The Technology Proficiency Self-Assessment (TPSA) questionnaire was administered to 978 elementary and middle school teachers from Mexico City, and 932 elementary and middle school teachers from the Dallas, Texas, metroplex in the USA, in order to examine self-efficacy similarities and differences for technology proficiency self-appraisals in a…

As corporate and higher education settings increasingly use Web 2.0 tools, the time has come to think about preparing K-12 in-service teachers to find ways in which these tools might support classroom teaching and learning goals. This article describes a graduate course designed and taught in spring 2007. Using a modeling and situated learning…

Web 2.0 software, in particular wikis, have the potential to allow students to become active contributors to the Internet and, as a result, restructure traditional learning environments. In this study, the effects of student-created wikis were evaluated through measures of student engagement, cognitive benefits, and student learning in both the…

This study was designed to theoretically articulate and empirically assess the role of computer scaffolds. In this project, several examples of educational software were developed to scaffold the learning of students performing high level cognitive activities. The software used in this study, Artemis, focused on scaffolding the learning of…

In this article, the authors explain how they implemented Design eXchange as a shared collaborative online and physical space for design for their students. Their notion for Design eXchange favors a complex mix of key elements namely: (1) a virtual online studio; (2) a forum for review of all things related to design, especially design with the…

Patriot High School (PHS) adopted a remediation strategy to help its 10th-grade students at risk of failing the Math portion of MCAS, the state's end of year competency exam. The centerpiece of that strategy was a computer-based instructional (CBI) course. PHS used a commercially available CBI product to align the course content with the…

Background: Almost every aspect of modern life is affected in some way by technology. Many people utilize technology from dawn to dusk to communicate; make decisions; reflect, gain, synthesize, evaluate or distribute information, among many other functions. One would be hard pressed to find a single professional, regardless of career field,…

Research spanning the last thirty years confirms that people learn better by active enquiry, collaboration and experimental problem solving than by passive reception and acceptance of information. Empirical evidence, as well as the pressing demands of pervasive social and technological change, requires learning and teaching approaches that combine…

This paper describes the potential use of a mobile phone Short Message Service (SMS) crossword puzzle system to promote interaction through learning activities in a large classroom environment. While personal response systems (PRS) have been used in the classroom environment to foster interaction, it is not an ideal tool with respect to cost and…

The aim of this study is to investigate the factors that affect students' participation in the online learning environment (OLE) for distance learning students of mathematics at the Open Learning University of Hong Kong (OUHK) and to find out the suggestions that can improve students' use of the OLE. A questionnaire was designed to survey to…

An integrated learning object, a web-based inquiry environment "Young Scientist" for basic school level is introduced by applying the semiosphere conception for explaining learning processes. The study focused on the development of students' (n=30) awareness of the affordances of learning objects (LO) during the 3 inquiry tasks, and their ability…

This study investigated changes in and factors related to students' technology-related abilities, beliefs, and intentions. Participants were 76 preservice teachers who responded to pre- and post-course surveys while taking an introductory educational technology course. Statistically significant changes were found in students' perceived abilities,…

In the emerging era of the "read-write" web, students can not only research and collect information from existing web resources, but also collaborate and create new information on the web in a surprising number of ways. Web 2.0 is an umbrella term for many individual tools that have been created with web collaboration, sharing, and/or new…

Choi and Clark (2006) argue that learning is attributed to the instructional method rather than the specific medium used to deliver instruction (i.e., the pedagogical agent). Additionally, they consider pedagogical agents as unnecessarily expensive tools, whose instructional affordances can be replicated by less expensive options. In this response…

A group of faculty at the University of Georgia obtained funding for a research and development facility called the Learning and Performance Support Laboratory (LPSL). One of the LPSL's primary needs was obtaining a portable usability lab for software testing, so the facility obtained the "Luggage Lab 2000." The lab is transportable to…