Educators are pushing for students, specifically graduates, to be digitally literate in order to successfully read, write, contribute, and ultimately compete in the global market place. Educational technology professionals, as a unique type of learning professional, need to be not only digitally literate--leading and assisting teachers and…

In this article the authors share strategies for establishing personal, one-on-one relationships between online students and faculty, to attend to identity, individualization, and interpersonal interaction in support of student engagement and retention. Rather than focus on high-tech solutions, the authors focus on low-tech solutions--the…

Not long ago, the authors participated in EDUCAUSE 2009 in Denver. Because they were delivering a presentation on instructional uses of Twitter, their ears and eyes were wide open for other presentations mentioning social networking in general and Twitter specifically. At a lively "debate", the negative commentary focused on three things: Twitter…

To be truly effective, online learning must facilitate the social process of learning. This involves providing space and opportunities for students and faculty to engage in social activities. Although learning management systems offer several tools that support social learning and student engagement, the scope, structure, and functionality of…