The modern world is undergoing a fundamental transformation characterized by a lot of challenges, dynamism, globalization, and the increasing influence of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). These new technologies have implications for all aspects of the society and economy; they are changing the way of doing business, the way of…

The twentieth anniversary of Computers in the Schools is an occasion to reflect on the state of the art in information technology in education. Computers are probably no longer in danger of being abandoned by schools; and, in fact, computers have gained so much cultural momentum that educators could probably not intentionally prevent their…

Fast knowledge can be considered part of fast capitalism, especially an emergent new generic form of capitalism based increasingly on forms of symbolic capital associated with the rise of global finance and associated with new information and communication technologies. In this essay, the authors first theorise fast knowledge in relation to fast…

The paper examines the notion that Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have affordances that epitomize the features of our late modern age (Giddens, 1991) and explores whether these affordances (Salomon, 1993, p. 51) can be used to facilitate particular approaches to educational practice. It argues that a clear articulation of these…

This article presents a roundtable discussion by a panel of professionals--Carl Larson, Scott E. Little, James Reny, and Roger Young. They share creative solutions to many of the facilities and business operations challenges faced by education institutions nationwide. Among the issues discussed is the effect of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) on…

The definition of "English language classroom" is changing. When students have the opportunity to learn content and language at the same time, disciplinary boundaries overlap. Teachers are rethinking how they design courses, plan lessons, assess students, and collaborate with colleagues to support student learning and facilitate their…

The 5 year KP-Lab project funded under the FP6 of the European Commission's Programme for Research and Technological Development is about developing theories, tools, practical models, and research methods that deliberately advance the ways in which knowledge is created and which help to transform knowledge practices in education and in the…

That technology evolves is a given. Not as well understood is the impact of technological evolution on each individual--on oneself, one's skill development, one's career, and one's relationship with the work community. The authors believe that everyone in higher education will become an IT worker and that IT workers will be managing a growing…

This paper examines how a game-like 3D Multi-User Virtual Environment (MUVE), Quest Atlantis (QA), is used in an after-school programme to engage a group of 14 academically at-risk primary students in their learning. It adopts an activity theoretical perspective to identify the disturbances and contradictions during the implementation of the…

Higher education (HE) professionals generally work in an information and communication technologies (ICT) rich environment. There are expectations that the existence of ICT benefits them, their students, and the overall learning environment. This paper investigates and debates the complex interplay between two aspects of HE that have witnessed…

The way globalization is present in our lives today provides an array of opportunities and requires individuals to acquire new knowledge and skills in order to become active and responsible citizens in their societies and in the world. This study suggests that Brazilian students demonstrate that they are using information and communication…

The availability of online collaboration software has provided new opportunities for instructors to interact with students outside the classroom. This report describes how Elluminate "Live!"[R], a particular conferencing software package, can be used with a tablet PC to conduct virtual office hours in a biochemistry course. The educational value…

Shawn Brixey's "Altimira" is a decidedly strange work of art--so strange that he has not, to date, put it on public display. He turns on a device, housed in a basketball-size glass chamber, and it converts rapidly pulsating radio signals emanating from pulsars--collapsed stars that spin violently, sweeping their poles like lighthouses…

This article reviews and categorizes empirical studies related to instructional technology that were published in three prominent journals: "Educational Technology Research and Development, Instructional Science," and the "Journal of Educational Computing Research" from the year 2000 through 2004. Four questions guided this review: 1) What…

This article explores the theoretical underpinnings of critical media literacy and analyzes four different approaches to teaching it. Combining cultural studies with critical pedagogy, we argue that critical media literacy aims to expand the notion of literacy to include different forms of media culture, information and communication technologies…