The EDUCAUSE Top Teaching and Learning Challenges

Join the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative to chart the top challenges in teaching and learning with technology. Participate in a new community effort to build a network of solutions and just-in-time resources around the topics dominating administrative meetings and water-cooler conversations. It’s your chance to set the agenda and collaborate with colleagues around real solutions and innovative directions.

The Top Five Challenges are Revealed!

After months of spirited discussion, the EDUCAUSE community has identified their top five challenges in teaching and learning with technology.

Creating learning environments that promote active learning, critical thinking, collaborative learning, and knowledge creation.
Developing 21st century literacies (information, digital, and visual) among students and faculty.
Reaching and engaging today's learner.
Encouraging faculty adoption and innovation in teaching and learning with IT.
Advancing innovation in teaching and learning with technology in an era of budget cuts.

Roll up your sleeves and participate in the project wiki as the community moves from identifying the top challenges to building a network of solutions around them. Stay "in the know" by becoming a member of the Challenges Ning Network. Lend your voice by volunteering for a key role. It's not too late to get involved!

Explore Highlights Key Roles Recent News Project Background Outcomes

Explore

The Top Teaching and Learning Challenges project is a new community effort to surface and synthesize trends in higher education. Roll your mouse over the project elements to learn more about each phase of this innovative process.

Project Highlights

Challenges Ning Network

Join the Challenges Ning Network to starting connect with project updates and fellow collaborators. As the project progresses, this virtual hub houses workgroups for each of the identified challenges.

Community Project Wiki

The project’s collaborative workspace launched September 2008 with a broad scan of teaching and learning challenges identified through focus groups. Now that the community has identified the top challenges, there are links to individual workspaces and content repositories for each challenge.

Teaching and Learning Community Brainstorming Survey

From October 1-31, 2008, the community weighed through an online survey to brainstorm their top challenges and stepped up as lead volunteers for key project roles.

EDUCAUSE 2008 Annual Conference On-Site Brainstorming

During two interactive sessions (October 29 and October 30) participants heard from community leaders, joined the community, volunteered for key roles, and threw their ideas on the table during an active brainstorming process.

Community Vote

From December 6–18, the community selected the top-five challenges from a community-generated list.

Top-Five Challenges Posted in the Community Wiki

After five months of community-wide input, the EDUCAUSE Top Teaching and Learning Challenges 2009 wiki branched into individual workspaces and content repositories for each challenge.

EDUCAUSE Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference

Community members launched the first in a series of discussion sessions to focus on solution-building around the top challenges. Sessions are planned for each EDUCAUSE 2009 regional conference.

ELI 2009 Annual Meeting

Collaborative learning circles, Thinkstops, and ELI in Conversation podcasts focused on each of the top challenges.

Key Roles

If you’re interested in taking a project role, contact ELI Director Julie K. Little at jlittle@educause.edu or ELI Program Coordinator Carie Page at cpage@educause.edu. It's not too late!

Community Member
Any EDUCAUSE member with an interest in teaching and learning can join the process. Community members can generate and share wiki content, join a challenges workgroup, or simply search for solutions in the community wiki. To stay up to date, join the Challenges Ning Network and adjust your e-mail settings to receive community alerts.
Community Builder
The Challenges Ning Network serves as a communications hub; the wiki is the project’s online workspace. But the project will need “community builders” to recruit new volunteers, spread the word, and maintain community momentum.
Workspace Manager
Now that the top challenges have been identified, the initial project wiki contains links to individual wikis for each challenge page. Workspace managers organize, filter, and leverage community members to research and generate content for these dynamic resource pages.
Discussion Facilitator
Facilitators help lead discussion and solution-building sessions at each of the EDUCAUSE regional conferences.
Community Content Agent
These lead project collaborators serve as content researchers, populate the wiki with information gathered at EDUCAUSE events, and scan their own campuses for resources to share and best practices to highlight.
Community Process Researcher
The challenges process itself is an experiment in community interaction and engagement. Researchers maintain a bird’s-eye view of the process as it unfolds, reflecting on participant engagement through observations and critical feedback.

