New information technologies help one to aggregate information in mesmerizing ways, but interpersonal relationships and conversation are necessary to teach a child how to interpret and order that information within a social context. Computers and the Internet are just tools; they must not become the medium of education and thereby rob us of time…

Complexity is an important principle for those building new media and new ways to make content work. New media and forms of content must complement existing media, instead of aiming to replace them. People may be more willing to try something new if there's a connection with the old. (AEF)

Argues against perpetuating misinformation in this technological age, as illustrated in recent Indiana legislation mandating that selected historical writings be included in school library collections; among documents listed is a letter from an Indian chief which has been proven to be fictitious. (AEF)

Examines indicators of current social and educational transformations created by recent advances in information technology. Describes the American Association for Higher Education's Teaching, Learning, and Technology Roundtable Program, designed to monitor and direct the transformation at individual colleges. Includes a checklist for assessing the…

Reviews the resources available through the Virtual Library of Virginia (VIVA) Web site, a consortium of the libraries of the 39 state-assisted colleges and universities in the Commonwealth of Virginia. States that VIVA provides, in an equitable, cooperative, and cost-effective manner, enhanced access to library and information for these higher…

The rapid advances in telecommunications and educational media offer considerable potential for distance learners and teachers in rural South Australia. (AEF)

Argues that a book should not be cherished simply for being a book, if its information is obsolete. Discusses the need to stop treasuring media beyond its utility; offer positive electronic alternatives to print media (rather than fighting technology); and assure that students have access to all the tools of learning. (AEF)

As higher education rushes to embrace information technology, many vitally important instructional technology services are often left underfunded, directed by a paraprofessional, and operating at peripheral status outside academic affairs. Instructional technology should be understood not just in terms of computer hardware and software but in…

The increasing sophistication of information technologies and the nearly universal access to computing have blurred distinctions among information delivery units on college campuses, forcing institutions to rethink the separate organizational structures that evolved when computing in academe was more localized and less prevalent. Experiences in…

This paper provides a response to serious critics of media and technology in education. It concludes: (1) media and technology are best used as cognitive tools to learn rather than as surrogate teachers; (2) media and technology are only vehicles for the content and pedagogy that educators design into them; and (3) future efforts to integrate…

Educators must prepare students for jobs in the information workplace; as employees, they must recognize advantages of the changes to their future employment and adopt new approaches to teaching. Restructuring the organization around information is something that is now being, or will have to be, done by all businesses. A worker's primary…

Explores children's systems of combining drawing, talk, and writing (i.e., symbol-weaving) with traditional media and with new information technology. Social aspects of writing are discussed, and new information technology is examined, including clip art software, word processing, graphics, color, hypermedia, CD-ROM, and microworlds. (23…

This report proposes a strategy of putting networked computing devices into the hands of all students at institutions of higher education. It outlines the rationale for such a strategy, the options for financing, the required institutional support structure needed, and various implementation approaches. The report concludes that the resultant…

This book explores the essentials of distance education and reviews issues facing large open universities (mega-universities) worldwide. It uses examples from industry and the knowledge media, to show how technology-based learning can be made attractive both to students and to institutions. The book's eight chapters, including 10 figures and 5…

This document contains four papers examining trends in the development of training and the role of innovation as a transferable practice. "Review of the Issue" (Anne de Blignieres-Legeraud) examines the vocational training systems of Portugal and France to identify how changes in training systems have affected trainer profiles and how…