Kay Reyerson and her graduate assistant Kevin Mummey applied for and received an internally funded instructional grant to address design challenges in their course Medieval Cities of Europe. One of the grant's goals was to encourage experimentation that might lead to scalable, sustainable, transformative, technology-enhanced pedagogies that could…

Since independent study groups can be important in providing spaces for students in creative disciplines to develop a critically reflexive approach to their creative practice, tutors in an Australian university introduced independent group learning to students studying in creative disciplines. However, student responses to the experience of…

Examines interaction and computer-based communication tool usage patterns among university students who completed a set of communication assignments with either the instructor or other students as the primary audience. Finds content focused on substantive course material, the exchange format closely mirrored the assignments, and most of the…

Retention has been indicated as one of the greatest weaknesses in online instruction. While a preponderance of literature about online instruction is available, concrete ideas about how to retain students are lacking. A DHHS grant for over one million dollars made it possible for the Wright State University College of Nursing and Health (Dayton,…

Today, although much debate surrounds the effectiveness of including graphics in Web-based distance education courses, most course authors agree that such courses should productively engage students so that quality of learning actually occurs. But what is productive engagement in a world of electronic communication and text? This paper offers a…

The California History/Social Science Project is using an action research model to investigate the use of online discourse in professional development and K-12 History/Social Science classrooms. There are three goals--to investigate ways of enhancing students' historical thinking and understanding; to use technology to manifest methodologies and…

The purpose of this paper is to analyze feedback given by students of a communication theory class, which uses an integrated approach to help students learn the concepts of communication theory. This analysis seeks to determine how this integrated approach helps students understand communication theory, if at all it does help them. The paper draws…

This evaluation report is the second in a series addressing the development of the Ohio SchoolNet Telecommunity initiative. Overarching topics for evaluation inquiry include technology deployment, practices in professional development, and impacts of network use on students and teachers. The report is organized by 14 "most frequently asked…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe educational MOOs--MUD, object-oriented (text-based, network-accessible virtual environments) and explore how teaching and learning in such a context impacts on students' inhibitions. Design/methodology/approach: Students enrolled in a course on the psychology of cyberspace interacted for 12 weeks…

This collaborative paper, created online by Ph.D students in a three-year cohort learning program at the California Institute of Integral Studies, explores the development and felt experience of distance learning. The purpose is to give a sense of how it feels to learn online and to describe the essence of learning. Results of this collaborative…