The University of Rochester, New York has launched a three-dimensional campus model to give a leg up to its admissions department. The model, called RocRes, is designed to provide an insider’s view of what it’s like to live on the school’s River campus.

Included in the 3D model:

• Dormitory room tours
• 360-degree panoramic views, and
• Interactive campus views.

When students click on a particular building they’d like to investigate, they’re provided with information and images of the structure. This virtual campus is especially useful for international students who wouldn’t otherwise be able to visit during the application process.

Is this the future of campus tours – or just a novelty? Share your opinions in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

The City College of San Francisco recently discovered that its servers have been infected by computer viruses that have been in the school’s systems since 1999. The college first noticed the infection in November, when gaps in the data logs at a campus computer lab tipped the IT department off.

The college closed off the infected computer lab and took the server offline, but it may have been too little, too late: transmissions had already been sent to Russia, China and other countries. So far, there’s been one confirmed instance of personal banking information recorded by the virus.

And there are an additional 100,000 students and 3,000 employees whose personal info could be compromised.

In response, CCSF has taken multiple corrective actions, including:

• reconfiguring the campus firewalls
• changing and strengthening passwords on all servers
• preparing to install new security hardware
• establishing new procedures for the school to follow when it comes to using computers and network, and
• planning to isolate the network into three separate areas – administrative, academic and wireless.

Is your school prepared for a virus attack? Tell us in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

As the home of shows like Teen Mom and Jersey Shore, MTV’s not generally known for its ability to help young minds. But it’s never too late to start – and to prove it, the network has developed a Facebook app that helps students track down scholarship and other financial aid.

Working with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the College Board and the Get Schooled campaign, the “My College Dollars” app uses information from the student user’s Facebook page to fill in a form, then suggests aid the student is eligible to apply for.

Among its other functions, it helps students:

• Access and fill out the FAFSA
• Post questions for experts, and
• Keep a calendar of important dates and send alerts to the student’s Facebook page.

The app operates entirely on Facebook, setting it aside from other college finance websites like finaid.org and fastweb.com.

Check out MTV’s app here, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

For the first time, U.S. News & World Report has ranked the top online bachelor’s programs, based on three major criteria: faculty credentials and training, student services and technology, and student engagement and assessment.

The data is based on survey responses from the 184 schools that have been offering online bachelor’s degree programs for more than one year.

The top 5 based on faculty:

1. Westfield State University, Massachusetts
2. United States Sports Academy, Alabama
3. St. Mary’s College of California
4. Pace University, New York
5. Sam Houston State University, Texas

The top 5 based on technology:

1. Arizona State University
2. Sam Houston State University
3. Florida International University
4. University of North Dakota
5. Troy University

The top 5 based on student engagement:

1. Bellevue University, Nebraska
2. Newberry College, South Carolina
3. Troy University, Alabama
4. University of the Incarnate Word, Texas
5. University of Phoenix, Arizona

Finally, U.S. News gave Honor Roll mention to the schools that ranked in the top 1/3 of all three criteria:

1. Florida Institute of Technology
2. Pace University
3. University of Florida
4. Westfield State University

You can view the entire ranked list here. Then let us know what you think in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Most of the time, Facebook use has practically no effect on student GPAs, according to a study from Lockhaven University of Pennsylvania. Out of the 1,800+ students surveyed, 92% admitted to using Facebook and spending an average 106 minutes on the network daily – about six times per day for 24 minutes at a time.

The study found “no strong link” between Facebook use and a drop in GPA. However, for every additional hour and a half spent on the site (over the 106-minute average), GPAs dropped an average of 0.12 points. That doesn’t prove one causes the other, though.

“Students with lower grades could simply use Facebook more, or there could be a third factor that affects both but isn’t studied here,” the study’s authors note.

The way students use Facebook may also affect how they do in the classroom. Students who shared links or checked the site to see what their friends were doing often did better in class. But students posting vague, “Eating ramen again, LOL”-style updates did worse.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

A new study by Varsity Outreach reveals that 79% of schools use Facebook in their admissions process – up 13% from last year’s polling. The results are based on responses from 150 surveyed schools.

