Learning communities gained attention in 1984 after the publication of the "Involvement in Learning" report, which was sponsored by the U.S. Education Department. The authors of the report stated that active engagement in learning processes enhances learning and leads to two fundamental principles: (1) The amount of student learning and personal…

Providing quality technical support in K-12 environments can be challenging. Unlike the business world, there is generally a less-than-ideal ratio of technical staff to computers, numerous software titles from dozens of vendors, and of course--a much smaller budget. The Victor Central School District in Victor, New York, has employed a number of…

The purpose of this project was to provide a resource for distance education graduate students or their instructors to help students excel in their online programs. The researchers interviewed 15 people, consisting of current students and recent graduates. Participants provided information about the nature of online courses, why these courses were…

In spite of all the attention that the concept of learning objects has received in the education community, it remains poorly defined. This paper attempts to explore what may be a learning object other than some computer file catalogued in a digital library for reuse. Any debate about what a learning object may be is premature without a general…

This article draws from the professional literature of two distinct domains of research: computer-based electronic learning and professional development in education. The present paper addresses the recently recognized need for new conceptualizations of teaching in both fields. Questions and dilemmas pertaining to collaborative learning and…

Simulations can often be used to internationalize a course and even a curriculum. For faculty that teach international and comparative courses, simulations can often provide students with an opportunity to see beyond their own country. In developing a course on political revolutions, I created a simulation in which students role-played either a…

Computer-based cognitive tools may have an important role to play in making widespread improvements in history teaching. Scholars agree that one important way to help students understand history is to involve them in historical interpretation, and there have been promising developments in the design of tools that scaffold students' interpretation…

In this article, the author discusses blogging and its benefits. Blog is shorthand for weblog, which is a series of items posted on the Internet for others to read. It usually includes text, images, and links to other websites. Blogs provide a running commentary or conversation. Although many people use blogs as online journals, detailing the…

This chapter describes successful assignments that made creative use of laptops in writing, literature, and public speaking courses. Some activities moved the session out of the classroom to outdoor locations.

The Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) at Stevens Institute of Technology helps mathematics teachers to integrate and implement engaging and innovative collaborative lessons into their curriculum for illustrating complex mathematics concepts. CIESE has developed online projects that incorporate complex mathematics…

This paper describes a Web-based and distributed system named QSIA that serves as an environment for learning, assessing and knowledge sharing. QSIA--Questions Sharing and Interactive Assignments--offers a unified infrastructure for developing, collecting, managing and sharing of knowledge items. QSIA enhances collaboration in authoring via online…

In this paper we consider the extent to which learning objects that focus on higher level thinking might be seen as Type II applications, as defined by Maddux, Johnson, and Willis (2001). We conclude that learning objects are at best hybrid applications, with some Type I and some Type II characteristics. We also consider whether the educational…

Educators are faced with developing performance indicators for reporting to state and national agencies on pre-service teacher candidates' ability to teach using innovative pedagogy as well as content- specific standards. Portfolio assessment has gained momentum as a standard in assessing student-learning outcomes. This paper is a discussion of…

In this article two computer-produced multimedia stories created by children in their after-school centre are analysed, building on the assumption that children draw that which is important for them. The aim is to make visible the significance of narrative structure, reaccentuation, intertextuality, multivoicedness and various levels of…

For at least twenty years educators have wrestled with questions about the appropriate uses of computer technologies in classrooms while spending millions of dollars with neither clarity of purpose nor defined expectations. The private uses of communications technologies by children and youth leave everyone, with a different question--not whether…