Since early development of information technologies, in particular computers and the Internet, there has been tension between those who believe these new technologies and their applications they have been mired in tension. Originally conceived and developed as tools for enabling high level, nonhierarchal engagement in problem-solving and…

Under pressure to keep spending down but also keep pace with rapid technology changes, many districts are future-proofing their schools--trying to get the most out of their tech spending by providing solutions they will be able to use now and in the future without major, expensive infrastructure overhauls. The idea is growing in popularity across…

For the generation of people whose classroom memories consist of chalk squeaking on a blackboard, weather-beaten textbooks and a ready supply of sharpened No. 2 pencils, the resources available to students in many 21st-century American schools may seem unfamiliar, even amazing. Computer networks with access to the Internet--wired or wireless--have…

The government of the United Kingdom has set a target to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 34 percent from 1990 levels by 2020. The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) will require all large public and private sector organizations across the U.K. to cut carbon emissions and report total CO2 emissions annually so that the data can be published in a…

After starting off as a simple way to provide users with access to internet resources, WiFi networks have evolved to become an important communications cornerstone for a growing number of academic institutions. Not only have colleges been working to make these networks available across their entire campuses (or at least pretty close to 100 percent…

Some of the most significant changes in information technology are those that have given the individual user greater power to choose. The first of these changes was the development of the personal computer. The PC liberated the individual user from the limitations of the mainframe and minicomputers and from the rules and regulations of centralized…

Cyberinfrastructure permits a new kind of scholarly inquiry and education, empowering communities to innovate and to revolutionize what they do, how they do it, and who participates. (Contains 6 notes.)

Drawn from a recent ECAR research study, this article addresses the importance of five CI technologies to various academic areas in research and in teaching and learning at present and how survey respondents think the importance of these technologies might change in the near future. (Contains 2 figures, 2 tables and 7 notes.)

The "Horizon Report" series is the most visible outcome of the New Media Consortium's Horizon Project, an ongoing research effort established in 2002 that identifies and describes emerging technologies likely to have a large impact on teaching, learning, research, or creative expression within education around the globe. This volume, the "2010…

Providing an evolving foundation for 21st-century research and education, cyberinfrastructure is both a focus for invention and an accelerator of innovation, linked through a trajectory that begins with design and evolves to broad-based use. (Contains 1 figure, 1 table and 11 notes.)

This article describes how centralized presentation control systems enable IT support staff to monitor equipment and assist end users more efficiently. At Temple University, 70 percent of the classrooms are equipped with an AMX touch panel, linked via a Netlink controller to an in-classroom computer, projector, DVD/VCR player, and speakers. The…

The New Media Consortium's Horizon Project is an ongoing research project that aims to identify and describe emerging technologies likely to have a large impact on teaching, learning, or creative inquiry within education around the globe over a five-year time period. The project's central products are the "Horizon Reports", an annual…

The leap in wireless LAN standards to 802.11n is a WiFi upgrade so new it has not yet garnered final approval from the standards committee. Although that approval will not come until next year (vendors are currently building to a "pre-n" standard), there are plenty of notebook computers out there capable of running 802.11n. That means students…

What is the current thinking about cyberinfrastructure for the liberal arts, what models for transinstitutional collaboration and institution building are emerging, and what steps can campuses take to move this agenda forward? (Contains 23 notes.)

According to Netscape's Marc Andreessen, the biggest problem on the World Wide Web is information overload. This article discusses ways of handling infoglut: search engines; intranets; extranets, Web-linked, private networks of interdependent businesses; other Netscape browser developments; and Java. (PEN)