The social network has become the most important social media option for admissions offices. Specifically, 89% call it “very/somewhat important” to their recruiting, compared to the runners-up, YouTube (70%), blogging (50%) or Twitter (43%).

However, there are still a few hold-outs resisting serious Facebook use. The top reasons:

• Not enough resources to support an admissions-specific presence, and
• The institution already had an adequate university-wide presence.

While 74% of respondents said they use a combination of Facebook applications. The most popular apps:

• Pages (81%)
• Groups (71%), and
• Personal Profiles (45%).

How are schools getting the word out about their Facebook pages? Overwhelmingly, the answer is Email Blasts, which rated a “very/somewhat effective” score of 97%.

Check out the full white paper here, then discuss it in our comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Some schools are going to extraordinary efforts to protect their students – and their reputations. That means coming up with some common-sense social media policies (and some that might be a little on the strict side).

You be the judge:

1. Villanova University – enacted a Twitter blackout for all student basketball players during the 2010 season

2. Ontario College of Teachers – advised faculty to avoid using social media for student communication, and use only “established education platforms” such as course websites

3. Kansas State University – suspended a student athlete after he tweeted he’d be “getting twisted tonight,” and required a social media training session for other players

4. University of North Carolina – handbook says each team must have “at least one coach or administrator … to regularly monitor the content of team members’ social networking”

5. New Jersey Institute of Technology – uses UDiligence to monitor Facebook, MySpace and Twitter pages of student athletes for posts that might negatively reflect upon the school

6. Sam Houston State University – insists that any student group using the college’s name (or SHSU) either join its official “social media universe” or change its name

7. University of Colorado – bans football players from posting or tweeting anything about the team

8. Colorado State University – specifies in its social media police that players not “post anything to embarrass the team” (unfortunately, this vague request didn’t stop a 2,000-attendee CSU party from being advertised on Facebook)

9. Ohio State University Medical Center – states employees should engage with patients and the community, but only use social media during non-working time

10. London School of Economics – objected to a post by a faculty member that was critical of the school, allegedly leading to his resignation

11. North Carolina State University – backed a resident advisor who wrote underage drinking citations for 14 students based on pictures she saw on Facebook

12. Montana State University – restricts student-athletes from linking to external sites promoting a product or service that’s unaffiliated with Bobcat Athletics without talking to the school’s marketing director (which means they have to be pretty cautious before clicking “Like” on anything!)

13. Eastern University – asks all academics-related Facebook group pages and Twitter feeds to have a minimum of one update per week or face deletion

14. Syracuse University – placed students on probation for creating a Facebook page bashing an instructor, and

15. Columbia University Department of Surgery – reserves the right to “delete or block any post or user account at any time without notice for any reason.” Yikes!

(Via The Matador Sports)

Agree with these policies? Scared by some of them? Let us know in the comments, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

56% of college students and recent college graduates would refuse to work for a company that banned social media like Facebook and Twitter, according to a recent study by Cisco. It’s no wonder why: About 33% consider the Internet a fundamental resource, as important as air, water, food and shelter.

It’s possible that those same students who said they wouldn’t work in an office with an Internet restriction might not consider working in an office at all. 70% of those polled said an office is unnecessary for being a productive worker, and 25% think their productivity would increase if they worked from home.

Other findings:

• 40% say the Internet is more important than dating, hanging out with friends, partying or listening to music
• 66% say a mobile device (whether it’s a laptop, tablet or smartphone) is “the most important technology in their lives,” and
• 81% say they check Facebook at least once a day (and 33% of those say they check it at least 5 times a day!).

What do students at your school demand from their future employers? Tell us in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Case in point: the University of Missouri-Columbia, where students arrived to campus and immediately wrought havoc with their various gadgets. They found spotty reception, clear in larger halls but weak or nonexistent once they left for smaller classrooms.

The school was able to trace the problem back to a fixable software glitch, but there’s also the massive leap in the number of wireless devices on campus to consider. Last year the largest number of devices connected to the system at any one time was 900. This year: 8,000.

