Shanahan (2006) found that to be effective the delivery of distance learning programmes to developing nations had to overcome certain constraints, such as cultural constrictions (i.e., issues of language), tradition-based limitations (i.e., paternalistic and hierarchical structures), an inherited past (colonialism), and poor infrastructure…

Course experience, motivational beliefs, and self-regulated learning strategies may be considered to be important indicators of education quality. Inmates taking education in prison may also experience particular problems related to the learning environment and to their own learning difficulties. The present study investigated the level of these…

The teaching of digital literacies is regarded as an important facet of literacy teaching in the 21st century. With many literacy tests continuing to indicate that students' levels of achievement tend to be differentiated along socioeconomic lines, it seems timely to consider the connections between home and school and how these play out in…

Since 2001 the Center for Rural Policy & Development (CRPD) has annually conducted surveys of rural Minnesota households to discern the level of computer ownership, Internet connectivity and broadband adoption throughout rural Minnesota. Since the beginning of this longitudinal effort, significant increases in technology adoption have been…

Use of the Internet and other forms of information and communications technology (ICT) by people with learning difficulties has not been extensively researched. This article by Peter Williams of the Rix Centre at the University of East London reports some of the findings from "Project @pple", a major ESRC-funded programme exploring the…

The author, a woman with cerebral palsy, discusses her experiences with adapting microcomputers to her functional skills and describes the inception and growth of the Committee on Personal Computers and the Handicapped (part of the Congress of Organizations of the Physically Handicapped). (CL)

The case study illustrates the use of access to computers as a positive reinforcer to increase appropriate social behaviors in a group of five secondary-level disabled students. The advantages of computers as reinforcers are discussed. (Author/CL)

This Issue Brief uses data from the 2000-01 Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS) to examine teacher views on the technology in their classrooms. Specifically, teachers reported which types of technology they considered essential for teaching and whether they felt such technology was sufficiently available in their classrooms. In 2000-01, technologies…

Concentrates on cases of family engagement with information communication technologies (ICTs) at a very local level. (EV)

Describes the results of the mistaken identity of an Internet electronic discussion group for President Clinton's electronic mail office. Members' actions and reactions are discussed; guidelines for using electronic discussion groups are suggested; and the popularity of electronic communication is considered. (LRW)

Examines the structure of the subscriber base formed under the current pricing policies of Internet providers and investigates how access to the Internet varies in communities with different demographic characteristics. Report is based on a survey from a national Internet service provided in 1997. (SLD)

Describes a study that provided slum children in New Delhi (India) with unsupervised and unguided access to the Internet via an outdoor kiosk. Concludes that children seem to understand and use the technology fluently and that language and formal education do not seem to make any significant difference. (Author/LRW)

Examined the progress of public schools in providing students and teachers with access to computers and the Internet. Includes comparisons by school characteristics. Data from several surveys indicate that by fall 2000, almost all U.S. public schools had access to the Internet. (Author/SLD)

Reviews the literature of e-government deployment world-wide, focussing on two possible roles for public libraries in e-government. The first is a continuation of their traditional role of information provision and managing library transactions electronically and the second, a move to handling government business transactions as well. Identifies…

Since the mid-1980s, the percentage of the population in the United States owning a personal computer has grown from just over 8% to well over 50%, and nearly 60% of the population uses a computer at work. At the end of 2004, there were over 820 million personal computers in active use worldwide, and projections indicate that the number will…