The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) has made no secret of its desire for teachers to introduce more creativity into UK classrooms. Imaginatively minded teachers have found a number of ways to introduce creativity into the classroom. Dance, music, problem solving and role-play exercises are all well trodden routes, but it was the…

Considerable buzz has appeared on the Internet over a group of new tools labeled social software. These tools can expand discussion beyond the classroom and provide new ways for students to collaborate and communicate within their class or around the world. Dickinson College has implemented two of the best-known tools, the wiki and the blog, in…

The note discusses ways in which technology can be used in the calculus learning process. In particular, five MATLAB programs are detailed for use by instructors or students that demonstrate important concepts in introductory calculus: Newton's method, differentiation and integration. Two of the programs are animated. The programs and the…

Calculators can be used in primary schools in a number of situations. They are most beneficial when working with large numbers, dealing with real data that leads to complex calculations, performing repetitive calculations, developing concepts, estimating and checking, problem solving, and looking for patterns and/or relationships. But what if the…

Scrapbooking is one of the fastest-growing crafts in the world. Unlike sports or other recreational activities, scrapbooking has no rules; it is a form of creative expression that allows a person to share and preserve his or her experiences and memories in albums that usually consist of photographs, newspaper clippings, and other mementos, in…

This article describes an activity that involves the use of simulation for decision-making. It is useful for demonstrating concepts in probability and statistics. (Contains 4 figures and 2 tables.)

In the past two decades, there has been a proliferation of research activities on exploring the use of concept maps to support teaching and learning of various knowledge disciplines which range from science to language subjects. MindNet, which is a collaborative concept mapping environment that supports both synchronous and asynchronous modes of…

Web-based (or online) learning provides an unprecedented flexibility and convenience to both learners and instructors. However, large online classes relying on instructor-centered presentations could tend to isolate many learners. The size of these classes and the wide dispersion of the learners make it challenging for instructors to interact with…

This paper discusses the use of online learning communities for library professional organizations to promote collaboration and learning. The addition of an online learning community component to a library organization expands collaborative and educational opportunities for members through a virtual environment. Although technologies used to…

Guidance and verbal directions, usually received in a face-to-face (F2F) classroom, are often conspicuously absent from online courses. Like their peers in traditional classroom settings, students in online classes need clear, concise instructions (Cramer, Collins, Snider, & Fawcett, 2006). Screen capture and recording technologies, such as…

This article describes an evolution of training programs to use first-person interaction in virtual reality (VR) situations to teach safety skills to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Multiple VR programs for children aged 2 to 9 were built and tested between 1992 and 2007. Based on these…

The use of geographic information systems (GIS) in the classroom provides a robust and effective method of teaching the primary spatial skills of identification, description, and explanation of spatial pattern. A major handicap for the development of GIS-based learning experiences, especially for non-GIS specialist educators, is the availability…

Open Source Software (OSS) has introduced a new dimension in software community. As the development and use of OSS becomes prominent, the question of its integration in education arises. In this paper, the following practices fundamental to projects and processes in software engineering are examined from an OSS perspective: project management;…

Major changes in mathematics pedagogy include writing as pedagogy and the role of community in learning. The classroom community is naturally extended by the use of online discussion boards. In this article several models for student use of online discussion boards that have been successfully used to promote mathematical discourse are presented.…

The EDUCAUSE Current Issues Committee, whose members review and recommend the set of IT issues to be presented each year, conducted a Web-based survey in December 2006 to identify the five of thirty-one IT issues in each of four areas: (1) issues that are critical for strategic success; (2) issues that are expected to increase in significance; (3)…