On February 10, 2004, Alex Bick contacted Chris Dede, the Timothy E. Wirth Professor of Learning Technologies at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, seeking a mentor for his work to determine whether handheld computers regularly carried by high school students generally affect academic achievement. At the time, Bick was a 10th grader…

When we planned the editorial calendar with the topic ubiquitous computing, we were thinking of ubiquitous computing as the one-to-one ratio of computers to students and teachers and 24/7 access to electronic resources. At the time, we were aware that ubiquitous computing in the computer science field had more to do with wearable computers. Our…

Excitement about handhelds must be tempered by an understanding of what is typically required when any new technology is introduced into classrooms. We know, for example, that to succeed, handheld initiatives will need clear educational objectives and a logical theory of action that guides implementation. We can anticipate that teachers will need…

Describes a virtual museum tour project developed by Eastview Community School (Red Deer, Alberta) eighth grade students that used telecommunications and multimedia. Discusses the project's educational objectives, methods of collecting information, preparing hypertext documents, writing dialogue, the final presentation, and key components for a…

Describes how teams of grade 4-9 gifted students investigated unsolved mysteries like Bigfoot, aliens and UFOs, the Loch Ness Monster, and Stonehenge to develop Internet and research skills. Highlights student observations on difficulties encountered using the Internet for research, notes student evaluation of the workshop, and provides addresses…

Presents seven activity structures for Internet-based problem solving projects to aid teachers in designing effective educational telecomputing experiences that can be curriculum-based and adapted to learning needs and preferences of students. These projects include information searches; electronic process writing; sequential creations; parallel…