The Geographic Information System (GIS) is a powerful computer-based system for entering, storing, manipulating, analyzing, and displaying geographic or spatial data. Presents a description of GIS, reasons for having this technology at universities, and potential limitations of the system. Possible ways to overcome problems are offered. Includes…

The director of facilities at a prestigious 75-year-old Delaware school located an easy-to-implement software program to computerize the schools's physical-plant system. The right software helps facilities managers oversee schools' physical plants, including budgeting and maintenance. (MLF)

Provides advice to alumni officers on how to start an alumni World Wide Web page with support from students, faculty, and others. Alumni offices can use students to design their Web sites, get faculty and alumni involved in the project, and work with campus Webmasters to produce a superior site. (MDM)

Maps are becoming essential strategic components for school business officials. The power of the personal computer is bringing map analysis programs down to the desktop level. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) will help business managers display student data, analyze school boundaries, route buses and maintenance vehicles, chart home values,…

Offers reviews of resource materials, software, and websites intended to help teachers make sense of integrating technology in the classroom. Presents reviews of five resource books; four instructional software programs that purport to teach phonics; three software programs of interactive literature on CD-ROM; an interactive, multimedia CD-ROM…

Presents guidelines for moderating online educational computer conferences. Explains how to prepare for the conference, including becoming familiar with the software and developing a contract with students to ensure their participation; discusses ongoing conference activities, including focusing the discussion; and relates common problems and…

Describes how Mahopac Central School District in upstate New York used home-to-school communications software to help improve communications with parents. Software allows parents online access to their child's school data such as course schedule, grades, discipline issues, assignments, and daily attendance via a password-protected district Web…

Introduces the Enviroland computer program which features lab simulations of theoretical calculations for quantitative analysis and environmental chemistry, and fate and transport models. Uses the program to demonstrate the nature of linear and nonlinear equations. (Author/YDS)

Provides an overview of Learning Management System (LMS) software, which is necessary for the creation of a Virtual Centre for Foreign Language Learning. Also describes a new discipline called Web Assisted Language Learning (WALL), which can be broken down into three areas: the Web as a source of resources; the Web as a window of multimedia…

Presents one of the world's first prototypes of language learning software for smart-phones. Tele-EnREDando.com is an Internet based multimedia application designed for 3G mobile phones with audio, video, and interactive exercises for learning Spanish for business. (Author/VWL)

Discussion of school hardware and software selection focuses on a study that identified the most useful pieces of hardware and accompanying software applications as rated by teachers whose sixth- through eighth-grade classes spent a semester working in a special technology-rich environment at Kent State University. Compares ratings by teachers and…

Computer keystroke-logging programs, which record all keystrokes and mouse actions, facilitate the collection of quantitative data about text creation during writing revision. Presents the LS graph, a novel way of graphically representing and summarizing the quantitative data collected when keystroke logging. (Author/VWL)

Notes that voice recognition technology (VRT) has become accurate and fast enough to be useful in a variety of writing scenarios. Contends that little is known about how this technology might affect writing process or perceptions of silent writing. Explores future use of VRT by examining past research in the technology of dictation. (PM)

Investigates the effectiveness of an interactive, computer-mediated instructional segment designed to educate students about ethnicity in German-speaking countries. Fifty-two intermediate German students worked with computer-mediated segments and rated the segments' effectiveness on a Likert-scale questionnaire. (AS)

Discusses some problems in accessing the microform collection of the Research Libraries of the New York Public Library using the library's printed and online catalogs. Creation of an in-house automated microforms database is described, including software, selection and downloading of records, updating, and searching the database. (MES)