A sense of community among learners is recognized as contributing to positive student outcomes. Synchronous learning opportunities may serve as one way to create a sense of community among online learners. Findings are shared from a mixed-method study that examined the impact of synchronous discussion sessions on students' sense of community, as…

ASCUE, the Association Supporting Computer Users in Education, is a group of people interested in small college computing issues. It is a blend of people from all over the country who use computers in their teaching, academic support, and administrative support functions. Begun in 1968 as CUETUG, the College and University Eleven-Thirty Users'…

This paper considers the role and development of meaningful dialogue in digitally mediated learning (DML) in UK higher education for teachers. It argues that more research is vital in the field of meaningful dialogue if we are to avoid the risk that pedagogic values in DML become increasingly driven by market forces toward "data vending"…

With the increasing number of online courses within many higher education institutions, experienced instructors are facing the possibility of teaching online. These faculty members may face the task of converting their well-established face-to-face teaching strategies into an online environment. To better understand this transition, we analyzed…

Examines current research in the field of educational telecommunications through the lens of the social studies methods course. States that the findings reveal the benefits and drawbacks of using computer mediated communication in methods courses between two universities. Provides recommendations for effective future implementation and includes…

Describes efforts to integrate technology into a reading methodology course for secondary English majors. Discusses the use of e-mail, multimedia, distance education for videoconferences, online discussion technology, subject-specific software, desktop publishing, a database management system, a concept mapping program, and the use of the World…

Telecommunications offers teacher candidates an environment through which to delve into higher order thinking skills within the methods coursework, student teaching internship experience, as well as within the PreK-12 classroom environment. Modeling of appropriate uses of technology within the learning environment as the teacher candidate…

This study documents literature discussions between groups of teacher education students in two geographically and demographically different universities. Students from an education methods course at each site discussed "The Friendship" by Mildred Taylor with one another as part of a distance reader response project. The project was designed to…

This article analyzes the uses of various technologies to enhance literacy practices using a multi-genre writing project with pre-service teachers and middle school students. Twenty-seven English pre-service teachers, simultaneously enrolled in a methods and a technology course, collaborated with middle school students using asynchronous Web…

This paper discusses the need for university faculty to effectively model appropriate and engaging uses of computer technology in teacher education courses. Preservice teachers need to experience implementing meaningful ways to use available technologies in preparation of lessons and activities. Specific reference to infusion of technology in…

Reflection and professional development are two key practices that characterize an effective teacher and that are frequently overlooked in preservice training (Bowles, 2003; Halen-Faber, 1997; Patrick & Reinhartz, 1999). Reflection can be defined as the type of thinking that serves to challenge notions of prior learning (Halen-Faber, 1997), and…

This paper is a mid-project report of a study being conducted of a block of education methods courses (i.e., courses on classroom management, content area reading, secondary methods, and the professional educator) for students seeking emergency certification. This block is being taught 80% asynchronously through the Internet and 20% synchronously…