Technology Resources

Included in these technology resources are Articles & Web Sites, Handbooks & Guides, and Research & Reports.

Articles & Web Sites

Apple Learning Interchange
Apple has developed an online educational environment to facilitate the interchange of ideas among teachers, education leaders, visionaries, and innovators. The Learning Interchange provides the vehicle for reflective discussion of contemporary education practices through a network of organizations dedicated to improvement. A museum of online exhibits created by educators for educators showcases authentic teaching practices, leadership practices, virtual field trips, and educational events, all with media-based resources.
http://ali.apple.com/

Center for Applied Research in Educational Technology
CARET bridges education technology research to practice by offering research-based answers to critical questions. Browse Questions & Answers to learn what studies show about topics such as student learning, curriculum and instruction, and professional development. Click on Search to find and read CARET reviews of articles and their implications.  Create your Profile to receive notice of new reviews and topics.
http://caret.iste.org/

Dr. Seuss Explains Computers
The author is unknown of this four-verse poem dedicated to those of us who do not live and breathe computers!
commonplacebook.com/humor/computers/seuss.shtm

HOAXBUSTERS: U.S. Dept. of Energy Computer Incident Advisory Capability (CAIC)
In addition to describing hoaxes and chain letters found on the Internet, this site discusses how to recognize hoaxes, what to do about them, and some of the history of hoaxes on the Internet.
hoaxbusters.ciac.org/

Learn the Net
Visit this site for information about a broad array of computer-related questions.  Learn about modems, computer ports or monitor settings; discover how e-mail is sent and stored, how listservs and newsgroups work, or how to maintain e-mail privacy; and, increase your Internet IQ by learning about "browsers," "URL's," bookmarking your favorite sites, and how online chats really work.
http://www.learnthenet.com/english/index.html

pdaED.com: The Handheld Headquarters for Students and Education Professionals
Complete with top-notch news, columns, tutorials, product reviews, a community forum and product offerings.
www.pdaed.com/columns/archive.xml

Play It Cyber Safe
While the Internet can be a unique educational and recreational resource for children, it's important that kids learn how to use this powerful tool safely and responsibly. The goal of this Web site is to empower children, parents, and teachers to prevent cyber crime -- such as software piracy, intellectual property theft, and hacking -- through knowledge of the law, their rights, and how to avoid misuse of the Internet. The site includes curriculum tools for teachers and online games and tutorials for students.
http://www.playitcybersafe.com/

Share the Technology
If you're looking for free computer equipment, you might want to try Share the Technology. The site provides a way for donors and potential recipients to search online message boards and databases to find computers and equipment available for free in their region. Donors can also post their goods here.
http://www.sharetechnology.org/

The Snorkel: A Support Forum for K-12 Technology Leaders
Tips, tool downloads, listserv, and timely articles.
www.thesnorkel.org/

ThinkQuest
ThinkQuest is offered to teachers and students interested in participating in a program to build educational Web sites. The teachers and students form teams around the project of their choosing and the result is an educational Web site. The team, in the course of participating in this program, will explore and add to growing sources of educational information on the Internet for kids by kids. ThinkQuest teaches technology, research, and collaboration skills. You and your team are free to create and discover the limits of your imagination and the world of Web publishing.
http://www.thinkquest.org/

ThinkQuest for Tomorrow's Teachers
ThinkQuest for Tomorrow's Teachers (T3) is a teacher-preparation program that is funded in part by a "Catalyst" grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology  (PT3) initiative. T3 is bringing the ThinkQuest learning model to teacher-education faculty and future teachers across America. The Web builders are working with a consortium of colleges and universities to help prepare a new generation of classroom teachers to meet the needs of 21st century learners.
http://www.preservice.org/

ThinkQuest for Tomorrow's Teachers PT3 Initiative
U.S. Department of Education's Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology  (PT3) initiative.
http://www.pt3.org/

