While the use of Twitter for communication and assessment activities in online courses is not new, it has not been without its challenges. This is increasingly true of high enrolment courses. The use of a Twitter Evaluation application which leverages a Learning Management System's (LMS's) application programming interface (API) provides a…

Rapid technological advances in the areas of telecommunications, computer technology and the Internet have made available to tutors and learners in the domain of online learning, a broad array of tools that provide the possibility to facilitate and enhance learning to higher levels of critical reflective thinking. Computer mediated communication…

It has become standard practice for professors of mathematics to have a course website with a syllabus and some basic information about the course. The author argues that many professors would be better served by using a course wiki instead. In addition to simplifying all of the tasks of a traditional course website, a course wiki facilitates…

In the field of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL), scripts are designed to support collaboration among distant learners or co-present learners whose interactions are (at least partially) mediated by a computer. The rationale of scripts is to structure collaborative learning processes in order to trigger group interactions that may…

This paper addresses problems and issues that arise in electronic communications, and offers guidelines and etiquette. Topics covered include: (1) drafting an electronic message, including width of messages, abbreviations and smileys, salutation, name, author address, and responding to a message; (2) "Webtiquette" (i.e., guidelines for…

This paper discusses the need for and the design requirements of generic chatroom software that is readily configurable to particular domains and that is also extensible. The architecture of a client/server chatroom generation system, ChatterBox, implemented in Java, is presented. The following components of ChatterBox are described: (1) the basic…

This paper proposes a user-centered framework for intranet design that is based on an understanding of people, their typical problems, information behaviors, and situated contexts. It is argued that by adopting such an approach, intranets can be designed which facilitate organizational information access and use. The first section of the paper…

This paper describes the concept of online knowledge communities. The concept is defined, and six qualities of online communities are identified: members (user roles are clearly defined); mission (generally accepted goal-statement, ideas, beliefs, etc.); commitment (members give their loyalty to the mission); social interaction (frequent…

In January 1999, an interdisciplinary seminar of doctoral students from cognitive, educational and computational sciences was organized to study theoretical texts that might provide insight into how to support collaborative learning with perspectives-based software. The seminar uses a Web-based tool called WEBGUIDE to mediate and structure…

This paper examines aspects of some World Wide Web-based educational telecomputing projects to illustrate 10 different project Web page functions. These include: (1) giving a project overview or introduction to the goals and operational structure for the project; (2) announcing curriculum-based projects, inviting participation, and providing links…

This paper discusses the three types of online learning-- asynchronous collaborative learning, sametime collaborative learning, and self-paced learning--and how these modes are supported by the Lotus LearningSpace product. The following requirements for distributed learning technology are then considered: (1) flexibility, specifically the…

In the Information Society of the new millennium, the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is becoming essential for the rapid dissemination of information. In this context, Open and Distance Learning (ODL) will have a growing role in effectively training people to have active roles in society. However, modern learners have a…

There are a number of issues that must be addressed when delivering courses entirely online, such as designing effective user interfaces, using the visual medium of the World Wide Web effectively, and modifying traditional instructional methods. This paper discusses the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of an online course at…

This paper presents a set of guidelines for the design of computer-supported distance multimedia that enables collaborative distance learning. The first section provides an overview of distance learning and discusses teacher and student roles in a collaborative distance learning environment. Conditions for effective collaborative learning are…

A World Wide Web-based course at Winona State University (Minnesota) in the history of modern Germany (1818-1990), offered during the 1997-98 academic year, showcased several teaching innovations. Taught in "studio mode," with a workstation for each student, the course combined seminar discussions with electronic communication via e-mail…