Recent News

You can keep up with all the community updates by becoming a member of the Challenges Ning Network. There, you'll find discussion forums, photos, event listings, and blogs that chronicle the project's progress.

View All Subscribe

Project Background

During Summer 2008, the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative sat down with focus groups within the EDUCAUSE teaching and learning community to talk about “challenges”—those big issues dominating campus conversations across the country. EDUCAUSE wanted to know:

In the next two to three years, what big challenges face teaching and learning with IT?
Do they vary based on geography or institutional classification?
Who’s building solutions?

What emerged, in addition to a long list of challenges, was an underlying desire to do more than simply list the big issues—to create a dynamic collection of resources and ideas, to share case studies that showcase innovative answers, and to establish a network of peers willing to talk about their institutions and problem-solve as a community.

The Top Teaching and Learning Challenges project is a community effort to both surface issues and to aggregate resources that can help to address them. Through online brainstorming, face-to-face sessions at the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference, and an EDUCAUSE-wide community vote, participants will identify the top-five issues in teaching and learning with technology. With the list in hand, the community will begin building content around each challenge, creating dynamic resource pages in wikis within EDUCAUSE Connect, and through collaborative working groups on the Challenges NingNetwork. Adding to the readings and resources, community members will also be asked to contribute new content by drafting case study "community solutions" or creating podcasts and videos to illustrate solutions from their own campuses.

In addition to these tangible products and resources, the project will focus on community building—creating connections between EDUCAUSE members and facilitating conversations among campuses. Through discussion sessions at EDUCAUSE regional conferences and learning circles at the ELI Annual Meeting, the dialogue continues. In the spring, EDUCAUSE will host special, Solutions in Action webinars that invite the community to weigh in with their innovations.

This is your chance to set the agenda and collaborate with colleagues around real solutions and innovative directions. Visit the Challenges Ning Network and explore the key roles to claim your place in the project.

Outcomes

Project Overview
During the summer of 2008, the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative sat down with focus groups within the EDUCAUSE teaching and learning community to talk about “challenges”—those big issues dominating campus conversations across the country. EDUCAUSE wanted to know:

In the next two to three years, what big challenges face teaching and learning with IT?
Do they vary based on geography or institutional classification?
Who’s building solutions?

The Top Teaching and Learning Challenges project is a community effort both to surface issues and to aggregate resources that can help address them. Through online brainstorming, face-to-face sessions at EDUCAUSE 2008, and an EDUCAUSE-wide community vote, participants identified the top-five issues in teaching and learning with technology. With the list in hand, the community began building content around each challenge, creating dynamic resource pages in EDUCAUSE wikis and through collaborative working groups on the Challenges Ning Network. Adding to the readings and resources, community members were also asked to contribute new content by drafting case study "community solutions" or by creating podcasts and videos to illustrate solutions from their own campuses.

In addition to these tangible products and resources, the project is focused on community building—creating connections between EDUCAUSE members and facilitating conversations among campuses. Through discussion sessions at EDUCAUSE regional conferences, learning circles at the 2009 ELI Annual Meeting in January, and special Solutions in Action webinars, the discussion continues, helping to build a network of peers dedicated to “uncommon thinking for the common good.”

