Student academic use of information resources (table 2): 81 percent [2,593] Google, 78 percent [2,517] E-books, 77 percent [2,478] Print books, 69 percent [2,206] E-reference, 67 percent [2,142] Wikipedia, 65 percent [2,098] Print textbooks, 65 percent [2,080] E-journals, 62 percent [1,992] Databases (ProQuest, LexisNexis, JSTOR, etc.)" Website

Sept. 8, 2008, University of Montréal

“While compulsive gambling is only beginning to be addressed by mental health professionals, they must now face a new affliction: Internet addiction. "The problem isn't widespread but we know of serious cases in which teenagers don't leave the house, don't have interpersonal relationships, and have been isolated in front of their computer screen for the past two or three years, and only speak in the language of the characters they play with in network video games," says Louise Nadeau, a professor at the Université de Montréal's Department of Psychology.” Website

(April 2008) by Debra Piecka, Elaine Studnicki, and Michelle Zuckerman-Parker. The use of podcasting has grown exponentially. Research projects are racing to keep up with this growth to understand implications for learning and instruction. This project specifically attempts to understand if the use and development of podcasts by students for students influence learning in a 7th grade science classroom. Using a technology integration model, both science and computer teachers will collaboratively teach technical and content knowledge in using podcasting to understand the implications of the ozone layer on the environment. Assessment practices include qualitative practices through interviews and discussions with participants. Quantitative data will include a pre and postsurvey, curriculum content assessments, and podcast quality rubric assessment. Forecasted expectations are that podcasts will increase student motivation, technical skills sets, and content knowledge based on the opportunity for students to create authentic products of their understanding using podcasting in a collaborative learning environment. The implications of the study will demonstrate how podcasts can be successfully used in education for learning and instruction. Web site

(June, 2008) by Robert G. Henshaw, instructional applications consultant, UNC-Chapel Hill. Technology adoption in any sector is rarely uniform. Understanding the drivers and constraints associated with technology adoption makes it easier to anticipate how technology will be used and what populations will benefit the most. Robert G. Henshaw examines factors likely to influence technology adoption within U.S. higher education over the next 30 years and their impact on education providers and consumers. Progress, and the way progress is defined, will be uneven and will continue to reflect disparities across organizational cultures, socioeconomic demographics, and other variables. Technology will have the greatest impact on learning outside of classrooms and other formal educational constructs. Web site

“To have a strategy is to put your own intelligence, foresight, and will in charge instead of outside forces or disordered concerns” (Keller, 1983, p. 75)." Website

“When students open the video, they can hear Stannard’s voice commentary as well as watch him going through the process of marking. The resulting feedback is more comprehensive than the more conventional notes scrawled in the margin, and Stannard, who works at the University of Westminster, now believes it has the potential to revolutionise distance learning.” . . . Website

“But trying to grapple with what comes next is a deep problem. Doing so is partly a matter of science fiction, which consists, after all, of the stories we tell about the future. Doing so is also an issue of complexity, since each practice, or device, or network, or application comes embedded in a nest of other practices, or devices, or networks, or applications. Emerging technologies are a matter not only of qualitative challenge but also of sheer quantitative overload. Web 2.0, gaming, wireless and mobile devices, virtual worlds, even Web 3.0 in all its unrealized potential — each churns out new developments daily and connects with other domains to ramp up the problem still further.” . . .
Website

“One type of game — one of the most popular types, in fact — hasn’t been studied nearly as much as the traditional arcade-style game: massively multiplayer online role-playing games, or MMORPGs. One of the studies of this type of game seemed to find that players weren’t more aggressive because the games foster cooperation between players.” Website

“The proposed legislation requires ‘an institution that offers distance education to have processes through which the institution establishes that the student who registers in a distance education course or program is the same student who participates in and completes the program and receives the academic credit.’ “

“The current language casts a broad and loosely defined obligation on distance education programs, raising questions about the perceived “problem” being targeted. Is the provision aimed at stopping unaccredited diploma mills? Would the provision apply to just fully online distance education courses and programs? Does the provision aim to address student cheating and, if so, is it predicated on an assumption that cheating occurs more frequently or more easily in a web-based learning environment than in a large lecture setting?” . . . Website

Among the key findings:

- 78 percent reported having a “common set of intended learning outcomes” for all undergraduates. These included such skills as writing, critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, oral communication, intercultural skills and so forth. Knowledge areas are also frequently cited and include humanities, social sciences, mathematics and global culture.