But the rise in wireless device use isn’t the biggest issue schools have to consider – it’s what students are using those devices to look at. Video content is the biggest problem.

For example: At Boston College, 70% of bandwidth is eaten up by video streaming and downloading, much of it purely for entertainment purposes.

Here are some strategies your school can use to cope with students’ wireless needs:

• Control traffic at peak hours. For instance, St. Louis University separates its Internet space into three pipelines to ensure students, researchers and clinicians don’t interfere with each other.
• Use network management tools to prevent heavy users from dominating a network, such as slowing a movie download to save space for students doing less-intensive work.
• Boost security. While some students may balk at dealing with virus searches and other new device scans, it’s a small price to pay for access to campus servers.

What else can schools do to maximize wireless coverage? Share your strategies in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

The University System of Ohio has set up a program allowing 1,000 students to receive digital textbooks for free. The school is working with online publisher Flat World Knowledge on the pilot program to drive down textbook costs and make college more affordable.

To participate, a faculty member has to select Flat World textbooks for their courses and agree to participate in a research project on student learning. Students will then have the option of accessing the online edition for free in one of these formats:

• e-reader (e.g., iPad, Kindle)
• MP3 audiobook
• PDF chapter download, or
• Interactive study aids.

Softback printed editions are also available for purchase.

All formats are copy-protection free, meaning students can transfer texts from on device to another.

To encourage faculty to join the program, the school plans to hold workshops, and Flat World’s Creative Commons licenses allow instructors to customize textbooks to meet their specific requirements (such as adding and deleting portions and rearranging chapters).

Other Ohio institutions are using digital textbooks, including Miami University in Oxford and Columbus State Community College. An estimated 49,936 students have saved money through digital textbook options.

Is your campus preparing for digital texts? Share your experiences in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Harvard University is the most discussed university on the Web, according to a survey by the Global Language Monitor. The rankings are based on usage of words and phrases on blogs, social media and the top 75,000 print and electronic media sites.

The rankings measure brand equity, rather than the U.S. News & World Report rankings that are based on data from the schools themselves. Higher ed institutions can use these rankings to track their reputation among students and other educators.

Harvard previously took the number one spot in 2008, but dropped in the rankings following an endowment crisis that may have hurt its Internet buzz. Its return to the top spot, meanwhile, was spurred in part by its presence in 2010’s Oscar-winner (and frequent Web chat topic) The Social Network.

Looking at the full list, there’s a clear trend: Public institutions are being featured more heavily. Almost half of the top 30 schools are in the public domain, indicating that the very definition of what makes an elite school may be quickly changing to branch out beyond Ivy League universities like Harvard.

Here’s the top 10 schools with Internet media buzz:

1. Harvard University
2. Northwestern University
3. University of California, Berkeley
4. Columbia University
5. California Institute of Technology
6. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
7. Stanford University
8. University of Chicago
9. University of Texas, Austin
10. Cornell University

You can check out the complete list here.

What do you make of these rankings? Share your thoughts in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

West Virginia University has begun offering a series of online courses to teach students how social media can be used in by businesses. Though a non-credit program, students who complete it will receive a certificate of completion.

The three-part “Social Media for Business” series first teaches students about the foundations of social networks, including how to develop goals, measure and apply them. Subsequent lessons tackle marketing with social media and integrating it within a business’s organization.

While the ins and outs of Facebook are part of the lessons, the program is primarily to teach students about how to successfully engage customers with relevant content, at a time when web use has dramatically changed business and marketing.

Does your school offer a similar course? Tell us more in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

As a result of high dropout and loan default rates and accusations of questionable recruiting practices, the Obama administration unveiled new rules that would cut off government financial aid for programs where too few students repay their loans or fail to find decent-paying jobs.

Add to this a series of lawsuits from former students, whistleblowers and investors, and it has been clear to for-profit colleges that they’d need to be more accountable in their recruiting and financial aid practices if they hope to retain their financial aid.

