This paper introduces the Teachers' Research Exchange (T-REX), an online community of practice that is currently being deployed on a pilot basis nationwide in Ireland as a response to the "research-practice gap". The system includes collaborative, educational, and technical components. The technical aspect is the social networking and…

The long and winding road is a metaphor for a journey, often used to describe life journeys and the challenges encountered. The metaphor was used for the title of my keynote to refer both to the journey towards the current position of virtual exchange in education policy -- but also the long road ahead. This paper aims to explore the emergence of…

Virtual worlds are an important tool in modern education practices as well as providing socialisation, entertainment and a laboratory for collaborative work. This paper focuses on the uses of virtual worlds for education and synthesises over 100 published academic papers, reports and educational websites from around the world. A taxonomy is then…

Purpose: The purpose of this self-reflective paper is to focus on practical efforts to combat inequality and foster intercultural dialogue in education. It introduces "knowledge alliances", a type of social practice open for education technologies. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is structured in a theoretical and an empirical…

The problem of the relation of theory to practice in teaching and teacher training has been a major issue of debate for a long time. Well over a century ago, Dewey (1904) discussed the tensions between the role of theoretical insight as a preparation for the teaching profession versus the need for more practical, how-to-do-it courses in which one…

"VideoPaper Builder" (VPB) was originally funded in 2001 through the National Science Foundation's "Bridging Research and Practice" program in recognition of the software's promise to articulate the relevance and facilitate the dissemination of educational research to practicing teachers. After four years and two subsequent…

Any application of information and communication technology in education (ICTE) sits, at times uncomfortably, at the intersection of three key disciplines: technology, education and sociology (including reflexivity). To confuse matters, any specific study may need to take account of specific knowledge within subdisciplines, such as organisational…

Examines the need to match teaching processes to cognitive aspects of learning and motivational dynamics of learners within the context of computer assisted instruction (CAI). Discusses how theories and empirical findings of research on motivation can be integrated in a formal model in order to describe and predict motivation within the framework…

A new model for pedagogy needs to be developed that is based on the use of technology and student independence. There is no meaningful research leading to a new theory of pedagogy; current educational practices do not reflect contemporary needs. It must be determined whether children have any standing in the debate over educational reform. (AEF)

Serious criticisms of research in information and communications technology (ICT) in education have been published recently in both the UK and the USA. This paper addresses several issues raised in these commentaries: a lack of sound theoretical underpinnings to our research, persistent neglect of the history of our sub-discipline, the choice of…

This document contains 43 papers presented at a conference on research in teaching adults at the University of Exeter, England, in 1998. Among the papers are the following: "Reconstructing Academic Practice: Research and Teaching in a University School of Adult Education" (David Boud); "Re-searching Adult Education Practice:…

A pilot project was developed at Indiana University Southeast to help teacher education students learn ways to put current educational theories and strategies to work in a school setting. The project was based on the idea that the language arts--listening, reading, writing, and speaking--should be integrated and that many subject areas could be…

This booklet, which is intended for United Kingdom further education (FE) college staff at all levels, illustrates ways FE colleges have used information technology (IT) to manage their college information and ensure its accuracy. Section 1 provides an overview of the information-related problems encountered by FE colleges and summarizes key…

Discusses why Japan has participated in the international cooperative studies sponsored by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). Asserts that Japanese educators want to compare not only content acquisition but also measures of cognitive learning. (CFR)

Intended for language teachers at all levels, administrators, and researchers, this book presents essays on the use of educational technology in language teaching, focusing on the use of computer-assisted language learning (CALL). The writings suggest the principles that should guide CALL in curriculum, methodology, and research efforts; in the…