The 10 Most Popular Higher Education Tech Posts of 2013

2013 laid the foundation for tectonic shifts in higher education.

It’s been another exciting year in the world of higher education technology, with 2013 building on 2012’s monumental leaps. More students than ever are toting smartphones and tablets around campus, and massive open online courses (MOOCs) have gone mainstream (heck, there was even “The Walking Dead” MOOC).

More importantly, professors and IT departments have begun to realize the power of technology for learning. Check out Raechelle Clemmons’ article Technology, Instruction and the 21st Century Classroom, which gave us one of our favorite quotes of the year: “Simply adding technology is not sufficient to address the changing nature of instruction.” That sums up a key trend in 2013, and it’s one that educators can build upon in the new year.

The overwhelming popularity of Michell Zappa’s Map of Education Technology Through 2040, which attempted to organize and predict which technologies are here to stay, is further proof that technology took a turn for the better in 2013.

The education community is at a point where technology is a necessary part of pedagogy. Now it’s time to take a good, hard look at the tools available, the job skills needed and the myriad ways students learn. It will be challenging, but the process promises to improve higher education for many years to come.

Thank you, readers, for making this a great year. Based on your clicks, tweets and searches, here are the most popular stories of the past year: