England's 1.6 billion-pound National Grid for Learning initiative represents an unprecedented government commitment to educational use of information and communications technology (ICT). NGfL will integrate ICT into all schooling areas via increased funding, teacher training, and simulation of a systemwide "ICT culture." Implications and…

A study to determine whether computer software could meet objectives of the Ministry of Education's (Quebec, Canada) secondary school plastic arts program found that SuperPaint enabled students to meet the objectives, fostered creativity, increased motivation, and increased learning autonomy. Recommends computers be used for project sketches…

Compares instructional-media materials available for schools in the developed and the developing world, and critically examines the perceived superiority of modern over traditional media in teaching/learning situations. Proposes an ideal procedure necessary when considering importation of foreign media into a new culture and recommends affordable…

Focuses on the Turkish educational system, technological developments, and changing educational needs. Discusses instructional technology programs in Turkey; new information technology (IT) policies in Turkey; the World Bank supported "Project for Globalization in Education 2000"; IT policies for teacher training programs; and the…

Examines classroom practice in Ireland and Japan, comparing the development of Vygotsky's notion of social constructivism to that of communal constructivism (which reflects the opportunities created by information and communications technology to share and develop knowledge as a central and moral commitment in the development of learning…

Describes efforts by Malaysian society to transform itself using technology into an information-rich knowledge society founded on positive universal values. Locates contemporary educational development within the framework of four government-driven initiatives that provide the direction and resources for educational change. Discusses issues…

Discusses Singapore's use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to enhance its economic competitiveness and quality of life in the knowledge-based economy, describing the IT Masterplan in education; Singapore's education system; integration of ICT in primary through university education; preparing teachers for the ICT environment;…

Discusses the instructional processes and theoretical aspects of virtual classrooms in a school context. Reports on a three-year pilot project in Finland linking two lower secondary classrooms (grades seven through nine) with video-conferencing, highlighting the interactive network of the linked classrooms. Concludes that technology use today…

Describes a procedure for the datalogging of microbial population densities. (WRM)

Describes two methods of introducing computer-assisted assessment (CAA) using Question Mark software. The University of Luton uses CAA for summative assessment; Loughborough University uses CAA mainly for formative assessment. Both have central units to provide support and development for staff wishing to use CAA in instruction. Students at each…

This article considers the research evidence from United Kingdom evaluations of integrated learning systems, systems that include extensive computer-based courseware plus management software. It discusses the value of these systems for pupils with learning difficulties and focuses on their effects on the reading attainments of pupils who are lower…

A survey and in-depth interviews in an isolated British coastal town examined adolescents' computer and Internet use at home and in school. Adults had ambitious, future-oriented notions about how such technologies would expand children's educational opportunities and social and spatial horizons; in contrast, adolescents actually used technology in…

It is widely assumed that developments in information and communication technologies are fundamentally transforming and improving higher education. As a part of an ongoing evaluation of technology-supported pedagogy in one university, our three-year research project was designed, on the one hand, to determine if and how selected technologies were…

This paper is addressed to the international community of educators and educational policy makers who, it is argued, need to commit to joint research and creative action in respect of the challenge of Education for All (EFA). The first section, A Global Challenge for Teacher Development, sets out: the implications for teacher education of the…

This paper has arisen as a result of teaching Models in Biology to undergraduates of Bioengineering at the Gediminas Technical University of Vilnius. The aim is to teach the students to use a fresh approach to the problems they are familiar with, to come up with an articulate verbal model after a mental effort, to express it in rigorous…