Angela Maiers and Pat Hensley both posted their list of the 26 keys (or ABCs) to Student Engagement

When I switched from WebCT to blogs, I found that students responded very differently. In my first “blogged” course, the students spontaneously began conversations of their own on issues related to the content of the course, pulled in new content that interested them, and began showing up for class more engaged with the class topics. Needless to say, I was pleased. At the end of the semester I asked that first group of blogging students why they had had used the class blog so freely when students in WebCT classes had seemed reticent. What I learned shouldn’t have surprised me.

Source: Center for History and New Media, George Mason University

Today’s college students are using more technology than ever. That may not be the most surprising finding from a report released last week by the Educause Center for Applied Research, the analytical arm of the nonprofit group that promotes effective technology use in higher education. But it certainly provides a jumping-off point for an investigation into how students use information technology in college and how it can be harnessed to improve the learning experience.

Source: Inside Higher Ed . There is an interesting discussion about this research over at Slashdot

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This video was created by Prof Wesch and the 200 students enrolled in ANTH 200: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University, Spring 2007. It began as a brainstorming exercise, thinking about how students learn, what they need to learn for their future, and how our current educational system fits in. Via: bwatwood’s bookmarks on del.icio.us

Update: now you can read the video transcript

Thomson Learning, one of the largest academic publishers in higher education, today released survey results examining faculty views on social networking sites and new media tools. Faculty members recognize the role new media tools can play in higher education because of their popularity among students.

Source: Thomson Learning via Choice Learning

Using Web 2.0 Tools for Teaching - Where to Start?

The most recent generation — born between 1965 and 1981 — is called Generation X (after the title of a novel about them), or sometimes the busters, because of the drop-off or “bust” in births following the boomer generation. They are the children of dual-career parents and of parents whose marriages produced record divorce rates. In contrast to the boomers, who in college tended to major in liberal arts, this group chose majors in business and economics. In short, they spurned the idealism that their parents had embraced when young for a more pragmatic and cynical realism. The shaping events in their lives were Ronald Reagan, the crash of the Challenger space shuttle and the Gulf war.

Source: strategy+business via Design for Learning