- 72 percent are assessing learning outcomes across the curriculum, and most that don’t already do so plan to begin soon.”

- Most assessment goes on at the departmental level, although almost half of colleges assess in some way at both the departmental level and in general education.

- A variety of measures — many of them specific to departments or even to individual students — are used in assessment. More than one third of colleges report using “capstone” projects — designed to sum up an academic program — or student surveys.

- E-portfolios are gaining in popularity, with 57 percent of colleges using them in some form, but only 42 percent report that they are part of assessment efforts.

- The percentages of colleges reporting the use of standardized tests of general knowledge and general skills are low — 16 percent and 26 percent respectively.

- Only 5 percent of those surveyed said that they thought all students understood the intended learning outcomes. And when the bar for answering that question in the affirmative is lowered — to only a majority of students — the figure goes up, but only to 37 percent. Website

“The point of this story isn’t to get everyone to pay attention to me or professors in general – it’s that I want my students to learn that attention is a skill that must be learned, shaped, practiced; this skill must evolve if we are to evolve. The technological extension of our minds and brains by chips and nets has granted great power to billions of people, but even in the early years of always-on, it is clear to even technology enthusiasts like me that this power will certainly mislead, mesmerize and distract those who haven’t learned – were never taught – how to exert some degree of mental control over our use of laptop, handheld, earbudded media.” Website

May 2008, National symposium on e-portfolios

This paper has been prepared to provide background information for participants in the National Symposium on e-portfolios being conducted by education.au limited, on Wednesday, 11 June 2008 in Adelaide . The paper provides background information about: users of eportfolios, potential benefits of eportfolios, types of e-portfolios, issues to consider. A synopsis of a pre-symposium survey of stakeholders regarding e-portfolio use and issues is also included. Also see http://www.educationau.edu.au/jahia/Jahia/home/pid/637 Website

(July 2007) by Josh Fischman for the Chronicle of Higher Education. “The University of Illinois Board of Trustees today set tuition and approved financing for Global Campus, the state system’s major program to offer online degrees and professional-development programs. In January 2008, the university will enroll students in its first four offerings: a bachelor-of-science completion program in nursing, master’s degree in education with a concentration in online learning, a graduate certificate in foundations of online learning, and a graduate certificate in technologies for online learning.” Web site, Press Release

(June 2008) by Florence Martin for the MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching. "This study reports the evaluation results of using a learning management system (LMS) in a computer literacy course. The goal of the present study was to explore the usefulness of content delivery and how it helped students in learning computing skills. Using Blackboard as the LMS, 145 undergraduate college students enrolled in a computer literacy course in a large southwestern university responded to an online survey and seven instructors who taught the course were surveyed over email to determine value and usefulness of the features in the environment.

Overall, assignments, course documents and gradebook were reported as the most useful features. Immediate feedback on quizzes, accessing the materials at all times, and getting comfortable in use of technology were rated as most helpful areas. Both students and instructors responded positively to the LMS experience and provided evidence that numerous learning outcomes can be enhanced by the presence of such a system." Website

