The purpose of my action research is to create meaningful virtual field trips that give students many of the same benefits as actual field trips. Since educational budget cuts are preventing students from participating in real field trips there needs to be an alternative way to deliver that content. I hope to demonstrate how I am improving my…

This article argues that to understand how new technologies and media can become co-agents in the process of pedagogical change, we first need to understand teachers' complex relationship with new technologies and media in both their personal and their professional lives. A conceptual framework is delineated for constructing a complex narrative…

Attempts at school reform and improvement have experienced difficulty creating and implementing feedback systems that energize and sustain change efforts. If the call for reform at all levels of education is to be met, attention must be given to establishing effective feedback mechanisms in educational institutions as they embark on improvement…

There are many challenges for teachers today. One of the most difficult challenges for diligent teachers is reaching the needs of an increasingly diverse student population. In order for teachers to reach ALL students, teachers must begin where students are, which means recognizing individual differences. Differentiated instruction (DI) with the…

Managing student plagiarism can cause instructors to feel as if they are serving educational institutions in the role of investigator rather than educator. Since many educators continue to struggle with the issue of student plagiarism, the author interviewed some of her colleagues. In this article, she shares her and her colleagues' antiplagiarism…

Elementary and secondary school history students demonstrate a great deal of enthusiasm for making documentary films. With free and easy-to-use software, as well as vast online, archival resources containing images and sounds, students can sit at a computer and make serious and engaging documentary productions. With students affectively engaged by…

"Making a Difference in the Classroom: The Reality and Truth of Teaching in Schools Today" makes the case that our schools will continue to struggle until we take an honest approach to what we know works in the classroom. This book is a frank discussion about what teachers face and what teacher candidates should know before they enter…

Computers in education have come a long way from the abacus of 5,000 years ago to the desktop and laptop computers of today. Computers have transformed the educational environment, and with each new iteration of smaller and more powerful machines come additional advantages for teaching practices. The Tablet PC is one. Tablet PCs are fully…

This section will reflect on two different classroom designs from my own teaching experience: one that required students to bring laptops and one that required only paper and pen. Because traditional classrooms were likely designed without taking technology into consideration, teachers should be aware of what the design of the classroom says about…

This report presents findings from a two-year investigation of the ways in which Web 2.0 tools and social networking technologies are being used to support teaching and learning in classrooms across the United States. With funding from Intel[R], the Education Development Center's Center for Children and Technology (EDC/CCT) interviewed or visited…

A well-designed experiment is the best method for establishing efficacy of any intervention, be it medical, behavioral, or educational in nature. This paper reviews the steps necessary in conducting a comparative experiment in an educational setting, and illustrates how these steps might be fulfilled within the context of a large-scale randomized…

Electronic reverse auctions are increasingly being used by firms to improve firm financial and operational performance. The described teaching innovation serves as a model for introducing electronic reverse auctions as a central element in a comprehensive negotiation exercise involving sales management and purchasing management students. Results…

This paper discusses Svetovid, cross-platform software that helps instructors to assess the amount of effort put into practical exercises and exams in courses related to computer programming. The software was developed as an attempt at solving problems associated with practical exercises and exams. This paper discusses the design and use of…

This article discusses how new and familiar computer technology tools can be used in a communicative language classroom. It begins by outlining the benefits and challenges of using such technology for language teaching in general, and it describes some sample activities that the author has used. Readers are shown how to implement various computer…

What happens behind classroom doors--the content, experiences, and interactions with teachers that students encounter--is the "sine qua non" of student classroom learning. But everyone's inventory of instructional practices across different subjects and grades is limited; and the same can be said about everyone's knowledge of what makes for good…