For technology to make a difference in transforming teaching and learning in schools, it must be accessible to students and teachers. This access is predicated on the expenditure of funds to initiate and support the technology investment. This article summarizes the analysis of the 1992-93 financial data reported to the New York State Education…

The immense changes wrought by the Internet pose many questions and dilemmas for today's librarians. The author's take on the Internet is one of an ever-evolving beast. The six chapters of this book take the reader from mastering the nature of the beast--including a discussion of online searching pitfalls and other more general hazards--to the…

This report describes Biblored, the library network in Bogota, Colombia, that received the 2002 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Access to Learning Award. Biblored is a network of 19 libraries that attract about 200,000 users per month and serve some of the poorest neighborhoods in Bogota. The network's success in making information and…

Former President Bill Clinton's 1997 State of the Union Address discusses the issue of ensuring that Americans have the best education in the world. He issued the following 10-point call to action for American education in the 21st century: (1) set rigorous standards, with national tests in fourth-grade reading and eighth-grade math; (2) make sure…

This paper discusses why distance education is not the cure all that political leaders hope it will be, and outlines some of the reasons why distance education sometimes results in education that is separate and unequal. It identifies some of the major categories of distance education: correspondence courses, one-way televised courses (broadcast,…

This brief paper considers the application of "universal design" principles to Web page design in order to increase accessibility for people with disabilities. Suggestions are based on the World Wide Web Consortium's accessibility initiative, which has proposed guidelines for all Web authors and federal government standards. Seven guidelines for…

This report analyzes the "digital divide" between those who have access to online information and opportunities and those who do not. The research included discussion groups with more than 100 low-income Internet users, interviews with nearly 100 community technology leaders and other experts, analysis of 1,000 Web sites, and a review of the…

Where other educational technologies like television, the VCR and the stand-alone computer have failed to have much of an impact in public schools, local school networks and the Internet have been succeeding. As of 1997, 89% of America's high schools were connected to a computer network. This paper presents a view of network technology from the…

As helping professions enter the 21st century and nascent network technologies realize their full potential as therapeutic and educational modalities, it is an ethical and moral imperative that the digital divide be bridged. It is important that those in counseling and related fields take active steps to ensure that cybercounseling is available to…

Since 1994, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has surveyed public schools to measure what proportion of them is connected to the Internet. In the fall of each academic year, a new nationally representative sample of approximately 1,000 public schools has been surveyed about Internet access and, since 1996, about the types of…

This Strategic Educational Technology Plan for the State of Tennessee responds directly to the U. S. Department of Education's (USDoE) rule that state applications for Title II Part D funding under the No Child Left Behind Act must have statewide long-range strategic technology plans for K-12 education. Guidance from the USDoE Office of Technology…

Handheld computers, sometimes known as PDAs, have been available for purchase since the mid-1990s, as have their handheld relatives, the graphing calculators. It is only in the past few years, however, that these diminutive devices have made their way into K-12 schools in numbers significant enough to allow us to draw conclusions about their…

Discusses educational uses of the Internet in light of experiences with previous implementation efforts for the use of computers in education. Topics include access problems; identifying educationally relevant uses of the Internet; cost effectiveness; funding; and the role, needs, and influence of the teacher. (LRW)

This column explains the National File Format, a proposed voluntary standard for accessible digital instructional materials for students with disabilities. It considers the role of digital materials, difficulties with the present system of disseminating accessible materials, how a consistent file format for digital materials will help, and ways to…

This international and interdisciplinary study investigated and compared computer access, attitudes and perceptions towards computers as well as preferred settings for computer learning among college freshmen in Australia, China Ghana, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Discusses implications for computer training in teacher preparation and international…