In today's schools and library media centers, emotion-laden concerns about new modes of information and communication technology can hijack librarians' attention, even taking center stage. Something about the online revolution and, more recently, the advent of Web 2.0 tools and their ability to create connections among users, as well as between…

As a parent of teenagers in the 1980s, I recall a concern of the intrusion by MTV into our home. After futile attempts to block the program, my spouse and I set out to convince our sons of its intrusion. Our challenge was miniscule when compared to the Internet privacy issues of today. This paper addresses such challenges and proposes some…

Understanding the development of public opinion about emerging technologies, when the scope of that emergence is still speculative, poses particular challenges. Opinions and beliefs may be drawn from conflicting experts in multiple fields, media portrayals with varying biases, and fictional narratives that portray diverse possible futures. This…

It seems that every day, in some conversation or another, the talk turns to technology. It can be about the delight taken in a well-designed website or the ease of accessing data when one needs it; it can be a 50-something-year-old complaining that the BlackBerry needs to be redesigned for newly arthritic baby boomer fingers; it may be a parent…

John Palfrey is one busy guy, with an impressive gig. In 2008, he was named the Henry N. Ess III Professor of Law and Vice Dean for Library and Information Resources at Harvard Law School. And when he's not teaching courses on intellectual property and Internet law, there's a good chance he's overseeing the L school's research library. Palfrey,…

Most users have no more knowledge of what their computer or code is actually doing than most automobile owners have of their carburetor or catalytic converter. Nor is any such knowledge necessarily needed. But for academics, driven by an increasing emphasis on the materiality of new media--that is, the social, cultural, and economic factors…

Technology has become a part of the fabric of the lives of people, whether it be communicating with a loved one on the other side of the world or paying a utility bill via the Internet. Most people have experienced some level of technology integration into their life. An inescapable rite of passage for most people in developed countries is the…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how the technology beliefs of New York State Career and Technical Education Board of Cooperative Education Services administrators influenced their leadership behaviors. The participants were from a purposive selection from five suburban and rural Boards of Cooperative Education Services in…

The purpose of this study was to analyze data from Ohio schools and the frequency of use of educational technology, a teacher's comfort level using technology, and a teacher's beliefs about the effect of educational technology on teaching and learning based upon the school's Blue Ribbon award status. The study used an ex-post facto, quantitative…

The critical literature abounds with examples of possible educational uses of Web 2.0 technology in which students become active participants in the production of knowledge through blogging, social networking, creation of podcasts, and other forms of constructivist education. At the same time, teachers, whom the data indicate are somewhat…

This paper reports the effects of game technology on student learning in mathematics as investigated in two data sets collected from slightly different subjects. In the first, 41 second graders (7 or 8 years old) from two classes used either a technology-based game or a paper-based game for 5 weeks. For the next 13 weeks, both classes used a…

In the changing context of globalised higher education, a series of pedagogical shifts have occurred, and with them, a number of interactive learning approaches have emerged. This article reports on findings taken from a large-scale study that explored the socio-political impact of virtual world learning on higher education in the UK, specifically…

This book, a resource for educators, uses the theme of media literacy as a lens through which to view and discuss social networking and Web 2.0 environments. There is ongoing and positive research on the participatory culture created by youth who are heavily involved in the new digital technologies, yet schools tend to avoid these mediums for fear…

E-learning has long been celebrated as the solution to access in education. There seems to be a belief worldwide that by including e-learning technologies in learning packages, learners' success and economies of scale will be ensured in ODL (open and distance learning). New innovations like the internet and mobile technologies provide a great…

The media environment is currently being dramatically changed by social networking, mobile computing, augmented reality, and transmedia. Of these four, transmedia is probably the least familiar to most educators. Transmedia enhances a central story idea with a variety of media components that provide additional information, give increased…