Increasingly, teachers rely on computer software and networks to both enhance curriculum management and provide engaging learning opportunities in instruction. New software is enabling more frequent formative assessments to better focus day-to-day lessons on the unique needs of individual learners. Administrators use increasingly complex data…

Kenneth J. Klingenstein, Chief Technologist at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and Project Director of the Internet2 Middleware Initiative, is the recipient of the 2003 EDUCAUSE Award for Leadership in Information Technologies. Klingenstein has been involved in computing technology for almost three decades. One of a handful of leaders who…

Budget pressures compel everyone in higher education to demonstrate value in IT investments, using both quantitative and qualitative information. Like many institutions, however, both Stanford and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have found themselves forced to rely more on anecdotes than on management information to guide decisions. In…

The Fifth Annual Educause Current Issues Survey ranked "security and identity management" near the top of the list of critical IT challenges on campus today. Recognition of the crucial importance of securing networked resources led Internet2 to establish its Middleware Initiative (I2MI) in 1999. While Internet2 was founded to develop and deploy…

What would people do without the Internet? It gives them the world at their fingertips. Almost anything that they want and need can be found in one neat little place. The Internet is a great place for kids also. They can be entertained, chat with friends, and learn about whatever interests them. Unfortunately the Internet also helps people…

The problem with traditional, perimeterbased security methods is twofold: First, they can stifle the educational mission that district networks were created to encourage. Firewalls can thwart hackers, but they can also prevent staff and students from accessing online tools or information. Second, these approaches tend to provide inadequate…

Technology expenditures and usage in schools have risen by nearly 300 percent during the last three decades. Few principals claim to be technology experts, but most aspire to design a map that leads their schools to success with educational technology. The key to success on the journey is not to know everything, but to ask the right questions.…

Many Internet safety and parenting experts suggest that parents prohibit their teens from social networking sites and other online spaces where predators may lurk. But we may do adolescents a disservice when we curtail their participation in these spaces, because the educational and psychosocial benefits of this type of communication can far…

Incorrect access to Web site addresses and spam e-mails are continuing to make pornography rampant on the Internet at schools, homes and libraries. Collectively, parents, teachers and members of communities must become more aware of the risks and consequences of open access to the Internet, and the distinction between censorship and Internet…

In his paper, "European Needs and Attitudes towards Information Security," Richard I. Polis notes that the needs for security in computer systems, telecommunications, and media are rather uniform throughout Western Europe, and are seen as being significantly different from the needs in the United States. Recognition of these needs is,…

A discussion of computer theft prevention on college campuses looks at a variety of elements in electronic equipment security, including the extent of the problem, physical antitheft products, computerized access, control of key access, alarm systems, competent security personnel, lighting, use of layers of protection, and increasing…

Discusses Internet access and monitoring in light of H. G. Wells' idea of a world brain or encyclopedia, or mind of the species. Topics include the evolution and effects of Internet access, including employee productivity, network bandwidth, and legal liabilities or negative publicity; and Internet usage and security policy. (LRW)

A Duke University (North Carolina) student witnessing vandalism to the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) World Wide Web site and a University of Massachusetts, Amherst student, both studying computer science, have contributed substantially to the identification of a computer hacker destroying the NCAA site. The students' rapid…

Analyzes the impact of the U.S. Patriot Act on educational institutions, particularly in the area of information technology security. Warns that the Act could impact distance learning and campus Internet service providers, and that lawsuits are being filed against universities for having lax cybersecurity. Makes suggestions for dealing with these…

Provides a framework for examining the complex infrastructure needed to successfully implement a digital library. Highlights include database development, online public-access catalogs, interactive technical services, full-text documents, hardware and wiring, licensing, access, and security issues. (Author/LRW)