When we were discussing the seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education, we debated on which one is the most important. Most of us agreed that number one which is, encouraging contact between students and faculty, is the most important. In general courses like VCU's criminal justice for example, the classroom is more like a hall with a large number of students, you get minimal interaction between students and the instructor. I don't quite know why it is that, such general courses that are usually attended by students from all kinds of disciplines, have this special structure to them. I am not going to try to figure that out here. What I wanted to point out is that, in such courses, where you get minimal interactions between students and instructors, students usually don't get much out of it. I have been a student for too long to know that for sure. The effect of the absence of the interaction here is profound and visible. And since there is no need to concentrate on these courses, and no need to distribute the large number of students on many instructors in smaller classrooms, I believe it is time that such courses are transformed by technology to a more, maybe, internet based formats or something.
By increasing the interaction between the students and faculty, most of the rest of the seven principles are met by default. Many good things could result from increasing that interaction. Encouraging active learning might be one the first things an instructor would do when he/she communicate with their students. Students are going to want to know how they are performing, so they're going to ask questions about that and the instructor will be able to give them prompt feedback. As a result of the interaction, an instructor may notice that students are not distributing their time correctly on the tasks they're given. So then he/she would be able to advice them on how they should be managing their time in order to excel in that course. In addition, the instructor can deliver his/her high expectations to the students more clearly and easily if they are communicating. They will also be able to set the bar on the right level not to raise those expectations to unrealistic levels just because they have poor judgment of their student's capabilities. With enough communication, education can be greatly improved.
I found this picture about blogging, lol i think its funny 
Cute - any blog post can be improved with the addition of super heros (my personal favorite is Green Lantern).
:-)
You stated "With enough communication, education can be greatly improved." True enough, and one of the things Jeff and I are suggesting is that this communication ought to include meeting students where they already are, which is digital media.
Thoughts?
That's a great idea in theory, but can it be applied in real world?.. any answer to that is just guessing. I think kids come to universities with a line that they draw between their obligations toward school and studying, and between entertainment. They usually use digital media for entertainment most of the time (try to get away and unwind). So trying to approach them there and get their attention is going to be pretty challenging. I remember once reading about this somewhere, and the writer said that this would be like giving a lecture to students in their annual reunion or something..
but it would be worth trying. A course can have a fan page in facebook, students would get any announcements in their news feed, would probably engage more in any discussions by commenting to statuses that the instructor would put up