By Jean Harkness

SUPERINTENDENT DR. CAROLYN Leary of the Somerville Public Schools accessed My Space at a staff meeting and shocked the room with the images of several Somerville students and the personal information they revealed on their blog site. There were also examples of vicious My Space entries targeting some district students. “I had students who didn’t want to come to school,” Dr. Leary said.

Nancy Willard of the Center for Safe and Responsible Use of the Internet defines cyberbullying as “being cruel to others by sending or posting harmful material or engaging in other forms of social cruelty using the Internet or other digital technologies.”

Cyberbullying is comparable to classic bullying and often involves harassment, denigration, intimidation and threats. Cyberbullying is set apart because malicious action can be projected to a greater audience and the bully has the ability to remain anonymous. A student need only to press a button and a secret (theirs or someone else’s) can be sent through cyberspace and end up being viewed by potentially thousands of people, instantly. Cyberbullying has led to school avoidance, school failure, suicide, physical violence and even murder according to Willard.

Asking the Right Questions Somerville parent and board member Helene Venizelos recalls her shock when her daughter gave her a tour of My Space. “Students had sites containing false ages that had personal information and their home addresses—and not just their personal information but information about other students at the school.” She became aware that children were disconnected from the impact of their communication—that posting personal or malicious information could potentially lead to harm of self and others.

When she discussed the topic of proper Internet usage with other parents, she found that many felt their best attempts to monitor their children’s communication devices would only reveal a partial view of what was really happening. “The parents were concerned but lacked information,” explained Venizelos. They needed answers to their questions. What could they do if their child encountered or engaged in cyberbullying at home? And what could the school do if the cyberbullying involved students from the school?

The Law Education law on harassment, intimidation and bullying (N.J.S.A. 18A:37-14) addresses the school’s ability to apply its discipline policy and conduct code to bullying behavior that is directly associated with the school or a school-sponsored event. There are currently bills in both the New Jersey Assembly and the Senate that seek to amend this law to include cyberbullying. Although this represents a progressive step toward increasing awareness of cyberbullying, it is limited since the Legislation would not address students using their home computers to bully.

Cyberbullying often occurs outside of school through home computers, leaving  schools unable to apply their discipline policies. Cruel communication from home can transfer to the school social system, leaving the school to deal with the resulting emotional wreckage.

One District’s Approach Somerville encountered the problem of cyberbullying about three years ago and made it a priority. It embraced an approach that bridges the gap between home computers and school. Somerville adopted an aggressive approach to cyberbullying and a “zero-tolerance attitude.” The board and administration rallied around a whole-system approach to prevent and effectively deal with the threat of cyberbullying. They began offering the community, school staff, parents and students training opportunities each year as part of their whole-system program and character education curriculum. To emphasize the importance of this issue, Somerville Community Day was organized around a cyberbullying theme and included a presentation by the Somerset County prosecutor.

“We wanted to start something interactive that created a vehicle between the school, parents and students,” Helene Venizelos explained.

Dr. Carolyn Rosenberger, director of curriculum, instruction and technology and affirmative action officer, oversees the district’s innovative Character Education Program. She reported that “Character Education is infused throughout every subject in every grade.” Each grade, in every Somerville school focuses on an annual theme such as respecting each other and treating others as you would hope to be treated. Teachers are trained to communicate the theme during every class. This approach emphasizes the positive—children are rewarded for demonstrating good character. Rosenberger credited the staff, noting that “character education begins with the respectful treatment the students receive in school by the teachers, administrators and support staff.”

Despite all the efforts to prevent occurrences, cyberbullying is a “constant struggle” according to Superintendent Leary. Somerville students are annually required to sign a contract agreement that specifies acceptable and unacceptable use of the communication technology at school. When cyberbullying occurs on campus, incidents are dealt with according to the school’s discipline policy, which may require guidance and counseling services or even suspension. Victims of off- campus occurrences are encouraged to seek the support of the school. The school uses a counseling model to support victims and perpetrators of cyberbullying. At the request of a parent or guardian, the school will facilitate a solution by confronting the bully, involving the parents, and providing follow-up and monitoring of the involved students during the school day. When necessary, the school will involve the police.

Cell phones, computers and Internet access are essential equipment for school and life. School children have information and know-how about communication technology that many parents lack. But the growing problem of cyberbullying illustrates that technological sophistication is no substitute for maturity and responsible behavior. Schools are challenged to intervene when the impact of cyberbullying from home computers transfers to school. As the Somerville School District discovered, communities, schools and parents must collaborate to help children apply responsible and respectful values to their use of communication technology.

By Rosa Cirianni

When news broke about middle school students wearing gang paraphernalia and a gang initiation, the rumor mill in Lumberton Township began to churn.

The district, however, took control of the situation with electronic announcements sent to parents through its Listserv, or e-mail distribution list, and was able to dispel rumors fast by giving its community the facts.

“From a PR point of view, and this is something that you can’t pay for, the good will that we’ve created by instituting (Listserv) has been invaluable,” said Betsy Kapulskey, director of communications and grant writer for Lumberton.

The Burlington County school district had the capability to send parents updates by the hour. It used e-mail to give parents a heads up about a newscast set to feature its middle school and the gang issue. Listserv set the record straight—before the story hit the airwaves.

“Parents were very appreciative of the fact that we were sending this information so quickly. We didn’t have to try to get letters written, Xeroxed and sent home in backpacks. We were just able at the touch of a button, to literally e-mail whoever we needed to e-mail,” Kapulskey said.

She told parents: “You’re going to see a piece on this station and some of the information that they have is not accu-rate so be aware of that when you’re watching.”

The scenario is just one example of how New Jersey school districts are using technology to save not just time and money, but also to save face. Often getting the word out can prevent a situation from taking on a life of its own in a small community.

Online Advantages While the use of computers and the Internet are nothing new in public education, New Jersey districts are becoming more sophisticated in their use of these technologies.

Examples include the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District in Somerset County and the Wanaque Borough Public Schools in Passaic County that each offer a program called Homework Hero. The program allows teachers to post homework assignments, curriculum, test schedules and other reminders for students and parents online.

Another example is Haddon Township School District in Camden County, which uses the Web to give the public an opportunity to sign up for district e-mail announcements. The district also posts lunch menus online.

Technology: The Norm The state Department of Education reported in 2005 that 94 percent of school districts in the state have a district technology coordinator, and 82 percent of teachers give students assignments that require the use of tech-nology, according to the department’s annual New Jersey Public School Technology Survey.

In 2004, the latest statistics available, 94 percent of districts had a Web site.

Lumberton’s public information system groups parents’ e-mail by grade, which allows the district to target its messages to particular groups or districtwide with e-blasts, or notices about important information.

Electronic district newsletters alone have saved the Lumberton school district about $10,000 annually in overhead, photocopies and postage, said Mark Leung, director of educational technology for the district.

Vineland, like Lumberton, also has one main computer server that cost the district about $10,000 to administer all the district’s computers in its 21 buildings rather than having one for each building at another $5,000 each, said Stephen Dantinne, supervisor of technology for Vineland public schools.

Going Paperless Local school boards throughout the state are increasingly forgoing their traditional reliance on bulky meeting agenda packets that often include attachments for personnel, financial and other district-related data. Instead, they are equipping their board members, who serve without pay, with lap tops and setting up programs that allow the members to tap into district Web sites for information from home and during public meetings.

NJSBA began offering a program in July that will allow boards to access their information using a login and pass-word from any Internet-connected computer. Several school districts are considering the service. The Vineland school district in Cumberland County created a system of its own a few years ago.

Dantinne said his kindergarten through grade 12 district of 11,000 students has given its board members lap tops and put meeting agendas and supporting documents online and on CDs.

“Instead of making nine copies of the papers and then for the solicitors, and then for the superintendent, and the school business administrator, and for everybody else, no, we don’t do that any more,” Dantinne said. “We just use a CD, and CDs are like 20 cents.

“There’s all the time that you have (saved) from copying all that paper. Not just the paper, but spending five hours of the superintendent’s secretary’s time copying stuff.”

Leung said Lumberton also moved its board to paperless meetings after his superintendent attended a National School Boards Association conference and learned about a similar system in 2000.

“The biggest obstacle was not the money. It was what they call a change process, getting people on board,” Leung said. “Some of the board members are older, of the next generation. They really weren’t born with the technology. ”

“We looked at how much we were spending in terms of paper cost, overhead, to make the copies, copy machines, etc. and really at that point in time what we found was the equipment purchase really wasn’t that expensive and the sav-ings was going to be tremendous,” Leung added.

Lumberton’s investment paid off in two years. They spent $15,000 in 2000 to buy the software from a technology company that specialized in wiring up hospitals to make them more efficient. And since the program began, the district has saved $5,000 annually by not having to buy extra copy machines and paper and wasting staff time on making photo copies and dispersing them through teachers to students. Often, as most educators know, notices never make it out of backpacks and into the hands of parents.

Dantinne estimates that Vineland saves about $50,000 in paper and staff time, annually, by using technology. “We just really don’t use paper anymore. In matter of fact, when we get paper, we’re like, ‘What’s that?’ Dentinne said.

He recalled having to train board members using the lap tops during a televised public meeting. Looking back on it, he said the board member making an effort to use technology was a good thing for the community to see.

“It showed them learning to the rest of the teachers and the students in the district. They were learning technology, too,” he said. “It showed them as an example and I would use that and say listen, ‘They’re going to do it, now you’re going to do it’.”

Rosa Cirianni is a writer for the New Jersey School Boards Association. She can be reached at rcirianni@njsba.org.

By Laura Bishop and Mallory McQuail

IN HIS 2006 STATE OF THE UNION Address, President George W. Bush announced the American Competitiveness Ini-tiative to encourage economic innovation and stronger math and science education. “If we ensure that America’s children succeed in life, they will ensure that America succeeds in the world,” the President said. His statement places additional responsibility on educators to take science education to a higher level.

Science Fairs are a valuable tool to engage scientifically astute students and spark the interest of others who may believe that the world of science is out of reach. The fairs level the playing field, provide an open forum for investigation and experimentation and enhance structured science curriculum.

Narrowing the Gap As student participation in science fairs continues to increase, so does the opportunity to close achievement gaps based on gender, race and economic status.

According to the 2005 Science Assessment conducted by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, New Jersey’s average score on a scale of 300 was higher than that of the nation’s public schools by 6 points (153 to 147, respectively). However, the assessment shows large achievement gaps based on ethnicity and socio-economic status among New Jersey students.

Black and Hispanic students scored a lower average than white students by 33 points and 32 points, respectively. And economically disadvantaged students, scored 31 points lower than students classified as non-economically disadvan-taged, and three points higher than the nation’s average score gap of 28.

The 2006 Standard & Poor’s analysis of achievement gaps in New Jersey identified 34 schools that have signifi-cantly narrowed achievement gaps between the 2003-2004 and the 2004-2005 school years, however it noted that more progress should be made. Science fairs can further narrow the gap by providing opportunity for all students—regardless of race, ethnicity or economic status—to succeed.

Expanding the Horizon Henry Disston is president of Delaware Valley Science Fairs, one of the oldest and largest fairs in the country. The program is open to middle and high school students in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. Disston believes that the low expectations set for students are largely responsible for the overall lack of achievement. Science fairs can help remedy that situation by expanding the scientific horizons for students.

“A child may not excel in a classroom, and a teacher may not think a particular student can succeed, but when they get interested in something like a science fair, they really get into it,” Disston said. “If we raise that level of expectation, we’ll see that our kids can do amazing things with a little hard work and encouragement.”

The satisfaction of receiving awards and recognition can boost a student’s self-esteem, help them to develop confi-dence during the most crucial adolescent years.

“At the awards ceremony, the sheer enthusiasm of the students is indescribable beyond any words,” said Joseph L. Mintzer, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Coriell Institute for Medical Research in Camden. Coriell hosts an annual regional science fair for sixth through 12th graders from Burlington, Camden and Gloucester coun-ties.

“At each level it becomes a whole other dynamic of competition, but the one thing that remains consistent is that it doesn’t matter if a student gets first place or an honorable mention…everybody celebrates. So do I think they feel better about themselves? Absolutely,” said Mintzer.

Acknowledging the successes of minorities in the sciences also encourages students. Each year the Burlington County College’s Science and Invention Fair honors a black student who has made a significant contribution to the scientific community to “impress upon students the accomplishments of minorities that might otherwise go unnoticed,” said Kathleen Sweeney, a biology professor with the college.

“It’s important to take the time to find that special teacher who will encourage minorities and underprivileged students to get involved in a science fair and show them they can succeed,” said Sweeney.

