Most school business officials have heard the term "cloud computing" bandied about and may have some idea of what the term means. In fact, they likely already leverage a cloud-computing solution somewhere within their district. But what does cloud computing really mean? This brief article puts a bit of definition behind the term and helps one…

Improvements in Information Technology (IT) infrastructure and standardization of interoperability standards among heterogeneous Information System (IS) applications have brought a paradigm shift in the way an IS application could be used and delivered. Not only an IS application can be built using standardized component but also parts of it can…

In this era of political rancor when everything is a zero-sum game, it is refreshing to think that two parties could actually come together to create a win-win situation. That is exactly what is happening, though, as a number of universities take on the role of application service provider (ASP) for smaller schools. It is not all confetti and…

Our paper reports findings from a two-phase deployment of iPod Touch and iPad devices in a large, urban Canadian school board. The purpose of the study was to gain an understanding of the infrastructure required to support handheld devices in classrooms; the opportunities and challenges teachers face as they begin to use handheld devices for…

Despite the hype, IP convergence does not happen overnight. Navigating the IP convergence market is not easy. Some network equipment makers are taking traditional voice over IP (VoIP) product lines and rebranding them as unified communications offerings. But beware: While closely related, VoIP and UC are not the same. Generally speaking, VoIP…

Supplements a previous column's laundry list of bad technology ideas with further provisos: fixating on processor speed; relying on user support; developing non-visionary long-range technology plans; leaving people out of long-range planning; and concentrating technology at the center of a network. (MLH)

The concept of convergence has evolved significantly during recent years. Today, "convergence" refers to the integration of the communications and computing resources and services that seamlessly traverse multiple infrastructures and deliver content to multiple platforms or appliances. Convergence is real. Those in higher education, and especially…

The EDUCAUSE Current Issues Committee, whose members review and recommend the set of IT issues to be presented each year, conducted a Web-based survey in December 2006 to identify the five of thirty-one IT issues in each of four areas: (1) issues that are critical for strategic success; (2) issues that are expected to increase in significance; (3)…

An upstate New York school district approached technology integration by setting up pilot programs using computer clusters in the classrooms of interested teachers. The first wave of teachers evaluated and incorporated third-party software into their regular teaching. A second wave of technology involved multimedia applications. A third wave will…

Fourth-graders in Oklahoma City used the Internet to find an expert to identify a 75-pound Pleistocene-Era mammoth femur they found in a nearby river. A superintendent explains how his technologically backward district wired its schools for Internet learning and facilitated genuine instructional improvement. (MLH)

This book introduces the basic concepts of connecting computers together and provides technical background necessary for constructing small networks. For those already experienced with creating and maintaining computer networks, the book is intended to encourage the creation of a school-wide network. The book is divided into two main sections: an…

In 1997, 558 Compaq Armada 1510 notebook computers and Canon color bubble-jet printers were distributed to incoming freshman at Grove City College (Pennsylvania) as a part its Information Technology Initiative (ITI). Objectives of the ITI were: (1) to prepare students for excellence in their chosen profession by providing the necessary…

EDUCAUSE Core Data Service Fiscal Year 2006 Summary Report summarizes much of the data collected through the 2006 EDUCAUSE core data survey about campus information technology (IT) environments at 933 colleges and universities in the U.S. and abroad. The report presents aggregates of data through more than 100 tables and accompanying descriptive…

The 100-school networking project began in Japan in 1993, sponsored by MITI (Ministry of International Trade and Industry and Ministry of Education). The features of this project can be summarized as follows: (1) one server computer per school; (2) supported by government organization or quasi government organization; (3) supported by local…

This paper describes the experience and the problems solved in the process of developing and integrating advanced World Wide Web-based services into the University of Patras (Greece) system. In addition to basic network services (e.g., e-mail, file transfer protocol), the final system will integrate the following set of advanced services: a…