More than 7,500 college administrators and professors have gathered in Orlando this week for the annual conference by Educause, a higher-education technology group, making it one of the largest education-technology gatherings of the year. What are the hot issues this year? Diana G. Oblinger, a vice president for the group, said that the top issue is probably disaster recovery, as colleges try to determine the lessons of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Other top issues: security, e-portfolios and other efforts to assess how well students are learning, and podcasting. Educause is itself jumping into podcasting by making many of the sessions here available to members in a form that can be downloaded to iPods or other digital music players.
Developing online and blended learning programs requires research and collaboration. Learn how top technology companies are partnering with campuses across the country to advance online learning as it becomes an increasingly important aspect of higher education.