2) Problem: Students are not engaged
Solution: Educators who stand at the front of the room lecturing often are not engaging students. Even if the topic is interesting, many students can't stand to idly sit and listen to someone else for a long time. It is boring and today's students know it doesn't need to be. Since students want a piece of the action and teachers want students to tune in, they can provide accountable interactivity. Perhaps have students Tweet relevant thoughts, ideas and links using a provided hashtag. At the end of the area of study, the class will have a fantastic subject-specific newspaper to read by using something such as Paper.li. Another option is creating a method for students to share ideas and thoughts using a backchannel.
While traditional instructors may believe students should sit up and listen, the fact is that this bores many 21st century students to tears. These students like interactivity, so give them a job to do and they'll pay attention.