No Teacher Left Behind The New Jersey Department of Education reported that 96 percent of public school classes are being taught by teachers who meet the federal No Child Left Behind Act definition of “highly qualified.” But the report also states that one of the challenges faced by school districts and the state is recruiting and retaining “highly qualified” teach-ers in mathematics and science, among other areas.

Although the focus of science fairs is on student achievement, a school science fair or district-level fair can be a valuable recruiting tool that may attract more qualified science teachers, and possibly help to retain those already employed.

Teachers also can fulfill professional development requirements through training seminars for regional science fairs. For example, Coriell requires that all new teacher coordinators attend a free workshop that covers rules and regulations, guidelines for science fair projects, and ideas and resources for interested students.

Community Involvement Corporate sponsorship and community volunteers can help promote science fairs both administra-tively and through participation.

In addition to sponsorships, people in various professions and fields of academia often get involved as volunteer judges for science fairs.

“Judges are the key,” Disston said. “They do more than pick winners, they provide the opportunity for these students to interact with professionals in the field. Instead of a grade from their teacher, these children are receiving positive feedback from a microbiologist or chemical engineer, which shows them that they too can have a future in science.”

Tangible Assessment Science fairs can improve the overall achievement of a school district by meeting specific require-ments of the New Jersey Science Curriculum Framework, adopted by the state Board of Education in 1996 and designed to assist educators with the development and implementation of an effective science curriculum. Equally important to school district assessment is their progress in addressing several areas of science education reform including curriculum, professional development, materials support, assessment, and administrative and community support—all of which science fairs enhance.

Participation in a science fair can bolster teaching and strengthen a student’s abilities and comprehension. And, best of all, a science fair can demonstrate how learning can be fun.

“The main focus of these competitions is what goes on in the classroom, but what’s also important is getting kids in-terested in science, and the best way to do that is through research projects and inquiry-based learning,” said Disston. “That’s the fun part of science, and the best way for students to learn.”

The Greenwich Township School District in Gloucester County has held a school science fair for as long as Superin-tendent Francine Marteski can remember. Participation is required as part of the district’s sixth, seventh and eighth grade science curriculums, which Marteski said he believes is a valuable component of the district’s assessment practices.

“The school science fair is a great part of our assessment because it’s long term and shows student ability and un-derstanding of the science process. It teaches them how to implement skills, to start out with a theory and gather and in-terpret data to prove or disprove and determine the outcome, so it’s a highly-valued assessment not just in science but in other abilities as well,” Marteski said.

Meeting the Challenge Science fair organizers and participants are meeting the challenge of President Bush’s American Competitiveness Initiative on a fair-by-fair, state-by-state basis with the lofty, but achievable goal of keeping our nation competitive, innovative and strong in the sciences.

“The importance of science to this country is the reason why I do this,” said Disston of Delaware Valley Science Fairs. “We’re falling behind the rest of the world, and now more than ever there is a need to maintain science education and promote the future innovators of a nation.”

In visiting schools to promote the Burlington County College Science and Invention Fair, Sweeney says that she is struck by the massive display cases filled with sports trophies that greet her as soon as she walks in the door; a display that each student also sees as the glorification of athletic achievement. But where, she wonders, is the encouragement to strive for excellence in academics?

Sweeney proposes that schools should not disregard athletic accomplishment, but that they put more effort into promoting academic achievement as well.

“Educators need to encourage students to participate in science or else we are putting our nation at a disadvantage,” she said. “It’s not an easy task, but no one wins the championship game without hard work and dedication. You won’t hear a coach in the world tell their players they don’t expect much of them, that winning is easy. We need to demand the same from our students when it comes to academics, more importantly science.”

Mintzer of the Coriell Institute concurred. “The same thing that happens on a ball field or court also needs to happen in a classroom,” he noted. “If we bring together the best and brightest our science programs have to offer, it can only en-hance the academic livelihood of our classrooms and schools, and stimulate our teachers and students to exceed in their individual pursuits.”

Laura Bishop is vice president of Thomas/Boyd Communications in Moorestown, and Mallory McQuail is account coordinator. They represent Coriell, Burlington County College and the Greenwich Township School District, and can be reached at laura@thomasboyd.com and mallory@thomasboyd.com.

By Ann Coyle Degnan

FIRST, THERE WERE RAILROADS, then paved roads, and now, fiber optics connecting the community.

