Emerging Technologies in Teaching and Learning (Part I)

This edition of SEM Canada is Part II to the July e-newsletter, and continues with a focus on emerging technologies in teaching and learning. What place should technology-mediated courses have in the curricula? What are the implications for quality in the instructional process? What strategies are effective in fostering student engagement? What does recent evidence-based research indicate about the effectiveness of emerging technologies in the teaching/learning process? This edition of the e-newsletter presents a variety of articles and resources related to the following topics:

1. e-Learning: Role in Addressing the Needs of Future Learners
2. e-Learning: Implications for Student Engagement
3. e-Learning: Implications for Faculty and Instruction
4. Social Media Applications: Blogs, Cellular Phones, Clickers, Twitter...
5. Digital Libraries
6. Recent Research in the News

Your perspectives on the content of these newsletters are important to us. Please visit our Facebook site to offer comments, suggest topics for future editions, and share your own experiences with other professionals in the field.

  E-LEARNING: ROLE IN ADDRESSING THE NEEDS OF FUTURE LEARNERS

• The Canadian Council on Learning released its report on the state of e-Learning in Canada. Canadian Council on Learning (CCL) report offers a unique look at e-learning in Canada, affirming that it holds much promise to improve Canada’s economic competitiveness and prepare Canadians for the demands of the 21st century. Read more
• Convenience Is the Future - Monitoring classes on cellphones. Taking classes at multiple colleges. The college students of 2020 are going to demand an education on their terms. Is your college ready? Read the new report, "The College of 2020: Students," from Chronicle Research Services. Read more
• The Distance Ed Tipping Point - As colleges moved into distance education, many questions were raised about how they could serve this new group of students...At what point does the question shift from what a college does to offer quality online programs to how a college needs to change in its entirety when it reaches a tipping point in enrollments. Read more
• Quality and Scaling in Online Degree Programs - In their fifth annual report on the state of online learning in U.S. higher education, the Sloan Consortium reported that nearly 60% of nearly 4500 institutions surveyed believe that online learning was critical to the long-term strategy for their institution (Allen & Seaman, 2007). Read more (subscription required)
• France: Digital Leap Forward for Universities - France is launching a EUR16 million (US$23 million) 'digitised university' programme to install wireless internet connections and develop podcasting for online courses throughout the university system. Read more

  E-LEARNING: IMPLICATIONS FOR STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

• Student Engagement Strategies for the Online Classroom- Cognitive engagement is important to student success in any learning environment. However, cognitive engagement takes on more significance in the online learning environment, where students learn in a physically isolated environment and often lack elements that typically engage students in the face-to-face classroom. Read more
• Synchronous and Asynchronous Learning Tools: 15 Strategies for Engaging Online Students Using Real-time Chat, Threaded Discussions and Blogs - This free special report provides practical advice from educators who’ve found effective ways to promote learning and build a sense of community in their online courses. Read more
• Creating an Online Presence for Your Online Students - No one doubts the assertion that online students are more likely to be successful if they feel connected to their instructor and fellow students, but just what is the best way to build those connections? Read more

  E-LEARNING: IMPLICATIONS FOR FACULTY AND INSTRUCTION

• TWU prof offers bonus credit to students who abstain from social media: For a 5% bonus credit, students in Trinity Western University professor Robert Doede's spring ethics class are challenged to abstain from traditional and social media and document their experiences. The "media fast" is meant to help students understand the anxiety caused by social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Read more
• Stanford U. Experiments With Open Office Hours on Facebook – Read more
• As Prospective Students’ Online Use Evolves, So Must Your Website - ...Changes in how prospective students use web pages mean that what worked just a couple of years ago may not be effective today. Read more
• Teaching Faculty and Staff to Use Second Life- More and more, universities are constructing a presence in Second Life, the virtual reality world that seems tailor-made for education. Read more (subscription required)
• The New Student Excuse? Corrupted-Files.com offers a service -- recently noted by several academic bloggers who have expressed concern -- that sells students (for only $3.95, soon to go up to $5.95) intentionally corrupted files. Read more

  SOCIAL MEDIA APPLICATIONS: BLOGS, CELLULAR PHONES, CLICKERS, TWITTER...

