The essay reports on a mixed-methods study using an interactive fiction (IF) game to teach German vocabulary, reading, and culture to university students. The study measured knowledge retention and transfer, and evaluated the attitudes of students toward the game. The results tentatively indicate that contextualized, immersive role play may have…

Teachers often miss opportunities to use their classroom computers as teaching partners because of a lack of knowledge or confidence about how the computers can support learning. Internet-connected computers can enable teachers to access well-designed websites that support literacy instruction and involve students in interactive responses to…

Although learning styles are considered as an important factor in education, students often have to learn in courses that do not support their learning styles. A challenge for technology facilitated learning is therefore to assist and help students to cope with courses that do not match their learning styles by training and developing their less…

During student-centered learning, the individual assumes responsibility for determining learning goals, monitoring progress toward meeting goals, adjusting or adapting approaches as warranted, and determining when individual goals have been adequately addressed. This can be particularly challenging while learning from the World-Wide Web, where…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of audio-visual synchrony in podcasting and its possible pedagogical benefits. "Synchrony" in this study refers to the simultaneous playback of audio and video data streams, so that the transitions between presentation slides occur at "lecturer chosen" points in the audio commentary.…

The possible benefits of agent expressiveness have been highlighted in previous literature; yet, the issue of verbal expressiveness has been left unexplored. I hypothesize that agent verbal expressiveness may improve the interaction between pedagogical agents and learners, ultimately enhancing learning outcomes. Evidence from a quasi-experimental…

While numerous previous studies have focused on the use of some corporate e-learning programmes (CELP), little is known about the difference between users' pre-installation reactions to CELP and user's post-installation reactions to CELP. This study narrows the above gap with two investigations into a financial company's CELP. In the…

Designers of interactive learning environments face the issue of managing the learner's cognitive load, reducing irrelevant sources while optimizing useful sources of load. I propose a conceptual framework aimed at organizing the contributions of the papers presented in this special issue. The framework identifies three main dimensions, namely…

Scaffolds to plan, monitor, and evaluate learning within technology-enhanced inquiry and modeling environments are often little used by students. One reason may be that students frequently work collaboratively in these settings and their group work may interfere with the use of regulative supports. This research compared the use of regulative…

This article reviewed recent studies of instructional design theory in Korea to explore major trends and suggest future directions. Based on the analysis of 40 articles from the "Journal of Educational Technology" between 1994 and 2006, this study identified six trends: little emphasis on the conceptualization of instructional design…

In recent years, the application of Information Technologies (IT) has fostered a tremendous growth in e-learning courses at colleges and universities in the United States. Subsequently, some colleges and universities have reported dropout rates of over 60% in e-learning courses. This research investigated persistence in e-learning courses of 187…

Teaching in today's classroom is technology-driven. For language teachers, computer-assisted language learning (CALL) is exciting yet challenging as they are required to possess appropriate skills and knowledge to teach in such an environment. Both technical skills and pedagogical knowledge are crucial for teaching and learning in a…

This study explores the use of cogenerative dialogue (cogen) in an Adult Basic Education (ABE) program located in New York City, and the ways in which students and teachers collaborated to cogenerate resources that afforded a positive and equitable learning environment built on solidarity and new perspectives on teaching and learning of…

Since the dawn of civilization, pictorial representations and symbols have been used to communicate simple statistics. Efficient and effective, they are still used today in the form of pictures and graphs to record and present data. Who can tie their shoes? How many calories are in your favorite food? Make data and graphs relevant and interesting…

The relative effectiveness of two computer-assisted instructional programs designed to provide instruction and practice in foundational reading skills was examined. First-grade students at risk for reading disabilities received approximately 80 h of small-group instruction in four 50-min sessions per week from October through May. Approximately…