When one thinks of 21st century schools, one thinks of geometric modern architecture, sustainable building materials, and high-tech modular classrooms. It's rare, though, that a district has the space or the money to build that school from the ground up. Instead, the challenge for most is the transformation of the 20th century architecture to…

The new faces on the help desk are younger, work for cheap, and may be the tech savviest in the building. This article describes how two IT training programs are teaching students valuable technology skills while providing schools with a much-needed lift to their troubleshooting teams. The programs--Generation YES and Mouse Squad--put students at…

Although the perception of many is that internet access is now nearly ubiquitous, the reality, according to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, is that somewhere around 30 percent of American homes still do not have it. The NTIA also reports that, while 80 percent of the households in which family income is more than…

In this article, the author talks about Urban Tech, a New York City-based organization that works with schools to teach students the life skills it believes are necessary for academic achievement and workforce readiness. Its Youth Leadership Academy program uses a variety of computer-based, interactive elements to educate students on such topics…

Moving from a traditional desktop computing environment to a virtualized solution is a daunting task. In this article, the author presents case histories of three districts that have made the conversion to virtual computing to learn about their experiences: What prompted them to make the move, and what were their objectives? Which obstacles prove…

Some of the worst collateral damage from a tragedy does not occur till after the smoke clears; namely, the usurping of the name of the location where the event took place, which over time gets repurposed into metaphor and served as a caveat. Vietnam has resonated for decades as a reference to protracted war. Kent State is likewise laden with…

The wireless bandwagon is rolling across Mississippi, picking up a fresh load of converts and turning calamity into opportunity. Traditional wired school networks, many of which unraveled during Hurricane Katrina, are giving way to advanced wireless mesh networks that frequently include voice-over-IP (VoIP) capabilities. Vendor funding is helping…

According to James Robertson, the managing director of Step Two Designs, a content management consultancy, "A content management system supports the creation, management, distribution, publishing, and discovery of corporate information. It covers the complete lifecycle of the pages of one's site, from providing simple tools to create the…

One of the most dramatic examples of how invaluable a resource technology can be occurred immediately after Sept. 11, 2001. What is not as well known is how Avi Duvdevani, who was New York City's acting commissioner for the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications at the time of the attacks, his team, and numerous businesses and…