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While the article is about leadership in educational technology, almost all of it applies to leadership in any area of educational innovation. "The conventional wisdom in education is that any school reform--be it curriculum, instruction, assessment, or teacher professionalism--is most likely to take hold in schools that have strong leadership. The same holds true for technology. Any educator will tell you the most successful implementation of technology programs takes place in schools where the principal sees him or herself as a technology leader."

"More than a decade after Prensky's influential articulation of digital natives and immigrants, great disagreement exists around these characterizations of students and the impact of such notions within higher education. Perceptions of today's undergraduate learners as tech-savvy "digital natives" (Prensky, 2001a), who both want and need the latest emerging technologies in all learning situations, continue to dominate the discourse in education technology research and practice. Popular yet largely unsubstantiated conceptions of digital natives are often embedded within the assumptions of contemporary research on student perceptions of emerging technologies, seemingly without regard for a growing body of evidence questioning such notions. In order to promote critical discussion in the higher education community considering potential directions for further research of these issues, especially within the Canadian context, the purpose of this review of recent literature is to analyze key themes emerging from contemporary research on the Net generation as digital natives. "

"A growing literature suggests that there is a disjuncture between the instructional practices of the education system and the student body it is expected to serve, particularly with respect to the roles of digital technologies. Based on surveys and focus group interviews of first-year students at a primarily undergraduate Canadian university and focus group interviews of professors at the same institution, this study explores the gaps and intersections between students' uses and expectations for digital technologies while learning inside the classroom and socializing outside the classroom, and the instructional uses, expectations and concerns of their professors. It concludes with recommendations for uses of digital technologies that go beyond information transmission, the need for extended pedagogical discussions to harness the learning potentials of digital technologies, and for pedagogies that embrace the social construction of knowledge as well as individual acquisition."

"Students are going to use mobile devices and computers in the classroom, regardless of the professor's level of comfort with technology. It's best to embrace the technology and work with your educational technologist or instructional designer to determine the best tools and methodologies to enhance your course with technology and support the course objectives."

While initially aimed at K-12 education, this table absolutely applies to higher education as well.

Interesting blog post by Tony Bates on the changing face of higher education, the role of distance education and educational technology. Worth a read.

This is an interesting post on using Evernote as an ePortfolio tool. It's written by a K-12 educator, but I think much of it could apply in higher ed. Students in my educational technology course used Blogger for their ePortfolios, but i can see this as an option in the future.

"As Bakary Diallo, a professor from the African Virtual University, reportedly remarked at a recent meeting among international educators at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, students in other parts of the world have their "own realities," their "own context and culture." It would be absurd to ignore how significantly those realities shape students' participation in our virtual classrooms."

Provides examples of how and where flipped teaching is being used in higher education contexts.

"Hashtag is a great way for users to locate and keep track of particular information within the massive tweets. Know the topic you are interested in and look for its corresponding hashtag and try to continually check it for updates. This is the established way Twitter experts use to fish for new updates in their fields of interest."

"Whether you're new to technology, just getting started with a social network, or looking for some useful tips then these courses are for you. They're part of a new idea that I've been working on with a few friends. We're calling it Modern Lessons and it's essentially a 'Khan Academy for real-world skills' where a small handful of people build free online courses designed to help you learn some important things. But it's more than just a few useful videos about Twitter. There are customized certificates, quizzes, prerequisites, and more. But that's not important. The important part is what YOU can expect to learn. Since many Edudemic readers are teachers, there's a whole area devoted to teachers, don't worry. Adam Webster, an Oxford-educated teacher just outside London, has lovingly crafted a series of useful (and free!) courses designed to help you integrate technology into your classroom. More on that later. "

"Generation is often used to explain and rationalize the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in higher education. However, a comprehensive review of the research and popular literature on the topic and an empirical study at one postsecondary institution in Canada suggest there are no meaningful generational differences in how learners say they use ICTs or their perceived behavioural characteristics."

Open online course from the GMCTE aimed at novices interested in learning technologies.

Interesting use of Diigo for social bookmarking with students in specific courses in higher education.

David Trottier, from our ICT services on campus at the U of S, has begun a repository of interesting information related to educational technology and instructional/course design.

Talk by Valerie Irvine and Dean Crawford at Campus Technology 2013.

List of the most popular tech tools for education in 2012. It is interesting to see how some tools have dropped in the past year and how others have climbed. There are also some tools that I have never used before - worth checking out!

Interesting article that describes the student data being collected at some universities. The data is be used to "eAdvise" students into the proper programming and courses, which leads to higher retention rates. The data may be used to go as far as even monitoring card swipes and analyze student social interactions.