Community colleges aren't quite as high on the list of hackers and scammers as institutions like banks, hospitals and four-year research universities, yet the institutional and personal data stored on their servers and in the online cloud can be valuable, so they need to lock down their data like any other entity. This requires a combination of…

The term "netiquette" is the abbreviation for "network etiquette." It is derived from two French words: "net," meaning "bucket," and "iquette," meaning "of doilies." It is not new, dating back to 1983, but it certainly deserves the attention of both veteran and newbie Internet users, especially academicians. Rules for corresponding on the Internet…

It's been well documented in a number of articles regarding the contemporary library patron that with the rise in mobile computing and smart phone technology, patrons are looking for fast and easy service from whichever technological avenue they are using to access library services. Libraries are responding with increasing numbers of online…

Steve Nelson, chief IT strategist for the Oregon Department of Education needed a new e-mail service that would provide security and privacy to users and found what he was looking for with Google Apps Education Edition. The Kentucky Department of Education wanted an improved capability to provide e-mail services to the more than 700,000 students,…

It is all about serving the customer. That is how capitalism plays out. It finds a market need and then creates a product or service to address that need. The Baby Boomer generation, all 76 million, will be retiring soon. Eventually, some may find it very hard to move about and do their routine food shopping. In this article, the author's…

We are at the start of a revolution in the use of computers, one that analysts predict will rival the development of the PC in its significance. Companies such as Google, HP, Amazon, Sun Microsystems, Sony, IBM, and Apple are orienting their entire business models toward this change, and software maker SAS has announced plans for a $70 million…

Everyone knows that lack of internet access can reinforce the social and economic disadvantages already facing some older people. Recognising the divisive nature of digital exclusion, the government has invested 2.8 million British Pounds in Get Digital, a project that will enable sheltered housing residents to develop computer and internet…

Metadata is information about computer-generated documents that is often inadvertently transmitted to others. The problems associated with metadata have become more acute over time as word processing and other popular programs have become more receptive to the concept of collaboration. As more people become involved in the preparation of…

At Adam Scott Collegiate and Vocational Institute (CVI) in Peterborough, Canada, the Learning Commons is the school's central place for introducing new technology to students and teachers. This includes collaborative projects with teachers to develop curriculum that uses new technologies. Over the last few years podcasting as well as other online…

As news outlets create headlines such as "A Cloud & A Prayer," "The Cloud Is the Computer," and "Leveraging Clouds to Make You More Efficient," many readers have been left with cloud confusion. Many definitions exist for cloud computing, and a uniform definition is hard to find. In its most basic form, cloud…

Conceptually, e-mail is not a whole lot different from regular postal mail ("snail mail"), except that it is much faster. E-mail requires three things: (1) a personal computer; (2) a telephone or communication line; and (3) an Internet provider (e-mail service account). This article provides details on how it works--plus some research activities…

This is a must-have resource for all K-12 teachers and administrators who want to really make the best use of available technologies. Written by Doug Johnson, an expert in educational technology, "The Classroom Teacher's Technology Survival Guide" is replete with practical tips teachers can easily use to engage their students and make their…

Provides rules for protecting computers from viruses, Trojan horses, or worms. Topics include purchasing commercial antivirus programs and keeping them updated; updating virus definitions weekly; precautions before opening attached files; macro virus protection in Microsoft Word; and precautions with executable files. (LRW)

Portable software applications can be carried on a convenient storage medium such as a USB drive, and offer numerous benefits to mobile teachers and learner. The article illustrates the growing field of "portable apps" in reviews of seven contrasting products. These represent the major categories of document editing, email maintenance,…

Groups are a fundamental part of the business world. Yet, as companies continue to expand internationally, a major challenge lies in promoting effective communication among employees who work in varying time zones. Global expansion often requires group collaboration through computer systems. Computer-mediated groups lead to different communicative…