In the spring of 2004, the Arcadia University launched MyArcadia, the campus web portal. MyArcadia gives students, faculty, and staff access to online courses and departmental web sites. The portal is also the main source for campus announcements and event listings, and provides a single sign-on link to campus email. This report gives a detailed…

This paper summarizes the experiences of an instructor and teaching assistant who introduced online communication strategies in a graduate seminar. This paper drew on the findings of a previous paper (Schwier & Balbar, 2002), and examined how to construct structured discussions of content using synchronous and asynchronous communication in…

In traditional face-to-face classrooms, teachers lead their students through discussions using strategies that promote reflection and further exploration of issues and topics. The same holds true in the online class. There are specific techniques and strategies used in facilitating learning through discussion in both types of classes. The…

This paper describes an experimental study which has been carried out at the Near East University using the Moodle Learning Management System (LMS) together with two types of Web-Based Collaborative Tools (CTs): Standard CT and Advanced CT to create a virtual learning environment to teach programming languages. The aim of this study was to find…

This paper describes the Telematics for Teacher Training Project (T3) Work Package 08, which aims to evaluate, assess, and produce course materials to respond to the information needs of librarians supporting teacher trainers and trainees in higher education institutions across Europe. The increasing use of educational technology to deliver more…

This manual is designed to help adult educators to understand and use the Internet in teaching adult students. The manual examines what the Internet is, how one can connect to it, and how it can be used. It also describes ways to communicate on the Internet, identifies sites where information can be accessed, and explains how search tools are…

This paper presents the Virtual Reference Desk project, its current activities, and a proposed information system architecture to build a human intermediated network of expertise and experience for the K-12 community. The Virtual Reference Desk is a project headed by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Information & Technology and funded by the U.S.…

This small-grant funded project was intended to act as a pilot study looking at the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in adult education. In particular, the project aimed to investigate the use of ICT in extending patterns of participation in adult education to those social groups presently excluded from learning; one of the…

This paper describes the concept of online knowledge communities. The concept is defined, and six qualities of online communities are identified: members (user roles are clearly defined); mission (generally accepted goal-statement, ideas, beliefs, etc.); commitment (members give their loyalty to the mission); social interaction (frequent…

We have established an environment for German-Japanese school education projects using real time interactive audio-visual distance learning between remote classrooms. In periods of 8-12 weeks, two classes are dealing with the same subject matter, exchanging materials and results via e-mail and Internet. At 3 or 4 occasions the classes met on…

This research is mainly concerned with the costs of computers in schools in developing countries. It starts with a brief overview of the information revolution and its consequences. It then briefly examines some of the arguments for the use of computers in schools in developing countries, before reviewing previous work undertaken on the costs of…

This paper looks at the low participation rates in computer mediated conferences (CMC) and argues that one of the causes of this may be an incompatibility between students' learning styles and the style adopted by CMC. Curry's Onion Model provides a well-established framework within which to view the main learning style theories (Riding and…

This paper analyzes problems and issues in making knowledge of teaching and learning visible and sharable online. It also describes some of the ongoing research and development efforts at the Carnegie Foundation's Knowledge Media Laboratory that advance this work through the use of emerging technologies. Implications for future research and…

As computers become an integral part of classrooms, educators need to determine if there are uses of computers that are supported by research. Recent research has examined uses of technology in the classroom for writing instruction, electronic literacy environment, and electronic portfolios. Results of these studies on writing instruction indicate…

This paper presents strategies and rationales for implementing certain instructional techniques to move a class from cohort to community. The context is the new Distance Master's program in Instructional Systems Technology at Indiana University. The authors give suggestions for instructional and non-instructional strategies that have students…