“He said that Angel has lived up to all of its promises, and that the system is popular with those who use it — explaining his dismay over the news. He said that Blackboard had promised to maintain the same level of quality WebCT provided, and that the company didn’t follow through. He said that the press release issued Wednesday reminded him of the statements made when the company bought WebCT ‘and that’s why I’m skeptical.’ . . . He stressed that it’s not just the service provided, but a matter of philosophy. He noted that Angel will be the second company popular with community colleges to have been made a subsidiary of Blackboard. Further, he said he objected to the ‘predatory’ way that Blackboard is fighting with Desire2Learn over patents. ‘Is the idea to own the market so that we have no choice?’ he asked.” Website

by Jeffrey R. Young, Sept. 12, 2008, Chronicle of Higher Education

. . . “Blackboard has become the Microsoft of higher-education technology, say many campus-technology officials, and they don't mean the comparison as a compliment. To them the company is not only big but also pushy, and many of them love to hate it. . . . LeTourneau's contract with Blackboard ends this year, and campus officials may join the growing number of colleges switching to Moodle, a free, open-source course-management system, or Sakai , another free program. Those systems have grown feature-rich enough to pose serious challenges to Blackboard. Giants like the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of California at Los Angeles , along with smaller colleges, like Louisiana State University at Shreveport , have made the jump.”

"There are a lot of institutions right now that are upset with Blackboard, to say the least, and looking for alternatives," says Michael Zastrocky, vice president for research at Gartner Inc., a consulting firm that tracks trends in higher-education technology. "They caused a backlash that's been very difficult for them to overcome. Blackboard is heading for a showdown with the free-software movement, according to some observers. Although Blackboard remains the clear market leader — about 66 percent of American colleges use its software as their standard, says the Campus Computing Project, an annual survey — there are signs that open-source alternatives are starting to gain ground. The survey found that the proportion of colleges using Moodle as their standard rose from 4.2 percent in 2006 to 7.8 percent in 2007, and that about 3 percent of colleges have selected Sakai . A recent survey by the Instructional Technology Council, which promotes distance learning, found that the proportion of its member colleges using Moodle jumped from 4 percent last year to more than 10 percent this year. The proportion using Blackboard fell slightly.” . . . Website (requires subscription)

(April 2, 2008) by David Nagel for Campus Technology. “There have been some shockers in the electronic learning world in the last month or so. First, Blackboard won its patent infringement suit against rival Desire2Learn. Then, soon after, the patent itself was rejected by the United States Patent and Trademark Office on reexamination (though that action is not final). But despite the setback in the Patent Office, Blackboard is vowing not to go down without a fight even as Desire2Learn and the Software Freedom Law Center--the two groups that sought to have the patent revoked--celebrate victory.” Web site

- Release of first BTOP Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) – late June or early July

- Acceptance of grant applications – early-to-mid July through mid-to-late September

- NTIA review of grant applications – late September through mid-to-late December

- Announcement of first round grant awards – late December

- NTIA will accept second round applications during the fourth quarter of 2009 and third round applications in the second quarter of 2010.

The Recovery.gov Web site (http://www.recovery.gov/) lists NTIA’s five evaluation measures: job creation, expanded broadband access, stimulated private investment, high-speed access to “strategic institutions,” and encouraged broadband demand. NTIA will award grants for the construction of wireline and wireless broadband networks, which implies wireless projects will be included in the definition of “broadband.” NTIA will only fund networks “in areas of the country with limited or no broadband access.” This conforms to comments Rick Boucher (D-VA), House Communications, Technology, and the Internet Subcommittee chairman, made last week that, in addition to totally unserved areas, NTIA focus on creating competition and choice in areas where access is either slow or prohibitively expensive. Website

“At the request of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Secretary of Education Glen Thomas will work with State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell and State Board of Education President Ted Mitchell to develop the list of standards-aligned, open educational resources. The advisory report is scheduled to be released by Aug. 10. Currently, there is no statewide review of ninth- through 12th-grade instructional materials in California, said Tom Adams, director of the curriculum frameworks and instructional resources division of the California Department of Education. There is, however, a textbook adoption process in place for kindergarten through eighth grade.” . . .Website

This report looks at CTE offerings, who participates in CTE, what types of CTE students take, who teaches CTE, and the labor market and further education outcomes attained by CTE participants. The report documents that between 1990 and 2005, the number of CTE credits earned by public high school graduates remained steady, despite the national trend of increased academic coursetaking in high school. The report also found that at both the high school and college level, student participation increased in the occupational areas of health care and computer science, and decreased in business. Other highlights include:

- Just over 90 percent of public high school graduates from the class of 2005 took at least one occupational course in high school. About one in five graduates took at least three courses within one of the 18 CTE occupational program areas.