Project Outcomes

The Identification of Strategic Issues
Through focus groups, online brainstorming, and a community-wide vote, the project identified the top issues in teaching and learning with technology. While the final list provides a snapshot of the major issues weighing on members’ minds, the brainstorming process offered a survey of institutional concerns and issues and opened a window to the shared challenges that lie ahead for higher education.
The Construction of Community Resources
Each of the five challenges has its own collaborative wiki, a virtual workspace for community members to add resources, to share ideas, or to sign up as an “expert” on the topic. These wikis will become organic resource pages for the topic, offering a place for colleagues to share what their institutions are doing, to link to a case study about projects on their campuses, or simply to browse for ideas.
A Model for Community Engagement
The Challenges project is designed as an experiment in community engagement that encourages participants to set the agenda and to work collectively toward the identification of solutions and innovative approaches. Community interaction is managed through virtual tools like the Ning Network, wikis, Google Docs, conference calls, and e-mail. Using the Challenges model, institutions might develop a tool for determining key strategic initiatives and harnessing institutional resources and ideas around them.
An Opportunity for Leadership Development
By identifying key roles and mentoring project volunteers, the Challenges projects offers a new avenue for emerging leaders in teaching, learning, and IT to develop a voice within the wider professional community. Volunteers might sign up to facilitate a discussion session alongside a peer from another institution or offer to speak during a five-minute lightning round presentation. Each opportunity presents a chance to hone presentation skills or to gain recognition as a “co-author” in a nationwide project.

Project Value

Participating in the Challenges project offers the opportunity to:

Brainstorm with colleagues about the key challenges that lie ahead for teaching and learning with technology and learn from institutions of varying sizes and locations about their key issues and unique vantage points
Join in a virtual process for identifying community issues through surveys, polls, virtual focus groups, and dialogue
Observe a model for developing community across geographic boundaries, disciplines, and institutions
Help develop resources, co-author content, and spotlight campuses within the wider higher education community
Learn about ways to take a leadership role within the teaching and learning community, from managing content wikis to facilitating discussion sessions or leading working groups
Present on topics related to the challenges on individual campuses