BLOGS:

• Blogging courses gain momentum at Canadian Institutions- Read more

CELLULAR PHONES:

• Cell Phones Used to Deliver Course Content- US Education Secretary Arne Duncan says schools and colleges should deliver course content to the cell phones that students use to talk and text every day. Read more
• Cellular Colleges: The Next Small Thing- Several U.S.-based institutions are now exploring cellular colleges. Read more

CLICKERS:

• Writing the Book on Clickers - Clickers have become increasingly popular as a way for professors to interact with students and to measure -- during a lecture -- whether information and ideas are being conveyed. Read more

IPHONES:

• uSask creates iPhone application for students: The University of Saskatchewan's computer science department has developed an iPhone application specifically for students. Called iUSASK, the application offers a range of options, such as checking marks and reading campus news. The application will be available for free download in August once Apple approves it for its app store. Read more
• New iPhone Apps Classes Let You Learn, Test and Earn - Jeanette Der Bedrosian, USA TodayApple believes there's an app for just about anything. Colleges and universities across the country are taking notice of the 3G boom and are offering courses in programming iPhone applications. Read more
• School of Journalism to require iPod touch or iPhone for students - Books, paper and pens are considered necessary school supplies. Now, so is an iPod touch or an iPhone for incoming freshmen at the MU (University of Missouri ) School of Journalism. Read more

TWITTER:

• Twitter Goes to College - Here's how at various colleges students and professors are using the micro-blogging service to communicate inside and outside the classroom. Read more
• 10 College Twitterers to Watch - This article identifies 10 college professors and administrators who use Twitter in interesting ways for networking, teaching, and scholarship. Read more

UTUBE:

• Need a Tutor? Youtube Videos Await - YouTube is perhaps best known for its cavalcade of homemade performances and TV clips, but many students are turning to it for free tutoring in math, science, and other complicated subjects. Read more

  DIGITAL LIBRARIES

• U of Calgary to Open Advanced Digital Library - When it opens in Fall 2010, the University of Calgary's (Calgary, AB) new Taylor Family Digital Library will be the most technologically advanced student library in Canada, marrying traditional resources such as printed books and periodicals with modern media, including digital video, e-books and touch-screen information kiosks. Read more
• The Evolving Google Library - Google is pledging free "preview" access to all books in the collection. Read more

  RECENT RESEARCH IN THE NEWS

• 56% of Canadian Internet users are on social networks: Read more
• Online students more engaged in coursework: Student taking most classes online find deeper approaches to learning compared to classroom-based learners, according to this year's National Survey of Student Engagement from the Indiana University Centre for Postsecondary Research. Read more Read also
• Study finds Millennials overestimate knowledge of computer applications: A North Carolina Central University study evaluating undergraduates' knowledge of basic computer software found a disconnect between students' perception of their ability to perform certain tasks and what they could actually do. Read more Read the Study
• The Evidence on Online Education - Online learning has definite advantages over face-to-face instruction when it comes to teaching and learning, according to a new meta-analysis released by the US Department of Education. Read more
• Universities See Double-Digit Increase in Online Enrollment, Study Finds - Online enrollment at universities nationwide increased more than 12 percent in 2007 over the previous year, and the majority of college officials agree that competition for online students is increasing, according to the 2008 Sloan Survey of Online Learning. Read more
• Don't Starve the Staff of Online Programs - A survey published by the League for Innovation in the Community College and the Campus Computing Project reports that community colleges are seeing increased enrollment in every major type of program, especially online programs. The survey author reports that while colleges are hiring new faculty to serve this growing population, they are reducing the number of positions for academic counselors and others who help students, especially as they expand online offerings. Read more Read also
• I'll Take My Lecture to Go, Please - A new study sponsored by the University of Wisconsin-Madison's E-Business Institute suggests not only a willingness but a "clear preference" among undergraduates for "lecture capture," the technology that records, streams and stores what happens in the classroom for concurrent or later viewing. Read more Read also
• Internet May Foster "Want It Now" Culture Among Students - The evolution of the internet has produced a generation of students with "a preference for quick answers" and a "casual" approach to the evaluation and attribution of information, an inquiry has found. Read more
• What’s all That Twitter About – A Lot About Nothing? While 26% of Online Canadians are Aware of Twitter, Only 1.45% of Online Canadians Actually Use the Social Networking Tool. Read more
• 'iTunes university' better than the real thing - Students have been handed another excuse to skip class from an unusual quarter. New psychological research suggests that university students who download a podcast lecture achieve substantially higher exam results than those who attend the lecture in person. Read more Read also And Also
• Teach the Web (Monograph) - This study, based on 32 interviews with experts in the web design field, looks at how best to teach web design and web development. Read more Read also
• Is There a Relationship Between Facebook, Grades? A pilot study at one university says ‘yes’. Another university attempting to replicate the study found no evidence of Facebook use correlating with diminished academic performance. Read more Read also