From Syllabus, a case study about the use of weblogs in online education. Thanks goes out to Ray Director of Technology-Enhanced Learning at University of Illinois Online for the link.

In recent years, the professional literature has been filled with calls for faculty to better engage students in learner-centered applications. Reports on the learning and behavioral tendencies of the Network Generation1 and most recently of the Millennials2 emphasize that these students have grown up in the information age with technology, and have developed skills, aptitudes and attitudes that differ from many faculty active in instruction. For example, the Millenials look to the Internet for information and are comfortable interacting online with their peers; they work collaboratively and thrive on interactivity; and they have an expectation of immediacy not just in problem-solving and knowledge acquisition but from their instructors as well. What pedagogical models might faculty design that cater to self-directed learners? A first step toward developing models of scholarship aligned to innovative teaching is to pilot approaches that blend technology with the skill sets being developed in core subject areas. As best practices are identified, they can be incorporated into revised pedagogical models.