This article details the preparation of a software package tailored specifically for use in a university school counselor education program. The current implementation includes capability for text-based chat enhanced with video for use with clients, advisees, and off-campus supervisors. Examples and links to freeware programs and tutorials are…

Recounts pivotal events in the development of the modern computer and its role in education. Suggests that rather than solely focusing on networked, personal computers, the future of educational technology may lie in the use of specialized, economical computing devices built around open software solutions. (Author/LRW)

Examines HyperCard materials (computer software used to build structures that create patterns and connections) specifically designed for English and language arts classes. (MM)

The most useful feature of laptop computers is portability, as one elementary school principal notes. IBM and Apple are not leaders in laptop technology. Tandy and Toshiba market relatively inexpensive models offering durability, reliable software, and sufficient memory space. (MLH)

Approximately 435,000 personal computers (roughly 10% of all computers in K-12 education) are used for administrative work. Administrators find that four applications are proliferating: organizing information with database software; communicating with electronic mail and bulletin boards; enhancing presentations with graphics or multimedia…

Discusses reasons for and ways of using computer software to teach mechanics. Describes using software to explore mechanics, challenge misconceptions, make links between mathematical representations and motion, and solve non-standard problems. Stresses the need for structured approaches to the use of software. (Contains 24 references.) (Author/ASK)

Suggests that the annual conference on computers and writing has remained on the cutting edge of technology and composition pedagogy. Notes changes--presenters discuss their uses of commercial applications rather than demonstrate homemade programs; instructors are more concerned with how users may manipulate others through technology; and the…

It is surprisingly easy to explore geometry using Word AutoShapes or an Excel spreadsheet. Most of the techniques described could be taught to Y7 in half an hour. Many of them could be used in primary schools. Shows some of the mathematical possibilities of these techniques. Detailed step-by-step worksheets to introduce pupils to these are…

In this article, the authors cite four reasons why parents and schools should reconsider the use of Internet filters. First, and most simply, filters don't work as advertised. One of the most controversial and contentious issues surrounding the use of new information and communication technologies, especially in schools and libraries, is whether…

Some inexpensive or free ways that enable to capture and use images in work are mentioned. The first tip demonstrates the methods of using some of the built-in capabilities of the Macintosh and Windows-based PC operating systems, and the second tip describes methods to capture and create images using SnagIt.

Open source software projects involve the production of goods, but in software projects, the "goods" consist of information. The open source model is an alternative to the conventional centralized, command-and-control way in which things are usually made. In contrast, open source projects are genuinely decentralized and transparent. Transparent…

The scaffolding metaphor was originally developed to describe the support given by a more expert individual in a one-on-one interaction. Since then, the notion of scaffolding has been applied more broadly, and it has been transformed and generalized. Most recently, it has been used by researchers in the learning sciences to describe features and…

Background: Palmtop computers provide a promising mobile platform to address barriers to computer-based supports for people with intellectual disabilities. This study evaluated a specially designed interface to make navigation and features of palmtop computers more accessible to users with intellectual disabilities. Method: The specialised…

In this article Gary Hepburn and Jan Buley outline different approaches to implementing open source software (OSS) in schools; they also address the challenges that open source advocates should anticipate as they try to convince educational leaders to adopt OSS. With regard to OSS implementation, they note that schools have a flexible range of…

We propose to use didactical theory for the design of educational software. Here we present a set of didactical conditions, and explain how they shape the software design of Cabri-Euclide, a microworld used to learn "mathematical proof" in a geometry setting. The aim is to design software that does not include a predefined knowledge of problem…