- Among the public high school class of 1992, the more occupational credits that graduates earned in high school, the lower were their postsecondary enrollment rates eight years after graduating. Nevertheless, 70 percent of the most intensive occupational course takers (those earning four or more occupational credits) in high school had enrolled in postsecondary education by 2000.

- Among students who started postsecondary education in 1995-96, 70 percent of CTE completers working in 2001 reported their job was related to their field of study.

- Thirty-nine percent of employed adults participated in work-related courses in 2004-05, with business, health, and computer science being the most common subjects. Website

(April 2008) by Kathleen Cercone.  The online educational environment is increasingly being used by adults and should be designed based on the needs of adult learners. This article discusses andragogy, an important adult learning theory, and reviews three other adult learning theories: self-directed learning, experiential learning, and transformational learning. During this discussion, the theories are examined for the ways in which they may be applied to the design of online learning environments. In addition, the characteristics of adult learners are examined, and an analysis of how these characteristics influence the design of an online learning environment is presented. Recommendations follow regarding how to design an online classroom environment while considering the application of adult learning theories. Web site

Top Five Challenges:

1. Creating Learning Environments That Promote Active Learning, Critical Thinking, Collaborative Learning, and Knowledge Creation

2. Developing 21st-Century Literacies (Information, Digital, and Visual) among Students and Faculty

3. Reaching and Engaging Today’s Learners

4. Encouraging Faculty Adoption and Innovation in Teaching and Learning with IT

5: Advancing Innovation in Teaching and Learning with Technology in an Era of Budget Cuts

“EDUCAUSE developed a social network dedicated to the project using Ning (http://tlchallenges09.ning.com/) and invited participants to create unique profiles and “join” the community. Within the interface, members could create working groups, post blog entries, start discussion threads, or simply add photos from their campus. Wikis were selected as the “workspace” for the project, a central home for all the resources generated around each challenge.” . . .

“The wikis, housed on the EDUCAUSE website (http://www.educause.edu/wiki/TLChallenges09), offer a place for community members to share content around each challenge, including multimedia (such as a webcast with faculty discussing institutional responses to the budget crisis), suggested readings, or “community snapshots” (brief examples of how institutions are responding to the challenges). Each wiki contribution includes the name of a contact person, helping to develop the most important resource of all: peer-to-peer engagement. As the project grows, these wikis are becoming the online repository for the community’s ideas.” Website

“The arrangement, announced this week, will give more prominent placement at dozens of college bookstores to electronic textbooks offered through CourseSmart, a venture owned by five major textbook companies. The deal involves CourseSmart and the Collegiate Retail Alliance, which represents 52 independent college bookstores.” . . . Website

“There’s good news and bad news for higher education in President Obama’s new push to protect the nation’s digital infrastructure. The good news is that colleges could benefit as the federal government promotes — and possibly pays for — work-force training and cybersecurity research. The bad news is that anybody looking for specific details on what will happen — and how much money might be available — won’t find them in the new report put out by the White House last week. (http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/Cyberspace_Policy_Review_final.pdf) “. . .

One of the problems with the status quo is a shortage of cybersecurity workers, said Rodney Petersen, coordinator of the security task force at Educause, the higher-education-technology association. That means jobs like chief information-security officer. Forensics expert. Security analyst. Incident handler. Training these workers is one of the main areas where colleges — especially community colleges — can play a role, Mr. Petersen said.” Website

The Student PIRGs, August 2008

The authors of this survey of 504 students and 50 commonly assigned textbook titles confirmed that digital “e-textbooks” failed to meet criteria for affordability, printing options, and accessibility. Open textbooks are a “perfect match.”

* The e-textbooks we surveyed cost on average exactly the same as a new hard copy of the same title bought and sold back to the bookstore.

* The e-textbooks we surveyed cost on average 39% more than a used hard copy of the same title bought and sold back online.

* Printing was limited to 10 pages per session for each of the e-textbooks we surveyed.

