Understanding students' challenges about using microcomputer based laboratories (MBLs) would provide important data in understanding the appropriateness of using MBLs in high school chemistry laboratories. Identifying students' concerns about this technology will in part help educators identify the obstacles to science learning when using this…

At its most basic level, philosophical inquiry--the importance and uses of critical thinking--can provide methods for examining the things that are taken for granted during daily routines. This paper explores philosophical inquiry in the field of instructional technology. In the first section, philosophy and the field of instructional technology…

Grid computing allows large groups of computers (either in a lab, or remote and connected only by the Internet) to extend extra processing power to each individual computer to work on components of a complex request. Grid middleware, recognizing priorities set by systems administrators, allows the grid to identify and use this power without…

Interactive activities offer innumerable possibilities within eLearning environments. As such, one possibility within the interactive activity realm is netconferencing, so as to support the learning objectives. Enhancements within the eLearning environment support the learner?s focus upon knowledge and conceptual framework of understanding.…

Examines what fourth-grade students learned by using computer-based tools intended to help them understand sound and music. Findings provide critical information for future instruction with the goal of supporting learning about sound and music from such tools. They also indicate the need for more studies examining learning from computer-based…

Describes the development of McGill medical school's online, multimedia-enhanced, undergraduate medical curriculum. Pedagogical values were deemed to include: (1) the ability to use the media to implement adult learning principles such as learner-centered, self-directed, and guided learning; (2) the inherent interactivity of the technology; and…

Handheld computers provide students tremendous computing and learning power at about a 10th the cost of a regular computer. Describes the evolution of handhelds; provides some examples of their uses; and cites research indicating they are effective classroom tools that can improve efficiency and instruction. A sidebar lists handheld resources.…

Explains a large basic course on world regional geography. Introduces students to 10 maxims about the many factors that help define a place's character. Student reactions to the maxims were found to be largely positive. (Author/SOE)

Discusses how to make a college library the center of campus activity, explaining how to find the proper balance of technology and tradition (e.g., harnessing new media to teach critical thinking skills, having library staff assume primary responsibility for providing information literacy training, training students to use print as well as…

Developed and provided initial validation of scores from a survey designed to measure teachers' reported use of technology in their classrooms. Interprets results from a sample of 2000 teachers in terms of the ability of the instrument to measure the confluence of factors that are critical for study of technology use in classrooms. (SLD)

Focuses on the role of tools provided by a computer microworld (C.AR.ME) on the strategies developed by 14-year-old students for the area measurement of a non-convex polygon. Interprets and classifies student strategies on a transformation and comparison task into categories in terms of the tools used for their development. (Author/MM)

Cautions that there are many potential problems related to higher education via the information superhighway, noting that while distance learning is a fast-growing and promising educational technology, consumers need to use common sense and be prepared to deal with new electronic scams and rip-offs. (SM)

The author describes the organizational environment within the California State University system and discusses the planning process used by this organization at the school level to allocate limited computing resources. He focuses on the plan developed and submitted by the School of Management. (CH)

Estimates how much money it takes for technology programs to make a difference and offers advice on how schools can best spend their technology funds. Tables show costs in personnel and in hardware and software for developing technology expertise among teachers. (MLF)

Surveyed 74 rural school administrators to determine perspectives concerning barriers and problems regarding the use of computer conferencing technologies. Found that computer conferencing use is minimal in schools and nonexistent among school administrators, but interest is high. Administrators agreed with more than half of the 11 barriers…