ELI EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative The EDUCAUSE Top Teaching and Learning Challenges Learners Learning Principles and Practices Learning Technologies ELI Resources ELI Events Membership About ELI What Would You Like to Do?		The EDUCAUSE Top Teaching and Learning Challenges Join the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative to chart the top challenges in teaching and learning with technology. Participate in a new community effort to build a network of solutions and just-in-time resources around the topics dominating administrative meetings and water-cooler conversations. It’s your chance to set the agenda and collaborate with colleagues around real solutions and innovative directions. The Top Five Challenges are Revealed! After months of spirited discussion, the EDUCAUSE community has identified their top five challenges in teaching and learning with technology. Creating learning environments that promote active learning, critical thinking, collaborative learning, and knowledge creation. Developing 21st century literacies (information, digital, and visual) among students and faculty. Reaching and engaging today's learner. Encouraging faculty adoption and innovation in teaching and learning with IT. Advancing innovation in teaching and learning with technology in an era of budget cuts. Roll up your sleeves and participate in the project wiki as the community moves from identifying the top challenges to building a network of solutions around them. Stay "in the know" by becoming a member of the Challenges Ning Network. Lend your voice by volunteering for a key role. It's not too late to get involved! Explore Highlights Key Roles Recent News Project Background Outcomes Explore The Top Teaching and Learning Challenges project is a new community effort to surface and synthesize trends in higher education. Roll your mouse over the project elements to learn more about each phase of this innovative process. Project Highlights Challenges Ning Network Join the Challenges Ning Network to starting connect with project updates and fellow collaborators. As the project progresses, this virtual hub houses workgroups for each of the identified challenges. Community Project Wiki The project’s collaborative workspace launched September 2008 with a broad scan of teaching and learning challenges identified through focus groups. Now that the community has identified the top challenges, there are links to individual workspaces and content repositories for each challenge. Teaching and Learning Community Brainstorming Survey From October 1-31, 2008, the community weighed through an online survey to brainstorm their top challenges and stepped up as lead volunteers for key project roles. EDUCAUSE 2008 Annual Conference On-Site Brainstorming During two interactive sessions (October 29 and October 30) participants heard from community leaders, joined the community, volunteered for key roles, and threw their ideas on the table during an active brainstorming process. Community Vote From December 6–18, the community selected the top-five challenges from a community-generated list. Top-Five Challenges Posted in the Community Wiki After five months of community-wide input, the EDUCAUSE Top Teaching and Learning Challenges 2009 wiki branched into individual workspaces and content repositories for each challenge. EDUCAUSE Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference Community members launched the first in a series of discussion sessions to focus on solution-building around the top challenges. Sessions are planned for each EDUCAUSE 2009 regional conference. ELI 2009 Annual Meeting Collaborative learning circles, Thinkstops, and ELI in Conversation podcasts focused on each of the top challenges. Key Roles If you’re interested in taking a project role, contact ELI Director Julie K. Little at jlittle@educause.edu or ELI Program Coordinator Carie Page at cpage@educause.edu. It's not too late! Community Member Any EDUCAUSE member with an interest in teaching and learning can join the process. Community members can generate and share wiki content, join a challenges workgroup, or simply search for solutions in the community wiki. To stay up to date, join the Challenges Ning Network and adjust your e-mail settings to receive community alerts. Community Builder The Challenges Ning Network serves as a communications hub; the wiki is the project’s online workspace. But the project will need “community builders” to recruit new volunteers, spread the word, and maintain community momentum. Workspace Manager Now that the top challenges have been identified, the initial project wiki contains links to individual wikis for each challenge page. Workspace managers organize, filter, and leverage community members to research and generate content for these dynamic resource pages. Discussion Facilitator Facilitators help lead discussion and solution-building sessions at each of the EDUCAUSE regional conferences. Community Content Agent These lead project collaborators serve as content researchers, populate the wiki with information gathered at EDUCAUSE events, and scan their own campuses for resources to share and best practices to highlight. Community Process Researcher The challenges process itself is an experiment in community interaction and engagement. Researchers maintain a bird’s-eye view of the process as it unfolds, reflecting on participant engagement through observations and critical feedback. Recent News You can keep up with all the community updates by becoming a member of the Challenges Ning Network. There, you'll find discussion forums, photos, event listings, and blogs that chronicle the project's progress. Top 10 term Papers Writing Tips Packers and Movers of Delhi offering Hassle Free Relocation Top 10 term Papers Writing Tips Experienced Packers and Movers of Delhi NCR Made Shifting Easier Easy shifting with Packers and Movers of Pune View All Subscribe Project Background During Summer 2008, the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative sat down with focus groups within the EDUCAUSE teaching and learning community to talk about “challenges”—those big issues dominating campus conversations across the country. EDUCAUSE wanted to know: In the next two to three years, what big challenges face teaching and learning with IT? Do they vary based on geography or institutional classification? Who’s building solutions? What emerged, in addition to a long list of challenges, was an underlying desire to do more than simply list the big issues—to create a dynamic collection of resources and ideas, to share case studies that showcase innovative answers, and to establish a network of peers willing to talk about their institutions and problem-solve as a community. The Top Teaching and Learning Challenges project is a community effort to both surface