In response to recent social, economic, and pedagogical challenges to tertiary-level teaching and learning, universities are increasingly investigating and adopting e-learning as a way to engage and motivate students. This paper reports on the first year of a two-year (2009-2010) qualitative multiple case study research project in New Zealand.…

Distance education has dramatically increased the educational opportunities for underserved populations. This is evidenced by the fairly recent proliferation and success of online universities, and it is happening in spite of criticism of e-learning and online degree programs among academia and the popular press. As a result, many institutions,…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the integration of a cognitive apprenticeship model in a Web-based course. The subject of this study is an educational technology course for pre-service P-12 teacher education students. Specifically, this study presents student reports of how cognitive apprenticeship methods impacted student learning…

The main purpose of this study is not to compare online and traditional face-to-face instruction merely to prove which one is better, but rather it aims to highlight some of the possible risks and strengths which may help to improve the role of teachers in both methods. The scene consisted of various thematic blocks from a training programme, with…

Recent technological developments have greatly influenced the ways American universities deliver educational course offerings to students at a distance. The perception of pre-service teachers in distance education programmes is germane to the planning and delivery of distance education courses in teacher education departments in the future. The…

This article explores the implementation of effective synchronous voice communication sessions within a graduate level university program in education. Through the analysis of data derived from the multiple perspectives of an instructor, graduate student, program administrator and instructional technology support person, challenges and highlights…

This article investigates distance students' understanding of the prerequisites for interactive learning in asynchronous, computer mediated university distance studies. It encompasses students' attitudes to structure, dialogue and autonomy, and their experience of social presence and what they consider interaction with peer learners signifies for…

Colleges and universities have embraced distance education as a solution to meet challenges brought by demands for access, reduced state and federal funding, and strained institutional resources. Paralleling the growth of distance educational courses, programs, and enrollments, is the need to have increasing numbers of faculty delivering…

In the emerging era of the "read-write" web, students can not only research and collect information from existing web resources, but also collaborate and create new information on the web in a surprising number of ways. Web 2.0 is an umbrella term for many individual tools that have been created with web collaboration, sharing, and/or new…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the integration of a cognitive apprenticeship model into an educational technology Web-based course for pre-service primary through secondary teacher education. Specifically, this study presents an overview of methods, tools and media used to foster the integration of a cognitive apprenticeship model,…

This paper discusses the issue of learner participation in a net-based higher education course. With the starting point in recent educational policies formulated by the European Union and the results of an evaluation report from the Swedish Net University, I raise the question of which pedagogical aspects need to be considered in order to support…

This paper explores a case of teacher professional development in Botswana where a blended learning solution was attempted. The analysis of the implementation environment reveals deficiencies in policy, schools (workplaces), and training providers. The paper concludes with three recommendations: 1) Schools should support ongoing teacher learning…

This paper describes a method that utilized technology to collect and collate quantitative and qualitative data about pre-service teachers' use of networked technologies during a 12-week undergraduate course, and the impact of this use on their pedagogical beliefs regarding the integration of information and communications technology (ICT). The…

Journals can be defined as the permanent records of thoughts and ideas that an individual has processed and clarified through the act of writing or otherwise recording their experiences (Killion, 1999). While journaling has existed almost as long as man has been writing, the use of journaling as a pedagogical strategy is a relatively recent…

Distance education has been one of the hottest and most controversial topics in higher education circles for approximately the past 10 years. It has been viewed at once as the panacea for educating the world and that which, through its inherent depersonalization of the academic process, will destroy higher education "as we know it." This article…