Transforming Learning With Technology: Strategies for the Urban High School
Integration of technology into the school curriculum has been challenging for most teachers, schools, and districts. This Web site reports on a study, funded by the Joyce Foundation, of technology use in six Chicago and Detroit schools.
http://schooltechnologystrategies.sri.com/challenges/ challenges4.html

Virtual Teachers Lounge
Based on "wiki"  technology that allows any registered user to post and edit lesson plans, handouts, and other resources online, this site is designed to allow educators to work collaboratively to refine and perfect their teaching materials. Creator Rob Lucas' vision is to eventually have users "develop an extensive library of creative, finely tuned, engaging, lessons." Intrigued? 
http://teacherslounge.editme.com/

WhatIs.com
This site provides tools to explore and learn about information technology, especially about the Internet and computers. It contains over 3000 individual encyclopedic definitions, quizzes, and "ask an expert" forums. The topics contain about 12,000 hyperlinked cross-references between definition-topics and to other sites for further information.
http://whatis.techtarget.com/

HANDBOOKS & GUIDES

An Educator's Guide to Evaluating The Use of Technology in Schools and Classrooms
Your school has just received a grant to purchase new computers and to train teachers to integrate technology into their teaching - activities that will enable the school to achieve some of the goals outlined in both the district and school technology plans. However, people have questions. The agency funding the grant wants to know if it is getting its "money's worth"; the superintendent wants to know if teachers are using technology in their instruction and whether the technology is affecting student work and motivation; and, there are many more. Someone has to try to answer all of these questions. For better or worse, this someone is you! This guide is designed to help you through the evaluation process and to make it as painless as possible.
(December 1998)
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/EdTechGuide/

Technology @ Your Fingertips: A Guide to Implementing Technology Solutions for Education Agencies and Institutions
This handbook describes a process for getting the best possible technology solution for your organization. It also describes the steps necessary to identify technology needs, acquire the technology, and implement a technology solution that provides a foundation for an organization's future technology well being. (January 2001)
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=98293

Weaving a Secure Web Around Education: A Guide to Technology Standards and Security
Weaving a Secure Web Around Education: A Guide to Technology Standards and Security is a publication of the National Center For Education Statistics' National Forum on Education Statistics. This publication provides recommendations for development, maintenance, and standardization for effective Web sites.
(April 2003)
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2003381

RESEARCH & REPORTS

Internet Access in U.S. Public Schools and Classrooms: 1994-2001
This report presents data on Internet access in U.S. public schools from 1994 to 2001 by school characteristics. It provides trend analysis on the progress of public schools and classrooms in connecting to the Internet and on the ratio of students to instructional computers with Internet access. For the year 2001, this report also presents data on the types of Internet connections used; student access to the Internet outside of regular school hours; laptop computer loans; and operating systems, memory capacity and disk space found most frequently on instructional computers. It also contains information on special hardware and software for students with disabilities, school-sponsored e-mail addresses, school Web sites, and technologies and procedures to prevent student access to inappropriate material on the Internet.
(September 2002)
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2002018

ISTE/CEO Forum Online Assessment Tool: StaR Chart
Identifies and defines four school profiles ranging from the "Early Tech" school with little or no technology to the "Target Tech" school that provides a model for the integration and innovative use of education technology. The STaR Chart is not intended to be a measure of any particular school's technology and readiness, but rather to serve a benchmark against which every school can assess and track its own progress.
http://www.iste.org/inhouse/starchart/index.cfm ?Section=STaRChart&CFID=6353783&CFTOKEN=60934490

ISTE: Journal of Research on Technology in Education
The quarterly JRTE publishes articles that report on original research, system or project descriptions and evaluations, syntheses of the literature, assessments of the state of the art, and theoretical or conceptual positions that relate to educational computing. International in scope and thorough in its coverage, the theoretical and conceptual articles in JRTE define the state of the art and future horizons of educational computing.
http://www.iste.org/jrte/