Springer Knowledge Management for Educational Innovation: IFIP WG 3.7 7th Conference on Information Technology in Educational Management (ITEM), Hamamatsu, ... and Communication Technology, 230)

As the editors of this volume we are very happy to publish a selection of the papers that were presented at the seventh Conference of Working Group 3. 7 of the International Federation for Information Processing. The focus of Working Group 3. 7 is on ITEM: Information Technology in Educational Management (for more information, please visit http://item. wceruw. org/), and the theme of its 2006 conference was on Knowledge Management for Educational Innovation. The event took place in Hamamatsu (Japan) and enabled the exchange of findings and ideas between researchers in educational management and information technology, policy-makers in the field of education, developers of ITEM systems, and vendors. The overall goal of the conferences of Working Group 3. 7 is to demonstrate and explore directions for developing and improving all types of educational institutions through ITEM. Contributions tot the conference came from all over the world: Spain, India, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Hungary, England, Germany, Botswana, Japan, Uganda, and The Netherlands, and the number of papers was large (over 30). All papers in this book have been peer reviewed. They were selected from those presented at the conference and the authors given an opportunity to improve them before publication. Contributions to the conference varied from innovative examples of how ITEM can support and improve educational practice at the level of instruction (e. g.