This article presents an interview with Cathleen Norris and Elliot Soloway, both pioneering educators who are defining the future of technology and learning. Norris is a professor in the Department of Technology and Cognition at the University of North Texas. She is also the past president of ISTE and the past president of NECA, the organizing…

In this article, the author discusses the major technical issues, products, and practices of the day. The top ten tech trends are listed and discussed. These include: (1) data mining; (2) cyberbullying; (3) 21st century skills; (4) digital content; (5) learning at leisure; (6) personal responders; (7) mobile tools; (8) bandwidth; (9) open-source…

File compression enables data to be squeezed together, greatly reducing file size. Why would someone want to do this? Reducing file size enables the sending and receiving of files over the Internet more quickly, the ability to store more files on the hard drive, and the ability pack many related files into one archive (for example, all files…

Anytime, anywhere, learning provides opportunities to create digital learning environments for new teaching styles and personalized learning. As part of making sure the program is effective, the safety and security of students and assets are essential--and mandated by law. The Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) addresses Internet content…

Employing elements of both radio and blogging, podcasting has enormous potential for providing learning experiences for children. At its most basic level, podcasting involves a person (or team) recording an audio program and saving the program as an MP3 file then uploading the file to the Internet and placing a link to the file in a Weblog. The…

This article features the netTrekker d.i. The World Wide Web offers students the ability to do extensive searches for information. Properly used, it allows them to conduct the type of in-depth research that past generations could only dream of. Along with the opportunities are challenges. Danger lurks in the form of sites with misleading,…

A podcast is a method of distributing multimedia files, usually (but not limited to) audio in the MP3 format, over the Internet to subscribers. Anybody can be a subscriber--one only needs the proper software to receive the subscription. In this article, the author discusses how to create one's own podcast. Before creating the podcast, one needs a…

This special section explains the latest developments in networking technologies, profiles school districts benefiting from successful implementations, and reviews new products for building networks. Highlights include ATM (asynchronous transfer mode), cable modems, networking switches, Internet screening software, file servers, network management…

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…

The concept of data-driven professional development is both straight-forward and sensible. Implementing this approach is another story, which is why many administrators are turning to sophisticated tools to help manage data collection and analysis. These tools allow educators to assess and correlate student outcomes, instructional methods, and…