There is growing interest in the use of virtual gaming worlds in education, supported by the increased use of multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) and massively multi-player online role-playing games (MMORPGs) for collaborative learning. However, this paper argues that collaborative gaming worlds have been in use much longer and are much wider…

An introduction to a panel discussion on technology for students with cognitive, motor, and perceptual handicaps examines potential benefits of interactive instructional systems and notes the tremendous increase in resources devoted to this technology in special education. (CL)

This paper discusses the critical relation between professor, student and technology in the process of encouraging graduate students to read required textbook sections. It discusses how using online management software, graduate students are required to submit weekly chapter summaries to the professor by 5:00 pm on Fridays. In addition to the…

Teleconferencing, as an interactive group communication through an electronic medium joining three or more people at two or more locations, can take one of three forms: audio, audiographic, or full-motion video. This multilocation technology is used in training and in conducting meetings and conferences; it works as a money- and time-saving tool.…

Companies are using new learning technologies for training, such as interactive multimedia, electronic just-in-time performance support, and the Internet. These methods change the role of the trainer to that of enabler of learning and performance enhancer. (SK)

Discusses educators' difficulty with interactive online assessment even though educational technology has a broad use in secondary and higher education instruction. Describes a program that enables instructors to create their own online assessment with complete control over the content and structure of questions. (Contains 23 references.) (YDS)

Between the infancy and the adulthood of online communications stand years of generational haggling between educators raised on the book and those hooked on the byte. The telecommunications infrastructure (phone lines, electronic bulletin boards, and international networks) can already help teachers bring within reach a world of people and…

Examines ethical and policy issues confronting higher education as a result of increasing use of new information and communication technologies for online teaching and the increasing globalization of higher education institutions and constituencies. The article questions the forced options of boosterism or rejectionism, along with other…

Examines ways in which the Internet and other electronic publishing media have changed the intellectual, academic, and social geography. Describes the possibilities of these new methods for organizing information to create new outlets for intellectual, artistic, and educational pursuits; conceptions of libraries; and avenues of communication. (MAB)

Recent developments in the field of computer communication are reviewed, and ways in which these technologies can be used to make anthropology more productive and effective are examined. Computer communication is defined as the communication of symbolic information from one location to another electronically over phone lines, satellite links, or…

Raises several questions about information technology. After arguing for the importance of physical place and presence in how people construct meaning, form personal biographies and public histories, and develop living communities, the article contrasts this with the consequences of the abstractions of place and presence in virtual, on-line…

Argues that the commodification of knowledge that would be the logical consequence of marketing online education is still resisted by traditional institutes where the penchant for scholasticism and academic independence is rigorously maintained. States that it is questionable whether this scholastic heritage should be sacrificed for the largely…

Describes how students can improve research work by using an electronic information service. Tells what equipment is necessary, how to subscribe, what services are available, and potential costs. Gives an example of how the service might work. (RKM)

Reviews difficulties involved in integrating recent technological innovations into the curriculum and describes a computerized database and information management system, Integrated Instructional Information Resource (IIIR), which contains detailed information on learning resources and strategies for curriculum integration. Turnkey and local…

Looks at the frames (of time, space, roles, and knowledge) that define learning, and examines how such frames would be radically altered by online learning. Discusses students, teachers, schooling as an institution, commercialization, and curriculum. Concludes that the new frame may deliver much, and may also exclude much. Includes listings of Web…