Protecting the critical infrastructure of this country is essential to the preservation of lives as they are now lived. The time has come for leaders in higher education to recognize and creatively respond to the opportunity and realities of protecting the national critical infrastructure. To do this effectively, the academy must embrace and…

Now it is increasingly critical that community college leaders become involved in network security and partner with their directors of information technology (IT). Network security involves more than just virus protection software and firewalls. It involves vigilance and requires top executive support. Leaders can help their IT directors to…

Choosing a strategy for controlling item exposure has become an integral part of test development for computerized adaptive testing (CAT). This study investigated the performance of six procedures for controlling item exposure in a series of simulated CATs under the generalized partial credit model. In addition to a no-exposure control baseline…

The Association Supporting Computer Users in Education (ASCUE) is a group of people interested in small college computing issues. It is a blend of people from all over the country who use computers in their teaching, academic support, and administrative support functions. ASCUE has a strong tradition of bringing its members together to pool their…

In the last decade, Internet provision has become widespread within schools in many economically developed countries. Proponents of such technology have stressed the potential benefits to be gained from innovative teaching and learning opportunities. Yet, herein purity and danger are seen to co-exist, with unregulated "pollutants"…

This paper introduces several hands-on projects that have been used to motivate students in learning various computer networking concepts. These projects are shown to be very useful and applicable to the learners' daily tasks and activities such as emailing, Web browsing, and online shopping and banking, and lead to an unexpected byproduct,…

The Eighth Annual EDUCAUSE Current Issues Survey asked campus information technology leaders to rate the most critical IT challenges facing them, their campuses, and/or their systems. Four findings associated with all respondents to this year's survey merit special mention. First, for the 2007 survey, the CIC decided to split a key issue choice…

Over the past five years, the No Child Left Behind Act, with its mandates for collecting and documenting student achievement statistics, has fueled a surge in the volume of data collected by schools, districts, and state education departments. This information explosion has gone hand in hand with technology's growing affordability and…

Anecdotal evidence existed about the many students who use their laptops and the wireless network in university common spaces, but little was known about how, where, and why students use laptops on campus, and less was known about students' awareness of university wireless network policies and security. This article discusses the results of a…

Because of the graphical interface and "openness" of the operating system, Macintosh computers are susceptible to undesirable changes by the user. This presentation discusses the advantages and disadvantages of software packages that offer protection for the Macintosh system. The two basic forms of software security packages include a…

This manual is intended to provide a free resource on essential network security concepts for non-technical managers of small libraries. Managers of other small nonprofit or community organizations will also benefit from it. An introduction defines network security; outlines three goals of network security; discusses why a library should be…

This paper addresses accountability and the role emerging technologies can play in improving education. The connection between accountability and technology can be best summarized in one term: feedback. Technological supports provide ways of designing, collecting and sharing information in order to provide the basis for the improvement of systems…

This study analyzes the controversy of software piracy in education. It begins with a real world scenario that presents the setting and context of the problem. The legalities and background of software piracy are explained and true court cases are briefly examined. Discussion then focuses on explaining why individuals and organizations pirate…

This document describes four distinct approaches to education in the area of cybersecurity currently taught at community colleges across America. The four broad categories of instruction are: (1) degree program--four semesters of study leading to an associate's degree; (2) certificate program--two semesters leading to an institution-conferred…

The purpose of this guidebook is to assist education agencies and organizations--which include state education agencies or state departments of education, school districts, and schools--in the development, maintenance, and standardization of effective Web sites. Also included is a detailed examination of the procedures necessary to provide…