by Stephen C. Ehrmann // Vision
The Flashlight Project is developing a constellation of survey items, interview questions, cost analysis methods, and other resources that educational institutions can use to study and steer their own uses of technology. As a tool, Flashlight has several features that may be of wider interest to the field of assessment and program evaluation.
by James Garner Ptaszynski // Commentary
As technological upgrades are developed more and more quickly, the costs of upgrading also increase. For colleges and universities whose budgets are constantly being re-evaluated, such costs are difficult to justify and maintain. In this article, James Garner Ptaszynski debates some of the pros and cons of keeping instructional technology up-to-date for both traditional and long-distance students.
by Toby Richards // Online Learning
by Ray Brown // Case Studies
Professional development and technology support are two major challenges facing education institutions. Ray Brown believes that the Microsoft Office software package and laptop computing, campus-wide, can help to alleviate problems associated with these challenges. Read this case study (in his continuing series of articles based on models used by Mayville State University and Valley City State University in North Dakota) to find out how!
by Joseph S. Merola // Case Studies
Instructional Technology, in theory, helps students to grasp course materials more completely while simultaneously teaching them how to use technologies for their own educational benefit. In practice, complex computer software and the ever-expanding horizons of the Internet often complicate matters for many students. In this article, Joseph S. Merola discusses his experiences using several types of technology to teach an undergraduate Chemistry class at Virginia Tech and explains the results of the exit survey he used to measure his success.
by James Garner Ptaszynski // Featured Products
James Garner Ptaszynski explains how Microsoft PowerPoint can boost the effectiveness of conference and convention presentations.
Spotlight Site
The technological capabilities of colleges and universities are high on the list of "customer choice attributes." In addition to the traditional criteria, including the size of the library holdings, quality of faculty, and campus life (to name but a few), whether an institution offers email, network connections, dial-up connections and a student laptop program are becoming more and more important to academic "consumers.?