Despite the large amount of research that has taken place with mobile devices for language learning over the years, there are still limited conclusions that can be reached as to what contributes to sustained task engagement. A common problem that has long been seen in the CALL literature is that many tasks and activities that are reported are…

In this study we examine the use of cumulative and exploratory talk types in a year 5 computer supported collaborative learning environment. The focus for students in this environment was to participate in mathematical problem solving, with the intention of developing the proficiencies of problem solving and reasoning. Findings suggest that…

PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) was inaugurated in 2001 as a follow-up to International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement's 1991 Reading Literacy Study. Conducted every five years, PIRLS assesses the reading achievement of young students in their fourth year of schooling--an important transition…

This paper seeks to set the scene for the ensuing articles in this themed issue by placing the recent developments with interactive whiteboards (IWBs) in their historical context. It argues that use of this instructional technology has already had a profound impact upon teaching and highlights the importance of educational researchers considering…

With growing international interest in diversifying sites for pedagogical work within the doctorate, doctoral programmes of different kinds are being developed in different disciplinary, institutional and national settings. However, little is known about how the pedagogical work of these programmes is designed and enacted, and with what effects.…

This paper reports on a collaborative staff development activity run across two Australian universities, for academic staff integrating Web 2.0 technologies into their teaching. It describes a three-week long virtual workshop on teaching with wikis, where participants in two groups developed a group project as students and then assessed the work…

Academic staff play a fundamental role in the use of online learning by students. Yet, compared to studies reporting student perspectives on online learning, studies investigating the perspectives of academic staff are much more limited. Perhaps the least common investigations are those that compare the perceptions of academic staff and students…

Research findings in recent years provide compelling evidence of the importance of encouraging student control over the learning process as a whole. The socially based tools and technologies of the Web 2.0 movement are capable of supporting informal conversation, reflexive dialogue and collaborative content generation, enabling access to a wide…

This article outlines a learning intervention which the authors call Learning by Design. The goal of this intervention is classroom and curriculum transformation, and the professional learning of teachers. The experiment involves the practical application of the learning theory to everyday classroom practice. Its ideas are grounded in pedagogical…

This study of computer laboratory courses at Curtin University of Technology (Western Australia) focused on whether students' perceptions of the computer laboratory environment are associated with achievement and attitudes towards computers and the course. Describes use of the Computer Laboratory Environment Inventory and the Attitude to Computers…

This study focuses on the computer laboratory class as a learning environment in university courses. In it, two previously developed instruments, the Computer Laboratory Environment Inventory (CLEI) (based on an instrument designed by B. Fraser, G. Giddings, and C. McRobbie, 1993) and the Attitude towards Computing and Computing Courses…

This paper reports on the effects of automating formative feedback at the student's discretion and automating summative assessment with individualised spreadsheet assignments. Quality learning outcomes are achieved when students adopt deep approaches to learning (Ramsden, 2003). Learning environments designed to align assessment to learning…

Audiographics is a low-cost delivery system for distance learning using a telecommunications link between computers and an audioconferencing medium. A study of the interactions between teachers and 10- to 12-year-old students in Western Australia indicated that, although audiographics can support interactions of many forms, teachers used a limited…

Self-regulation has long been seen as a desirable but difficult to achieve instructional aim. This is particularly true of online learning, where users have limited instructional support and where attrition rates tend to be greater than in face-to-face teaching. This paper examines the nature of self-regulation, identifying affective and cognitive…

Reports on a study that investigated the collaborative interaction patterns exhibited by five-year-old preprimary children in a multimedia educational computer environment in Perth, Australia. Discusses software appropriateness; preexisting computer competency and computer attitudes; friendship between collaborators; social goals; learning…