For the Garland Independent School District, a tournament was the tipping point. With too many of its students failing the math portion of state-mandated exams and in danger of being held back, the suburban Dallas district was determined to raise scores. The students lacked motivation, and Garland was seeking a better method of engaging them.…

This mixed methods multiple case study explored middle school social studies teachers' instructional use of digital technology at three suburban middle schools This mixed methods, multiple-case study explored middle school social studies teachers' instructional use of digital technology at three suburban middle schools in a large Florida school…

This article examines how laptop computing technology, teacher professional development, and systematic support resulted in changed teaching practices and increased student achievement in 47 K-12 schools in 11 Florida school districts. The overview of a large-scale study documents the type and magnitude of change in student-centered teaching,…

Engaging the digital natives isn't as daunting as one thinks. This article describes how three classrooms do it. One of these is in Brevard Public Schools in Viera, Florida. Pete Episcopo, the digital-media artist of the school, wanted to share his love of all things digital and teach essential 21st-century skills so students could be better…

More and more we are seeing the online medium being used to deliver teacher training, and the need for effective evaluation strategies for these programs is crucial. This study investigated the impact of instituting a well-structured quality-assurance process for monitoring a large-scale, statewide online professional development model:…

The major focus of this paper is school teachers' integration of educational technology in their curriculum. Single studies made in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Florida will be examined and a more complex study made in Michigan, Tennessee, Illinois, Montana, California, and Massachusetts which were later implemented among the Model School…

The purpose of this article is to propose the use of technology integration in elementary and middle level education courses, specifically, the use of WebQuests as vehicles for the infusion of content knowledge in preservice and in-service education courses. Observation in content area teaching methods courses found that teacher candidates often…

Evaluates the effectiveness of the Florida Teletraining Project, a project that used video teletraining to provide distance education courses to United States military personnel. Describes the instructional methods and strategies used and reports results of performance tests and reactions of students and instructional personnel. Findings indicate…

Nearly all Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states have a state-sponsored virtual school, and the remaining states are either planning or beginning initial implementation. Just 12 years ago, none of the 50 states used the Web to provide courses to middle grades or high school students. By 2000, several SREB states, including Florida,…

While 96% of teachers profess to use technology, this study of 85 teachers in grades 5-12 in Florida and Georgia found that only 4% of teachers actually integrated technology in their instruction. The majority of schools had few computers, fewer Internet-ready computers available for student access, and teachers who had never received any training…

Current issues in educational uses for microcomputers are addressed in this collection of 139 abstracts of papers in which computer literacy and practical applications dominate. Topics discussed include factors related to computer use in the classroom, e.g., computer lab utilization; teaching geometry, science, math, and English via…

The student population that is targeted for online learning has expanded to younger students. This article discusses the theory and practice of using online learning with K-5 students. When trying to adapt adult oriented distance education protocols for use with younger children a number of issues must be considered. These include differences in…

The broad objectives of the Model Technology Schools project were to study the impact of technology on schools and student learning; to develop models for using educational technology as a tool for school management and classroom teaching; and to disseminate these models for use in public schools throughout the state. Research involved site visits…

Describes a cooperative-learning program jointly developed by computer education and world history teachers in which secondary students create mock newspapers. Asserts that the project fulfilled cross-disciplinary objectives and encouraged critical thinking skills. Includes examples from the student-created newspapers. (CFR)

For the thirty-third year, the Research and Theory Division of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. This is Volume #2 of the 33rd "Annual Proceedings of Selected Papers on the Practice of Educational Communications and Technology." This volume includes…