This article uses the case study of developing a collaborative "out-of-hours" virtual enquiry service by members of the Northern Collaboration Group of academic libraries in the north of England to explore the importance of communication and collaboration between academic library services in enhancing student learning. Set within the…

Our pilot project created blended/online courses to accommodate the growing needs of precollegiate and collegiate students interested in learning Korean and Japanese. In the initial phase, we conducted a survey of students' experiences with and perceptions about blended/online Asian language learning. We found a general lack of familiarity with,…

The paper traces a research process in the design and development of a science learning environment called WiMVT (web-based inquirer with modeling and visualization technology). The WiMVT system is designed to help secondary school students build a sophisticated understanding of scientific conceptions, and the science inquiry process, as well as…

This article describes Open University Malaysia's efforts at enhancing the blended learning approach for undergraduate distance learners with the successful implementation of the Mobile Learning via SMS initiative. The pilot project was implemented in the May 2009 semester, and this coming January 2011 semester will be in its sixth consecutive…

Asthma remains one of the most challenging chronic illnesses faced by school nurses both nationally and in the State of West Virginia. There is a clear need to provide ongoing continuing asthma education to school nurses. However, nurses face many barriers to receiving this education. The purpose of this pilot project was to develop and evaluate…

Purpose: This paper seeks to examine the effectiveness of an innovative e-mentoring programme introduced in an international group of luxury hotels. Design/methodology/approach: The paper employs the survey method, with quantitative and qualitative data analysis. The research model was developed from a literature review. Findings: While mentoring…

Web 2.0 technologies create opportunities for distance learning with particular promise for students while they are on international exchange. The current generation of students departing for study abroad is electronically literate or "digital natives", who have thoroughly integrated internet and communication technologies into their…

Establishing an online community of professional learners was one component of a multi-year professional development project with an overall goal of improving the ability of career and technical educators to use and interpret technical assessment data. Educators from five states and nine different schools participated in a research-based workshop…

Within the field of Mobile Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (mCSCL), we are interested in exploring the space of collaborative activities that enable students to practice communication, negotiation and decision-making skills. Collaboration is via learning activities that circumvent the constraints of fixed seating or locations of…

The aim of this paper is to investigate the pedagogical suitability of using cell phones to enhance learning through social interaction in distance education. Social interaction was used as a conceptual framework to explore the potential for using "MXit"--a cell-phone instant messaging system--to support and enhance learning for distance…

As part of a multiyear research study on the preparation of educators to use assessment data for instructional improvement, the present study is a pilot test of a research-based professional development intervention for career-technical teachers. Forty-eight educators at nine sites in five states participated in a 1-day workshop followed by…

This article presents a Web 2.0 approach for the arrangement of peer tutoring in online learning. In online learning environments, the learners' expectations of obtaining frequent, one-to-one support from their teachers tend to increase the teachers' workloads to unacceptably high levels. To address this problem of workload a self-organised peer…

The development of inquiry and project-based materials is challenging in many ways, not the least of which is the design of supports for teachers implementing such materials. We report on the design of educative and just-in-time teacher supports for an online project-based unit in ocean science. The teacher supports were visible as tabs on the…

This paper discusses a university-wide pilot designed to encourage academics to creatively explore learner-centred applications for digital audio. Participation in the pilot was diverse in terms of technical competence, confidence and contextual requirements and there was little prior experience of working with digital audio. Many innovative…

Eight teams of elementary and middle school teachers developed pilot online courses for the North Carolina Virtual Public School (NCVPS) in the USA. A qualitative case study with focus groups and a follow-up survey helped to identify common needs of these non-traditional course designers during course development efforts. Findings suggest virtual…