* Buying and printing half of an e-textbook was three times the cost of buying a used hard copy and selling it back to the bookstore, for the books we surveyed.

* Students have to choose between using the book online or using it offline – they cannot do both.

* Most (75%) of the e-textbooks we surveyed expired after 180 days, so students do not have the option to access their books in the future. Website

“Overall, an astonishing 96 percent of students with online access report that they have ever used any social networking technologies, such as chatting, text messaging, blogging and visiting online communities, such as Facebook, MySpace and services designed specifically for younger children, such as Webkins and the chat sections of Nick.com. Eighty-one percent say they have visited a social networking Web site within the past three months and 71 percent say they use social networking tools at least weekly.”

“Further, students report that one of the most common topics of conversation on the social networking scene is education. Almost 60 percent of students who use social networking talk about education topics online and, surprisingly, more than 50 percent talk specifically about schoolwork.”

“Yet the vast majority of school districts have stringent rules against nearly all forms of social networking during the school day - even though students and parents report few problem behaviors online. Indeed, both district leaders and parents believe that social networking could play a positive role in students’ lives and they recognize opportunities for using it in education - at a time when teachers now routinely assign homework that requires Internet use to complete. In light of the study findings, school districts may want to consider reexamining their policies and practices and explore ways in which they could use social networking for educational purposes.” . . .

The study was comprised of three surveys: an online survey of 1,277 nine- to 17-year-old students, an online survey of 1,039 parents and telephone interviews with 250 school district leaders who make decisions on Internet policy. Website

… “This report provides a description of the characteristics and enrollment patterns of a nationally representative sample of students who began postsecondary education for the first time during the 2003-04 academic year. The report describes the background, academic preparation, and experience of these beginning students over 3 academic years, from July 2003 to June 2006, and provides information about their rates of persistence, program completion, transfer, and attrition. The focus is on differences among students beginning at either 4-year, 2-year, or less-than-2-year institutions.”

“Some highlights: Most of the first-time students who began at 4-year institutions in 2003-04 were age 19 or younger (85 percent) compared to 54 percent of students who began at 2-year institutions and 32 percent who began at less-than-2-year institutions. Among those under age 24 who began at a 4-year institution, nearly all (94 percent) had taken algebra II or higher mathematics courses in high school, and about one-fourth had taken calculus. Of students who began at a 4-year institution, about one-half had a high school GPA of 3.5 or higher, and about one-fourth had earned credit for courses taken at a college while still in high school. Eighteen percent of the students who began at a 4-year institution in 2003-04 transferred from the institution where they had started.” Website

(April/May 2008) by Lindsey Godwin and Soren Kaplan for Innovate. Based on their work leading three experiential, online workshops with over 180 participants from around the world, Lindsey Godwin and Soren Kaplan share reflections on designing and conducting successful ee-learning courses. The workshops sought to translate a popular face-to-face seminar in appreciative inquiry, an increasingly popular organizational development approach, into a meaningful online experience for participants across the globe. Using specific examples from the workshop, Godwin and Kaplan illustrate how learning opportunities that support all aspects of the experiential learning process are the key to creating a vibrant ee-learning environment. Specifically, they discuss experiential learning theory and how technology features, online experiences, and offline applications can be leveraged to deliver a variety of learning opportunities for participants. Web site

(December 2001) by Marc Prensky,  On the Horizon, Part I. “Today’s students - K through college - represent the first generations to grow up with this new technology. They have spent their entire lives surrounded by and using computers, videogames, digital music players, video cams, cell phones, and all the other toys and tools of the digital age. Today’s average college grads have spent less than 5,000 hours of their lives reading, but over 10,000 hours playing video games (not to mention 20,000 hours watching TV). Computer games, email, the Internet, cell phones and instant messaging are integral parts of their lives.”  Web site

