The threat of global pandemics. The instability of the world’s resources. The question of privacy and security in a digital age.

Meeting these 21st-century challenges will test our political, environmental, and scientific ingenuity. It will require creative solutions and innovative new discoveries. And, as institutions, it will mean that the walls erected around our campuses, our disciplines, and our geographic borders will have less relevance in a world linked by the pursuit of common solutions.

But what does it mean to effectively work together in the process of discovery or the pursuit of change? How do we teach cooperation and collaboration, while modeling the practice in our own offices and corridors? How do we break down the walls that divide our departments, our institutions, and our regions? And how can technologies facilitate the process?

Join us at the 2009 EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative Annual Meeting, Participation and Collaboration: Social Learning for the 21st Century, to explore processes and practices focused on social learning and student success. Sessions will highlight:

• How to facilitate inquiry and innovation using Web 2.0 technologies, cyberinfrastructure, and social networks
• The importance of learning how to collaborate—connecting with others and content, in and outside the classroom
• Strategies to develop communities built on engagement, participation, and co-creation
• Cultivating institutional cultures of collaboration, openness, and sharing
• The ways in which collaboration skills can help us build relationships across disciplines—both within and across institutions

In the ELI tradition, the annual meeting is a setting for interactive, hands-on learning and networking, with a variety of presentations, discussions, and workshops. Sessions will fall into one of three interest areas: learners, learning principles and practices, and learning technologies.

Link: http://net.educause.edu/eli091

Why Use Technology in Education?
Charles Thacker

Why students should be using technology in their education can be a complex issue, and there are many small points to be made here about the value of learning, understanding and using technology. It can be compared to science in general. Science is responsible for almost all of our advances around the world. It is difficult to think of any current tools, information and discoveries that are not the direct result of science. From the paint used in any art or commercial product to the increasing understanding of the origins of the cosmos and ourselves; science is at the root of it all. Similarly, technology is becoming the foundation upon which nearly everything is being built.

Link: http://www.macinstruct.com/node/7

Skype is a voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) application that lets users make free phone calls between Skype-equipped computers and inexpensive calls between Skype computers and landline or cell phones. Skype functions on a P2P model rather than as a centralized application, and it offers features such as voicemail, call forwarding, conference calling, and video chat. In most circumstances, Skype provides access to voice and video communication for a fraction of what other options cost. It allows more frequent contact between colleagues, collaborators, and friends and permits connections with those not likely to be in touch through conventional phone systems.

Link: http://connect.educause.edu/Library/ELI/7ThingsYouShouldKnowAbout/45746

Mark your calendar for the premier information technology event in higher education—EDUCAUSE 2008, October 28–31 in Orlando, Florida. The program, “Interaction, Ideas, Inspiration,” will include preconference seminars; track and poster sessions; small group meetings; and corporate exhibits, presentations, and workshops.

Link: http://net.educause.edu/e08

The Wii is a video game system that uses a wireless controller capable of sensing position and motion, allowing users to interact with the game applications through physical movements. The controller has captured the interest of academic researchers and hackers, who have used the technology to create applications such as a collaborative choreography tool and an inexpensive, interactive whiteboard. Wii technology is used as an input device in virtual worlds and as a training tool that allows learners to perform physical tasks in a digital, risk-free environment.

Link: http://connect.educause.edu/Library/ELI/7ThingsYouShouldKnowAbout/47105

Second Life is a virtual world with tens of millions of square meters of virtual lands, more than 13 million “residents,” and a thriving economy. Large numbers of colleges and universities—or, in some cases, individual departments or faculty—are active in Second Life, not only for academic purposes but also for campus visits, recruiting activities for prospective students, and fundraising. Second Life lets educators easily build and modify learning spaces to test how different strategies for a physical space affect learning, and a similar approach can be taken toward educational activities in those spaces.

Link: http://connect.educause.edu/Library/ELI/7ThingsYouShouldKnowAbout/46892

Just call her Wikipedia wonk: UWB prof in spotlight for guiding students through online editing process
Peter Kelley / University Week

Maybe you’ve read about Martha Groom. An associate professor of Interdisciplinary Arts at UW Bothell, she won some media attention recently for involving her students with Wikipedia, the publicly edited online encyclopedia. Get to know this interesting teacher.

Link: http://uwnews.org/uweek/uweekarticle.asp?articleID=38236

Using Wikipedia to Reenvision the Term Paper
Martha Groom and Andreas Brockhaus

The structure of the traditional term paper can limit its educational value. To make the assignment more meaningful, students published their papers in Wikipedia. This session will examine how publishing for a large online community motivated students to do better work and deal with issues of voice, knowledge, and community.

Link: http://connect.educause.edu/Library/Abstract/UsingWikipediatoReenvisio/45402

The Catalyst Web Tools are a set of Web-based communication and collaboration applications designed for use in teaching, learning, research, and everyday work. Use of the Catalyst Web Tools is free to anyone in the UW community. To access the Catalyst Web Tools, click Web Tools Login and log in with your UW NetID.

• Collect It: File dropboxes
• CommonView: Class or project workspaces
• File Manager: Web-based file management
• GoPost: Discussion boards
• Group Manager: Participant groups
• Peer Review: Collaborative forums
• Portfolio: Online portfolios
• Portfolio Project Builder: Portfolio template building
• QuickPoll: One-question polls
• ShareSpaces: Spaces for file sharing
• SimpleSite: Web sites
• UMail: Web-based email forms
• WebQ: Surveys and quizzes

Link: http://catalyst.washington.edu/web_tools/index.html

bFree is a free java-based tool for Blackboard™, created by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which can be used to open a course archive file and display an outline of the course. It can also preview and extract individual content items, or extract any or all content as an independent web site that mimics the original Blackboard™ course.

Link: http://its.unc.edu/tl/tli/bFree/index.php

7 Things You Should Know About Facebook

Information literacy—the ability to negotiate the opportunities and risks of the Internet age—is increasingly important. Facebook, a leading social networking site, highlights the information literacy challenges college students face. The site allows individuals to create profiles that include almost anything they want to post and dynamically links their information to others with similar information. While Facebook allows for easy, spontaneous networking, students may not recognize the potential consequences of submitting personal information to a public forum.

Link: http://connect.educause.edu/Library/ELI/7ThingsYouShouldKnowAbout/39394

7 Things You Should Know About Facebook II

Since ELI’s first brief on Facebook, the social networking site originally developed for college and university students has become available to anyone. It now offers new ways of organizing social networks as well as extensive new features and access to other Web applications. Users can now manage online identities and engage other users much more easily. They also enjoy privacy policies that give them unprecedented control over how their personal information is handled on the site.

Link: http://connect.educause.edu/Library/ELI/7ThingsYouShouldKnowAbout/39402