This qualitative case study examines the cultural adaptation of digital learning tools in Israeli higher education. We explored three questions: (1) How do lecturers experience and implement digital learning tools? (2) What unique challenges and opportunities arise in this cultural context? (3) What strategies do educators employ for culturally…

This paper is a review of a three-cycle, design-based research study that explored the relationship between the pedagogical research and the actual implementation of a game design project using Microsoft PowerPoint. Much of the initial literature on using homemade PowerPoint games showed no significant improvement in test scores when students…

Recent years have seen a quick expansion of tablet computers in households and schools. One of the educational affordances of tablet computers is using math apps to engage students in mathematics learning. However, given the short history of the mobile devices, little research exists on the effectiveness of math apps, particularly for struggling…

For six years, a college of health professions at a southern medical university has made student computing an integral component of its academic environment by requiring all residential students to own laptops. While most faculty members have acknowledged that access to a computer is necessary for most students to complete coursework, both faculty…

In this paper we explore the philosophy, pedagogy and implementation of the third year course sequence in the M.A. in Educational Technology program at Michigan State University. We discuss how "little-r" revolutions in teaching and learning, i.e., technology facilitated revolutions specific to individual classrooms and contexts, are…

This article describes the design and implementation of the year 2 curriculum and student learning experiences in the Michigan State University Master of Arts in Educational Technology program. We discuss the ways that this second set of courses builds on the first year of the program that students encounter, and also describe the theoretical…

In this article we describe the evolution of an elective course designed specifically for undergraduate students in our pre-service teacher education program. This course is intended to prepare these undergraduate students as future teachers--helping them to make effective and creative uses of technology in learning settings. This course…

The past decade has witnessed the exponential rise of weblogs, or blogs, as popular and influential online publishing devices. Accompanying the advent of blogs is a growing interest in their pedagogical potential in diverse educational settings, and, while still at the initial stage, both theoretical discussions and empirical evidence of…

Originally, blogs served as personal journaling tools. Recently, blogs have facilitated the formation of online communities and have thus expanded to more extensive uses in education. Little has been learned about using blogs as a collaboration tool in educational contexts. In this article, the authors share their experiences with using blogs to…

This article discusses the authors' effort in tailoring instruction to meet student needs. The authors began by talking to students and asking them specific questions about what they wanted and needed for an instruction setting to be successful. Sometimes educational solutions offered to faculty and students are not needed, welcomed, or wanted.…

Simulation-based learning (SBL) is a recent yet promising pedagogical approach. There is a plethora of medical and business simulations. However, there is a lack of simulation tools for other areas of study, like teacher education. Furthermore, since the content of many educational simulations is "hard-coded" into the tool, educators typically…

Databases can be used as cognitive tools to help students integrate and interrelate content areas and thus make learning more meaningful. Sound applications of databases in teaching may actively engage students in analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating information and constructing knowledge. Through building and exploring databases, students ask…

Reflection and professional development are two key practices that characterize an effective teacher and that are frequently overlooked in preservice training (Bowles, 2003; Halen-Faber, 1997; Patrick & Reinhartz, 1999). Reflection can be defined as the type of thinking that serves to challenge notions of prior learning (Halen-Faber, 1997), and…