(December 2001) by Marc Prensky. On the Horizon, Part II of Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants . "In Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants: Part I, I discussed how the differences between our Digital Native students and their Digital Immigrant teachers lie at the root of a great many of today’s educational problems. I suggested that Digital Natives’ brains are likely physically different as a result of the digital input they received growing up. And I submitted that learning via digital games is one good way to reach Digital Natives in their native language. Here I present evidence for why I think this is so. It comes from neurobiology, social psychology, and from studies done on children using games for learning." Web site

“A survey published this month by the League for Innovation in the Community College and the Campus Computing Project reports that community colleges are seeing increased enrollment in every major type of program, especially online programs. The survey author reports that while colleges are hiring new faculty to serve this growing population, they are reducing the number of positions for academic counselors and others who help students, especially as they expand online offerings. He questioned the online expansion without the accompanying academic support.”

“I question it, too. Online degree programs offer solutions to overcrowded physical classrooms, and they provide a lower-cost, convenient alternative for students who want a college education but can’t attend a residential institution for any number of reasons. However, launching an online degree program is not as simple as hiring adjunct professors and teaching courses that have been used in a physical campus setting. To do it right, you need a good learning management system, faculty who are experienced and effective online teachers, training and instructional design support, IT support and online tutors. Of equal importance is an enhanced level of student support, especially help with financing a college education and with navigating the complex bureaucracy that we call higher education.” … Website

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Sept. 3, 2008

“This report builds upon a series of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports on high school dropout and completion rates that began in 1988. It presents estimates of rates for 2006 and provides data about trends in dropout and completion rates over the last three decades (1972-2006), including characteristics of dropouts and completers in these years. Report highlights include: The averaged freshman graduation rate (AFGR), which provides an estimate of the percentage of public high school students who graduate with a regular diploma 4 years after starting 9th grade, was 74.7 percent for the class of 2005. Students living in low-income families were approximately four times more likely to drop out of high school between 2005 and 2006 than were students living in high-income families. In October 2006, approximately 3.5 million civilian noninstitutionalized 16- through 24-year-olds were not enrolled in high school and had not earned a high school diploma or alternative credential.” Website

The following summaries are on the site:
Beyond E-Learning: Approaches and Technologies to Enhance Organizational Knowledge, Learning, and Performance - Marc Rosenberg
E-Learning Solutions on a Shoestring : Help for the Chronically Underfunded - Jane Bozarth
Got Game: How the Gamer Generation Is Reshaping Business Forever - John C. Beck and Mitchell Wade
Michael Allen’s Guide to E-Learning - Michael Allen
Renaissance eLearning - Samantha Chapnic and Jimm Meloy
e-Learning and the Science of Instruction - Ruth Colvin Clark and Richard Mayer
Getting the Most from Online Learning - George Piskurich
Learning by Doing: A Comprehensive Guide to Simulations, Computer Games, and Pedagogy in e-Learning and Other Educational Experiences - Clark Aldrich
The Business Case for E-Learning - Tom Kelly and Nader Nanjiani
Winning E-Learning Proposals: The Art of Design and Development - Karl Kapp, Ed.D.
Selling E-Learning - Darin Hartley
Leading E-Learning - William Horton
Web site

Australian Flexible Learning Network

“In this resource kit, community organisations can find helpful online guidance, ideas and tools for developing and facilitating e-learning in communities and regions. The kit includes suggestions and options on the why and how of e-learning. You'll find guidance on low cost tools and technologies, as well as ideas and stories to help you get started. There are a number of different ways to access this information depending on what you are looking for. You can start with planning, explore tech n tools, try out activities, view case studies, access networks and mentors, or, visit useful links.”

