Identifies stages in user adoption of virtual learning (i.e., Internet-based courses and traditional courses with Internet components) for higher education students and faculty. Instructors' stages of virtuality are: excited, apprehensive, questioning, determined, overstimulated, questioning revisited, and exhausted. Students' stages are:…

Describes "TOPILOT," a European telematics project coordinated by the European Federation for the Education of the Children of Occupational Travellers (EFECOT), which responds to the educational and training needs of fairground, circus, and bargee families. Discusses teacher involvement, linking project phases, and communication and the…

Business schools across the country are specializing in electronic commerce, in which teams of students create online businesses available on the Internet only to participating institutions. The courses offer students an opportunity to see how an online retailing business is conducted, including creating and maintaining Web sites, advertising…

Discusses the history, principles, culture, and teaching approaches of the United Kingdom Open University and its Business School (OUBS). Focuses on management students and the OUBS's position in a dynamic and competitive MBA market place. Discusses computer-mediated conferencing (CMC) and the role of OUBS tutors. Reports key findings from a study…

Traces the development of an online unit for Indigenous Australian learners, and accounts for cultural issues that impacted on the design of learning tasks and the associated avenues for communication provided to learners. In this context, culturally responsive design was ensured by the adoption of Lave's (1991) community of practice model. (AEF)

Argues that promoters and opponents of online education are mistaken. Although technology can be used to enhance the college curriculum, it is useful mainly for such efforts as low-tech, labor-intensive writing instruction. It cannot replace the advantages of face-to-face instruction but should be developed to meet practical instructional needs…

Details the Collaborative Teacher Education Program (CTEP) at Indiana University, which offers Web-based continuing education courses to teachers in rural communities. Modes of delivery include videoconferencing, Web-based conferencing and instruction, and a completely Web-based course. Learner-centered instruction is promoted in three main areas:…

Describes a case study involving the implementation of computer-mediated communications via the Internet linking two university instructional design classes in two different countries. Includes examples from student discussions, demonstrates the impact of discussions on the design projects, and considers access to computers and implications for…

Examines experiences of Park College (Missouri) (Park University as of January 1, 2000) in developing an online distance learning program that serves more than 1,700 students per term worldwide. Discusses the pilot course; first terms online; motivations and preconditions necessary for success; profit/nonprofit perspective; leadership; types of…

This study analyzed discussion in an online conference that supplemented class discussion using an instructional method called the starter-wrapper technique within a graduate level educational psychology course. Describes use of a model for content analysis of computer-mediated communication and examines five variables, including student…

Describes the use of CMT (computer-mediated communications) to help ELT (English-language training, or English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) acquire high-level communication, cultural, and employability skills as well as language skills for postsecondary studies and employment. (LRW)

Examines the current status of online developmental courses. Features descriptions of programs at several colleges, including the names and e-mail addresses of individuals to contact for further information. Describes the hardware requirements for offering online courses as well as how such courses typically operate. (MAB)

A study of 43 student teachers of science studying lesson planning found that students working in partnership with a supervising teacher achieved 12% higher gains than teachers working entirely at a university and that teachers using computer-mediated delivery achieved 15% higher gains than those using traditional delivery methods. (PEN)

Discussion of synchronous computer mediated communications over the Internet focuses on the opportunities and pitfalls of using graphical chat programs in education. Topics include two-dimensional and three-dimensional chat programs; distance education; problem solving groups; exploring cultural differences; language skill development;…

Conceptual learning of 13 graduate students was studied during a six-week course using the Internet for collaborative learning of online articles. Five groups were formed with each creating a knowledge map during the first and fifth week of the course. Multidimensional scaling analysis was used to study change in each group's mapping over time to…