Today, it takes more than just a community to raise a child. It takes the police, teachers, firefighters and schools all connected electronically, to raise a child who can safely get online, connect to his/her school library, share files and pho-tos, and download his/her class video assignments. It’s the digital age and, I am proud to report, the Long Branch Public Schools are in the forefront of communal, private (thus secure) communications.

A Community Network In February 2004, Long Branch Superintendent Joseph H. Ferraina realized a goal when a private, wide-area network was deployed in the community. It connects ten schools, their respective administrative offices and municipal buildings. Why a private community network? The most obvious benefit is cost. This community of critical, pub-lic buildings links together to form its own telecom company, bypassing the traditional service provider and fees. This set-up also allows for the community to monitor and manage its own network, with one flat rate for all applications and ser-vices. Everyone in the network can speak or share information with one another at no additional cost. The fixed monthly cost for all telecom services simplifies budgeting by avoiding usage-based invoices that change monthly.

The network is a “one-stop shop” that delivers high-speed Internet access, e-mail, attendance programs, security and continuing education via video that can be broadcast from school to school, and much more. The network can carry the next-generation of technology (i.e., streaming video, etc.) across its fiber. The educational opportunities are virtually endless.

Consider this analogy: the private network consists of swimming pools attached by streams and arteries. The pools are filled with water (the water being secure, Internet access). The schools, municipal offices, local law enforcement, fire departments and their members swim in and out of one another’s pools. They are, in fact, part of one enormous, con-nected body of water. They can go from pool to pool via the streams and conduits while using the various services that each pool has to offer.

Where does the community get the water that fills their pool in the first place? In this case, the water is the Internet, which it secures from an Internet service provider (ISP). As technology advances, services such as streaming video, Internet Protocol TV (digital television programming available via the Internet), and other useful technology becomes available to students, teachers and municipal workers. The private network will be able to grow to deliver more of these necessary new applications and services.

Home Internet Access for Students With their own, secure key, students can now jump into the pool and swim at home. Entry to the private network is free. Hence, the child will now be able to access tutoring and video classes, online librar-ies of information, and more.

Fiber Connections The company that built this working, private network is 4Connections LLC. In Long Branch alone, 4Connections deployed close to 15 miles of fiber-optic cable. Twenty-five percent of the fiber was installed under-ground and the balance on telephone poles. In addition to connecting the schools, municipal facilities, law enforcement and the fire department, the fiber ring has the potential to bring in businesses, hospitals and other enterprises.

The long-term vision is to enhance security and communications by connecting the local municipalities to the federal gov-ernment.

“Secure, private network” technology seems to be catching on for financial reasons. In May 2006, Union County an-nounced plans to have 4Connections deploy 20 miles of fiber optic cables to connect county buildings from Plainfield to Elizabeth. The effort will provide high-speed Internet access as well as voice, data and video transmissions , similar to that in place in Long Branch, but in this case, between county facilities and college campuses. The county’s investment will total $500,000.

The bottom line is that the savings clearly outweigh the initial connection costs. “Union County is slated to save $57,000 per year with a Fiber Optic Network,” said Freeholder Chairman Alexander Mirabella.

Dark Fiber The initial cost of building and maintaining this private, secure communications network is far less than many may expect. That’s because, in many cases, the fiber is already either in place or close by, and just needs to be “turned on” or, in telecom terms, “lit.”

Dark fiber, or rather “unlit fiber,” is optical fiber that has been installed in the ground or run between telephone poles, but never used. In the late 1990s, many telecom companies deployed enormous amounts of dark fiber with the hopes of equal or greater Internet demands. As it turned out, the Internet demand never met the amount of fiber deployed. This unlit fiber is the groundwork for the community private network.

So why change to one community network? 1) Flexibility and security provided by self-management and monitoring; 2) No more telecom service fees; 3) One-stop shopping for next-generation telecom services; 4) Nationwide interconnection; and 5) Savings.

The math makes sense.

Ann Coyle Degnanis the chief information officer for the Long Branch Public Schools. She can be reached at adegnan@longbranch.K12.nj.us.

By Dan Riordan

NOW IS THE TIME FOR NEW JERSEY’S school districts to update their technology plans.

Why Should We Have a Technology Plan? There are two reasons to have a technology plan: the “good management” reason and the practical reason. The good management reason is that every district should have a plan so that its technology purchases and activities are aligned with its goals. The plan can also serve as a basis for the technology budget. In addi-tion, the plan explains to the public the reasons for technology decisions.

