Libraries have always been poised at the crossroads of access tools and content. Librarians, their personnel, and supporters have worked for generations to create tools to store and utilize content for the benefit of patrons. Libraries house materials and the tools to unlock them; their staffers teach patrons to use the materials and associated…

Medicinal chemistry is a specialized, scientific discipline. Computational chemistry and structure-based drug design constitute important themes in the education of medicinal chemists. This problem-based task is associated with structure-based drug design lectures. It requires students to use computational techniques to investigate conformational…

All too often, one reads about high-speed police chases in pursuit of stolen cars that result in death and injury to people and innocent bystanders. Isn't there another way to accomplish the apprehension of the thieves that does not put people at such great risk? This article presents a classroom challenge to use technology to remotely shutdown…

The Provost at a small liberal arts college in upstate New York requested that a new college committee investigate the feasibility of creating and offering blended courses along with the typical face-to-face courses and the fully online courses. An instructional design model is used to discuss and analyze one faculty member's journey through the…

This paper discusses how the use of digital technologies may support a shift of cultural practices in teaching and learning, to better meet the needs of 21st century higher education learners. A brief discussion of the changing needs of the learners is provided, followed by a review of the overall impact of digital technologies on teaching and…

This article discusses the challenges faced when integrating new technologies into the classroom. Viewing the experiences of teaching a first year learning community through the lens of the principles of the Reflective Teaching Portfolio, the author looks to answer the question: "How should Technology relate to our Teaching Philosophy?"…

Everyone knows that lack of internet access can reinforce the social and economic disadvantages already facing some older people. Recognising the divisive nature of digital exclusion, the government has invested 2.8 million British Pounds in Get Digital, a project that will enable sheltered housing residents to develop computer and internet…

The European Association for Astronomy Education (EAAE), in collaboration with the Bibliotheca Alexandrina of Egypt and the participation of schools from all around the world, performed the Eratosthenes experiment on 21 June 2010. This activity has been selected as one of the finalists in the 11th international prize organized by Ciencia en…

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…

Within the (Computer-Supported) Collaborative Learning (CS)CL research community, there has been an extensive dialogue on theories and perspectives on learning from collaboration, approaches to scaffold (script) the collaborative process, and most recently research methodology. In contrast, the issue of assessment of collaborative learning has…

How can children lead productive and satisfying lives in the 21st century if school teachers are having them use technology from the 20th century? The hallmark of the 21st century global workplace is the computer. According to a recent Pew Internet and American Life Project study, "The Digital Disconnect: The Widening Gap between…

The creation of the first SCORM (Shareable Content Object Reference Model) object offers some challenges and difficulties which go beyond the facilities offered by content generation applications. In particular, the creation of really reusable, searchable learning objects requires a detailed consideration of metadata, where some institutional…

This article discusses the growing demand of using touchscreen interface. Consumers are now seeing touchscreens in a wide variety of electronics, not only in competitors to the iPhone from Sony, Samsung, Motorola, LG and T-Mobile, but also in desktop PCs, printers and copiers, televisions, and MP3 players. Teens, if they don't have a touch-enabled…

Some might argue that the true ability to think, perceive, and analyse mathematically is the ability to solve problems. Others might say that it has more to do with advanced applications of procedures in particular contexts. The author would like to put a slightly different spin on this by viewing it, at least partly, in terms of one's ability to…

Political and institutional support has enabled many institutions of learning to spend millions of dollars to acquire educational computing tools (Ficklen and Muscara, "Am Educ" 25(3):22-29, 2001) that have not been effectively integrated into the curriculum. While access to educational technology tools has remarkably improved in most schools,…