America's "super-league" of global universities will play an increasingly pivotal role in the 21st century economy. These universities' substantial metropolitan and regional economic contributions are magnified by the role they play in fueling innovation, boosting educational attainment, and engaging with the rest of the world on an…

This article reports key findings from the first phase of a research project investigating Net generation age students as they encounter e-learning at five universities in England. We take a critical view of the idea of a distinct generation which has been described using various terms including Net generation and Digital Natives and explore age…

Johnson and Puplampu recently proposed the "ecological techno-subsystem", a refinement to Bronfenbrenner's theoretical organization of environmental influences on child development. The ecological techno-subsystem includes child interaction with both living (e.g., peers) and nonliving (e.g., hardware) elements of communication,…

There is a "reality" to being online which we know to be false. We are simultaneously "there" but "not there" as we talk, work and play with others in online spaces. We move between physical and virtual spaces in ways that realise the predictions made for computers in the mid-20th Century and enact scenarios from science fiction. We are left…

This discussion paper highlights a number of themes emerging from contemporary research into teaching with whole-class interactive technologies. Focusing particularly on the contributions to this special issue, the paper considers the significance of whole-class interactive technologies (primarily interactive whiteboards) with respect to the use…

The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) schools were set up as centres of excellence in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) integration, so that other schools could copy their model in e-learning. It was for this reason that they were provided with computers, e-materials, internet appliances and trained personnel. But to…

That little rectangle with a button next to it? (Those things called search boxes but might just as well be called "resource drains.") Imagine it disappearing from a library's webpages. The intricate works behind these design elements make up a major portion of what library staff spends time and money developing, populating, supporting,…

This paper focuses on participatory research and how it can be understood and employed when researching children and youth. The aim of this paper is to provide a theoretically and empirically grounded discussion of participatory research methodologies with respect to investigating the dynamic and evolving phenomenon of young people growing up in…

Boundary units of an organization uniquely experience the tension between adaptation to environmental variation and maintaining stable outcomes for the rest of the organization. In our world of just-in-time supply chain systems, lot-sizes of one, lean manufacturing and an increasing focus on services, traditional forms of buffering such as queuing…

School library media specialists are information and communication specialists who lead and model these roles in schools and at their major professional events making use of the relevant new Web 2.0 tools available to them to network, collaborate, and share. Using these tools effectively helps them become leaders in their buildings and districts.…

This paper offers a historically comparative picture of the latest waves of policy and technological changes that have occurred between 2000-2006 and discusses their impact on the practices of secondary school English in the UK. It draws on data from two previous research projects to explore significant moments of micro-interaction in a classroom…

Indicators are that technological advances and state-mandated tests, in addition to other variables, are forcing cursive writing to become a casualty of the American educational landscape. It behooves us to examine the historical, practical, and essential aspects relative to cursive writing.

Waves of enthusiasm for technological innovations that promise to revitalize teaching and learning are at least a century old. Unfortunately, the record of accomplishment for the many varieties of hardware and software introduced into schools over the decades is remarkably thin. Today's promoters of technology in education tend to forget similar…

Contemporary innovations in education tend to be information based or computer driven. A complete curriculum, however, needs flexibility in order to foster skills for shifting from one context to another. Face-to-face skills play an important role in the governance of democratic societies, and "having a good understanding" of something involves…

Since 2000, the impact of technologies on society has been critical, significant, and extensive. In this paper, the author explores art educators' perceptions and approaches to working with technology, in light of the emerging technology as a significant and increasingly prevalent art education tool, as a means of student communication, and as a…