The University of Phoenix (owned by Apollo Group, Inc.):

• Created its own social network to connect students with alumni who could help them find jobs
• Developed a free three-week orientation program for students with fewer than 24 college credits; a passing grade is required to continue taking UP courses, and
• Canceled financial incentives for enrollment counselors based on admissions quotas.

As a result of these changes, student enrollment has declined by nearly half, and the company saw a $159 million net loss compared to last year. However, the school believes the new approach will ultimately result in fewer dropouts, higher graduation rates and lower loan default rates.

Meanwhile, Kaplan University (owned by the Washington Post Co.):

• Stopped paying incentives to recruiters, and
• Created a program allowing new students to take classes for up to five weeks for free before deciding whether to continue.

This school has seen a 47% decline in new enrollments and an attrition rate of 25% (of those, 60% were dismissed for lack of academic progress).

In his defense of the industry, CEO of the Washington Post Co. Donald Graham said at the annual meeting in May, “If we are to be guided only by those factors – student graduation rates and how much debt they incur – we would probably close down all, or almost all, of the institutions of higher education – whomever they may be run by – that serve poor students.”

Should for-profit institutions continue to be so closely scrutinized? Share your opinions in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Students who can be considered “heavy multitaskers” tend to pare down their tech use to only one or two devices when exam time rolls around, says a new study from the University of Washington.

Based on 560 interviews at 11 college libraries, the findings suggest students are capable of dialing down technology use when the situation calls for it. Students interviewed in the libraries said it was the best place they could concentrate and feel more studious.

Others said they left their laptops at home to avoid temptation, relying only on library equipment to write papers or study. And of those who were working online, 61% had only one or two websites open at a time.

Others used the web as an incentive, treating Facebook as a reward after 15, 30 or 60 minutes of study, or at the end of a chapter reading.

This is one more study showing that today’s students aren’t the tech-junkies they’re sometimes painted as, and that tech use can have academic benefits, as well.

What devices are your students most dependent on? Let us know in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Since 2005, 215 participants of 42 financial fraud rings have been convicted and ordered to pay $7.5 million in fines and restitution, according to new data from the Department of Education’s Office of the Inspector General.

In fact, there are currently 100 open investigations (about 17% of the agency’s open cases) into distance-education fraud, encompassing thousands of suspects.

How the scam works: Fraudsters seek aid for “straw students” who don’t intend on attending college (or in some cases, aren’t even aware of the application). Financial aid goes to the college, which takes out tuition and fees and passes along the remainder to the “student” to cover expenses.

The more schools begin providing online courses, the more popular this form of financial aid fraud is becoming.

Community colleges have been hit hardest by this quick-cash scam, due to open enrollment and low tuition that leaves room for considerable excess aid. For instance, the online Rio Salado College in Arizona was the target of a $538,000 scheme that resulted in 64 convictions.

But the biggest fraud occurred at Axia College, a University of Phoenix program, where officials identified some 750 rings involving 15,000 perpetrators. Unfortunately, only four employees are currently available to identify fraud on a full-time basis.

The inspector general’s recommendation: Colleges must clamp down on identity verification, while Congress and the Education Department reconsider whether online students should be eligible for the same financial aid as students who attend on-campus courses.

How does your school respond to financial aid fraud? Tell us in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

There’s a positive correlation between college grade point average and Facebook use – when students use it for information gathering and sharing. That’s according to a study of 1,839 students conducted by Lock Haven University’s Dr. Reynol Junco.

Data examined the frequency of Facebook use, student GPAs, participation in site activities and class prep time.

Site use that mimicked educational behaviors, such as sharing links or gathering information, related positively with GPA. There was a weaker correlation to the time the student spent preparing for class.

Naturally, excessive online chatting and status updating had the same negative impact on students’ grades that offline socializing has. Students who invested an extra 279 minutes on Facebook per day over the average also earned .37 GPA points below average.

The researcher hopes educators use the data to get some positive use out of Facebook themselves. His suggestion: communicating with students via course-related Facebook groups.

How does your faculty utilize social networks? Tell us in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Some web-using students at Cornell University are mad as hell, and they’re not going to take it anymore.

