At a time when implementation of electronic portfolios (EPs) is expanding, the issues of clarifying their purposes continue to plague teacher education programs. Are student-centered uses of EPs compatible with program assessment and accreditation efforts? Is this an either/or situation, or can a productive middle ground be forged? This article…

This study reports on a district-wide research-based professional development (PD) that included 207 teachers and administrators. Data were collected from pre/post surveys, content analysis of the participants' wiki pages, and a follow-up questionnaire. Findings indicate that participants significantly improved their foundational and technical…

Young people are often referred to as digital natives, who are familiar with digital technologies such as computers, the Internet and mobile phones for communication, entertainment and accessing information. As a result scholars have called for an educational approach that bypasses the traditional unidirectional lecture teaching style, and applies…

A pair of papers re-examined the evidence from a national initiative to train all teachers in England to bring them up to the level of newly qualified teachers, who are required to know when to use and when not to use information and communication technologies (ICT) in their professional practice. The first paper confirmed that multilevel…

This paper examines the impact of a distance education program offered by the University of Pretoria, South Africa, on the professional practice of teachers. A pilot study was conducted using a combination of surveys and focus group interviews. Findings reveal that the program was beneficial to graduates' personal development, professional…

This paper reports on the re-design of the Advanced Certificate in Education (ACE) programme, which is offered by the University of Pretoria through distance education (DE) to teachers in rural South Africa. In 2007, a team re-designed the programme with the goal of promoting access, quality, and student support. The team included an independent…

If school districts are to capitalize systematically on the power of computers to improve instruction, they should carefully consider instructional problems, develop precise goals, and test applications to see if they achieve these goals. (TE)

Successive national policy in England has striven to develop uses of information and communication technologies (ICT) to support teaching and learning, and has promoted the adoption of ICT in schools over a period of some 25 years (since the "Microcomputer in schools initiative" of 1981). The current level of deployment of ICT in schools…

This paper suggests that evaluation research about education policy is intended to affect decisions and typically addresses pedagogy, politics, and economics, all simultaneously. The paper begins with two assumptions: first, the need to do credible science, and second, the need for science to advance the contribution that instructional technology…

This paper addresses the lack of total honesty in communicating about technology in schools. A recent series of meetings in which state delegations focused on technology and discussed ways to collect and use information for decision making is described, in order to set the context for the paper. The discussion then focuses on the following…

This publication is based on work conducted at the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL), which serves seven states in the Midwest. Part of the national research and development system administered by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, the regional educational laboratories provide…

The Secretary's Conference on Educational Technology: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Technology (July 12-13, 1999) noted a shift in schools' focus on technology. Where once the emphasis was on building and implementing a technology infrastructure, today it is on evaluating the effectiveness of its use in schools and classrooms. Conference…

Literature on the influence of computers on learning in formal classroom and informal out-of-school contexts is reviewed, and the primary policy considerations in diffusion of computer-based educational technology are examined. The article suggests that the boundaries between formal and informal learning environments can be overcome with…

This document focuses on the mission, goals, and accomplishments of the Milken Exchange on Education Technology, an organization that is dedicated to creating a national agenda to advance innovative and effective uses of learning technology in elementary and secondary schools. The following key questions related to learning technology are…

Guidelines are provided for educators to use in exploring the feasibility of technology-oriented tools in teaching and learning based on social-cultural underpinnings, using activity theory as a framework for analysis. This research and development framework is intended to provide a concrete basis for understanding the impact of technology tools…