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Campus Technology 2012: New Paths to Learning

Collaboration, mobility, cloud computing and distance learning will be all the talk at this year's conference.

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Ricky is editorial director for the CDW family of Tech magazines. He's a writer, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all-around digital guy.

Technology is transforming everything that it touches. In the business world, old and reliable models have been or are in the midst of being upended. The same is true of higher education, which has not proven immune to the technological forces at work.

With students coming equipped with sophisticated mobile devices of their own, colleges are figuring out how to best support and nurture these tech-savvy digital natives. That means everything from rethinking the computer lab to fostering distance learning and lecture capture to support on-demand, remote education.

This year's Campus Technology conference in Boston is set touch on precisely some of these topics. EdTech: Focus on Higher Education will be there reporting from the conference as university staff and students share their experiences firsthand.

Here are a few good sessions to keep an eye on at Campus Technology 2012:

IT Consumerization: How Does Central Michigan U Stay Secure with 7,000-Plus Mobiles?

Session Description from Campus Technology:

This session will examine the effects of IT consumerization on higher education institution networks. Central Michigan University (CMU) Network Manager Ryan Laus will reveal how CMU supports and secures roughly 7,000 mobile devices—including smart phones and tablets. He’ll also explain how to identify anomalies and share real-world examples of how they prevented infected mobile devices from taking down CMU’s network.

Collaborative Learning Spaces that Promote Deeper Student Engagement

Session Description from Campus Technology:

We will share findings from three experimental classroom projects at IUPUI and Indiana University-Bloomington. These classrooms include a “Collaboration Café Classroom” that provides informal seating in a café-like environment; a technology-rich collaborative classroom that encourages critical and reflective thinking; and an immersive videoconference classroom that provides a telepresence-like experience while enabling freedom of movement and increased student engagement within and across sites.

Learn Now, Lecture Later: The New College Experience

Session Description from Campus Technology:

Sage-on-the-stage is no longer the only way for college students to learn. Today, students are looking for an inclusive, collaborative and interactive classroom experience supported by creative and thoughtful application of technology. This session features students from around the country discussing how new learning models are applied on their campuses, the role of technology in this change, and what's next for education.

Flipping the Classroom - Succeeding with Reverse Instruction

Session Description from Campus Technology:

College of Westchester CIO and EmergingEdTech author Kelly Walsh shares examples of “flipping the classroom,” encouraging the consumption of instructional content outside of the classroom, leaving valuable classroom time for reinforcement, review, and other work. The idea of “reverse instruction” has been around for years, but it has been gaining momentum in recent years through high-profile efforts like the Khan Academy, and success stories like those shared in this presentation.

Follow all of EdTech's Campus Technology 2012 coverage on our Campus Technology hub.