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Facebook is not banned from the classroom. Facebook pages or groups established for classroom use are allowed — as is most other social media. However, teachers are strictly forbidden to communicate with students through any personal means, such as private instant messages or through personal Facebook profiles. According to the advisory, teachers must decline student-initiated friend requests, and never initiate a friend request with a student. The college asserts that when a teacher and a student become friends in an online environment, the dynamic between them is forever changed. An invisible line between professional and personal is crossed, which can lead to strictly forbidden informal conversations.

A growing list of schools are turning to the "serendipity engine" to help students find cross-discipline collaborators for passion projects.

finding a cross-disciplinary collaboration is tougher--most of us are more likely to head to a meetup or networking event to fish for someone outside of our skill set. That’s fine, but it’s not a very efficient way to find exactly what you’re looking for.

Twaining in Twitter, Terence Wing, Learning solutions magazine, 3 February 2011

Twitter in education, what next? presentation by Dave Hopkins, 11 September 2010

A framework for teaching with Twitter, Mark Sample, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 16 August 2010

I use Evernote, Everywhere: Android (phone and Tablet) Windows Web Clipper (Chrome)

1. Evernote for staying focused

2. Evernote for getting organized

In a few months, another graduating class of college students will stumble out into an unforgiving job market weighed down by staggering debt. But one school in one of the hottest hiring markets in the country is flipping the script on student loans: until you get a job, you don’t pay.

encourage a Twitter backchannel discussion, in which quiet, shy, and unable-to-get-a-word-in-edgewise students are able to speak up in class without actually speaking up in class, sharing their comments, insights, and even relevant links through Twitter as the discussion goes on

Educators have found that Twitter backchannel discussions provide for more interaction not just in the classroom, but beyond, as students often enjoy further carrying on the conversation even after class time is over.

This quick exercise allows students to further digest and understand the material at hand, while at the same time creating a great resource for future review.

High school and college students may be “digital natives,” but they’re wretched at searching. In a recent experiment at Northwestern, when 102 undergraduates were asked to do some research online, none went to the trouble of checking the authors’ credentials. In 1955, we wondered why Johnny can’t read. Today the question is, why can’t Johnny search?

Frequent use of mobile devices does not mean that students or instructors are ready for mobile learning and teaching

Wherever one looks, evidence of mobile penetration is irrefutable: cell phones, PDAs, MP3 players, portable game devices, handhelds, tablets, and laptops abound. No demographic is immune from this phenomenon. From toddlers to seniors, people are increasingly connected and are digitally communicating with each other in ways that would have been impossible only a few years ago.5

Consequently, it comes as no surprise that sooner or later people would begin to look for ways to integrate mobile computing into e-learning to make courses more accessible and portable. For example, Duke University made headlines when it provided all incoming freshmen with their own 20-gigabyte iPods. Similarly, the Virginia Tech College of Engineering became the first public institution to require all students to purchase a tablet PC beginning with incoming freshmen in fall 2006.

In a group of 125 students at an anonymous medium-sized public college in the Midwest, 70 students used Twitter to access information and complete class assignments; the remaining 55 students used a more typical Internet-based course-management system and billboard.

In terms of technology, the report predicts greater use of open source technologies, mobile and smart devices, e-books, Cloud and Software as a Service (SaaS).

"Open source is making a real impact in the public sector with many universities, schools and colleges moving their LMS to an open source one. They don't see the point in being tied to a costly bespoke platform supported by one supplier.

hopes to see greater collaboration amongst the eLearning industry after attending the launch of the report at the European eLearning Summit in Sheffield.

Teachers across the country have been incorporating Twitter into classrooms for a few years, but the site's adoption by educational institutions appears to be limited. A survey of 1,920 U.S. teachers published in April found that 2% of them use the micro-blogging site in college lectures. About half those polled said the use of Twitter and Facebook in class is harmful to the learning experience, according to the study from consulting firm Pearson Learning Solutions. Still, Legaspi is hopeful. When he explained the plan to his students at Hollenbeck Middle School in East Los Angeles, he learned that only one of them had used Twitter. But most, he said, live on their phones. So getting them started wasn't difficult.

Legaspi said shy students are benefiting the most. For "a lot of them, what it did is help find their voice," he said. "I have many students that do not participate in my classes or share what's on their mind, so Twitter became that vehicle." Several students praised the new approach. "It's a great way to get people to notice you," said Oscar Lozoria, a shy 14-year-old with long hair that other students used to tease him about. He said Twitter has changed how his peers view him. "They see me as somebody now -- as an equal," he said. Ivan Sabaria, also 14, said Twitter makes learning more fun. "I'm paying attention and doing all my work," he said.

Occasionally, the students will type in something inappropriate during class. Still, Legaspi is convinced he has discovered the future of education. "I get feedback on the spot. Not only that, all the students can see what they're sharing," he said. "This is powerful."