摘要：Online activities no longer represent a new or emerging aspect of the collegiate experience.1 College students are “wired.”2 They are actively engaged with social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter; they participate regularly in online gaming activities; and they own devices like smart phones and tablets that facilitate their online participation. According to a Pew Research Center study, the eighteen to twenty-four age group is highly wired, report-ing over 80% of four-year undergraduates and graduate students as having social networking sites.3 Indeed, virtual spaces now constitute an integral and common aspect of the daily lives of many college stu-dents.4 Along with personal online activity not directly connected to their academic endeavors, students’ participation in online environ-ments extends increasingly to formal instructional contexts, with many courses now taught wholly or partially online.5 A study commis-sioned by the U.S. Department of Education reported significant in-creases in online education.6 During the 1999–2000 academic year, only 8% of undergraduate students enrolled in at least one online course.7 By the 2007–2008 academic year, that percentage rose to 20%.8 Suffice it to say, virtual spaces reflect a dimensional compo-nent of higher education. Further, college professors use Internet-based capacities, such as social media, to enhance on-campus instruc-tion.
