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Colleges themselves are also finding a need to craft multiple identities online, setting up a different Facebook page and Twitter account for every department or research lab. The University of Virginia's library has 14 Facebook accounts.

Watch Out for Zombies The job of updating a Facebook page or Twitter account for a university department is often assigned to a student worker. When the academic year ends and that student has graduated or moved on to another job, though, those pages may stand lifeless, creating a kind of zombie online presence. "If it's not active, it's detrimental," says Erin Dougherty, who recently became Endicott College's first digital-marketing coordinator. "It just sort of turns people off if you're a visitor to go to something that hasn't been updated in a long time." Ms. Dougherty is hunting for zombie accounts on the campus and either recommending they be spiked or finding a permanent point person or group to make sure each one has a pulse.

in many classrooms on today's traditional campuses, with class sizes in the hundreds of students, distance learning begins in the fifth row.

in many classrooms on today's traditional campuses, with class sizes in the hundreds of students, distance learning begins in the fifth row. At the same time, students spend much of their days holed up in their dorm rooms chatting with one another on Facebook. The opportunities to learn from other students and professors, in and out of class, are declining at the very time that we know such engagement is critical for learning.

We know students learn more when expectations are high and when feedback on what they need to do to improve is constant. I'm certain that my young friend, and his friends, would work harder if we expected it of them—but we don't.