A few hundred of them, led by sophomore Cristina Lara, have launched a petition-based campaign to express their outrage and try to get the school to end its practice of Network Usage-Based Billing (NUBB).

Cornell lets its students use up to 50 gigabytes a month for free. After that, it’s $.0015 per megabyte up to 500 megabytes. Anything over 500 megabytes gets billed at $.0010 per.

A web page inviting students to sign the petition says charging students based on usage is a “baseless” idea.

“With a pricetag of $57,000 per year, Cornell University should give its students unlimited internet usage,” according to Lara.

Should schools charge students for Internet use? Tell us what you think below – and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

At the annual conference of the National Association for College Admission Counseling, a panel of high school seniors and college freshmen told counselors they didn’t want a tweet or text from a college, preferring a good old-fashioned phone call.

They cited the phone as being “a lot more personal,” provided counselors call outside of school hours, when they’d be more likely to answer.

The students were also turned off by the idea of colleges connecting with them on social networks like Facebook, suggesting it was an invasion of their personal time. “Seeing a college on Facebook, it’s like, you’re in my face, and I’d appreciate it if you weren’t,” explained one panelist.

One compromise: using an interactive Facebook group rather than a one-sided fan page.

As another way to utilize new tech while respecting students’ privacy, schools should be more reactive in their social media strategies, letting students start conversations and guide discussion. This suggestion came from Jeannine Lalonde, senior assistant dean of admissions at the University of Virginia.

Finally, the young panel revealed a more old-school mentality when it came to applications: They would absolutely not submit their applications via mobile devices. After all – they have computers.

How is your school integrating new tech into the admissions process? Tell us in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

About 25% of all identity theft victims in 2010 were between 19 and 29, according to a report by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Some 250,000 people had personal information breached last year.

Some of these incidents are classified as “friendly fraud,” when students’ roommates, classmates or relatives snag a Social Security or bank pin number. In fact, friendly fraud incidents grew 7% last year.

But other complaints weren’t friendly at all. For example: in Corpus Christi, TX, students were informed that a printed class roster with their Social Security numbers was stolen from a Del Mar College instructor’s vehicle.

Here are some steps college students can take to protect their identity:

• Secure mail by using a permanent address such as their parents’ home, or getting a post office box – campus mailboxes can be easily accessed.
• Don’t overshare on social networks – identity theft is twice as common for people using social sites for five years or longer.
• Store passports, credit card statements, bank accounts and Social Security cards securely, and shred any documents with sensitive financial information.
• Never loan credit or debit cards, and avoid co-signing for loans or other financing.
• Update all computer software, including antivirus and spyware programs, since many public Wi-Fi systems (especially those without password protection) are easy prey for hackers.
• Check credit and debit card statements frequently for suspicious purchases, and
• Never use a shared computer workstation to pay bills or shop online.

For more help, visit the FTC’s identity fraud site.

How else can students (and staffers) protect their identities? Share your tips below, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

At the University of Dublin, Trinity College’s faculty listing – however briefly – featured a bold new associate professor: Dr. Conan T. Barbarian, B.A. (Cimmeria), Ph.D (UCD). The hulking warrior was all set to teach Hyborian Studies and Tyrant Slaying at the Irish university – until his syllabus was sadly revealed to be a hoax.

“Dr. Conan T. Barbarian was ripped from his mother’s womb on the corpse-strewn battlefields of his war-torn homeland, Cimmeria, and has been preparing for academic life ever since,” begins Professor Conan’s academic profile.

Naturally, his Ph.D. thesis is titled, “To Hear the Lamentation of Their Women: Constructions of Masculinity in Contemporary Zamoran Literature.”

The college removed the parody site, posted by an as-yet unknown prankster. But not before fans archived the page and passed it along.

That said, what student wouldn’t want to take courses in “Vengeance for Beginners”? Though Professor Conan’s classroom policy on cheating (and showing weakness) does seem a bit…strict.

