Throughout the 1990's, many people saw information technology as a silver bullet that could solve many of higher education's problems, among them the need to improve learning outcomes and control the ever-upward trajectory of higher education costs. The term "silver bullet" connotes a direct and effortless solution to a problem.…

In this article, the authors describe an investigative activity in which their eighth-grade students reconstructed past environmental change in the New England area using data from lake varves in central Vermont to examine evidence of climate change. The investigation uses an authentic paleoclimate record (Ridge 2011) from the Pleistocene epoch,…

Like fine wines, Web 2.0 technologies get better with age. Gone are the days of the pointless chat room; this is the era of social networking juggernauts such as Facebook, MySpace, and Friendster. Services offered by these firms are helpful in facilitating connections among users in every industry and of every age. In higher education, however, a…

America's K-12 education system faces three significant challenges: (1) increased global demands for skilled workers, (2) significant financial shortfalls, and (3) a looming teacher shortage. Independently, these factors present significant challenges for U.S. schools. In combination, they create a national imperative for swift action to create a…

Describes a new one-year graduate program at Vermont's Marlboro College that offers two unique master's degrees: a master's of science in Internet strategy management (to help business students use the Internet effectively in the corporate world) and a master's of arts in teaching with Internet technologies (to help teachers navigate the…

Describes a rural Vermont K-12 school's experimentation with electronic portfolio assessment. Although electronic portfolios are clearly superior to paper portfolios in evaluating young readers, problems can arise concerning assessment reliability, missing files, student forgetfulness, passwords, and crashed systems. Teachers value this technology…

This guide on technology gives parents and community members an understanding of how information technology is an essential part of children's education in Vermont's schools. The first section provides an overview of technology, including: using technology to collect, share, and analyze information in ways that were impossible ten years ago:…

Using the example of Taking a Stand in Cyberspace, the authors articulate issues confronting school, community, and higher education groups as they create online discussions geared to deepen the level of student discourse about literature. Through a collaboration between the Vermont Center for the Book, the WEB Project, and six Vermont schools,…