This paper presents findings from the SiMERR National Survey concerning the need priorities of secondary ICT teachers for professional development, resources and student learning experiences. The findings--drawn from a survey of 237 secondary ICT teachers across Australia--provide an opportunity to compare the needs of teachers working in…

This paper describes the use of a range of Web 2.0 technologies to support the development of community for a newly formed Land Trust on the Isle of Lewis, in NW Scotland. The application of social networking tools in text, audio and video has several purposes: informal learning about the area to increase tourism, community interaction,…

Using a case study research strategy of data collection, the empirical component of the study presented in this paper is aimed at exploring the interplay between content knowledge and pedagogy when information and communication technologies (ICT) are used by a number of secondary school mathematics teachers. An orienting framework advanced as a…

This report presents a comprehensive picture of how young Australians are faring by bringing together data from a variety of sources and drawing on the comments of young people themselves. Overall the report presents a positive picture, showing how important young people are to this country and why it makes good economic and social sense for…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to critically examine an assessment task, undertaken by pre-service science teachers, that integrates the use of technology (in this case digital video-recorders and video-editing software) whilst scaffolding skill development. The embedding of technology into the assessment task is purposeful, aiming to…

The rapid growth and modernization of economies in developing countries like Botswana creates new and unmet demands for certain kinds of educated and skilled labour. The expansion of secondary and tertiary school systems has also created a problem of unemployed school leavers. The growth of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs),…

Contextualised and ubiquitous learning are relatively new research areas that combine the latest developments in ubiquitous and context aware computing with educational approaches in order to provide structure to more situated and context aware learning. The majority of recent activities in contextualised and ubiquitous learning focus on mobile…

A study examined facilities in Ontario, Canada, for the assessment and provision of augmentative communication devices as well as ongoing support to the augmentative communicator in his or her community. It also studied opportunities for all adult learners to "catch up" on basic education and specific opportunities for all adults to…

The British Open University delivers distance education to over 200,000 students per year. The University has been a multimedia institution since its inception and in addition to printed materials, currently ships to students in a single year: over 34,000 special equipment kits, around one million audiocassettes, over 100,000 videocassettes, and…

This paper discusses the extent to which new technologies have penetrated Greek schools and how well equipped Greek teachers are to deal with them. Educational television and other uses of video have not become a regular part of school life. Most computers are limited to laboratory use in private schools and secondary-education use in public…

This document is a collection of four papers dealing with the issues of technology in higher education, distance education, and assessment practices. The first paper, "Integrating the Internet into Distance Education in Accounting at Charles Sturt University: An Assessment of Potential" (Jayne E. Bisman), explores the impact of the…

The use of computers in the foreign language classroom in the Czech Republic is viewed with suspicion. Many teachers assert that computers prevent engagement in communication and teamwork, and that a computer could never replace a good teacher. This paper argues that from within a cognitive framework of language acquisition computers do indeed…

This paper describes a study of whether and how collaborative learning at the computer fosters conceptual change. A suite of computer simulation programs developed to confront students' alternative conceptions in mechanics was integrated into a grade 10 science class in a high school in Melbourne, Australia. A Conceptual Test was administered as a…

Quality in distance education and open learning is the theme of this collection of five papers. The first is a compilation of outlines of Charles Sturt University (New South Wales, Australia) innovative teaching projects contributed by project leaders or team members. Quality initiatives are described in a range of disciplines. In seeking to…

This book considers a variety of issues relating to the use of portable computers in the school. It is based on the study the Pupil's Learning and Access to Information Technology (PLAIT) in Northern Ireland. The PLAIT project introduced 235 portable computers in 9 schools for use in English, science, and mathematics course. Following an…