Introduces an extension of the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) for closed multiparty conferences; the extension expands SIP for discovery of participant identities in a conference, and ensures that each participant is notified before a new participant joins. Verifies this extension by applying it to two SIP conference models. Concludes with an…

Offers insights about online conferences from a participant's perspective. Topics include the development of computer-network technology that has improved online conferences; advantages, including early access to conference papers, participants' degree of control, increased interaction, convenience, and cost effectiveness; and suggestions for…

Describes the organization, operation, and evaluation of an experimental online electronic conference for 450 chemistry educators from 33 countries that was conducted on the Internet. Advantages and disadvantages of online conferencing compared to traditional methods of scholarly discourse are discussed, and future plans are described. (Author/LRW)

In this paper, five doctoral students at California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), calling themselves the New Technology Group (NTG), describe their research on online communication as a method of inquiry. The focus of the inquiry is to contribute to the formal knowledge base of adult online learning, the impact and possible benefits of…

Describes how BreadNet (a national computer network of English teachers) has come to dominate the routine of a high school class. Notes that BreadNet gives students new motivation to write, inquire, and learn. Describes classroom electronic writing exchanges and an electronic writers' workshop which posted essays on BreadNet. (RS)

Notes that Interdisciplinary Studies Program faculty at Wayne State University devised courses and assignments using computer conferencing to create a collaborative, democratic, and nonauthoritarian learning community. Discusses an assignment based on the film "Grand Canyon" that encouraged students to take on roles of their racial and…

The Business, Education & Community On-line Network (BEACON) is designed to support development and implementation of demonstration applications operating in an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) fiber optic network environment. Initial origination and destination sites include high schools and universities around Rock Hill (South Carolina). The…

The Networked Classroom was implemented by the Southern Interior Telecommunications Project (SITP) to provide computer mediated communication (CMC) to teachers and students in the southern region of British Columbia. The Networked Classroom uses telecommunication networks to link teachers and students from different locations, to support their…

This guide is intended to introduce educators to computer conferencing, a new and often misunderstood communications medium. Written for a trainer/instructor to use with a group of classroom teachers, administrators, or other group of professional educators who are unfamiliar with computer conferencing as a teaching medium, the guide provides the…

Nanyang University (Singapore) and a university in the People's Republic of China have made arrangements with MIT's Sloan School of Management to launch a graduate level business administration (MBA) program that uses the Internet. The project centers on combining videoconferencing with asynchronous communications tools. A sidebar provides names…

A five-page electronic questionnaire was sent to 113 special librarians who responded to "Call for Participation" announcements posted on nine computer conferences in July 1991 and a similar announcement in the August 1991 issue of the monthly newsletter of the Special Libraries Association. Fifty-four librarians completed the…

Nova Southeastern University (NSU) is constantly striving to expand the concept of the classroom and fulfill the mission of the university, which includes serving the educational needs of employed professionals, regardless of their schedules and distance from the central campus. "Distant learners" include those whose job demands, family…

Discussion of concerns of librarians who are involved in CD-ROM selection and acquisition focuses on three main areas: (1) sources for discovering and investigating CD-ROM products, including an annotated bibliography of journals, publisher's catalogs, books, network conferences, and online indexes; (2) criteria for selection; and (3) vendor…

Discusses some of the uses of teleconferencing for administrators, teachers, and students. Explains the basic concepts behind teleconferencing, providing examples of online systems and their potential for use by educators. Describes some advantages and disadvantages for both educators and students in utilizing this technology. (TW)

Describes BreadNet, a computer network linking Middlebury College English teachers, their associates, and students. Network extends to rural English teachers and their K-8 students. BreadNet used for student pen pal program, teacher teleconferencing, information access. Also describes BreadNet's problems and future possibilities. (TES)