We implemented two different approaches of using peer review to support undergraduate essay assignments for students taking large second-year courses in life sciences and biology: a web-based online peer review (OPR) approach and a more traditional face-to-face peer review (FPR) approach that was conducted in tutorial settings. The essays…

Although the "basics" of program planning and instructional delivery in traditional face-to-face settings are a good place for instructors to begin when developing online courses, they are only a beginning. When one educator was faced with the task of designing an online course for inclusion in a distance masters degree program for…

This SPEC (Systems and Procedures Exchange Center) Kit presents the results of a survey of Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member libraries designed to examine the systems research libraries use to authenticate and authorize the users of their online networked information resources. A total of 52 of 121 ARL member libraries responded to…

This report examines subsections of the computer network topology that relate to end-to-end performance and capacity planning in schools. Active star topology, Category 5 wiring, Ethernet, and intelligent devices are assumed. The report describes a model that can be used to project WAN (wide area network) connection speeds based on user traffic,…

Learning communities are collections of autonomous, independent individuals who are bound together by natural will and a set of shared ideas and ideals, and who are engaged by influencing each other within a learning process. This definition depends on a new concept of community, technology, and learning, in which relationships occur via many…

Discusses various initiatives in Canadian schools and universities that involve new ways of learning with technology. Teachers today can and should use new technologies, such as online services, to transform their teaching methods and create the desire in young people to be lifelong learners. (Author/CDS)

Online teaching technologies still have three main disadvantages: cost, complexity, and negative impacts on productivity. In many areas of Canada, cost is still a major factor affecting ownership and use of computers and other new technologies. Until online teaching technologies become as simple to use as telephones and new cars, they will…

Higher literacy needs and global communication technologies such as the Internet require that students worldwide develop academic level mastery of international languages. However, while school and university second language programs are frequently able to help students achieve mastery of the basic interpersonal communications skill level of a…

The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) in Edmonton, Alberta, has undertaken a project called LOGging Our Curriculum. The goals of the project, which involves creating a fully outcomes-based curriculum across the institution and housing that curriculum in a database that is accessible to NAIT instructors over the World Wide Web, are as…

This document, which was developed during a project to expand professional development opportunities for adult literacy practitioners affiliated with member agencies of Community Literacy of Ontario (CLO), presents tips and tools for developing and delivering an online workshop for literacy practitioners. The document begins with an overview of…

This document contains 71 papers and 11 workshop presentations on distance teaching and learning from a conference on educational research. The following are among the papers included: "Bridging Distances and Differences" (Nancy Anderson); "The Role of Site Directors in Faculty and Student Success" (Edith M. Barnett, Jeanie P.…