Monitoring student assistants' tasks effectively is a significant part of management. The BACC Squad at Dahlgren Memorial Library are student assistants who help maintain the printers, copiers and computers within the library. Since technology is a large part of their job, it is important that they use innovative tools for performing their tasks.…

The online placement test for the Community English Language Program (CLP) at Teachers College, Columbia University has been administered in a computer lab since 2015. While most of the components of this placement exam system are online, including registration, exam delivery, scoring, and score reporting, the COVID-19 pandemic elevated the need…

More than ever, faculty and students are working jointly on documents sharing screens in class, swapping course materials and taking their collective pulse through polls. Nevertheless, many faculty members complain that technical support for group projects is lagging on campus, leaving them searching for solutions elsewhere. While some faculty…

Deaf students are visual learners, and technology should be part of every bilingual classroom. However, deaf students need to learn to manipulate the hardware and software that allows them to express themselves and to advance their knowledge. Students need to understand what is meant when they are referred to "ASL text" or…

The mission of the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) Research is to expand knowledge that advances OCLC's public purposes of furthering access to the world's information and reducing library costs. OCLC Research is dedicated to three roles: (1)To act as a community resource for shared research and development (R&D); (2) To provide advanced…

In this article, the author features Computers for Youth (CFY), a nonprofit organization that provides computers, software, and training to sixth-grade students and their families at low-income schools. Founded in 1999, Computers for Youth works with low-income schools to put computers in the homes of sixth-grade students and bring parents into…

Today's higher education environment is marked by heightened accountability and decreased budgets. In such an environment, no higher education institution can afford to ignore alternative approaches that could result in more effective and less costly solutions. Open-source software (OSS) can serve as a viable alternative to traditional proprietary…

Just a few years ago, virtual worlds were credited with the power to transform the universe. Used since the late 1990s in military and medical applications, virtual worlds first gained mainstream media attention when Linden Lab released Second Life in 2003. While other worlds, including open source environments, have launched since then (examples…

Online learning space design becomes a significant issue with the proliferation of online learning in higher education. Never before has the instructor been given such a privilege in building and molding the learning space to fulfill his/her instructional aspirations. However, enormous challenges are present to the instructor in taking advantage…

Case study methodology was used to describe the challenges experienced in the development of a virtual component for a freshman-level undergraduate course. The purpose of the project was to use a virtual environment component to provide an interactive and engaging learning environment. While some student and faculty feedback was positive, this…

This article introduces Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF), a specification for data sharing among educational software applications that has grown to 10 disparate software applications. This new version (code name Columbus) is likely to give districts more vendors to choose from--maybe a lot more--because it will be arriving with a profound…

Despite the last few years' growth in awareness of open-source software in schools and the potential savings it represents, its widespread adoption is still hampered. Randy Orwin, technology director of the Bainbridge Island School District in Washington State and a strong open-source advocate, cautions that installing an open-source…

This paper discusses a university-wide pilot designed to encourage academics to creatively explore learner-centred applications for digital audio. Participation in the pilot was diverse in terms of technical competence, confidence and contextual requirements and there was little prior experience of working with digital audio. Many innovative…

This article discusses 10 "IT myths": (1) Standardizing on a single computing platform reduces costs and enables better support; (2) Requiring students to own a computer (or laptop) will improve the quality of education at an institution; (3) Having a campus subscription to a music download service will reduce the incidence of online copyright…

Simplifying and securing an IT infrastructure is not easy. It frequently requires rethinking years of hardware and software investments, and a gradual migration to modern systems. Even so, writes the author, universities can take six practical steps to success: (1) Audit software infrastructure; (2) Evaluate current applications; (3) Centralize…