The appropriate use of technology in education is one viable solution to the challenge of training students for the Information Age. Benefits and barriers are presented in this paper. Benefits include improved student performance and behavior, and an efficient manner of procuring information. An additional benefit is the global awareness and…

The purpose of this study is to examine how technology, namely virtual reality (VR), can be developed as a critical pedagogical tool. More specifically, the study explores whether the use of VR can challenge the traditional lecture format and make the classroom a more student-centered environment. In this instance, VR is defined as a set of…

This document contains the Conference Agenda, followed by highlights from 42 Spotlight School systems across the country. The schools briefly share their experiences, evaluation techniques, and tell their success stories about the positive impacts technology is having on teaching and learning. Conference research materials are then presented.…

Over a six-year period, a team of staff members in a high school in the Phoenix, Arizona area explored ways to improve student success while simultaneously reducing instructional costs. Technology as a tool for change played a significant role in most of the solutions that were explored. Increasing access to computers and the Internet by students…

This document presents the proceedings from the 5th International European University Information Systems (EUNIS) Conference on Information Technology that took place in Helsinki, Finland on June 7-9, 1999. Topics of the conference proceedings were divided into five tracks (A through E): Use of Information Technology in Learning and Teaching;…

"Sketches of Innovators in Education" is a collection of articles in which Indiana State University faculty and staff members discuss their experiences developing courses and teaching with educational technologies. This edition features a special section written by graduate student employees of the University's Faculty Computing Resource…

This paper deals with the use of personal technologies in decentralized university education. Decentralized education, delivered to off-campus students located in the same geographical area, is a hybrid genre combining features of both on-campus and distance education. The paper reports two studies. The first study focused on communication…

A number of recent reports note that colleges of education could do a better job in technology training. Most evident in these reports is the call for teachers to learn how to integrate technology into their instruction, rather than just learning technology skills in isolation. To heed recommendations and better respond to student needs, the…

This paper discusses computer based virtual field trips that use technologies commonly found in public schools in the United States. The discussion focuses on the advantages of both using and creating these field trips for an instructional situation. A virtual field trip to Cumberland Island National Seashore, St. Marys, Georgia is used as a point…

The Open University of Israel (OUI) is a distance education institution that offers over 250 computer-mediated courses through the Internet. All OUI students must pass an English reading comprehension exemption exam or take the University's English reading comprehension courses. Because reading instruction differs from content instruction,…

Higher education and learning calls for a human process, an interaction between facilitator and learner. A customized approach to individualized problems is more than just electronic delivery. The crucial issue is not the mode of delivery, but the skills required to facilitate learning. Unfortunately, evidence of a subtle re-definition of…

Since the early 1990s and birth of the World Wide Web, instructional experimentation with Internet integration has been undertaken. While efforts are varied, usage of the Internet can be grouped into three general categories: communication supplements, course management aids, and course content supplements. Communication supplements are those that…

This survey of faculty attitudes toward technology calls for more critical dialogue on the uses, effects and hidden costs of information technology in the classroom and the national political economy. A survey was administered to 250 faculty members (135 were returned) at a northeastern university. The comments of respondents fell into two main…

This paper details a 2-year study of exemplary uses of electronic texts (information displayed electronically on a computer screen) in two English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learning contexts. Topics include the following: the need and desire to communicate; opportunities for topic control; and opportunities for planned and unplanned discourses.…

In this collection of articles, Indiana State University faculty members discuss their experiences in developing courses and teaching with educational technologies. The purposes of this publication are to share creative approaches to teaching and learning, and to acknowledge and support the efforts of Indiana State University faculty members who…