This paper reports on a completed field study that examined the usability and effectiveness of learning objects designed for Australian and New Zealand primary and secondary schools. It focuses on student engagement by observing the ways students interacted with learning objects and by listening to what they said about them. Questions that guided…

Five years ago in the February, 2007, issue of LLT, I wrote about developments in digital video of potential interest to language teachers. Since then, there have been major changes in options for video capture, editing, and delivery. One of the most significant has been the rise in popularity of video-based storytelling, enabled largely by…

Good learning experiences ask students to investigate and make sense of the world. While there are many ways to do this, K-12 curriculum has traditionally skewed toward reading and writing to interpret and express students' sense-making. But there is another way. Infographics represent data and ideas visually, in pictures, engaging more parts of…

While opportunities for online learning are increasing in K-12 education, few teacher education programs include courses on online teaching and learning. Using Garrison and Anderson's (2003) "Community of Inquiry" framework, this qualitative study explored the educational experiences of pre-service teachers in an experiential online course…

In this paper we report on the successes and challenges of a creative project involving museums, schools and interactive technologies. The MuseumScouts project is EU Comenius 2.1 funded and involves teachers, teacher educators, museum staff, students and researchers from five European countries: Germany (Berlin and Munich), Lithuania (Vilnius),…

Interactive whiteboards have made quite a splash in classrooms in recent years. When a computer image is projected on the whiteboard using an LCD projector, users can directly control the computer from the whiteboard. In some systems such as Smart and Mimio, the finger is used in place of a mouse to open and run programs or move windows around. In…

Conversational technologies such as email, chat rooms, and blogs have made the transition from novel communication technologies to powerful tools for learning. Currently virtual worlds are undergoing the same transition. We argue that the next wave of innovation is at the level of the computer interface, and that mixed-reality environments offer…

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…

Explains how to create slide shows via computer using common software programs such as ClarisWorks. Highlights include identifying the audience, organizing the information, becoming familiar with technical specifications of the equipment, the use of text, style consistency, the use of graphics, and the use of color. (LRW)

New Zealander educators are using computer and multimedia technologies effectively to help students with physical and intellectual disabilities make significant learning advancements. Using computers can provide special-needs students with recognition and support and can enhance self-esteem, self-confidence, and motivation. Tips are provided for…

Describes the ways available multimedia and videodisc technologies can be integrated into the classroom to support instruction for students with learning disabilities. Three basic modes for instructional use of videodisc players are discussed: the watch-it mode, watch-relevant-screens mode, and the computer-assisted instruction mode. An annotated…

Students ages 11-16 using 4 different educational multimedia packages were observed to determine how children make sense of interactive media. Design implications include the need to create a dynamic narrative which is motivating and absorbing by integrating the rhetoric with strong mythical elements. The interrelationship of narrative, linearity,…

Response-based approaches to teaching and learning literature provide alternatives to objectifying literature. Where traditional approaches champion close readings of texts and "correct" interpretations, response-based theorists regard readers as active meaning-makers whose personal experiences affect their interpretations of literary…

Introduces educators to inexpensive, commercially-available CD-ROM software that combines speech, text, graphics, sound, video, animation, and special effects that may be incorporated into classroom activities for both normally developing and language learning disabled children. Discusses three types of multimedia CD-ROM products: (1) virtual…

The most ubiquitous of contemporary interactive multimedia (IMM), the Internet, is making steady progress as an interpretive tool within museums.However, its major impact is being felt beyond museum walls. As an outreach agent, the Internet has captivated many museums and particularly their educators. As a communication medium, the Internet allows…