Could your English department use a few more barbarians? Let us know in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Paul Richard George Jr., a Des Moines Area Community College student, was arrested after posting onto his Twitter feed, “Who wants to shoot up the DMACC Ankeny campus the same time I shoot up the Urban campus?”

But DMACC administrators monitor social media for mentions of their school name. When they came across George’s incendiary tweet, they called the police, who waited for George when he showed up for college (on his second day of attendance). He was then charged with first-degree harassment.

George claimed he was only joking – a claim that DMACC officials believe – but the school has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to potential threats to the campus. There’s also the matter of the weapons in George’s house, which his parents voluntarily turned over to the police for safekeeping.

How can students be educated on the importance of responsible posting online? Share your ideas in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Students and teachers alike can benefit from using social media as an extension of the classroom. But it’s important to maintain professional boundaries while making effective use out of the networks.

Here are three tips from Dan Klam, Marketing & Communications Coordinator at Syracuse University:

1. Survey students. Ask students which platforms they’d be most interested in integrating into class. If they’re not comfortable, they won’t buy in, dooming the experience from the start.
2. Set up communities. Whether it’s a private class group or page on Facebook or a class hashtag students can find on Twitter, encouraging group discussion is key. Whatever you use, make it clear that it’s for class interactions only, to distinguish it from private student and instructor accounts.
3. Establish boundaries. Some teachers readily accept friend requests from students, while others insist on privacy. Teachers must set down clear ground rules about the ways students can and can’t communicate with them online.

What else would you add? Offer your advice in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Buying textbooks on Amazon is a cheaper alternative to the bookstore – but students may still have to go to the bookstore just to find out what texts they’ll need for a class.

Enter Amazon Student, a free iPhone app from AMZN Mobile, LLC, that allows students to scan a book’s barcode directly into their phones, instantly check prices and create a shopping cart on Amazon to buy the books.

There’s also a trade-in feature. At the end of the semester, students can re-scan the barcodes of the textbook and Amazon will send a prepaid shipping label to their email address. When the books sell, Amazon will send gift cards as payment.

How else can students save on expensive text books? Share your tips in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

For years, the University of Massachusetts has examined how quickly higher education has adopted social media. The latest findings: complete immersion, based on interviews from 456 college administrators.

In 2009-2010, the number of schools using some form of social media was at 95%. In the latest study, it was up to 100%.

Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, blogging and podcasting are the top tools among colleges – all of which have seen double-digit increases in use over the last year. Also on the rise: RSS feed and email subscriptions of school websites.

But a surprising contender for dominance among college admissions officers is LinkedIn, which connects fellow admissions pros. It saw a rise from 16% last year to 47% most recently.

Of note is how schools have evolved their blogging strategies as a two-way communications tool, especially with students: In 2007, 37% of schools that had blogs didn’t accept comments, but most recently this has dropped to 15%.

What’s your social media weapon of choice? Let us know in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Mark Suddon, a 2011 graduate of Kettering University wrote an app that allows Internet users to save web pages for later viewing. As a result, Microsoft has hired him on as a software development and test engineer.

College-aged app creators are starting to flourish, thanks in part to programs like Kettering’s Entrepreneur Society. That’s where Suddon and two other students started their APPerfection, LLC business.

The school says Web-based businesses have been the most popular option for student techies, who can easily develop their own sites.

Other schools are getting in on the “applosion” as well. In 2007, a Stanford University teacher challenged students to devise a Facebook app – drawing millions of users in the process.

And schools like University of Southern California and Syracuse University are offering app-design classes on campus.

Have your students become amateur app designers? Let us know in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

People who use the Internet, social networks, mobile phones and photo sharing sites are more likely to have a large, diverse set of close confidants, says a new study by the Pew Research Center. These findings challenge a 2006 report suggesting Americans had become more socially isolated over the past two decades.

2,255 interviewees were asked for details about the impact of their social networking use from 2008 to 2010 (a period when social networking nearly doubled).

Of course, Facebook is the network of choice, with 92% of users, compared to 29% for MySpace, 18% for LinkedIn and 13% for Twitter.