Stephen Downes writes, “This doesn't look like much at first glance but if you keep following the links you'll find a wealth of practical information. I really like the idea of e-learning advice that doesn't begin, buy an LMS. "You'll find guidance on low cost tools and technologies, as well as ideas and stories to help you get started." There's a menu bar across the mid-top of the page that aids navigation (it's a bit difficult to spot). It would be nice if it were licensed as open content, as the authors no doubt availed themselves of a lot of freely shared material in order to create this resource.” Website

(April 2008) by David M. Antonacci and Nellie Modaress. Educational games and simulations can engage students in higher-level cognitive thinking, such as interpreting, analyzing, discovering, evaluating, acting, and problem solving. Recent technical advances in multiplayer, usercreated virtual worlds have significantly expanded the capabilities of user interaction and development within these simulated worlds. This ability to develop and interact with your own simulated world offers many new and exciting educational possibilities. This article explores the technical capabilities and educational potential of these new worlds. Additionally, it presents and illustrates a model, which uses interaction combinations, to identify course content and topics having educational applications in virtual worlds. Web site

by Steve Lohr, Aug. 16, 2008, New York Times

“COUNT me a technological optimist, but I have always thought that the people who advocate putting computers in classrooms as a way to transform education were well intentioned but wide of the mark. It’s not the problem, and it’s not the answer. Yet as a new school year begins, the time may have come to reconsider how large a role technology can play in changing education. There are promising examples, both in the United States and abroad, and they share some characteristics. The ratio of computers to pupils is one to one. Technology isn’t off in a computer lab. Computing is an integral tool in all disciplines, always at the ready.”

“Web-based education software has matured in the last few years, so that students, teachers and families can be linked through networks. Until recently, computing in the classroom amounted to students doing Internet searches, sending e-mail and mastering word processing, presentation programs and spreadsheets. That’s useful stuff, to be sure, but not something that alters how schools work. The new Web education networks can open the door to broader changes. Parents become more engaged because they can monitor their children’s attendance, punctuality, homework and performance, and can get tips for helping them at home. Teachers can share methods, lesson plans and online curriculum materials.” . . . Website

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), August 2008

Among the report's findings:

▪ In 2006-07, there were 1,045 community colleges in the United States , enrolling 6.2 million students (or 35 percent of all postsecondary students enrolled that year).

▪ Average annual community college tuition and fees are less than half those at public 4-year colleges and universities and one-tenth those at private 4-year colleges and universities.

▪ About two-thirds of these immediate community college enrollees reported that they planned to pursue a bachelor's degree or higher when they were still high school seniors; the other one-third reported that they expected an associate's degree or less would be their highest attainment.

▪ Community colleges enroll larger percentages of nontraditional, low-income, and minority students than 4-year colleges and universities.

▪ In fall 2006, about 62 percent of community college students were enrolled part time compared with a quarter of students at 4-year institutions.

▪ Compared to 4-year institutions, community colleges rely more heavily on part-time faculty and staff. In addition, compared with the faculty and staff at 4-year institutions, the main activity of a greater percentage of community college faculty and staff is teaching compared to research or administrative duties. Website

“The Condition of Education” is a congressionally mandated report that provides an annual portrait of education in the United States. The 46 indicators included in this year’s report cover all aspects of education, from early childhood through postsecondary education and from student achievement to school environment and resources.”

Among the report’s other findings:

- Public elementary and secondary enrollment is projected to increase to 54 million in 2018. Over the period of 2006 to 2018, the South is projected to experience the largest increase (18 percent) in the number of students enrolled.

- Between 1972 and 2007, the percentage of public school students who were White decreased from 78 to 56 percent. This decrease largely reflects the growth in the number of students who were Hispanic, particularly in the West.

- The average reading and mathematics scores on the long-term trend National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) were higher in 2008 than in the early 1970s for 9- and 13-year-olds; scores for 17-year-olds were not measurably different over the same period.

- In 2005-06, about three-quarters of the 2002-03 freshman class graduated from high school with a regular diploma.

- The rate of college enrollment immediately after high school completion increased from 49 percent in 1972 to 67 percent by 1997, but has since fluctuated between 62 and 69 percent.

- About 58 percent of first-time students seeking a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent and attending a 4-year institution full time in 2000-01 completed a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent at that institution within 6 years.

- The percentage of 25- to 29-year-olds completing a bachelor’s degree or higher increased from 17 to 29 percent between 1971 and 2000 and was 31 percent in 2008.

- Women accounted for 57 percent of the bachelor’s degrees and 62 percent of all associate’s degrees awarded in the 2006-07 academic year. Website