A significant issue in correctional education is the lack of policy-relevant data comparable across states. This article describes an effort to address this issue: the Correctional Education Data Guidebook and website and the two research projects that led to their development. Analyzing results from two national surveys conducted by the U.S.…

When the literature anthologies did not arrive, Allen Webb turned to the Internet, where he found a wealth of classic and contemporary e-texts. Using these online resources opened up possibilities for new ways of teaching and learning traditional skills of close reading and critical analysis. Students created blogs of poems and commentary,…

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…

In spring 2005, a task force of Oregon State University librarians investigated whether undergraduates would gravitate toward subject portals tentatively named "virtual college libraries." A literature review and Web site inventory shaped our definition of a virtual college library. A preliminary needs assessment consisting of an online…

Over the past few years, as part of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) reform on the one hand, and the increased demands for school accountability on the other, more and more schools have launched a school website aimed at enhancing educational activities, supporting student-teacher communication, contributing to school marketing…

Smart librarians have always valued their relationships with users and other librarians. The creative force of those relationships is empowered via Web-based social networking, collaboration, and sharing. At Stony Brook University Health Sciences Library in New York, students, faculty, clinicians, and residents expect the latest refinements in…

The USDA, Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Web Soil Survey is a valuable teaching tool for soil science education. By incorporating the Web Soil Survey into an undergraduate-level course, students are able to use the most detailed digital soil survey information without the steep learning curve associated with geographic information…

This report addresses both why and how charter schools designed for students with disabilities operate their programs and provides information learned about charter schools specifically designed for children with disabilities through a series of questions and answers. First, the legal and policy context in which such schools develop and operate is…

Between 1999 and 2003, the Western Massachusetts Writing Project experienced a series of changes that made it question whether it could survive as a writing project site. The convergence of retirement, unexpected death, and withdrawal of long-term financial support forced the existing leadership to develop a process to look deeply into the work of…

This report outlines accomplishments relative to items listed in the April 16, 2007 Management Letter from the Assistant Deputy Minister of Advance Education to the British Columbia Council on Admissions and Transfer (BCCAT). The letter charged the Council to continue its role in facilitating student transfer and admission throughout the British…

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…

This study was designed to investigate 19 preservice and practicing teachers' conceptions of the role of new technologies in literacy education. The study documented how these conceptions, as well as my own, evolved over time and impacted the content and curriculum of a university course. Using a design-based research model, I documented students'…

This paper addresses problems and issues that arise in electronic communications, and offers guidelines and etiquette. Topics covered include: (1) drafting an electronic message, including width of messages, abbreviations and smileys, salutation, name, author address, and responding to a message; (2) "Webtiquette" (i.e., guidelines for…

Design is fundamental to the study of technology. The "Standards for Technological Literacy: Content for the Study of Technology" ("Standards") (ITEA, 2000) identifies the importance of a holistic grasp of design when developing technological literacy. With design taking such a prominent role in the "Standards," a…

This report is a followup to an initiative to establish a central website to collect data from States on the National School Lunch and the School Breakfast Programs. A central website could be used by researchers and program administrators to compare and analyze data across State and local areas for participation trends in local school district…