ReadWriteWeb

While teens are renowned for the frequency with which they text, those in the 18-24 age range are also fairly avid text-messagers. According to data released from Nielsen this fall, that age group sends around 1,630 texts per month - roughly three texts per hour. So it's not terribly surprising that a recent study by two psychology professors at Wilkes University finds that college students text message during class. A 50-minute lecture gives you time to send at least a couple messages, right?

But in the words of the students who took the survey, professors would be "shocked" if they knew how much texting went on in class.

American consumers will shell out an estimated $2.6 billion for back-to-school supplies this fall. That's up 1.7% over last year, incidentally, an indication that even in tough economic times, there's no escaping the lure of the 64-box of Crayons. And as parents and students are shopping for their back-to-school supplies, educators are preparing a whole other set of tools for the classroom.

We asked educators what is the one new tech tool they are most looking forward to taking into the classroom with them this fall - hardware or software, a new tool, or just one that's new to their class.

While the down economy continues to hurt funding to our schools, more and more teachers are looking to web-based services to help educate their students. Whether it's through open resource projects like CK-12, virtual classrooms like those in Second Life, or through the repurposing of tools like Twitter, millions of teachers are finding innovative resources to engage their students. If you're a teacher, here are seven great tools to get you started.

A decade ago distance learning was experimental at best. Only a few courses were offered online, instructors were often slow to respond, and at the end of it, there was always the chance that employers would scoff at your credentials. With faster internet connections and accredited institutions embracing online education, a lot has changed since then. Distance learning service provider 2tor hopes to shift the paradigm even further. Judging by the $10 million dollar Series A round they've just closed with RedPoint Ventures, Novak Biddle and City Light Capital, they're poised to build something substantial.

The Social Media Classroom (SMC) is a new project started by Howard Rheingold which offers an open-source Drupal-based web service to teachers and students for the purpose of introducing social media into the classroom. The service includes tools like forums, blogs, wikis, chat, social bookmarking, RSS, microblogging, widgets, video conferencing, and more. The SMC is more than just a collection of new media tools repurposed for educational use, though. The end goal of the service is to move education away from being a unidirectional delivery of knowledge to become a more collaborative learning process.