Innovating in a Next-Gen World

• By Katherine Grayson
• 01/01/08

Higher ed gets more exhilarating each day as campus innovators and technology innovations come together.

If your institution's educators and technologists have been getting their feet wet in wikis, blogs, podcasting, or immersive MUVE (Multi-User Virtual Environment) education, now's the time to really take the plunge, and this issue should serve as just the inspiration you need. I don't usually "hawk" the content we offer you in each issue, but we've got two articles you won't want to miss this time around: Get a real kick-start on Web 2.0 education with "13 Tips for Virtual World Teaching." And if you've been following the evolution of digitized book and periodical content use in higher education, check out the insider information we've got for you in "Google Book Search: The God, the Bad, and the Ugly."

Our "Tips" story gives you the lowdown on how many of the latest Web 2.0 technologies for the actual and virtual classroom work, and how you can get started with them-straight from the mouths of immersive education experts and educators. At the same time, our Google Book Search focus affords a balanced view of the current state of this landmark effort-warts and all. It's information you and the educators and students you serve and support will need in order to move forward in the new ".edu" world.

At the heart of it all, however, is innovation, and that innovation is coming from all sides. In fact, I don't think there's ever been a more exhilarating time to cover the world of higher education technology. What's even more exciting is that we here at CT are only one month away from the kickoff of our 2008 Campus Technology Innovators Awards and editorial coverage. This year, in line with the rapidly advancing pace of Web 2.0 and other innovations on North American campuses (and to respond to the many inquiries we have received since we published last year's award winners, and accommodate the number of entries we are anticipating), we are pleased to announce an earlier start to the nomination period: Feb. 1.

Additionally-and importantly-the Campus Technology Innovators will be taking their rightful place at Campus Technology 2008, Welcome to Next- Gen.edu! , in Boston, July 28-31. Of course we will honor our 2008 Campus Technology Innovator award winners with extensive coverage in our special August Innovators issue, but this year, look also for our Innovators to join our 2008 conference track presenters and other speakers, as they share with attendees their forays into new frontiers of higher education technology exploration.

You won't want to miss participating in so many opportunities on the horizon. Look for our 2008 Campus Technology Innovators competition Call for Entries, coming in our next issue. And to find out more about Campus Technology 2008, head here, and see our Call for Poster Presenters on page 15 of this issue.

If you've been instrumental in recent campus technology innovations, we want to hear from you!

-Katherine Grayson, Editor-In-Chief
What have you seen and heard? Send to: [email protected].