Many college and university media centers are stretched to the limit in providing distance education resources to academic departments within their institution. This article describe s how one academic department at a major university works collaboratively to ensure and enhance the educational outcomes of department coursework for distance education. Recommendations for the better utilization of distance education resources are also d iscussed.

This paper reports the findings of an exploratory study that investigates what Technology Coordinators (TC) are expected to do and what they actually do. Schools have invested large sums of money on technology and they have high expectations for the educational outcomes associated with the use of such technology. The question then arises regarding the expectations of the TC whose job it is to coordinate or manage the school's technol ogy. What are the expectations for the TC? Do the expectations match what the TC actually does? Our exploratory study examines the expectations and realities in detail. The results of this exploratory study indicate that there is a disconnect between the expectations and the reality of the TC's job. We present three main findings. For a TC to succeed, they must have a clear job description that is widely disseminated among the educational community. Additionally, the job description should be dynamic to m eet the evolving needs of their educational community. Finally, the TC needs time built into their schedule to afford them time to work on professional development projects.

This article describes the techniques the authors used to facilitate collaboration between three "Computers in Education" classes offered at three state universities. The three class es participated in a Web-based collaborative project. Students were required to use a Web-based conferencing system to discuss key issues and develop a position statement on the issue. Techniques used included collaboration training, thematic discussions, modeling and coaching. We make specific recommendations based on the results of this collaborative project. The recommendations should improve Web-based collaboration on similar projects.

This article examines the connection between engaging in Web-based collaboration and subsequent future professional practices. We believe that pre-service teachers would benefit from participating in Web-based professional collaboration, which in turn would lead to more student-centered and more innovative instruction.

In this study we sought to develop assessment tools to measure students' perceptions of two-way audio/video distance classrooms, as well as self-efficacy and satisfaction with the di stance learning experience. These measures were subsequently used to assess the relationship between these variables. Initially 222 students in two-way audio/video distance classes completed inventories measuring their self-efficacy, satisfaction, and per ception of key elements in the learning environment. Initial data collection along with ratings of individual items of experts and novices were used to refine the measures. A second data collection using the refined measures was completed with 187 student s in two-way audio/video distance classes. Measures were correlated to determine the relationship between factors. The results were mixed. Findings offer two possible indications. Students do not discriminate between the concepts measured or the factors a re very highly related. Implications and interpretations are explored in the discussion section.

Moersch (2001) reports that teachers use technology for teacher-driven tasks that merely supplement their instructional program. This use of technology is counter to the current rese arch on knowledge construction and teacher practice, where student-centered practices are suggested to sustain greater knowledge construction. Becker and Riel (2001) found that pedagogical-orientation impacts teacher practice. They report that teachers wh o adhere to a student-centered pedagogical belief system were twice as likely to involve students in classroom planning. In such environments, technology should be utilized to support student-centered practices. And, the utilization of technological resou rces has important implications for student knowledge construction.

We argue that in order to realize a classroom that engages in authentic situated learning, students must be involved in the planning and implementation process. Moreover, we suggest that technology can foster authentic learning experiences. And, to support this as a reality, the technology facilitator, school library media specialist, and school administrators must play the role of change agents by simultaneously moving the entire or ganization forward and supporting those with adopting and adapting student-centered pedagogical beliefs. This will eventually lead to the majority of teachers in a school utilizing technology to support authentic learning to solve real-world problems in t he local and global context. Thus, as we will argue, the technology facilitator, school library media specialist, and school administrators can be the catalyst to help realize the power of situated learning for students.

We propose a new vision for change agents in schools and present a professional development model designed to assist these individuals in moving the collective organization toward co nstructionist practices realized through technology.

This article critically examines and tests for cross-sectional differences in the types of information that are available on North Carolina's K-12 public school Websites. We examine information differences across three dimensions: school level, locale and economic status. The purpose is to determine what information is available and to determine whether information differences persist across these dimensions. The results have the pot ential to first, improve the quality of information provided and second, aid in the communication between schools and the communities they serve. We find that a large number of schools do not provide information regarding the school calendar, school polic y, fundraising information, general and subject specific instructional resources links, and honors and awards. We discuss implications of these differences in light of related research findings.