I hope everyone had an enjoyable Halloween and that all of our readers in the U.S. exercised their right to vote on November 4. The elections are still front-page news and top of mind with the results swinging overwhelmingly in the Republicans’ favor.

So the first topic on this week’s Leslie’s List centers on what the results of the midterm elections might mean for higher education:

• Learn about some of the key gubernatorial winners and how their agendas may impact colleges and universities in their respective states over the next four years.

• It’s not even Thanksgiving yet. But that’s not stopping major retailers from bombarding us with ads to try and get everyone in the “holiday spirit.” If you’ve started your gift-giving list, you may want to check out these fun tech gifts for teachers.

• Distance learning no longer means listening to the monotone drone of a talking head. There are countless ways to create compelling distance instruction to engage students and spur dialogue. Joseph McClary of Liberty University shares four key factors here.

• Who says the lecture is dead? Some fantastic tips on how to liven up your lecture!

• Social learning isn’t just a buzzword. Whether through social media sharing or in a collaborative classroom, it’s the way students of today gather, retain and share knowledge. Discover how use of online videos can spur social learning to the next level.

That’s it for this week in ed tech on Leslie’s List. I’d love to hear from you, especially if you have any topics or articles you'd like to see featured. Connect with me on Twitter at @echo360.com!