Rivet Education developed a Professional Learning Partner Guide (PLPG), a searchable database of learning providers with expertise in the adoption and implementation of High-Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM), in response to the lack of resources and guidance available to support districts with evaluation of professional learning (PL)…

The majority of Sub-Saharan African countries are facing a very negative teacher-learner ratio: one teacher for over 120 learners. In order to support the learner training, we propose optimizing search engines for learning contexts, to enable learners to take optimal advantage of the vast reservoir of Open Educational Resources (OER) available on…

In recent years, massive open online Courses (MOOCs) as an online instruction format have attracted educators' attention in higher education. While there are many news reports and blog entries about MOOCs, evidence-based research is still emerging. Research examining the learners' perspective on taking a MOOC is scarce but very much needed. This…

Parents whose children are diagnosed in an infant screening program are required to make some difficult choices about the management of the hearing loss at a time when they are emotionally vulnerable. They are required to evaluate information and outcomes regarding issues such as technology for hearing impairment, communication options, education,…

The article presents a new technology design methodology that the authors have termed "Bonded Design" and that was applied by two intergenerational teams comprising adults and grade-three elementary school students in one case, and adults and grade-six students in a second case. The objective of each team was to design a low-tech web…

We assessed the effects of two computer systems used as microswitches for the vocal utterances of an adolescent and a young adult with multiple disabilities. The systems were to respond to three one-syllable utterances of the first participant and nine word-like utterances of the second participant by presenting favorite stimuli linked to those…

Describes a project that examined user selection of databases by monitoring the EasyNet Scan feature (a multifile search option) during 1989. The discussion covers the observed influence of price, database name, recommended database indicator, and record format on database selection. The category menus displayed by EasyNet are provided. (six…

Examines the interworking between Internet- and ISDN-based conferences, and shows how Internet and ISDN multimedia conferencing environments can be connected. Describes the components of the Conference Management and Multiplexing Center, which act as a gateway between the two environments, and ISDN multimedia conferencing equipment. (Author/AEF)

Describes the use of the Z39.50 information retrieval protocol as the basis for Infocal, a read-only, client/server-based campus information system. Technical considerations in adapting the protocol to nonbibliographic data, including semantic modules, dynamic attribute sets, and dynamic record syntax, are described in detail. (Contains 11…

A major issue in Information Systems (IS) research is how to combine relevance and rigor (Benbasat & Zmud, 1999) and reduce the widening gap between research results and adoption (Dunn, 1994). Qualitative researchers make use of interpretivist methods to add richness and depth to their understanding of user problems. Interpretivist methods…

Messages entering an educational information distribution network may be ranked for an ordered introduction into the network to maximize the timeliness of message arrivals over the set of users. Electronic mail, EDI documents, and broadcast news may be ranked by the users who choose to examine those messages of interest or benefit to themselves.…

Describes the events that led to the creation of the Rural Information Center (RIC), a joint venture between the Extension Service and the National Agricultural Library to provide information to government officials involved in rural development. The databases accessed by RIC are described, and plans for a gateway system and network of all…

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Libraries intend to provide a gateway from the campus-wide telecommunications network into the electronic, printed, and human resources offered by the library systems. The design of such a gateway requires an understanding of both current and potential library users, the needs of those users, their…

This study made three comparisons: (1) online searching on a native command language vs. searching with a commercial front end system; (2) end user searching vs. mediated searching; and (3) searching an education database vs. an engineering database. The results show end user searching to be as satisfactory as mediated searching. (93 references)…

Describes a study comparing information retrieval from print and CD-ROM versions of Compton's Encyclopedia. Forty-eight sixth-grade students searched four questions in both versions. The results showed that the searches took the same amount of time in both. The novice searchers were able to use an information retrieval system with minimal…