"Game-Based Assessments: A Promising Way to Create Idiographic Perspectives" (Adrienne Walker and George Englehard) comments on: "How Task Features Impact Evidence from Assessments Embedded in Simulations and Games" by Russell G. Almond, Yoon Jeon Kim, Gertrudes Velasquez, and Valerie J. Shute. Here, Walker and Englehard write…

In the tug-of-war between researchers and IT for supercomputing resources, a centralized approach can help both sides get more bang for their buck. As 2010 began, the University of Washington was preparing to launch its first shared high-performance computing cluster, a 1,500-node system called Hyak, dedicated to research activities. Like other…

Transnational education is a new and permanent reality in educational life. It should be viewed as a positive set of educational opportunities. It raises profound and far-reaching implications for all those involved in higher education. The challenges represented by it may impact at the local, regional, national and global levels and reactions to…

The article argues that we make best use of learning technologies if we begin with an understanding of educational problems, and use this analysis to target the solutions we should be demanding from technology. The focus is to address the issue from the perspective of teachers and lecturers (the "teaching community"), and to consider how…

Interactive digital media, or video games, are a powerful new medium. They offer immersive experiences in which players solve problems. Players learn more than just facts--ways of seeing and understanding problems so that they "become" different kinds of people. "Serious games" coming from business strategy, advergaming, and entertainment gaming…

Although one role of computers in science education is to help students learn specific science concepts, computers are especially intriguing as a vehicle for fostering the development of epistemological knowledge about the nature of scientific knowledge--what it means to "know" in a scientific sense (diSessa, 1985). In this vein, the…

Ohio's Model Industrial Technology Systems (MITS) project was initiated in 1987 to achieve the following: identify good activities in the areas of physical, communication, and bio-related technology; standardize the activities' format; and provide a coding system for their eventual use in a hypermedia system. To date, 220 activities have been…

The article looks at two competing psychological theories, the componential and the constructivist, and the implications of each for the use of computers in reading instruction. The concept of "contextualization" as a basis for integrating the two approaches into a model of computer use in the special education classroom is proposed. (Author/DB)

This position paper describes a theoretical framework for learning that encompasses new conceptions of learning, namely learning as social practice, new views of the learner as self-directed, and paradigm shifts in learning as it is mandated in new social contexts. Social learning theory, especially that of situated learning, provides a new…

This paper presents an overview of expectations educators have for computer use in the classroom, followed by a discussion of how technology and curriculum agendas relate (or do not relate) in schools. The paper examines the following questions: Does the introduction of computers into American classrooms affect the curriculum in these settings?…

This paper provides practical advice for making online discussions educationally durable. This advice focuses on all stages of online discussions from designing the assignment guidelines through summative evaluation. While this practical advice is grounded in the author's experience, it is more substantively grounded in a framework defining…

A model is proposed for the influence of individual differences on performance when computer-based technology is introduced. The primary cognitive factor driving differences in performance is spatial visualization ability. Four techniques for mitigating the negative impact of low spatial visualization are discussed: spatial metaphors, graphical…

This paper reviews five popular and emerging models for the implementation of Internet and network technology in higher education: low tech, lab, laptop, virtual, and networked systems. Three perspectives on these models--that of a faculty member at the University of Lethbridge (Alberta, Canada), an administrator at the University of Lethbridge,…

This paper is a summary of a "how to" workshop, focusing on design guidelines when moving from an onsite course to an online course. Three most basic considerations are content knowledge, pedagogical skill, and higher-order thinking dispositions. Transferring content to an online environment requires technological expertise, and…

The computer can be incorporated into educational assessment at two levels: clerical work such as scoring, converting scores, administering test items, and organizing data into manageable profiles; and expanding horizons and deepening the understanding of what is important to measure and how best to measure it through expert systems and new…