Without the nudge of having to attend classes, the authors suggested, it can be easy to let recorded lectures pile up unwatched. Indeed, it is common at Florida to see students in libraries cramming viewings of a dozen lectures back to back before exams.

Is it possible to learn as much when your professor is a mass of pixels whom you never meet? How much of a student’s education and growth — academic and personal — depends on face-to-face contact with instructors and fellow students?

“When I look back, I think it took away from my freshman year,” said Kaitlyn Hartsock, a senior psychology major at Florida who was assigned to two online classes during her first semester in Gainesville. “My mom was really upset about it. She felt like she’s paying for me to go to college and not sit at home and watch through a computer.”

online education is exploding: 4.6 million students took a college-level online course during fall 2008, up 17 percent from a year earlier, according to the Sloan Survey of Online Learning. A large majority — about three million — were simultaneously enrolled in face-to-face courses, belying the popular notion that most online students live far from campuses

At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, first-year Spanish students are no longer offered a face-to-face class; the university moved all instruction online, despite internal research showing that online students do slightly less well in grammar and speaking.

Mr. Choi, who teaches tourism management, worries some students may view the reduced class schedule as time off.

I still have a phobia and a concern," he says. "Maybe I should still talk about a few basic things to some of the students who probably enjoyed the football yesterday and didn't do anything for the class."

Mr. Harrison catches some lectures and skips others. He likes the freedom of these video classes. Learning online can also be a challenge. "You can walk through the library, and literally, you'll see students who are watching a lecture but also have Facebook open right behind it," he says. "And, it's sort of like, 'How much time are you spending on each frame? Are you actively taking notes, or are you just chatting with your friends?'

Once the shaggy-haired fraternity rusher learned to manipulate the system, though, he ended up handling so much of his course work online that his actual butt-at-a-desk class time has shrunk to about six hours a week.

The focus is on faculty facilitating instruction and students becoming active and interactive learners.22

Excellent TeachingFrom our exploration of generational issues, an important question evolved: Can students distinguish characterizations of excellent teachers independent of generation, learning style, course modality, and technological sophistication? Data collected at UCF, with more than half a million student responses, suggest an answer.23 We have identified six characteristics that students attribute to the best faculty—characteristics that are independent of age, gender, and academic achievement. Interestingly, these characteristics correspond to the seven principles of good practice in undergraduate education24 and to the national study of student engagement.25 Although students' behaviors, attitudes, and expectations are generally shaped by their generation, what constitutes good teaching appears to be universal across these generations. Students believe that excellent instructors: Facilitate student learning Communicate ideas and information effectively Demonstrate genuine interest in student learning Organize their courses effectively Show respect and concern for their students Assess student progress fairly and effectivelyThis seemingly paradoxical way in which students determine teaching excellence through the lens of their instructors clarifies how universities must accommodate students' needs, realizing that these needs are universal, yet greatly mediated by the Net Generation.

If today's students do not represent the constituency that our higher educational system is designed to teach as asserted by Prensky,28 how do we remedy that situation? Possibly, by studying how students interacted (politically, economically, culturally, socially, and technologically) with institutions' instructional climate in the past. By monitoring technology developments and their impact on the student population, we will be better able to anticipate the needs of the class of 2025. This approach will thrust institutions into a forward-thinking posture rather than a reactionary one in response to incoming student cohorts.

"To me, my success in the classroom depends on the teacher. If the teacher is prepared and knowledgeable about their particular field, I know I can expect to learn from their knowledge as well as know what is expected of me."

Thus, student views regarding faculty use of PowerPoint help illustrate the Net Generation's desire for the use of technology to support learning, as long as faculty members have the technological—and pedagogical—knowledge and skill necessary to use it appropriately.