No matter the college, a class in the principles of microeconomics is likely to cover the discipline's greatest hits. The author attends three economics courses at three colleges, and finds three very different approaches. In this article, the author discusses three colleges' different approaches that shape learning in Econ 101.

Independent scholars are a growing part of the academic landscape. They may have been jilted by the academic job market, or are uninterested in either being on the tenure track or in cobbling together full-time work as adjuncts. Like traditional professors, they perform research, secure grants, and publish books and papers. In some cases, their…

Nobody likes the current system of peer review, and most everybody agrees it should move online. But from there, opinions diverge. As humanities editors continue to experiment with Web-based technology, two proposed online tools are highlighting disagreement over what needs fixing. Peter H. Sigal, a blue-haired associate professor of history at…

As free online courses draw students to star professors at prestigious colleges, Peer 2 Peer University asks whether instructors are needed at all. This article features Peer 2 Peer University, a three-year-old online institution where students learn together, at no charge, using materials found on the Web. The unusual institution, where anyone…

Stakeholders want to know whether the graduates remained in the states where they got their professional science master's (PSM) degree, what their job titles were, and the type of employers they were working for. Business leaders, governors, and university-system heads want to know if graduates are contributing to job creation and work-force…

Michael Wesch has been on the lecture circuit for years touting new models of active teaching with technology. The associate professor of cultural anthropology at Kansas State University has given TED talks. "Wired" magazine gave him a Rave Award. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching once named him a national professor…

The story of one University of Maine student's quest for a reasonably priced textbook reveals just how complicated course materials have become as the textbook industry makes its awkward transition from print to digital. The student is Luke Thomas, a senior majoring in business on the Orono campus, who last semester took a 250-person introductory…

In October, Myanmar's pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, got a quirky request on YouTube. A hyperactive instructor in a plaid jacket posted a video inviting her to do a Skype interview with his "World Regions" geography class at Virginia Tech. Ms. Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate often compared to Nelson Mandela, might have…

While e-mail remains the official method of communication on most campuses, colleges are expanding their presence in the virtual world, trying to reach students where they hang out. But without careful planning, that can lead to a scattershot approach as new platforms keep popping up and students' attention becomes increasingly dispersed. The…

To be truly innovative, digital pedagogy has to do a better job of giving students the very thing that makes brick-and-mortar schooling so special: It must foster immersive learning communities that connect students to both their instructors and each other. Fortunately, there are ways that online education can do just that, as the authors have…

Twitter is quickly becoming a global faculty lounge. Sure, it's easy to waste a lot of time on the Internet-based microblogging service reading mundane details about people's days. But one can also pick up some great higher-education gossip, track down colleagues to collaborate with, or get advice on how to improve one's teaching or research. In…

What is network neutrality? The basic premise is that people should have the right to access online, in a free and unfettered manner, any type of content that is not illegal, based on the predetermined speed they are paying their Internet-service provider (ISP) for each month. That is, with network neutrality, the content becomes irrelevant. The…

What if scholarly books were peer reviewed by anonymous blog comments rather than by traditional, selected peer reviewers? This is the question posed by an unusual experiment that was started recently by Noah Wardrip-Fruin, an an assistant professor of communication at the University of California at San Diego. His experiment was started after his…

For many academics, managing the influx of daily communication has become a second job. While many scholars like the flexibility and creative opportunities technology affords, they have trouble turning off their gadgets. That can eat into time reserved for uninterrupted reading, writing, reflecting, or working in the laboratory. Technology has…

Some professors, librarians, and administrators have begun using Twitter, a service that can blast very short notes (up to 140 characters) to select users' cell phones or computer screens. The practice is often called microblogging because people use it to send out pithy updates about their daily lives. No need to wait until you are back at your…