This paper describes an initial study of using tablet PCs and interactive course software in integrated circuit (IC) design courses. A rapidly growing community is demonstrating how this technology can improve learning and retention of material by facilitating interaction between faculty and students via cognitive exercises during lectures. While…

Academic libraries have traditionally collected reference statistics using hash marks on paper. Although efficient and simple, this method is not an effective way to capture the complexity of reference transactions. Several electronic tools are now available to assist libraries with collecting often elusive reference data--among them homegrown…

This article describes new digital reading products that are designed to improve aptitude, fulfill Common Core State Standards, provide unlimited access to online libraries, and bring 21st-century learning into the classroom. With a coming wave of the new products, school districts have various options to help bring 21st-century learning into the…

This article demonstrates the inadequacy of access and use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and networked learning for many people in non-Western societies and for those who belong to ethno-cultural minority groups. Especially, immigrants have great needs in the domain of learning the language of the host country as a foreign…

Screencasts are digital recordings of the output from a computer monitor, including narration. Their use was piloted in five chemical engineering courses and the feedback from students was overwhelmingly positive. The screencasts were produced on Tablet PCs using Camtasia Studio software and were posted to the Blackboard classroom management…

Education institutions have become increasingly aware of ways to save energy, protect the environment and reduce their carbon footprint. Moreover, the U.S. Green Building Council, a non-profit organization dedicated to sustainable building design and construction, has witnessed a huge increase in the number of schools interested in going green.…

Peter Pistorino says there is a name for the way he thinks a school district should launch an energy conservation initiative: an "envelope" approach. The term refers to looking at the outside package of a structure to check for inefficiencies: Examine the observable, external sources of energy loss such as the doors, windows, insulation,…

A simple low cost demonstration experiment is performed using common apparatus in order to show various flexural patterns and to give a dynamical measure of Young's modulus. (Contains 4 figures.)

The authors developed and implemented a project for high school geography students that modeled the processes in a site selection analysis using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). They sought to explore how spatial thinking could be fostered by using the MyWorld GIS software that was designed specifically for educational uses. The task posed…

This article discusses the ResidPlots-2, a computer software that provides a powerful tool for IRT graphical residual analyses. ResidPlots-2 consists of two components: a component for computing residual statistics and another component for communicating with users and for plotting the residual graphs. The features of the ResidPlots-2 software are…

A lack of consistent and accurate auditing and record keeping of district IT equipment can lead to confusion between administrative departments, including redundant purchases, transferred equipment being mislabeled as stolen, computers and other equipment simply being lost, or a variety of other scenarios. This had led to an increased demand for…

In December, Microsoft announced a major security flaw affecting its Internet Explorer web browser. The flaw allowed hackers to use hidden computer code they had already injected into legitimate websites to steal the passwords of visitors to those sites. Reportedly, more than 10,000 websites were infected with the destructive code by the time…

For years, there has been a need for teaching students about business process integration. The use of ERP systems has been proposed as a mechanism to meet this need. Yet, in the midst of a recent economic crisis, it is difficult to find funding for the acquisition and implementation of an ERP system for teaching purpose. While it is recognized…

A quick look at today's business job postings and advertisements solidify that our future business graduates will be less likely to compete successfully or interview for the new corporate job openings without business process integration skills. Our credibility, reputation and visibility as an institution of higher learning is at stake--given that…

Elearning has grown rapidly in importance for institutions and has been largely facilitated through the "walled garden" of the virtual learning environment. Meanwhile many students are creating their own personal learning environments by combining the various Web 2.0 services they find most useful. Cloud computing offers new…