All students today are increasingly expected to develop technological fluency, digital citizenship, and other twenty-first century competencies despite wide variability in the quality of learning opportunities schools provide. Social network sites (SNSs) available via the internet may provide promising contexts for learning to supplement…

The purpose of the study is to build a model that predicts the level of technology acceptance by pre-service teachers at a teacher training institute in Singapore. It examines relationships among variables associated with factors that influence technology acceptance. Data was collected from 475 participants using a survey questionnaire. Employing…

A WebQuest is an inquiry-based lesson plan that uses the Internet. This article explains what a WebQuest is, shows how to create one, and provides an example. When engaged in a WebQuest, students use technology to experience cooperative learning and discovery learning while honing their research, writing, and presentation skills. It has been found…

In the new millennium, the No Child Left Behind Act (2001) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) (2004) ask educators to maximize opportunities for students with disabilities to succeed in inclusive classrooms. To make autonomy and integration seamless, many students with special needs will need to make use of…

Over the past four years, the Technology Proficiency Self-Assessment (TPSA) created by Ropp (n.d.) and the Student Information Survey designed by Shoffner (2007a) were used to monitor the technology integration competence of pre-service teachers in a technology integration course at Georgia State University. The data collected and class…

This article presents a case study in which researcher-practitioner collaboration took place to promote effective use of technology in an urban elementary school mathematics classroom. Data were primarily gathered through classroom observations and interviews. The aim of this study was twofold. First, to increase our understanding of the effects…

The boundary element method provides an excellent platform for learning and teaching a computational method for solving problems in physical and engineering science. However, it is often left out in many undergraduate courses as its implementation is deemed to be difficult. This is partly due to the perception that coding the method requires…

Interactive computer simulations with complex representations and sophisticated graphics are a relatively new addition to the classroom, and research in this area is limited. We have conducted over 275 individual student interviews during which the students described what they were thinking as they interacted with simulations. These interviews…

Do campus IT departments harm higher education? Wall Street Journal personal-technology columnist Walt Mossberg suggested as much during a speech he gave to high-level administrators at last June's Chronicle of Higher Education presidents' forum. Mossberg caught the attention of campus CIOs when, according to the Chronicle, he described large IT…

Computer-generated mind maps, or e-maps, provide an outstanding e-learning tool for organizing and navigating web-based content and files. Considerable research indicates the effectiveness of using graphic organizers such as mind maps to facilitate meaningful learning. Tony Buzan and Barry Buzan argue that mind maps better harness the way the…

In this article, the author describes how she was able to allow her students to talk with author Cynthia Leitich Smith through Skype, a free Internet telephony service. The author also describes how Skype can be used for recording podcasts and enhancing the reference services of libraries. Here, the author shares ideas on using Skype in libraries.

This paper presents a conceptual analysis of the technological dimensions related to the operationalization of CSCL macro-scripts. CSCL scripts are activity models that aim at enhancing the probability that knowledge generative interactions such as conflict resolution, explanation or mutual regulation occur during the collaboration process. We…

Data projectors have become a common sight in school classrooms, often in conjunction with an interactive whiteboard. Long periods of continuous use coupled with the transfer of a large amount of thermal energy from the projector's bulb means that they frequently break down, often in such a manner that they become uneconomic to repair. In this…

When it comes to technologies like digital games, simulations, and social networking, teachers and students may find themselves at cross purposes. Often, students find that these technologies, so prevalent in their lives outside of school, are unwelcome in their classrooms. Many teachers can tell stories about the disruptive influence of video…

Solving indeterminate algebraic equations in integers is a classic topic in the mathematics curricula across grades. At the undergraduate level, the study of solutions of non-linear equations of this kind can be motivated by the use of technology. This article shows how the unity of geometric contextualization and spreadsheet-based amplification…