The author discusses her experiences using the "Facebook" social networking website, and the evolution of its use from a window on students' opinions and activities, to an uncomfortable forum where response to grades were visible in real time, and because of the instructor's known potential presence, students may have been intimidated from sharing…

Mark David Milliron, founder and chief executive of Catalyze Learning International, believes that all types of educational institutions--from elementary schools to universities--should be having conversations about the way they use information technology. In particular, Milliron believes technology will play a crucial role at community colleges…

To get money flowing from alumni, colleges try to keep them feeling plugged in to their alma mater--even if the "plug" becomes wireless. Bucknell University rolled out a new service this month that pushes cell phone text messages to its 47,000 alumni. So far only a few dozen alumni have signed up for the service. If the service, which is…

This article reports that Canadian medical students, inspired by an online community and an obscure heart condition, have ditched their books and transformed their class notes into a pulsating, hip-hop music video. "Diagnosis Wenckebach"--the name comes from a type of abnormal heart rhythm--was created as just one of many innovative…

Many college classrooms these days may as well have lighted signs over their doors that read "On Air" or "Recording in Progress." A growing number of professors are recording their lectures and making them available as podcasts--regularly updated sets of audio files that students can download to their computers or MP3 players. Some campus…

Colleges that turn to Facebook as a creative way to reach out to students may run into a roadblock. This article presents how the officials of Ursuline College found that out. Facebook is a popular online social-networking service that is created for individual profiles only. The Ursuline College used Facebook to help students find both…

This article presents an excerpt of the responses of two experts, Gene I. Maeroff, a senior fellow at the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media at Columbia University's Teachers College and author of "A Classroom of One: How Online Learning Is Changing Our Schools and Colleges," and Robert Zemsky, chairman of the Learning Alliance for…

The past 15 years have seen a significant increase in the use of technology in higher education. In fact, professors now find it difficult to imagine teaching without the Internet, course-management systems, Microsoft Office, e-mail, and other technological applications. Course-management systems allow faculty members to deliver materials to their…

College administrators across the US are learning that chatter on e-mail, blogs, and social-networking sites can turn even minor faux pas into major controversies. The issue is discussed with reference to the firing of a teaching assistant whose Web site lampooned the president of Columbia College Chicago and left the institution facing serious…

Describes how the University of the South Pacific has created a satellite-based computer network aimed at greatly expanding its offerings to students on remote islands. (EV)

Striving to streamline student services and improve electronic communication, colleges and universities are signing on with companies that offer sophisticated World Wide Web sites through which students can accomplish basic administrative functions and receive information. The sites are often free of charge but also feature advertising messages…

Colleges and universities are finding that ways to misbehave in computer-mediated communication come along faster than institutions can create policies to deal with them. Although most schools have acceptable-use policies, technological advances change the environment quickly and require flexible policies. Most institutions have created a mix of…

"Chronicle of Higher Education" presents an abundant source of news and information for college and university faculty members and administrators. This February 25, 2005 issue of "Chronicle of Higher Education" includes the following articles: (1) "Sins of Admission" (Sumner, James); (2) "Admissions Today: 6…