In l998, Idahoans gathered in a series of six Regional Futures Conferences to identify what they thought was probable during the next ten years, what was possible for libraries to do and be, and what a preferred future of Idaho libraries might be. Participants from the regional conferences then convened to refine and focus descriptions of the…

The purpose of this paper is to promote and improve needs assessment in distance education through the exploration of eight questions: (1) what is a needs assessment?; (2) how are needs assessments related to successful distance education?; (3) where have needs assessments been used in distance education?; (4) which approach to needs assessment…

This paper discusses the development of a MIS (Management Information Systems) capstone course in an adult graduate information technology program at Johns Hopkins University (Maryland). Rather than focusing on a technology topic, the course provides an environment that allows students to apply the information and skills that they have obtained in…

Geographic information systems (GIS) are increasing in importance as a resource for collecting, managing, and analyzing data pertaining to a variety of business problems. Yet, the number of business schools that have incorporated GIS as a significant part of even one of their core business courses is quite small. Thus, little is known about how to…

Educators are asked to provide technology education to all, but special consideration must be given to those in both developing and developed nations who have no access to current technology and thus are disenfranchised. In order to redress the issue of disenfranchisement, one must try to correct the social imbalances that have created it.…

Telematics for Teacher Training (T3), as a European support action, has prepared the profession of European teacher training for the infusion of Telematics into courses, plus the enhancement of training provision via telematics applications. T3 Consortium partners included eight teacher training institutions across eight European countries.…

Professional development that aims to transform teaching and build substantial knowledge of science and mathematics content is not a simple task of "design and implement"; rather, it involves remaining alert to the changing context in which professional developers are working, the stages of development teachers move through as they develop new…

This paper discusses changes at the University of Science and Technology Library (Ghana). The first section provides historical background and summarizes current services, including the collection, the facility, the university's network of faculty/school/institute/center libraries, main library departments, staff, and automation. The next section…

In Malaysia, the government is supporting the diffusion of the Internet and is spearheading a project to bring Malaysia into the information age, by helping to design a smart city called the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC). The MSC is being planned as a high-technology center where world-class multimedia companies can develop state-of-the-art…

The videos in this educational series, for grades 4-7, help students understand the science behind weather phenomena through dramatic live-action footage, vivid animated graphics, detailed weather maps, and hands-on experiments. This episode (23 minutes) describes the roles of the sun, temperature, and air pressure in creating the incredible power…

This publication presents key findings from the New York City Teacher Survey, which examined teachers' perceptions regarding their professional preparation, how their perceptions differed according to type of preparation they received, and whether perceptions differed from those of a national sample of teachers and from a sample of teachers who…

In an effort to increase access to education and set up a comprehensive qualification framework, Hong Kong's Education Commission made key recommendations to the government in May 2000. Those recommendations included the development of a diversified, multi-channel, multi-layer higher education system. Three of Hong Kong's higher education…

This paper describes the environmental scan that the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office initiated in preparation for its development of a strategic plan. In this scanning effort, environment is defined as "a search for information about the system's external setting." The trends are roughly grouped into five areas:…

This digest examines how technology can support multicultural education. Multicultural education represents an approach to education and the teaching-learning process that is grounded in the democratic ideals of justice and equality. Five critical dimensions of multicultural education are: content integration, knowledge construction, prejudice…

This study investigated the use of an online authentic assessment tool to evaluate students' fluency with the World Wide Web (WWW). Participants included 120 middle and high school students with a strong technology background and a familiarity with navigating the World Wide Web. Using the online Web Expertise Assessment and accompanying WWW…