Meta communication plays a key role in foreign language learning and teaching. Broadly speaking, meta communication is communication about communication. Meta communication is something that goes beyond communication and all language learners and teachers should be familiar with its existence. It should be stressed that meta communication which…

Computers and computer-assisted instruction are being used with increasing frequency in the area of undergraduate paramedic education. Paramedic students' attitudes towards the use of e-learning technology and computer-assisted instruction have received limited attention in the empirical literature to date. The objective of this study was to…

The access to a vast array of resources is facilitated by the Internet, which, in its turn, does not promote learning by itself as children and young people often use it passively. As a consequence, the teachers' role is regarded essential so that they are helped to interpret and analyze available information critically. Nowadays, when referring…

A disconnect exists between how students communicate using their mobile phones outside of school and how they use them in the classroom. Many high schools across the United States ban their use, even though numerous mobile learning strategies are available. Although research pertaining to m-learning has been conducted at the collegiate level, a…

The assignment for the students was to write honestly about how they felt regarding specific current events dealing with diversity. However, what resulted was a "kairos" moment for the professor--an instance that called for her best response even when she did not know what that was--when a student crossed the line in terms of respectful…

This study extends the research into faculty and student use of contemporary academic technologies. The goals of the study are threefold. First, the study aims to unpack which technologies students and faculty use, and how often. Second, it aims to understand their experiences in the contexts in which they live them. Finally, it explores the…

Abstract: As one of the Web 2.0 tools, blogs are widely used in US education. This paper gives a brief overview of blogs such as advantages, disadvantages, and major software for creating blogs, and then it reviews some EduBlogs, its usage, and examples in US education. The purpose is to motivate more educators to use blogs in teaching and…

This article presents the results of a mixed-methods study of the Adult Literacy Education Wiki. Two research questions framed the study: (1) What do participants report they have learned by contributing to the wiki? and (2) What is the nature of participation and collaboration in the wiki? A key finding of the study is that the wiki does not…

Trying to understand the complexity of computer-mediated problem-based learning environments is not easy. Sociocultural theory provides a theoretical framework for understanding such environments because it emphasizes the socially situated nature of learning and the critical role of tools in mediating learning. To examine how different aspects of…

Recent policy initiatives in England have focused on promoting "interactive" teaching in schools, with a clear expectation that this will lead to improvements in learning. This expectation is based on the perceived success of such approaches in other parts of the world. At the same time, there has been a large investment in Information…

Web-based sites such as WebCT/Blackboard are useful for faculty and generally appreciated by students. This article describes the results in a hybrid course of the addition of specialized Web-based software. The intent was to enhance student skills in analysis and critique. Highly structured assignments were graded with Waypoint software,…

Chapters in this book include: (1) Courseware Adaptation to Learning Styles and Knowledge Level (Boyan Bontchev and Dessislava Vassileva); (2) Assisted On-Job Training (Claudio Teixeira and Joaquim Sousa Pinto); (3) Self-Directed Learning Readiness Factors in Physicians for Implementing E-Learning in the Continuing Medical Education Programs…

This paper describes a qualitative study which took place over a two year period with academic staff engaged on a blended Masters programme delivered with the learning environment based around problem-based learning. At the pedagogical level, transformative practice has the potential to engage students as critical thinkers, by encouraging them to…

Virtual communities of practice (VCoP) have been advocated for some time as a promising means of taking professional development to teachers in widely distributed locations. However, geography, and indeed education literature as a whole, contains very few examples where this has been achieved. This paper reports on two VCoP professional…

The purpose of this study was to research the effects of online discussion on face-to-face (F2F) classroom participation and academic achievement for 18 public high school students in a senior English class. The teacher used a variety of data collection including surveys, test scores, journal reflections, and teacher observations to study the…