At the start of 2019, 7 million U.S. jobs remained unfilled, and American employers consistently cite trouble finding qualified workers. While some liberals insist a "skills gap" doesn't exist, all evidence points to the contrary. These gaps are moreover made worse by a higher education system that ill-equips graduates for the workforce.…

In Hicks, Lee, Berson, Bolick, and Diem (2014), the authors revisited and revised a series of principles focusing on the preparation of social studies teachers for using digital technologies in the classroom, originally presented in the inaugural issue of "Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education" (Mason et al., 2000).…

This commentary explores the implications of Douglas Rushkoff's "Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now" (2013) for teachers and the students they teach. In this, his most recent book, Rushkoff argues that in today's digital world all of us are adversely experiencing the effects of technology's capacity to make everything happen…

Immigrant youths' frequent and skillful use of new media technologies outside of school has generated discussion on the need to integrate their expertise in formal literacy instruction in school. This commentary argues that braiding old and new literacies for English learners in empowering ways needs to be guided by a connection to the future (new…

In 2001, Marc Prensky introduced a new metaphor to the educational landscape. He suggested that the rising generation were growing up in a time so filled with new media that they were "digital natives," while those born earlier were "digital immigrants." In this view, because the digital natives are growing up immersed in a sea…

As schools, classrooms, and districts move toward more sophisticated instructional technologies to successfully implement higher college- and career-ready standards, educator-preparation programs must act quickly to equip future educators with the necessary skills to use technology effectively to personalize instruction and increase student…

This article discusses the development of the concept of literacy in the context of IC technologies and English language teaching stressing the idea that literacy is no longer a stable concept which was always connected with the basic skills of reading and writing. The rapid developments of today have been changing, affecting and modifying this…

Oftentimes it seems that education, as an institution, is populated by persons who work to preserve practices of the past and who do not depend upon or explore the advantages of digital literacies. Digital literacies, however, are here to stay--they are at the core of new literacies--and educators should consider how to best weave together old,…

Many observers describe the 21st century as a complex age with new demands for education and new requirements for accountability in teaching and learning to meet society's needs in a new, global economy. At the same time, innovations in teaching and learning and proposals for measuring them often seem disconnected from public and political…

In many ways, culture is rooted in the arts. While one may argue that "public policy debates are connected to information technology" (Snyder, et. al., 1999), public policies are also profoundly influenced by the sounds and images that form the content of all aspects of broadcast and print media. Contrary to an information technologist's…

Contends that the changing constellation of semiotic and spatial practices associated with new media and online literacies constitutes a very different object of research than has been addressed by literacy researchers. Concludes that literacy researchers need to develop new repertoires of literacy practices in relation to everyday use of…

Presents issues regarding Internet literacy and the attitudes of Internet users versus nonusers. Describes how the Internet meets administrators' and librarians' needs, and highlights the Internet's effect on budgeting, staff productivity, and image. Notes the necessity for Internet training for library personnel to interact effectively with…

In the fall of 2000, half the freshman class arrived at college with their own computers, proficient at using Windows, word-processing software, the Internet and electronic mail. The author offers a look at the computing lifestyles of freshmen on five college campuses. (JM)

Faculty members in American higher education are quick to label themselves "the best ever." And in many ways, their achievements to date are just that: consider the community college movement, the research power in their land-grant and major private institutions, and the continuing commitment to access and quality that they all support.…

With the fading monopoly of the industrial mode of production and the emergence of the "information revolution," modern technology has pervaded almost every aspect of human life. In education, however, information technology has yet to find a place, despite the unceasing attempts to "fit" it into the existing educational system. The paper argues…