Significant responsibility for the transition from paper to online can be traced to the college admissions office. By instituting online applications, admissions offices fundamentally altered the way in which college admissions works. Always on the forefront of developing and implementing new technology for the benefit of faculty and students,…

In this article, the author discusses Prezi and compares it to other forms of presentation software. Taking a completely different approach to the entire concept of software for presentations, Prezi stands alone as a unique and wholly viable competitor to PowerPoint. With a "Prezi", users display words, images, and videos without using…

This study examines the digital native pre-service teachers' (DNPSTs) perceptions of their competency, attitude, and pedagogical intention to use free and open source tools (FOSTs) in their future teaching. Participants were 294 PSTs who responded to pre-course surveys at the beginning of an educational technology course. Using the structural…

In this article, the authors review Band-in-a-Box (BIAB), 2011.5 Mac Version and Audacity, a free and open-source software. Music educators at all grade levels can appreciate having a time-saving program to help them provide students with the practice tools they need. BIAB can do that, and it is easy to use. Its primary focus and strength is in…

The education sector remains abuzz with cost-cutting expectations despite pressures to increase services. Automation of costly manual tasks could save funds for many of these institutions, specifically in data protection. The IT departments of schools and universities can take advantage of a proven cost-savings opportunity in data protection that…

GreatSchools.org neatly ranks more than 136,000 traditional public, private, and charter schools nationwide on a scale of 1 to 10, based on state test scores. But what often draws readers are the gossipy insider comments posted by parents, students, and teachers, and the star ratings those commenters contribute. The growth of online school rating…

This resource paper provides guidance for staff and students on the potential educational benefits, limitations and applications of geotagging photographs. It also offers practical advice for geotagging photographs in a range of fieldwork settings and reviews three free smartphone applications (apps) for geotagging photographs (Flickr, Evernote…

Academic libraries have traditionally collected reference statistics using hash marks on paper. Although efficient and simple, this method is not an effective way to capture the complexity of reference transactions. Several electronic tools are now available to assist libraries with collecting often elusive reference data--among them homegrown…

This article describes new digital reading products that are designed to improve aptitude, fulfill Common Core State Standards, provide unlimited access to online libraries, and bring 21st-century learning into the classroom. With a coming wave of the new products, school districts have various options to help bring 21st-century learning into the…

Imagine downloading a new software application and not having to worry about licensing, finding dollars in the budget, or incurring additional maintenance costs. Imagine finding a Web design tool in the public domain--free for use. Imagine major universities that provide online courses with no strings attached. Imagine online textbooks without a…

Over a decade ago, Lenning and Ebbers (1999) envisioned that information and computer technology (ICT) could be used to create virtual learning communities (VLCs) as a "future" form of learning communities. Indeed, almost all academic departments--including psychology--depend heavily on the use of ICT to create and sustain connections among…

The paper describes the theory and definition of the practice of librarianship, specifically addressing how Web 2.0 technologies (tools) such as synchronous messaging, collaborative reference service and streaming media, blogs, wikis, social networks, social bookmarking tools, tagging, RSS feeds, and mashups might intimate changes and how…

The University of Minnesota-Duluth is the second largest campus in the University of Minnesota system. The UMD library, which serves more than 11,000 students and 500 faculty members, is primarily an undergraduate library. The reference team consists of eight librarians, including author Sunshine Carter, reference and electronics resources…

The pace of technological change accompanied by an evolution in social, work-based and study behaviours and norms poses particular challenges for universities as they strive to develop high quality and sustainable technology-rich learning environments. Maintaining currency with the latest advances is resource intensive, hence the costs incurred in…

This paper describes a software system intended to help students learn about the process of tagging, the assignment of part-of-speech labels, which is basic to computational linguistics. It does this by (a) making it transparent why words have been analysed in a particular way, and (b) making it straightforward to add items to the system's lexicon…