The practical reason for having a plan is that it is a requirement for technology funding programs. Districts without a plan are not eligible for funding under two federal education technology programs. Many other technology grants require a plan as well.

When Should We Have a Technology Plan? School districts in New Jersey operate under technology plans which are based on three-year cycles. The current plans expire on June 30, 2007. Completed plans must be submitted by this spring; the exact due date will be set by the state Department of Education.

The federal E-Rate program provides discounted telecommunications services to public schools and libraries. It re-quires that districts have written a technology plan before beginning the application process. Since the E-Rate application process begins in November or December, the sections of the plan required by the E-Rate should be written now.

The technology plan must be approved by June 30, 2007 and should cover the period July 2007 to June 2010.

What Should Be in the Plan? The plan should reflect state and federal requirements. The federal requirements come from two programs: the E-Rate program and Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) grant. Both are aimed at improving student achievement through the use of technology.

The E-Rate program requires five components for the technology plan.

• Clear goals and a realistic strategy for using telecommunications and information technology to improve education or library services.
  
  
• Professional development to ensure that staff know how to use new technologies to improve education or library ser-vices.
  
  
• An assessment of the telecommunication services, hardware, software, and other services that will be needed to im-prove education or library services.
  
  
• A sufficient budget to acquire and support the hardware, software, professional development and other services that will be needed to implement the strategy.
  
  
• An evaluation process that enables the school or library to monitor progress toward the specified goals and make mid-course corrections in response to new developments and opportunities as they arise.

At publication time, funding for the Enhancing Education Through Technology grants was uncertain. If the program survives, school districts will have to comply with its regulations as well. The program requires—

• Strategies for improving academic achievement and teacher effectiveness—a description of how the applicant will use the funds
  (a) to improve academic achievement, including technology literacy, of all students attending school in the district, and
  (b) to enhance the capacity of all teachers to integrate technology effectively into curriculum and instruction.
  
  
• Goals—the applicant’s specific goals, aligned with state standards, in using advanced technology to improve student academic achievement.
  
  
• Accessibility—a description of the steps the applicant will take to ensure that all students and teachers have increased access to technology. The description must include how the applicant will use the funds (a) to help students in high-poverty and high-needs schools, or schools identified for improvement or corrective action through the federal No Child Left Behind Act, and (b) to help ensure that teachers are prepared to integrate technology effectively into curricula and instruction.
  
  
• Promotion of curricula and teaching strategies that integrate technology—how the applicant will identify and promote strategies that integrate technology effectively into curricula and instruction (based on a review of relevant research) and how these stratgies will lead to improvements in academic achievement.
  
  
• Professional development—a description of how the applicant will provide ongoing, sustained professional development for teachers, principals, administrators, and school library media personnel to further the effective use of technology in the classroom or library media center.
  
  
• Technology type and costs—a description of the type and costs of technology to be acquired, and provisions to integrate the applications.
• Coordination with other resources—how the applicant will coordinate activities funded through the Ed Tech program with technology-related activities supported with funds from other sources.
  
  
• Integration with curricula and instruction—a description and timeline for integrating technology (including software and electronically delivered learning materials) into curricula and instruction.
  
  
• Innovative delivery—how the plan will encourage the development and use of innovative strategies for the delivery of spe-cialized or rigorous courses and curricula through the use of technology, including distance learning.
  
  
• Parental involvement—how the district will use technology effectively to promote parental involvement and increase communication with parents, and how parents will be informed of the technology used.
  
  
• Collaboration with adult literacy service—a description of how the program will be developed, where applicable, in collaboration with adult literacy service providers.
  
  
• Accountability measures—the process and accountability measures that the applicant will use to evaluate how effective the activities of the funded program are in integrating technology into curricula and instruction, increasing the ability of teachers to teach, and ena-bling students to reach challenging state academic standards.
  
  
• Supporting resources—a description of the supporting resources, such as services, software, other electronically delivered learning materials.
  The state Department of Education has taken the E-Rate and EETT requirements and created a single checklist. The 2004-2007 document is currently available at www.nj.gov/njded/techno/localtech/checklist.htm. The new checklist may be available.

Dan Riordan is the president of On-Tech Consulting. He was previously affiliated with the New Jersey State Department of Education’s Educational Technology Training Center. He can be reached at dan@on-tech.com.