The AACC/SBC Excelerator project enabled community colleges and their partners in six states to expand special outreach and technology workforce training programs to people who are often ignored in the new economy: low-income adults, members of racial and ethnic minorities, welfare-to-work clients, at-risk youth, people with disabilities, and…

Issues related to educational technology are examined from the equity viewpoint, and suggestions are made to address equity issues. Equity in school computer use must involve not only equal access but also equal consideration of the learning needs of poor, minority, and female students. Unfortunately, equity has become a quantitative idea,…

The mandates of the National Library of Education include a directive to become a principal center for information and services related to education. As part of this directive, a national network of education information, the United States Education Information Network (USEIN) has been proposed. This paper provides recommendations for developing…

Studies indicate that information provided by students may contribute to successful implementation of educational innovations, but educators seldom seek out student perspectives. In April and May 1997, over 160 high school students participated in 16 focus groups in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The students were primarily…

The digital divide remains a formidable issue in rural areas where the only broadband access to the Internet may be at public schools or city governments. As the only locations in rural areas with adequate technological resources, schools, libraries, health facilities, and agricultural extension facilities can be places where citizens learn about…

This paper argues that e-learning has not kept pace with the development of increasingly rich IP (Internet Protocol)-based delivery platforms for a number of reasons, including an apparent lack of awareness on the part of developers of the ways in which people learn, and an interest in keeping costs low, which precludes expenditures on…

Since 1994, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has surveyed public schools to estimate access to information technology in schools and classrooms. In the fall of each academic year, anew nationally representative sample of approximately 1,000 public schools has been surveyed about Internet access and Internet-related topics. This…

This pamphlet analyzes some of the legal issues colleges and universities face in regard to faculty and student access to computers and the World Wide Web, evaluates current legal developments, and offers guidelines for developing policies for computer access. It examines sample acceptable-use standards, procedures for suspending or terminating a…

New learning technologies present many challenges for adult educators. They have great potential for achieving many underlying goals of adult education; however, like any tool, they must be used reflectively and viewed through a critical lens. The challenge is to use learning technologies in ways that support learning and respond to the needs of…

This publication reports on research conducted to follow up on a 1997 survey of public libraries and the Internet, co-sponsored by the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science and the American Library Association. The 1998 survey is based on a sample of 2,500 of the nation's 15,718 public library outlets. The survey found that…

In 1997-98, all Acadia University (Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada) freshman undergraduate students were required to lease IBM laptop computers for use in their programs. With corporate support from IBM, the campus was wired so that students could have cross-campus and off-campus access to a host of network software as well as the World Wide Web.…

This volume describes for educators how to create simple models of the full costs of educational innovations, including the costs for time devoted to the activity, space needed for the activity, etc. Examples come from educational uses of technology in higher education in the United States and China. Real case studies illustrate the method in use:…

Considers benefits and problems of electronic journals, including price increases in printed journals; time savings with electronic publishing; the increased number of potential readers; peer review and the acceptance of electronic journals for academic publishing requirements; the need for standards; access problems; and librarians' concerns,…

Describes the components of Singapore's Masterplan for Information Technology (IT) in Education, which lays out a comprehensive strategy for creating an IT-based teaching and learning environment in every school. Discusses the impact on childhood learning and on the teaching staff, highlighting the experience of one of the demonstration schools as…

Explores issues related to the use of technology in Indian schools, drawing on information from a variety of sources, such as interviews with parents and teachers, school visits, government information, and magazine and journal articles. Examines India's cultural and educational environments; diversity of parents' and educators' attitudes about…