As classroom technology has developed, so have copyright laws and guidelines. Guidelines are outlined for taping broadcasts, using "home use only" videocasettes, networking and duplicating computer software, incorporating copyrighted material for multimedia productions, creating materials for posting on Internet websites, and…

Presents strategies for making instructional technology more emotionally sound. Discusses fear, envy, anger, sympathy, and pleasure, and describes 20 instructional strategies that can be used to decrease negative emotions and increase positive emotions including computer-assisted instruction, multimedia, linked information, social networks on the…

Investigates one component of a Web site--the index structure, comparing the effectiveness and efficiency of 20 subjects who used one index and three experimental variants to complete five tasks. Findings indicate that a hypertext index with multiple access points for each concept, all linked to the same resource, led to greater effectiveness and…

States that several states are establishing networks for resource sharing. Florida offers these resources through the Florida Distance Learning Library Initiative, Wisconsin has BadgerLink and WISCAT, TexShare provides library resource sharing in Texas, and Louisiana has LOUIS and LLN. These are some of the states successfully demonstrating…

Presents a theory of collegial social control of teacher's instructional beliefs and practices that centers on the idea of "collegial focus." Examines whether social control affects teachers' practices, if collegial focus strengthens social control, the role of subject-matter specialization, and the effects of bureaucratic control on collegial…

The Basic School Network, Housed at James Madison University in Virginia, plans lessons based on Ernest L. Boyer's Core Commonalities--a system of eight themes underlying all human experience aimed at renewing early childhood education. Commonalities include the life cycle, use of symbols, membership in groups, sense of time and space, response to…

This study examined the relationship between the employment status of visually impaired college graduates (28 employed, 23 unemployed) in Great Britain and their social networks, both formal and informal. Unemployed graduates had fewer extensive support networks to help them find jobs; used contacts in less directive ways; and socialized in more…

Based on a five-year ethnographic study of the activity of an online, international academic community of practice supported by ListServer technology, this article covers selective findings pertaining to patterns of communication deemed crucial to community building. Implications of learning and collegial support are discussed. (Author/AEF)

Reviews proposals to reform the system by which public agencies receive and respond to reports of abuse and neglect, highlighting and describing one reform approach. The community-based partnership for child protection emphasizes targeting interventions by child protective services toward high-risk families while building collaborative community…

Discussion of the use of wide area computer networks to facilitate community-building and educational reform in elementary-secondary education focuses on a project in Pittsburgh called Common Knowledge: Pittsburgh that is seeking to develop new environments for teaching and learning. Guidelines for other school districts are presented. (LRW)

Describes developments in Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) electronic reference services. Presents a background on networked cataloging and the initial implementation of reference services by OCLC. Discusses the introduction of OCLC FirstSearch service, which today offers access to over 65 databases, future developments in integrated…

Describes a method of full-text scanning for matches in a large dictionary. The method is suitable for selective dissemination of information systems, accommodating large dictionaries and typical digital data rates. It can be implemented on a single commercially-available board hosted by a personal computer or entirely in software. (Author/AEF)

Explains South Dakota's Connecting the Schools project that distributed hardware and software for K-12 schools, as well as provided training; developed the Digital Dakota Network (DDN), a high-speed statewide telecommunications network that provides data and video services to educational and governmental communities and helps with network design;…

Data was collected from ombudsmen (N=607) in nursing facilities about the factors that make their jobs difficult. Hypotheses about support, relationships with peers, and efficacy were tested. Support from facility administrators and residents contributed to efficacy, whereas help from other volunteers had a negative effect. Results point to the…

Achievement disparity has many causes: economic, psychological, and social conditions; peer and family culture; and educational practices and policies. Educators can eliminate racial, class, and gender bias by building school capacity, developing leaders, creating networks for change, adopting new processes and tools, identifying assumptions, and…