Pursuing professional development (PD) is contractual for some, and oxygen for others. As technology has increased access to anytime-anywhere learning, many of the hurdles for conquering time and space constraints have been addressed with online learning in web-based classroom environments, webinars, and even some of the newer social networking…

The goal of installing laptop programs is to increase student learning in the classroom. In this article, the author offers eleven tips to get the most learning out of one's investment: (1) make students responsible and accountable; (2) make the activities authentic; (3) embrace one's surroundings; (4) make sure the technology extends the…

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…

Conceptualizes the Internet in terms of the NII's (National Information Infrastructure) proposed features; suggests that it will be interactive, have multimedia capability, and be a network of networks; and discusses legislative and budgetary issues affecting the development and use of technology in the classroom. Sidebars highlight individual…

Although an increasing number of K-12 educators have taken up blogging in the past few years, blogging professors are still a rarity. Time pressures, entrenched beliefs about peer-reviewed publication, and a lack of familiarity all contribute to the paucity of faculty who regularly blog for public audiences. In this article, several prominent…

Sometimes it is a defining moment; more often it is a gradual realization. In the stories in this article, students and educators describe how their lives-and the lives of people important to them-have been changed by computer technology.

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…

Blogs are not a passing fad as a new blog is created every second. There are more than 900,000 blog posts a day. Blogs are one of many new disruptive technologies that are transforming the world. They are creating a richer, more dynamic, more interactive Web where participation is the rule rather than the exception. Classrooms and schools are…

Student information systems, one of the first applications of computer technology in education, are undergoing a significant transition yet again. The first major shift in SIS technologies occurred about 15 years ago when they evolved from mainframe programs to client-server solutions. Now, vendors across the board are offering centralized…

Educators at elementary, middle, and high school levels will find that integrating digital tools and resources--many commonly used by students in their "out of school" lives--can be a springboard to creativity and new skills. In this article, the author describes how word processors, presentation software and hardware, mind-mapping applications,…

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 article focuses on the challenge of educators in keeping up with an information environment that has changed dramatically in the past 10 years. Thus, it is crucial that when teaching literacy to students, educators emphasize skills that reflect the information environment of the present, not the past. With the information age comes a whole…

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…