This paper explores the impact of communication media and the Internet on connectivity between people. Results from a series of social network studies of media use are used as background for exploration of these impacts. These studies explored the use of all available media among members of an academic research group and among distance learners. Asking about media use as well as about the strength of the tie between communicating pairs revealed that those more strongly tied used more media to communicate than weak ties, and that media use within groups conformed to a unidimensional scale, showing a configuration of different tiers of media use supporting social networks of different ties strengths. These results lead to a number of implications regarding media and Internet connectivity, including: how media use can be added to characteristics of social network ties; how introducing a medium can create latent tie connectivity among group members that provides the technical means for activating weak ties, and also how a change in a medium can disrupt existing weak tie networks; how the tiers of media use also suggest that certain media support different kinds of information flow; and the importance of organization-level decisions about what media to provide and promote. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications for Internet effects.

An Introduction to SLAM at U-M, September 14, 2012 by the chair of the Provost's Learning Analytics Taskforce

"The *real* stuff guys and girls say, based on actual data..." in Twitter

"One of the best features of this version of the game is the social play. "

Status of UCF (2nd largest univ in the US) blended learning and online learning systemic approach for quality to assure improvement - faculty development is required; social-constructivist paradigm and faculty engaged in action research; measure "student success" via grades earned A,B,C and blended does better with web-based or video-based; withdrawal and satisfaction rates nearly the same as f2f tho video has slightly higher; online learning benefits for students = convenience, reduced logistical demands, increased flexibility, information fluency; for faculty = professional devt, flexibility, teaching/research support; UCF expanded capacity, ability to serve students anywhere, buffers competition; online learning costs a little more but provides capacity equivalent to >$64M of classroom construction (which would have an annual operating cost of $4.1M = cost avoidance model), more efficient use of existing CR space, growth with quality

VC investment in education in 2012 is projected to be 4x higher than in 2002

created by Larry Lugo, Professor at the University of Zulia, in Venezuela; also, Coordinator of Distance Learning in the College of Agriculture, where I'm also an Aggregate professor in tropical fruit production in undergraduate and graduate programs. My contact info: Twitter: @larrylugo / larry.lugo.u@gmail.com, larrylugo@fa.luz.edu.ve / Skype: lugolarry / WhatsApp: +58-414-6139174 (international) / Facetime and iOS messenger: larry.lugo.u@gmail.com / Web pages: www.fruticultura.net, www.rededucativa.org / Blog: larrylugo.blogspot.com

a multiyear pilot project at the Pennsylvania State University's Berks College that redesigned a lecture-based introductory chemistry course into a blended learning course. guides for group work and archiving clicker response data, etc.

2 guides to support UDL course redesign: - faculty development workshop guide (2 hour) - UDL Institute Guide (one or 2 day) UDL-U supports postsecondary faculty and staff by providing resources and examples to improve postsecondary education for all students, including those with disabilities. UDL-U is designed to be useful for individual inquiries related to small UDL topics, issues, or problems, as well as scalable to larger faculty development efforts (e.g., Faculty Learning Communities). UDL-U frames course redesign as a three-tier professional development process: 1. Application of UDL principles to enhance teaching and learning 2. Utilization of accessible instructional media and practices 3. Awareness of assistive technology enablers and barriers

See also infographic at Inside Higher Ed review of the report: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/10/10/educause-survey-finds-rise-use-and-demand-classroom-technology

3 vectors of Access, Quality and Cost - and we want to stretch the triangle to have more access, more quality and less cost = "iron triangle" if using traditional teaching methods => unhealthy link between quality and exclusivity in the popular mindset about higher ed; iron triangle can be stretched if we think of higher ed as a system and apply principles of division of labor and specialization (i.e., "unbundle" the professor)

Includes invitation to join CFHE12 but scroll down to see good series of links to help introduce newbies to MOOCs from a variety of perspectives

@LauraZavelson of Elon U - mindmap connecting to EdTech Startups inventoried in "The Siege of Academe" Washington Monthly (http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/septemberoctober_2012/features/_its_three_oclock_in039373.php?page=1) - four clusters: - scaleable education - credentials - knowledge wrappers - learning enhancement