Describes how as colleges keep more information about students in electronic records, institutions struggle for ways to make sure only the right people gain access. (EV)

Attempts to clarify the status of e-mail privacy under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA). Examines current law and the paucity of definitive case law. A review of cases and literature suggests there is a gap in the existing ECPA that allows for potentially abusive electronic monitoring and interception of e-mail,…

Discusses wireless local area networks (LANs) which typically consist of laptop computers that connect to fixed access points via infrared or radio signals. Topics include wide area networks; personal area networks; problems, including limitations of available bandwidth, interference, and security concerns; use in education; interoperability;…

Lane Mills, assistant superintendent for accountability and technology for Wilson County Schools, in North Carolina, describes the process of reviewing and updating technology policies in her home school district. While technology policies and procedures should be tailored to each district's needs and level of technology use, some basic policies…

The authors conducted an evaluation of Management Information Systems (MIS) textbooks and found that computer security receives very little in-depth coverage. The textbooks provide, at best, superficial treatment of security issues. The research results suggest that MIS faculty need to provide material to supplement the textbook to provide…

In t his article, the author discusses the role of higher education research and development (R&D)--particularly R&D into the issues and problems that industry is less able to explore. In addition to high-speed computer communication, broadband networking efforts, and the use of fiber, a rich service environment is equally important and is…

What would people do without the Internet? It gives them the world at their fingertips. Almost anything that they want and need can be found in one neat little place. The Internet is a great place for kids also. They can be entertained, chat with friends, and learn about whatever interests them. Unfortunately the Internet also helps people…

Much attention has been focused on the accountability, student learning outcomes, transfer of credit, and illegal file sharing provisions of the two related bills that have moved through the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives to amend and extend the provisions of the 1965 Higher Education Act (S. 1642 and H.R. 4137). One of the…

The problem with traditional, perimeterbased security methods is twofold: First, they can stifle the educational mission that district networks were created to encourage. Firewalls can thwart hackers, but they can also prevent staff and students from accessing online tools or information. Second, these approaches tend to provide inadequate…

Technology expenditures and usage in schools have risen by nearly 300 percent during the last three decades. Few principals claim to be technology experts, but most aspire to design a map that leads their schools to success with educational technology. The key to success on the journey is not to know everything, but to ask the right questions.…

Many Internet safety and parenting experts suggest that parents prohibit their teens from social networking sites and other online spaces where predators may lurk. But we may do adolescents a disservice when we curtail their participation in these spaces, because the educational and psychosocial benefits of this type of communication can far…

Discusses the development a national information policy in the United Kingdom (UK): policies for national information infrastructures, electronic information services, privacy and data protection, copyright, public and national libraries; reviews problems inhibiting Internet use; compares the UK's and the European Commission's approaches to…

Discusses how the potential effectiveness of Palladium, Microsoft's new approach to computer security, is worrying academics, who say it could allow publishers to dam the free flow of online information. (EV)

This article reviews safety and security issues as they relate to technology, both for individuals and for the higher education institution. (Author)

Considers ethics issues involved with using online resources like the Internet in elementary and secondary education and suggests that educators initiate and model a standardized role of ethical behavior for Internet users. Topics include hackers; privacy, piracy, and security; screening electronic sites; ethics education; and an ethics model.…