High-quality field-based experiences are at the core of teacher preparation programs; however, the COVID-19 pandemic severely limited access to such placements for pre-service teachers. This descriptive study examined how virtual tutoring in a summer-semester intermediate literacy course impacted both pre-service teachers and students served.…

This study examined the predictive relationship among international students' sense of community, perceived learning, and end-of-course grades in computer-mediated, U.S. graduate-level courses. The community of inquiry (CoI) framework served as the theoretical foundation for the study. Step-wise hierarchical multiple regression showed no…

The four-week university-sponsored summer Computer-based Writing (CBW) Program directed by the head of a special education initial teacher licensure program gave teaching interns opportunities to work with young struggling writers in a supervised clinical setting to address keyboarding skills, writing conventions and knowledge and application of…

Computer-based instruction in kindergarten classrooms can be controversial, but one Los Angeles charter school is showing promising results and plans to expand the hybrid approach. The school conducted an experiment with a teaching method called blended learning, in which students learn from computers as well as teachers. The kindergarten…

Radford University was recently configured with a campus-wide wireless local area network. Using these new capabilities, a classroom-based Honors section of Concepts of Biology was conducted solely using electronic technologies (paper was never transferred from professor to student). To accomplish this, students used common software and freeware.…

In these times of high-stakes testing, pressure to meet annual yearly progress goals, and standards-driven classroom curriculums, today's teachers face many obstacles that interfere with their ability to teach with and about television and video. If graduate study for teacher educators was designed in ways that reflect the realities of their…

The reported exploratory study consisted primarily of classroom visits, videotaped sessions, and post-treatment interviews whereby second graders (n = 12) worked on problems in planar geometry, individually and in triads, using physical and virtual manipulatives. The goal of the study was to: 1) characterize the nature of geometric thinking found…

Online learning has steadily become a more integral strategy for schools and districts in their efforts to offer students greater access to the courses they need. Where in the past, much of the online learning activity happened at the state level or regional level, more and more schools are exercising greater control over their online and digital…

The role of critical and creative thinking has been debated within the field of instructional design. Through an instructional design and development project we have identified how critical and creative thinking are essential to the instructional design process. This paper highlights a recent project focused on a virtual Native American village…

The confluence of technology convergence, market forces, and student demand for greater access is reshaping higher education institutions. Indeed, the convergence of technological innovations in hardware, software, and telecommunications, combined with the ubiquity of learning management systems, is reconfiguring and strengthening traditional…

Spatial visualization skills are vital to many careers and in particular to STEM fields. Materials have been developed at Michigan Technological University and Penn State Erie, The Behrend College to assess and develop spatial skills. The EnViSIONS (Enhancing Visualization Skills-Improving Options aNd Success) project is combining these materials…

Survey of 90 Virginia classrooms suggests there may be computer "crisis" in middle schools. Computers were not integral part of classrooms, teaching, or student learning. Teachers had low perceptions about computer use in classrooms and felt little commitment to increasing usage. Administrators must look beyond number of computers in…

If technology were incorporated into teacher education and professional development activities, educators might have time to gain confidence, identify appropriate uses, and experiment with specific techniques for their own classrooms. Distance education and computer-mediated communications developments in Iowa, Alaska, California, Virginia, and…

This special section contains dispatches from the school technology frontier and four feature articles. Lars Kongshem shows how a rural Virginia community connects citizens and schools. Donna Harrington-Lueker describes a North Carolina "virtual high school." Richard J. Coley summarizes a study on school technology effectiveness.…

One-to-one computing, laptop learning, technology immersion: such initiatives are gaining momentum--and sparking excitement and controversy--in middle level and high schools, but the key to their success is more than cutting-edge technology. Henrico County Public Schools, a pioneer in educational technology in Virginia, launched a one-to-one…