Digital badges have been increasingly used to encourage users to achieve specific goals in learning. Recent studies have shown that badges can be effective to incentivize learners to complete specific tasks or increase learning participation in online learning environments. This study utilized a mixed research method to examine the impact of a…

Substantial evidence now supports pedagogical applications of virtual worlds; however, most research supporting virtual worlds for education has been conducted using researcher-developed Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVE). Second Life (SL) is a MUVE that has been adopted by a large number of academic institutions; however, little research has…

This study focuses on the effects of situated learning on students' knowledge acquisition by investigating the influence of individual differences in such learning. Seventy-nine graduates were recruited from an educational department and were assigned to situated learning and traditional learning based on a randomized block design. Results…

Examines how technology was utilized within a student-centered project-based class, as well as students' beliefs about their technology use. Findings indicated teachers and students held differing conceptions on what was valued in class. Students spent much more time on technology-related skills than on exploring content. Content learning occurred…

In the study of the Technology Immersion model, high-need middle schools were "immersed" in technology by providing laptops for each teacher and student, instructional and learning resources, professional development, and technical and pedagogical support. This article reports third-year findings for the teacher component of the…

Describes a prototype for the use of local area network (LAN) technology in a sixth grade earth science curriculum. Classroom activities that focus on cooperative small group learning are discussed, coordinated investigations as a framework for scientific activities in the classroom are explained, and possible future work with LAN environments is…

Two groups of twelve dyslexic children and twelve good readers attended a two-week class during the summer following their enrollment in grades 4-6. The topic was the marine environment and focused on the adventures of an orca whale that had lost its family and needed the children's help. The children attended class for three hours each day, 45…

A study of the effects of microcomputer use in classrooms and homes on the growth of school-readiness skills of kindergartners used pre- and posttested experimental and control groups to assess reading readiness, mathematics readiness, Piagetian operations, and keyboard knowledge. Teacher implementation strategies and techniques used by nonreaders…

Describes a study that examined increasing peer interaction in an asynchronous learning environment by investigating the effect of a teacher's discourse style on the level and quality of student participation in a computer-mediated discussion. Three discourse styles (i.e., questions, statements, and conversational) are studied, and further…