drupal — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 10:30:34 -0600

Realizing the learning opportunity in students' involvement in their learning process through the use of podcasting, a study was conducted at the University of Southern Mississippi to determine students' knowledge and attitudes of podcasting use in teaching and learning before the campus-wide implementation. The results of the study will be presented.

Student Research Symposium in Second Life

drupal — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 10:30:30 -0600

This session will describe the planning, development, and implementation of a virtual campus in Second Life to supplement Texas Woman's University's annual Student Creative Arts and Research Symposium. Second Life provides a space where remote students can participate in poster sessions, live presentations, and hands-on demonstrations of student research alongside on-campus students.

Student Content Showcase

drupal — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 11:45:05 -0600

How would students answer the question, "What would your ideal education look like?" See for yourself in the student content showcase, produced in collaboration with Apple. Five Apple student representatives will informally respond to the question through short videos they have created, which they will present in the Rio Grande West Ballroom at various points in the program.

These "video poster sessions" will give you the chance to discuss with them their views on teaching and learning as well as the technical and creative processes behind their videos. This is a great opportunity to talk with students about their expectations for Learning 2.0 while learning some techniques and tips for creating your own videos.

In addition to conducting the showcase, these students will also capture and present their conference experience. Links to their videos, podcasts, blogs, etc., will be added to the ELI Web site as they become available, adding a student voice to our citizen journalism activity.

Student Communication 2017: Meeting the IT and Networking Needs of Tomorrow’s Students

drupal — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 11:38:28 -0600

Students expect their university’s network to meet their academic and personal needs. So how can network administrators cope with a student body whose network needs for self-expression, learning, and creativity outpace the requirements of academic departments or (institutional) business practices? Is it possible (or just wishful thinking) to predict their demands? During this session, we will identify a few trends seen on today’s information-communication-technology landscape and address why we must continuously seek alternative and more efficient ways to meet the ICT services of tomorrow’s students.

The PEPI Project: Putting Podcasting into Students' Hands

drupal — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 15:25:50 -0600

This presentation will examine an interdisciplinary podcasting project that put podcasting into the hands of students so they could examine their research from a new perspective and reinterpret course content in audio.

Teachers as Learners, Learners as Teachers: Reflecting on the Digital Disconnect

drupal — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 12:07:27 -0600

Members of a faculty learning community from a large urban research university will share the results of a study comparing expectations for technology use among faculty and students. Participants will engage in dialogue to address the presence (or absence) of a digital disconnect between teachers and learners and discuss the implications for instructional practice.

Additional contributors: Dina Bangdel, Teresa (Terry) J. Carter, Ed.D., and Frances (Fran) G. Smith, Ed.S., CVE, Virginia Commonwealth University.

Us Older Ones and the Need for the Phrase "Social Networking"

wallen — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 14:36:39 -0600

An interesting experience from the classroom:

Most of us beyond our early '20s use a term, social networking, to identify activities that have become second nature to Web 2. In a class I determined that I would introduce some scholarly social networks in order to expand their comprehension of social networking.

Luckily, I began by asking "what is social networking?" The class was large and students are often shy about speaking in front of many people. I repeated the question. No raised hands were evident. I changed the question. "How many of you do not know what social networking is?." Now I saw many raised hands.

I pursued the top a bit asking if they knew about or used Facebook, MySpace, or other sites that joined hundreds or thousands of people in communication. Most students participated in social sites.

Suddenly I realized what was happening. My students had been using social networking as a normal and frequent activity. They were social networking as a matter of course and never needed to be told what we older folk needed a term to comprehend the activity.

Molière would have understood. His Monsieur Jourdain was delighted to discover that he had been speaking prose all of his life. I do not know that my students were delighted to discover that they had been engaged in social networking for longer than the last twenty minutes, but they were polite enough not to laugh at me. At least not in class.

RavenDesk: How Is Your Economics Course Like Your English Course?

drupal — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 13:00:51 -0600

RavenDesk is a web application through which students share conceptual connections between courses. Students thus build a view of their own and their campus’s intellectual life by exposing the interrelationships between courses. An ELI edition for conference presentations will also be available. See http://www.patrickgmj.net/project/eli-ravendesk.