The advent of new technologies and increased access to robust connectivity is reshaping the K-12 landscape for teaching and learning. School districts nationwide are leveraging digital instructional materials and resources to deliver transformative and impactful personalized learning opportunities for students and to enhance the administrative…

The advent of new technologies and increased access to robust connectivity is reshaping the K-12 landscape for teaching and learning. School districts nationwide are leveraging digital instructional materials and resources to deliver transformative and impactful personalized learning opportunities for students and to enhance the administrative…

Providing access to robust connectivity is critical to ensuring today's students are college and career ready. As such, federal, state, and district-level leaders have dedicated a significant amount of time, effort, and resources toward improving our schools' external broadband access, including both Internet access and wide area network (WAN).…

Educators have seen the excitement and focus that students show when using digital devices. In hopes of increasing attendance, reducing dropout rates, and improving learning overall, more and more superintendents are driving their districts toward a 1-to-1 environment in which students take control of their own learning. The question is no longer…

When school district leaders talk about the potential benefits of "bring your own device" (BYOD) programs, they often mention budget savings and promoting personalized mobile learning. They note that BYOD can expand the boundaries of learning beyond the classroom, however, not many of these leaders mention enhanced student collaboration…

Integrating instructional technology into all classrooms has the potential to transform modern education and student learning. However, access to technology is not equally available to all districts or schools. Decreased funding and budgetary restraints have had a direct impact on technology acquisition in many rural school districts. One of the…

Launching and sustaining a laptop initiative is an expensive proposition. For that reason, districts often begin with modest pilots or roll out programs incrementally, a grade or two at a time. These days, few, if any, public school districts have budgets to finance full-service 1-to-1 programs. Instead, some seek outside assistance. Private…

Government visions of a digital future show little indication of how disabled people, reliant on access technology, will participate. Access technology has the potential to offer independent use of the Internet but many disabled people already face barriers that prevent them having equitable digital experiences. Multiple obstacles include high…

In the corporate world, the "consumerization of IT" is being debated by C-level execs. Will libraries adopt the new bring-your-own-device-to-work policy? In the workplace, there may be room for debate, but in libraries, librarians don't have a choice whether or not to support the devices patrons want to use, at least not if they want to remain…

Making a one-to-one computing program work calls for more than just placing a computer on everyone's desk. It takes a complete transformation of learning and teaching. In this article, the author shares a few lessons she learned on the path to one-to-one success. (Contains 3 online resources.)

Today's students have used computers their entire lives. Their school classrooms, however, have often held only a handful of computers. Teachers and students have lamented that they needed a computer for every person. For some school districts, one-to-one computing may be a dream; but for the districts who believe students must use technology…

Susan Patrick is the president and chief executive officer of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL). She is the former director of the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education. As director, she published the U.S. National Educational Technology Plan for Congress and managed research and…

Since laptop programs extend instruction beyond the campus, it is then a must for schools to try a variety of solutions to protect their machines--and their users. Combining high-tech safeguards with face-to-face user education is a must for schools whose laptop programs allow students to take the computers off-site. For a cautionary tale on the…

This article features Calgary Girls' School (CGS), a charter school including grades four through nine that opened with 188 students in 2003. The school was aligned with Alberta Education's charter-school mandate at that time to offer parents a broad range of school choices. Today the Alberta charter school mandate is to focus on innovation and…

Funding from grants is often at the core of a successful technology plan, but writing proposals requires a bit of magic and a lot of time. Grants can be a good way for educators to collaborate on building strong programs, but some creative thinking is also required. In this article, the author provides tips on how to win a grant: (1) Find a…