Among the findings, social network users:

• had more close relationships, with 9% more friends considered close confidants compared to other Internet users
• received more social support – “about half the total support … as a result of being married or cohabitating with a partner” (ex: users who post that they are feeling sick can quickly receive “get well” wishes on their walls)
• kept or revived more old friendships – the average Facebook users has 229 friends, including those from high school, extended family, co-workers and college friends
• were more politically active, with 43% more likely to say they’d vote and 57% more likely to persuade someone else to vote, and
• were 43% more likely to believe most people could be trusted (encouraged, in part, by the “Like” button, the top activity on Facebook).

How does that compare with those who shy away from the Internet?

Overall, the findings suggest that the 20% of offline Americans were more isolated, less likely to vote and less involved with their neighbors.

For instance: The average non-user claims 506 social connections (compared to web users’ 669). And only 27% believed most people could be trusted.

How does this compare to Internet use on your campus? Share your thoughts in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

University of South Carolina professor Lara Lomicka Anderson will be knighted by the French government this fall, thanks to her ability to integrate social media into her students’ lessons.

The professor has been pairing students taking her year-long French course with English-language students at L’Ecole Des Ponts Paris Tech. The students Skype once a week, chat by email and Twitter and hold Facebook group discussions, helping each other improve their foreign language skills.

At the end of course, the students spend 10 days in Paris, where they meet their partners.

The French consul will knight Anderson as a member of an academic order founded by Napoleon to honor contributions to French language and culture.

One catch, though: Because referencing Twitter and Facebook on radio and TV essentially amounts to unlawful advertising, the words have been banned. So if the ceremony is broadcast, the newly-knighted professor will have to choose her words very carefully!

What do you think? Let us know in the comments section, and n’oubliez pas de nous suivre sur Twitter.

Facebook use may be the most inessential social networking service available to students, according to a preliminary study of 84 students at the University of Pennsylvania.

The study split students into groups and prevented them from using either their email, texting, cell phones, Facebook or instant messaging services for one week. At the end of the week, they were asked what they had done to compensate for the ban, and what they thought of the different tools.

Interestingly, the students didn’t do much to compensate for the loss of Facebook, or use Facebook as a substitute for another banned service. The reason: Facebook friends aren’t necessarily “real” friends.

Students banned from texting compensated by calling more frequently and vice versa, because those are the preferred communications tools with their closest friends. They preferred contacting acquaintances using Facebook – and considered only 16% of their Facebook friends to be their real friends.

The survey also asked students to name “fair compensation” for going without each service for a week, and found they would accept:

• $99 for losing email
• $85 for losing texting
• $73 for losing cell phone calls
• $44 for losing Facebook, and
• $27 for losing instant messaging.

These results raise questions about how – and why – people use social networking. Share your thoughts below, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Instead of a second essay, the University of Iowa is asking prospective students to submit a 140-character tweet. The best entry will net that student a full scholarship to the university’s Tippie College of Business MBA program.

The aim of this Twitter contest: making students get to the point quickly and improve their social media skills.

Students can answer the “essay” question, “What makes you an exceptional Tippie full-time MBA candidate and future MBA hire?” using links to their blogs, Facebook pages, videos or anything else they can fit into Twitter’s 140-character limit.

This isn’t the only way students can use Twitter to net them financial assistance. Other examples:

• Kentucky Fried Chicken’s Twitter scholarship offers $20,000 over four years for a winning tweet
• Applicants who can sum up their college experience in a single tweet can win $1,000 from Scholarship.com, and
• The tweet that best highlights how using Twitter can improve the world can score $1,400 at CollegeScholarships.org.

Is this an effective admissions tool, or is the school cashing in on a fad? Share your opinion in the comments section, and (of course) don’t forget to follow us on Twitter (no scholarships available).

A new website from the Department of Education lets college-bound families compare tuitions, the pace at which they’re rising and the total net cost of attending each school (after room and board, etc.). These lists are required by the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008.

