Suggestions are presented to help vocational education programs become effective lobbyists: decide what you want, choose the appropriate forum, take a position, review current laws, know what is allowed, identify your leaders, form a network, cultivate legislative leaders, take part in hearings, provide information, testify, and build working…

Describes the design and implementation of the microcomputer network that will soon link every vocational center and comprehensive high school in West Virginia. The author discusses the advantages of networking, what equipment is used, instructional emphases, how various programs use the network, teacher training, and learner outcomes. (CT)

Examines elements of the telecommunications delivery system as a means of teaching vocational education. The author discusses costs of teleconferencing; telecommunications consortia at the state, national, and local level; access to off-campus students; satellite teleconferencing seminars; slow scan video teleconferencing networks; and two-way…

Describes the computer-oriented information age, skills workers will need to keep pace, and how information technologies (microcomputers, communications satellites, and cable systems) can be utilized to support effective higher education. Obstacles to information technology use in education and how schools fail learners if technology is not…

Local schools, teacher education institutions, and other state agencies have recognized the advantages of the network concept and have moved toward relying on the state IGE network structures. (MM)

The federal Migrant Education Program aims to minimize the negative effects on migrant children and youth caused by constant mobility and interrupted schooling. A primary activity of the program involves considerable efforts to identify and recruit children eligible for services. However, finding migrant children is not an easy task. This digest…

This book describes the issues that multitype library networks need to know in order to succeed in the new decade, including electronic information, restructuring, distance education, buying clubs and cooperatives, skilled workers, diversifying funding, collaboration, one-stop shopping, accountability, and extraordinary service. The book contains…

This document is a report on WebReady, an online program that provides students with the essential skills needed to function effectively in Internet-based classes. The WebReady program consists of seven interactive lessons that instruct students on how to: (1) use the full capabilities of the Web browser; (2) perform critical searches on the…

This report discusses the pitfalls and success of distance learning programs. The report covers instructional alternatives of telecourse, linked courses, computer-aided learning, correspondence courses, and audio/video instruction. Sixteen concerns for distance learning programs are identified; for example: (1) registration procedures for distance…

The concept of digital reference is emerging as its own domain within the field of librarianship. This digest discusses issues that have surfaced recently in practice and research: provision of real-time reference service, collaborative efforts among networks of libraries and organizations, and development of quality and technical standards. Many…

Social capital is a person or group's sympathy for others. The social capital paradigm includes social capital, networks, socio-emotional goods, attachment values, institutions, and power. This paper describes how social capital is used within Latino communities in the Grand Rapids Metropolitan Area of Michigan. It describes migration, housing,…

A founding co-editor of Bryn Mawr Classical Review (BMCR) examines the costs and benefits of networked electronic communication for scholars. Some of the tools that have the potential to change the way scholars work include: online reference; online productivity information; e-mail as a productivity tool; and formal online publishing endeavors. A…

This document provides a fact sheet, status report, and questions and answers about E-Rate, the discount Educational Rate that schools and libraries will receive for the acquisition of telecommunication services. E-Rate is the result of a regulatory decision on Universal Service made by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on May 7, 1997.…

Senate Bill 363 is designed to protect American children from the harm caused by viewing violence on television. The bill amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require that violent video programming be limited to broadcast after the hours when children are reasonably likely to comprise a substantial portion of the audience, unless it is…

This paper presents the Virtual Reference Desk project, its current activities, and a proposed information system architecture to build a human intermediated network of expertise and experience for the K-12 community. The Virtual Reference Desk is a project headed by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Information & Technology and funded by the U.S.…