Digital inequity has been a long-standing issue in the education community. A lack of home internet and technology devices can not only hinder students' ability to access educational resources at home, but can also have a detrimental effect on student achievement. Education agencies have taken steps over the past decades to address digital…

The advent of new technologies and increased access to robust connectivity is reshaping the K-12 landscape for teaching and learning. School districts nationwide are leveraging digital instructional materials and resources to deliver transformative and impactful personalized learning opportunities for students and to enhance the administrative…

This publication highlights how state policies and guidance are supporting the transformation to personalized learning through digital instructional materials. Specifically, the report includes personalized learning approaches and the policies and processes around the selection, curation, procurement, professional learning and funding of digital…

The May 2012 State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) report, "The Broadband Imperative: Recommendations to Address K-12 Education Infrastructure Needs," pushed educators and policy makers nationwide to increase high-speed broadband access in schools, with specific recommendations regarding access, funding, and policies…

Many reports on rural education give little attention to digital learning. At most, they tend to note either infrastructure needs or the potential of remote course access, with little focus on instruction, outcomes, or exemplars. This report intends to begin correcting that imbalance by connecting the dots between rural regions, rural education,…

It is a simple fact that access to high-speed broadband is now as vital a component of K-12 school infrastructure as electricity, air conditioning, and heating. The same tools and resources that have transformed educators' personal, civic, and professional lives must be part of learning experiences intended to prepare today's students for college…

In this chapter, the authors take a broad perspective on how to analyze issues of technology and equity for youth in the United States. They begin with "access" as a starting point, but consider not only whether diverse groups of youth have digital media available to them but also how that access is supported or constrained by…

This article presents qualitative results of the first three years of the New Mexico Laptop Learning Initiative (NMLLI). Results suggest that teachers, students, and their communities support this initiative to improve student learning. Descriptive statistics were used during year two to further understand how the laptops were being used by…

This report concludes that for the U.S. to prosper and compete in the 21st century, the education system will need to change its goals and practices so all students may succeed. That is, as information has become ubiquitous, schools need to emphasize 21st century skills such as analyzing, synthesizing, and creating along with understanding and…

Background/Context: Technological and economic changes have put a high premium on developing students' information literacy and research skills. Previous attempts to deploy educational technology toward these ends have proved disappointing because K-12 teachers have difficulty integrating shared computers into instruction. In response, numerous…

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…

Benchmarking information technology services has become a vital activity for colleges and universities. The COSTS Project (http://www.costsproject.org/) is an ongoing quantitative effort to benchmark the costs of providing IT services in higher education; the project helps institutions understand their IT budgets and staffing relative to peer…

In districts big and small across the U.S., students, teachers, and administrators alike have come to appreciate the benefits of wireless technology. Because the technology delivers Internet signals on airborne radio frequencies, wireless networking allows users of all portable devices to move freely on a school's campus and stay connected to the…

This article describes how the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI) is changing the way the state's middle school students learn. MLTI is the largest education project in Maine's history, aimed at eliminating the digital divide by loaning a laptop to each seventh and eighth grade student and teacher in the state. The Initiative has put…

Describes an interdisciplinary group research WebQuest project for middle school students on global warming that was developed to target science and technology content standards for Maine's K-12 performance standards. Discusses technology integration, student research skills, use of Internet information, and cooperative and active learning. (LRW)