Assistive technologies can be a game changer for students with learning disabilities/differences as they struggle to master grade-level content and concepts. Redford gives examples from her classroom of how tools like audio books with text-to-speech features and even simple predictive spelling apps enable students with reading or writing…

U.S. schools are becoming increasingly religiously diverse, but students rarely learn about different religious beliefs and how those beliefs--or nonbelief--might shape people's responses to important issues. Face to Faith is a free program that uses videoconferencing to connect students with peers from around the world to discuss issues related…

Students do not associate traditional word problems with their own experiences because they describe situations textually, rather than contextually, and seem artificially geared to specific number operations and single correct answers. Aided by a state grant, elementary teachers in one Minnesota district are using video anchors to simulate…

In an innovative urban literacy program, K-3 students create a working community, complete with a store, newspaper, post office, museum, and economic system. Using TRALE (Technology-Rich Authentic Learning Environments), teachers create meaningful instruction through authentic, problem-based learning activities using educational technology when…

A New Jersey high school administrator explains how he kept the school board from slashing the educational technology budget. A committee of administrators, teachers, parents, and students had students videotape computer and other activities and present the videotape at a board meeting. By targeting outdated equipment, the committee obtained…

While businesses have been building electronic highways, education is traveling an electronic dirt road. There are 10 reasons for using technology in classrooms. Students learn and develop at different rates. Graduates must be globally aware, proficient at accessing, evaluating, and communicating information, and adept at solving complex problems.…

A Maryland middle-school teacher can no longer imagine a math classroom without computers, word processing programs, graphing calculators, graphic design programs, and colored printers and monitors. Aided by these devices, her students made great leaps toward the 21st-century technology goals spelled out by the Department of Education in 1995.…

Technology offers tools and information that students need to explore real-world mathematical connections and investigate questions reflecting their own interests. This article illustrates how students can use technology to gather and interpret information, perform descriptive and graphical analysis, make statistical predictions, and create and…

An independent school in Encino, California, studied the concept of neoplasticity (lifelong brain reorganization processes) and started using more technology in classrooms. Brain-based programs require a rich learning environment, thematic instruction, integrated curricula, musical stimulation, multiple intelligences, and multisensory specialized…

Despite countless networking and interactive possibilities, the most commonly assigned use of classroom technology during 1997-98 was word processing, followed by Internet research and information gathering. Schools' reliance on general-purpose computing devices will eventually yield to lower cost, hand-held, and networked devices. (Contains 10…

In "Failure to Connect" (1998), Jane Healy examined pros and cons of computer use, warning that good teachers, small classes, and challenging curricula trump high-tech products. Computers can impede youngsters' development. Computers enhance learning only if teachers comprehend them, use appropriate applications, and define learning…

Many technology features that were originally developed to help people with specific sensory impairments are now widely in use. Research is beginning to show the benefits of giving all students access to these capabilities. As such, educators should not hesitate to integrate technology features into instruction for students who struggle with…