This study developed an online role-playing history education game with real-person NPCs (Non-Player Characters). The game features real people playing NPC characters, and provides a multi-dimensional scaffolding mechanism with realistic story and historical scenes, allowing learners to engage in strategic planning and problem solving during a…

This study explores the use of a Moodle-based electronic textbook (e-textbook) created for an on-campus intensive academic writing course. The role of the e-textbook in facilitating collaborative writing practice and developing academic digital literacy skills as part of a blended learning approach is investigated. The study involved 83 students…

This study explored the use of a tailored online peer review program for first-year undergraduate students at an urban college of technology. The program facilitated group peer review in meaningful and technologically elegant ways. Students in a composition class were divided into two groups. One group acted as first reviewers, and the other group…

Peer assessment is utilized extensively in digital learning, and many studies have examined the positive influences of online peer assessment on learning (eg, Tseng & Tsai, 2007). However, other studies indicate that this type of activity has negative influences. For example, students may question the fairness of an assessment or disagree with…

This paper reports on a qualitative study of students' engagement with a Web-based inquiry environment aimed at prompting student reflection in processes of scientific inquiry. In order to demonstrate how prompts become structuring resources for students' scientific inquiry, detailed analyses of students' interaction processes are conducted. The…

This paper describes the use of handheld computers in the Science classrooms of four Tasmanian schools over a year. Analysis was informed by theories of innovation and assisted by ecological perspectives. Teachers demonstrated a range of attitudes to innovative pedagogies associated with the devices, and these corresponded to student achievements.…

The authors work as online tutors for a BSc (Hons) physiotherapy programme at Coventry University in the United Kingdom. This paper represents a stage in our developing understanding, over a 3 year period, of the impact of group dynamics on online interaction among physiotherapy students engaged in sharing with their peers their first experiences…