The purpose of this article is to revisit the basic principles of technology planning as applied to online education initiatives. While not meant to be an exhaustive treatment of the topic, the article is timely because many colleges and universities are considering the development and expansion of online education as part of their planning…

The Preschool Educational Environment Rating System (PEERS) is a measure designed to examine the quality of instruction in preschool settings. Unlike other rating scales, it not only measures the environment, it also examines both how teachers construct their classroom for instruction and the quality of the enactment of instruction. Designed on…

A "carbon footprint" is the "total set of greenhouse gas emissions caused directly and indirectly by an (individual, event, organization, and product) expressed as CO2" emissions. Since CO2 emissions are indicative of energy use, the higher the associated CO2 emissions, typically the greater the associated costs. A typical desktop PC system…

In January 2008, Ed Ayers, president of the University of Richmond, signed the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment. This commits the university to creating a comprehensive action plan to move toward climate neutrality. Even before "sustainability" became one of the university's overall goals, Information Services (IS)…

For many IT shops, the cloud offers an opportunity not only to improve operations but also to align themselves more closely with their schools' strategic goals. The cloud is not a plug-and-play proposition, however--it is a complex, evolving landscape that demands one's full attention. Security, privacy, contracts, and contingency planning are all…

During the 2010-2011 school year, McWhirter Elementary Professional Development Laboratory School in Webster, Texas, faced a significant reduction in funds available for professional learning. In this article, the author describes how videoconferencing sustained the school's professional learning initiatives on a shrinking budget. By rethinking…

While technology has made communicating "easy," it has done so at the cost of communication that is "meaningful." And for information to be internalized to the point where it is remembered, used and valued, it must be meaningful. In other words, technology makes it easy to disseminate massive amounts of information to the masses, but teaching a…

When asked to weigh in on what might be the next best thing in educational technology, the author scanned the horizon for the next gizmo or software advance that would eventually grow legs, rise up, and utterly transform the library profession. But what he saw was more about evolution than revolution. Sure, Windows Vista will become Windows 7, USB…

The concept of today's cloud computing may date back to 1961, when John McCarthy, retired Stanford professor and Turing Award winner, delivered a speech at MIT's Centennial. In that speech, he predicted that in the future, computing would become a "public utility." Yet for colleges and universities, the recent growth of pervasive, very high speed…

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…

A library now in the final planning stages at Lehigh University is described. The new building will also house the university's computing center and related activities. The planning process is traced, indicating the relationships among various aspects of the process--academic, physical, fiscal, and political. (MLW)

Traditionally, the high-performance computing (HPC) systems used to conduct research at universities have amounted to silos of technology scattered across the campus and falling under the purview of the researchers themselves. This article reports that a growing number of universities are now taking over the management of those systems and…

To draft a proposal for cooperative use of computing resources among state university system units, community colleges and private colleges in Montana, a task force examined present resources and proposed strategies for the future. Recommendations are given in areas of management, hardware, software, staff, funding, training, and communications…

In the fall of 2006, students could purchase an entry-level notebook computer with a 15-inch LCD for $500. This price crossed an important threshold, moving notebooks into the range of consumer electronics--the category of phenomena that fuels mass consumer trends such as cell phones, digital cameras, and iPods. Most colleges and universities…

Riddles are time-honored educational tools used to entertain students while teaching them the value of critical thinking. They often require the kind of outside-the-box inductive and deductive reasoning that is so valued in the business world today. Now, those same educators who talk about two coins adding up to 35 cents are being presented with…