Data from three projects (a CD-ROM of the periodic table, video animation on CD ROM, and data loggers) show how conditioned dispositions affect information/communications technology use. The projects demonstrate how students have been conditioned to work mindlessly in science classrooms, following the path of least cognitive demand and avoiding…

Discusses the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to improve education. Highlights include virtual discussions; the need for data about students to help them learn effectively; listening to students; current uses of ICT in teaching; feedback from students; and a proposed model for virtual classrooms. (LRW)

Discussion of the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in developing nations focuses on experiences in India. Highlights include the information age; digital divides, including access to information, to technology, and to culturally relevant content; meeting human needs and social goals; private sector roles; and bridging…

Reviews the international research evidence on the ways in which information and communication technologies (ICT) are used in both formal and informal pre-school settings. Addresses the debate over the value and desirability of young children using computers and computational toys; relationship to the media environment; literacies involved; and…

States the role of information and communications technology (ICTs) in education is not homogeneous, only some are designed to support learning. Considers the role of ICT in two models of a British science curriculum: (1) based on empirical science; and (2) based on a model of scientific reasoning. (BT)

Examines the complex connections among literacy practices, the use of information, and communication technologies (ICTs) and disadvantage. Reports findings of a year-long Australian study, which investigated ways that four families use ICTs to engage in formal and informal literacy learning in home and school settings. (BT)

This special section contains four articles on using technology to improve student financial aid services: (1) "The Technology Pyramid" (advice on the transition from paper to paperless systems); (2) "Strengthening Our Security"; (3) "COD: Moving toward a Universal Delivery System" (about the government's new Common Origin and Disbursement…

Discusses the need for more flexible learning frameworks for higher education and lifelong learning, and considers the use of communication and information technology to meet those needs. Focuses on conferencing technologies, including video conferencing; text-based communication (email, bulletin boards, and conferencing); and audio conferencing.…

Human performance technology is a collection of techniques for evaluating and designing human performance systems. It isn't a philosophy, a moral imperative, or a way of life. When technologists promote as more than what it is, they jeopardize their credibility and distort their own roles as performance engineers. (Author)

Technology can be an obstacle or an advantage to cooperative data sharing within and between colleges and universities. Taking a technology-oriented approach before the technology is ripe for general use can be counterproductive. Many technical difficulties can be overcome by encouraging consortium staff to promote new methods of information…

An advanced telecommunications network is essential for economic growth. It helps expand markets, reduce costs, create jobs, attract new companies and diversify a local economy, reduce the urban/rural economic gap, help firms become more globally competitive, and make an area more attractive to international investors. The challenge to economic…

Argues that the two best means for achieving diversity and leadership in college and university information management are affirmative action (defined as actively seeking out talent wherever it resides) and formal mentoring programs. Describes mentorship as an individual commitment to seeking out, identifying, and developing the leaders of the…

This research examines the changes that electronic information technologies have caused on power within organizations, particularly related to library automation, academic libraries, and their positions on college campuses. Based on the strategic contingencies theory of intraorganizational power, a model of organizational power is developed and…

Discusses the control of digital content and the stakes for libraries and our democratic culture. Highlights include copyright term extension, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, use of contract law to limit the public domain, database legislation, trademarks versus the public domain, the void in our cultural vocabulary, and the concept of the…

Introduces the special issue and summarizes the views of delegates about each of the conference's three themes: "Has external quality review had its day?"; "Has control of quality been usurped by the market and by information technology?"; and "Does the development of mass education necessarily mean the end of…