According to the lists, the average 2009-2010 tuition at a four-year nonprofit college was $21,324. On the high end of the spectrum:

• Bates College, Maine – the highest tuition at $51,300
• Wells College, New York – the highest tuition increase in two years with 67%, and
• Art Center College of Design in California, with the highest net cost after financial aid at $29,672.

But while critics point to some uneven data (for example, the net cost numbers include only full-time, first-time students who received financial aid), the site still offers more comprehensive information than has previously been readily available.

How does your school compete with others on the list? Share your findings, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Sure, the iPad has a lot going for it. Here’s what The Chronicle of Higher Education has to say:

• It’s small and easy for students (and profs) to carry around.
• The extended battery life means no hunting for wall outlets.
• It’s great for collaboration with its easy-to-share screen.
• Students are less inclined – and less able – to engage in social networking than when hiding behind the screen of a laptop.

But there are some hitches:

• The glass keyboard creates a slow typing surface, which makes it tougher to do written work or take notes in class.
• It’s not always able to run a school’s applications.
• While it’s good for viewing, users can’t mark up material.

This isn’t a case of seeing whether the pros outnumber the cons. The arguments against the iPad make it seem like a fairly ineffective higher ed tool.

If you have an iPad, let us know what you think about its usefulness in academia in the comments section below.

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter!

As part of its three-year mobile learning initiative, Abilene Christian University provided its students with iPads – and, no surprise, the students got pretty attached to them by the end of the school year.

After using the devices, 75% of ACU freshman said they’d buy their own tablets if at least half their textbooks were available digitally.

But the popularity of the e-readers hasn’t yet translated to textbook sales. In 2010, digital books accounted for only 3% of textbook sales, according the National Association of College Stores.

One reason: poor-quality materials. Students couldn’t highlight or take notes on these pseudo e-books, which more closely resembled PDF files, and so no one bought them.

Recently, though, more educators are making the shift to digital e-books so students will more eagerly participate in assignments and improve their overall learning.

Major publishers like Inkling are focusing on the switch to digital text books to meet the increasing demand.

Here’s just how popular e-books are becoming:

• 20% of college students will possess iPads and other tablets by 2012, and
• Digital book sale growth will double to $1.5 billion by 2015, accounting for 25% of market share.

Has your school made the switch to digital e-books? Let us know, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

A new report by the Sloan Survey of Online Education ranks the top colleges and universities offering online schooling. The top five:

1. Penn State World University Campus
2. Boston University Online
3. Full Sail University Online
4. St. Joseph’s University Online
5. Northeastern University Online

Schools were ranked based on factors such as graduation and retention rates, student-to-teacher ratio and tuition costs per credit hour.

Other findings of the report:

• The growth rate for online education is 21%, compared to 2% in higher education overall
• Nearly three quarters of schools report increased demand for online services as a result of the economic downturn, and
• Almost two thirds of schools say online learning is a critical part of their long-term strategy.

How is your school tackling increased demands for online services? Let us know in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

The University of Saskatchewan has settled on a new application process for its college of education: an online interview. It’s a move designed to replace the school’s old interviewing system, which used a lot of resources but wasn’t very effective.

Within the new system, 65% of the potential student’s overall score will be based on high school GPA, while 35% will be the end result of a series of questions covering subjects with themes including:

• Affirming dignity and respect for students
• Social and ecological justice
• Lifelong learning
• Creating a positive community in the class and school, and
• Building instructional competence.

The questions are sent via e-mail to the applicants, who will then have 24 hours to log in and answer. Once received, a team of four faculty volunteers will score the completed exams.

But even if a student flubs the questionnaire, a high GPA will ensure he or she is flagged for a mini-interview to be conducted face-to-face with the faculty.

What do you think of this new process? Share your thoughts in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

Initially limited to University of Chicago students, the newly-rechristened EduHookups.com is expanding after attracting national attention.

Among the schools joining the “no strings attached” social network are Northwestern University and Columbia College Chicago, with Brown University to follow.

More than 800 people have reportedly registered on the site to post and check out listings for casual hook-ups, serious relationships and even platonic friendships. A .edu email address is required to join.

Will your college be next to join in? Share your thoughts in the comments section, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.