With less staff time and more things to do, providing consistent and thorough training is sometimes a challenge. In order to streamline training and provide for more effective communication among staff and student assistants, a Blackboard course was created to provide a graded, self-paced, and interactive training tutorial. The tutorials were…

This report offers practical suggestions for literacy practitioners and program administrators on how to use webinar and webcasting technologies to promote and market literacy. The report is divided into sections on how to use webinars for learners, for staff and volunteers and to engage the general community. A checklist of tips to use on the day…

The best kind of learning is that which never ends--and a culture of training means that staff will be more flexible and responsive to new ideas and strategies, imperative in today's libraries. In this practical resource, leading workplace trainers Reed and Signorelli offer guidance on improving the effectiveness of training programs. Their book…

This article is based on the premise that face-to-face training can be augmented with cloud-based technology tools, to potentially extend viable training supports as higher education staff and faculty implement new content/skills in their jobs and classrooms. There are significant benefits to harnessing cloud-based tools that can facilitate both…

English language teaching (ELT) has played an important role in the Chinese Radio and Television Universities (RTVU) network since its establishment in the late 1970s. Based on a literature review and reflection from an insider's perspective, this paper gives a full account of the RTVU distance ELT model, examining how it supports autonomous…

Considers whether laptop and handheld computers will be able to replace printed textbooks in classrooms. Topics cover benefits of classroom computers, including the need for computer literacy; computer costs, including service contracts, theft, and the need for staff development; the problems with dated textbooks; publishers' concerns; and…

Describes the Levels of Technology Implementation (LoTi) framework designed to help school districts restructure staff development curricula to include concept-/process-based instruction, authentic uses of technology, and qualitative assessment. The LoTi framework implementation levels are presented in a sidebar. (JKP)

Shawnee Mission, Kansas, schools' technology plan includes a 4-person training staff and a $300,000 budget to make sure teachers will be ready to use high-tech tools in their classrooms. All teachers in the Harlingen, Texas, district are loaned a laptop computer for the duration of their employment with the district. (MLF)

This paper describes a cyclical staff development program designed to help teachers, specifically social studies teachers, gain expertise with technology and learn how it can be infused into their classrooms. The cyclical staff development program has three complementary components: (1) skill development; (2)focus on instruction; and (3) material…

Notes that many teachers today are envisioning novel ways of integrating the Internet into their daily lessons. Examines how these teachers, experienced with the Internet, integrate the technology into their daily lessons. Suggests their stories, including their successes and failures, can inform teacher education and staff development in powerful…

This document is an outline of a presentation on measuring the impact of technology in schools. Highlights include: technology as a system lever; training and conducting audits in over 2,500 schools; Illinois NextSteps--organizing technology for student results; asking big questions of our technology investments; making instructional technology…

Presents lessons learned from a Minnesota project that used a computerized system to help teachers implement the state's academic-content standards. The project also created new ways of looking at curriculum that have become useful tools for Minnesota teachers. The paper explains the project's vision, early steps, unforeseen obstacles, and…

The Internet's unique scope, characteristics and potential make it a vehicle for media specialists to model good use of information technology and provide far-reaching instructional leadership in schools. This article focuses on approaches to Web site selection, supervision, and staff development for effective use of the Internet in schools. (AEF)

Grove College (Pennsylvania) planned and implemented a mobile computing strategy for freshmen. Each member of the class of 1998 was issued a notebook computer upon arrival for freshman orientation. The help desk was staffed and faculty were ready to integrate meaningful computing activities into the curriculum. Students received 2 hours of…

Sixth and last in a monograph series on the use of computer technology in the instruction of learning disabled students, this paper analyzes the California Teacher Education and Computer Centers (TECC) program. Five themes influencing the TECC program are identified for discussion: staff development, teacher incentives, local policymaking…