issues and to aggregate resources that can help to address them. Through online brainstorming, face-to-face sessions at the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference, and an EDUCAUSE-wide community vote, participants will identify the top-five issues in teaching and learning with technology. With the list in hand, the community will begin building content around each challenge, creating dynamic resource pages in wikis within EDUCAUSE Connect, and through collaborative working groups on the Challenges NingNetwork. Adding to the readings and resources, community members will also be asked to contribute new content by drafting case study "community solutions" or creating podcasts and videos to illustrate solutions from their own campuses. In addition to these tangible products and resources, the project will focus on community building—creating connections between EDUCAUSE members and facilitating conversations among campuses. Through discussion sessions at EDUCAUSE regional conferences and learning circles at the ELI Annual Meeting, the dialogue continues. In the spring, EDUCAUSE will host special, Solutions in Action webinars that invite the community to weigh in with their innovations. This is your chance to set the agenda and collaborate with colleagues around real solutions and innovative directions. Visit the Challenges Ning Network and explore the key roles to claim your place in the project. Outcomes Project Overview During the summer of 2008, the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative sat down with focus groups within the EDUCAUSE teaching and learning community to talk about “challenges”—those big issues dominating campus conversations across the country. EDUCAUSE wanted to know: In the next two to three years, what big challenges face teaching and learning with IT? Do they vary based on geography or institutional classification? Who’s building solutions? What emerged, in addition to a long list of challenges, was an underlying desire to do more than simply list the big issues—to create a dynamic collection of resources and ideas, to share case studies that showcase innovative answers, and to establish a network of peers willing to talk about their institutions and to problem solve as a community. The Top Teaching and Learning Challenges project is a community effort both to surface issues and to aggregate resources that can help address them. Through online brainstorming, face-to-face sessions at EDUCAUSE 2008, and an EDUCAUSE-wide community vote, participants identified the top-five issues in teaching and learning with technology. With the list in hand, the community began building content around each challenge, creating dynamic resource pages in EDUCAUSE wikis and through collaborative working groups on the Challenges Ning Network. Adding to the readings and resources, community members were also asked to contribute new content by drafting case study "community solutions" or by creating podcasts and videos to illustrate solutions from their own campuses. In addition to these tangible products and resources, the project is focused on community building—creating connections between EDUCAUSE members and facilitating conversations among campuses. Through discussion sessions at EDUCAUSE regional conferences, learning circles at the 2009 ELI Annual Meeting in January, and special Solutions in Action webinars, the discussion continues, helping to build a network of peers dedicated to “uncommon thinking for the common good.” Project Outcomes The Identification of Strategic Issues Through focus groups, online brainstorming, and a community-wide vote, the project identified the top issues in teaching and learning with technology. While the final list provides a snapshot of the major issues weighing on members’ minds, the brainstorming process offered a survey of institutional concerns and issues and opened a window to the shared challenges that lie ahead for higher education. The Construction of Community Resources Each of the five challenges has its own collaborative wiki, a virtual workspace for community members to add resources, to share ideas, or to sign up as an “expert” on the topic. These wikis will become organic resource pages for the topic, offering a place for colleagues to share what their institutions are doing, to link to a case study about projects on their campuses, or simply to browse for ideas. A Model for Community Engagement The Challenges project is designed as an experiment in community engagement that encourages participants to set the agenda and to work collectively toward the identification of solutions and innovative approaches. Community interaction is managed through virtual tools like the Ning Network, wikis, Google Docs, conference calls, and e-mail. Using the Challenges model, institutions might develop a tool for determining key strategic initiatives and harnessing institutional resources and ideas around them. An Opportunity for Leadership Development By identifying key roles and mentoring project volunteers, the Challenges projects offers a new avenue for emerging leaders in teaching, learning, and IT to develop a voice within the wider professional community. Volunteers might sign up to facilitate a discussion session alongside a peer from another institution or offer to speak during a five-minute lightning round presentation. Each opportunity presents a chance to hone presentation skills or to gain recognition as a “co-author” in a nationwide project. Project Value Participating in the Challenges project offers the opportunity to: Brainstorm with colleagues about the key challenges that lie ahead for teaching and learning with technology and learn from institutions of varying sizes and locations about their key issues and unique vantage points Join in a virtual process for identifying community issues through surveys, polls, virtual focus groups, and dialogue Observe a model for developing community across geographic boundaries, disciplines, and institutions Help develop resources, co-author content, and spotlight campuses within the wider higher education community Learn about ways to take a leadership role within the teaching and learning community, from managing content wikis to facilitating discussion sessions or leading working groups Present on topics related to the challenges on individual campuses
		© Copyright 1999-2009 EDUCAUSE Need Help? \| Feedback \| Privacy Policy
	Unless otherwise noted, EDUCAUSE holds the copyright on all materials published by the association, whether in print or electronic form. In certain cases the work remains the intellectual property of the individual author(s) (see Special Circumstances). Content from conference speeches, presentations, blogs, wikis and feeds reflect the opinions of the author, and not necessarily those of EDUCAUSE or its members.