The possibilities that online platforms and new media technologies provide, in terms of human connection and the dissemination of information, are seemingly endless. With Web 2.0 there is an exchange of messages, visions, facts, fictions, contemplations, and declarations buzzing around a network of computers that connects students to the world ¿ fast. Theoretically this digital connectivity, and the availability of information that it provides, is beneficial to curriculum development in higher education. Education is easily available, democratic, and immersive. But is it worthwhile? Is the kind of education one can get from new media platforms and social media resources, with their click-on videos, rollover animations, and unfiltered content, of sufficient quality that educators should integrate these tools into teaching? This book examines the use of new media in pedagogy, as it presents case studies of the integration of technology, tools, and devices in an undergraduate curriculum taught by the author, at an urban research university in the United States.

Peter DePietro is a professor of new media. He served as the first Director of Digital and New Media of the William J. Clinton Foundation in New York City. On topics related to digital media, new technologies, education, and interactive art, DePietro has been published internationally. As an executive in Silicon Alley (NYC), he created digital projects with international exposure for a roster of Fortune 500 clients.

Contents: Web 2.0 and New Education ¿ Technology, Purpose, and Meaning ¿ Tool Literacy ¿ Interactive Learning ¿ Participatory Pedagogy ¿ New Media Process and Product ¿ Social Media and Collaborative Learning ¿ Interacting with Literature on Facebook ¿ Backchannels and Multitasking ¿ Microblogging in the Classroom ¿ Engaging Students with Twitter ¿ Presumption of Connectedness ¿ Interactive Content and Online Agenda ¿ Analysis of Content in Wikis ¿ The Cost of Technology ¿ Mobile Education ¿ Interdisciplinary Idea Exchange ¿ Conducting Research with Text Messaging ¿ The Power of Games ¿ Learning by Playing Games ¿ Diagrams for Choosers and Choosees ¿ The Amorphous Cloud ¿ New Mediäs Transformation of Education.