Three video/web conferencing technologies (Pocket Camcorder, Skype, Adobe Connect) were used in regional schools in Australia to determine whether the technologies are appropriate for the needs of the university supervisor, trainee teachers and supervising teachers with regard to practicum teaching placements. Findings revealed that Pocket…

The purpose of this study was to create and evaluate personalised virtual learning spaces (PVLSs) in a course that was previously delivered face-to-face only. The study addressed three related questions: (1) Can a PVLS successfully be introduced into a course where IT has not previously featured? (2) Can the PVLSs be used to enhance the assessment…

Mobile computing facilities may provide many assets to the educational process. Mobile technology provides software access from anywhere and at any time, as well as computer equipment independence. The need for time and place independence is even greater for medical instructors and medical students. Medical instructors are usually doctors that…

With teacher shortages in both general and critical needs areas and constricting operating budgets, it is important for Colleges of Education to develop methods of providing alternative certification programs to reach larger segments of the population. One method of increasing the scope of potential preservice teachers is through the development…

Online and face-to-face courses are often viewed and studied as two distinct worlds, but the social field of the teacher who teaches them may well include both, and both the teacher and the courses he or she teaches may be transformed by the movement from one environment to the other. Susan Lowes explores this two-way interaction between…

This report examines three text-based conferencing products: "WowBB", "Invision Power Board", and "vBulletin". Their selection was prompted by a feature-by-feature comparison of the same products on the "WowBB" website. The comparison chart painted a misleading impression of "WowBB's" features in relation to the other two products; so the…

The web has the potential to offer an environment that can support standardized medical education to students dispersed in time or place and, in the process, respond to reduced availability of patients for practice. This exploratory article describes how we evaluated critical thinking in an online collaborative Problem-based Learning (PBL)…

Four integrated learning management packages were reviewed: "CentraOne", "IntraLearn", "Lyceum", and "Silicon Chalk". These products provide different combinations of synchronous and asynchronous tools. The current report examines the products in relation to their specific value for distance educators and students.