Whether for an entire district, a single campus, or one classroom, allowing authorized access to a computer network can be fraught with challenges. The login process should be fairly seamless to approved users, giving them speedy access to approved Web sites, databases, and other sources of information. It also should be tough on unauthorized…

It used to be much easier to get paid by the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD). A lot easier, that is, if you didn't work there. Saddled with an antiquated computer system and manual, repetitive data entry of time cards, officials at California's second-largest school district discovered the payroll department was mistakenly issuing $1…

This article presents an interview with Jim Hirsch, an associate superintendent for technology at Plano Independent School District in Plano, Texas. Hirsch serves as a liaison for the open technologies committee of the Consortium for School Networking. In this interview, he shares his opinion on the significance of open source in K-12.

A podcast is audio or visual content that is automatically delivered over a network via free subscription. The advantage podcasts have over traditional oral reports is that students can edit and revise until what they say and how they say it is perfected. iLife applications are ideal for creating podcasts and other digital projects because of…

In this article, the authors address the importance of taking a proactive approach to securing a school's network. To do this, it is first required to know the system's specific vulnerabilities and what steps to take to reduce them. The formal process for doing this is known as an information security risk assessment, or a security audit. What…

In recent years, the widespread availability of networks and the flexibility of Web browsers have shifted the industry from a client-server model to a Web-based one. In the client-server model of computing, clients run applications locally, with the servers managing storage, printing functions, and network traffic. Because every client is…