The biggest difference I found in speaking to graduate vs. undergraduate students is that the grad students continually stressed cultural changes over technological ones. The "killer app" for the graduate students is not the fastest network or the most mobile apps, but an academic culture that encourages and rewards innovation, collaboration and risk taking. The grad students spoke of technologies as enablers, but not as magic bullets. The grad students were knowledgeable about and impressed with the Stanford's MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) in artificial intelligence. They love iTunesU, and see M.I.T.'s OpenCourseWare as a great thing. One grad student made the point that the valuable commodity the institution offers is a credential, and that sharing knowledge only increases the value of this credential. My strong sense of speaking with these grad students that as faculty they will be leading their institutions into the world of open learning. They also want colleagues and potential employers to be able to see the great research, teaching and thinking going in their departments, and sharing nowadays requires a strong online, social and mobile virtual presence.
