A theme for this year's Techtalk is keeping up with technology, emphasizing both professional development and new technology. This first column will look at the how and why of professional development. A second column will highlight wireless technology. The National Association for Developmental Education's Executive Board (NADE, 2001) resolved…

Data gathered from 10,000 Texas public school students in Grades 3-12 over the years 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2005 were analyzed to replicate findings first discovered as a byproduct of evaluation of a large scale U.S. Department of Education Technology Innovation Challenge Grant. Initial findings were that girls in Grades 4 and 5 reported enjoying…

This study examined users' views about the usability of digital libraries' current and perceived importance. Age, gender, prior experience with the Internet, college status, and digital library proficiency are the independent variables. Users' current views about the usability of digital libraries and users perceived importance of digital library…

In this article, the author gives a description, based on personal experience about how much paper exists at school board meetings. He states that he was constantly preparing for the next meeting immediately as soon as one would conclude. The heavy amount of paper work always was difficult to manage and read through, not only for me and other…

Guided by a situated learning framework, this research examines the nature of teachers' technology learning when participating in a content-focused technology inquiry group, the ways teachers integrate what they learn into content-specific student learning activities, and how situated features of the learning context influence teacher learning.…

The question of what makes for effective teacher professional development in ICT is an enduring one. In a recent study in Queensland (Australia), we visited 19 rural and regional schools and interviewed teachers, administrators and ICT coordinators to find that a school-based practicum was effective in impacting the practice and beliefs of…

Mage is a graphics program developed for visualization of three-dimensional structures of proteins and other macromolecules. An application of the Mage program is reported here for developing interactive instructional graphics files (kinemages) of much smaller scale. Examples are given illustrating features of VSEPR models, permanent dipoles,…

Job responsibilities of computer teachers and library media specialists are increasingly overlapping and it is recommended that the curricula of the two disciplines are seen as a single entity. How this can be done best is detailed with the proviso that two specialized individuals will continue to be required to teach students the necessary skills.

This study investigates how college students' current levels of technology use might be affected by digital divide issues. Survey data were collected from 130 students in colleges of education at two midwestern universities. Factor analysis yielded that students' uses of technology can be described using three broad categories: entertainment,…

This article is a case study, assisted by the collection of data which has been analysed as an evaluative measure, of the initial element of an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) module for a cohort of trainee teachers on a Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) course for primary school teaching. The standards which the…

While critics draw important attention to worrisome aspects of digital cultures, they may be missing a much larger point about how young people live in a digital world, how they create and re-create themselves and their identities in ways that are remarkably foreign to others "digital immigrants". In this article, "digital immigrants" refers to…

Much has been said about the benefits of the Internet as a teaching and learning tool but to realize these benefits, teachers must be willing and able to use the Internet effectively in their teaching. Studies have also clearly shown that the likeliness of teachers using the Internet effectively and the success of Internet utilization was very…

PowerPoint has become something of a standard business communication tool, for better or worse. The "worse" part of that formulation is something of a cliche in the business world, and poor use of the tool can be damaging to a business manager's career progress. The author has been using a two-part approach to teaching PowerPoint skills in an…

One of the most prominent engineers and entrepreneurs in the country, Dr. Randal D. Pinkett keeps a high profile on issues related to minorities, technology and education. The holder of five degrees, Pinkett has built an academic record that includes a doctorate and MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He was also named a…

A non-randomized control trial was conducted to assess the feasibility and efficacy of the Life Interventions for Family Effectiveness (LIFE) project: a family-based, evidence-based comprehensive substance abuse intervention for at-risk adolescents and their families. The Matrix Adolescent Treatment Model of program delivery was utilized in the…