Information and digital literacy in education via the digital path

The realities of the “digital divide” are increasingly apparent. In a consumer culture that equates status with early adoption of the newest iPhone, access to new technology necessarily splits pretty clearly along socio-economic class lines. According to U.S. census data, for example, more than 30 million homes have no broadband access, most of them concentrated …

There's a wealth of education related web tools out there that can make your life easier and turn your computer, phone, and/or tablet into a teaching and learning powerhouse.

Katie Lepie : Thankfully, the folks over at Edublogs have put together this great List.ly that is filled to the brim with the best education tools, and the best part is that they’re all free! So you can feel free to try any or all of them out without a huge financial commitment. And they’ve been prescreened for you by folks who have put them to use in the classroom.

Members of the so-called “thumb generation” are known for their skills with digital devices and surfing the Internet.

But research shows college students struggle in the area of “information literacy,” or the ability to locate, understand, evaluate and use informational resources necessary for university-level coursework.

Lack of computer skills is damaging young people's job chances, warns research from The Prince's Trust.

Slides from an invited speech given to the Technology in Higher Education Conference, National Convention Centre, Doha, Qatar. 16 April, 2013.

Check out these case studies and interviews to learn more about the most important trends of the year.

Key Findings

See the 2013 report for a full list of key messages, findings, and supporting data.

Students recognize the value of technology but still need guidance when it comes to better using it for academics.

Students prefer blended learning environments while beginning to experiment with MOOCs.

Students are ready to use their mobile devices more for academics, and they look to institutions and instructors for opportunities and encouragement to do so.

Students value their privacy, and using technology to connect with them has its limits.

Below is a list of the top 100 web tools compiled from a survey run by Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies ( C4LPT). Votes of over  500 learning professionals (from education and workplace learning) from 48 countries were collected and analyzed to come up with this final selection. Here are some of the highlights taken from C4PLT:

13 News Ways To Learn In 2013

In The eLearning Coach New Year’s tradition, I’m presenting another list of compelling ways to learn online this year. Opportunities for learning seem limitless, applications get smarter and the content gets richer. I just hope we don’t all evolve into robot heads at some point. Enjoy! At the end you’ll find links to lists from the three previous years.

There are a host of online learning trends that have popped up over the year. Here's a detailed look at each of them.

Looking ahead

We explore the 'next big things' for technology in education (via Jisc Inform) ...Jisc’s programme director Matthew Dovey and Jisc RSC’s e-learning advisor Judy Bloxham found that this was also the year when some recent technologies found themselves with practical applications.