What would people do without the Internet? It gives them the world at their fingertips. Almost anything that they want and need can be found in one neat little place. The Internet is a great place for kids also. They can be entertained, chat with friends, and learn about whatever interests them. Unfortunately the Internet also helps people…

Most, if not all, systems have a mechanism that collects information to facilitate monitoring performance. This information is primarily used to modify the system to make it more efficient in performing desired tasks and, thus, attaining desired results. Similar to electrical, mechanical, or hydraulic systems, the feedback mechanism in an…

Discussion boards provide an interactive venue where new and future language teachers can reflect, evaluate, solve problems or simply exchange ideas (e.g., Bonk, Hansen, Grabner-Hagen, Lazar, & Mirabelli, 1996; DeWert, Babinski, & Jones, 2003; Kumari, 2001; Pawan, Paulus, Yalcin, & Chang, 2003). In addition, encouraging future teachers to learn…

The Internet has become an important communication medium and it is having a significant impact on language use. The present study takes a "snapshot" of how the Polish language is currently used with modern communications technologies by Polish-Australians living in Melbourne. Through a questionnaire, it surveys which communications…

The notion of critical friendship is central to self-study. A critical friend acts as a sounding board, asks challenging questions, supports reframing of events, and joins in the professional learning experience. In this paper, we share our experiences of acting as critical friends for each other in two separate self-studies of practice. We…

Ten students in a graduate-level course on Historical and Policy Perspectives in Higher Education held face-to-face and online discussions on five controversial topics: diversity, academic freedom, political tolerance, affirmative action, and gender. Upon completion of each discussion, they assessed their comfort, honesty, concern for others'…

This article presents certain advice to librarians on online ethical conduct. It is very important for librarians to talk to their students and clear the permissible limit of what is allowed and what is not. Librarians should teach some strategies about using clues in search results to discriminate between relevant and non-relevant Web sites.…

Back in 2000, Charles Best was teaching at Wings Academy, an alternative high school in the Bronx, when he got the idea for a Web site where teachers could solicit donations for class projects. With help from his students, DonorsChoose.org soon was born. Last year, the site won Amazon.com's Nonprofit Innovation Award. So far, DonorsChoose has…

This article profiles Eric Langhorst, an eighth-grade history teacher at South Valley Junior High School in Liberty, Missouri, who has immersed himself in technology. There is a regular series of podcasts called "Speaking of History," which Langhorst records and posts on his blog (speakingofhistory.blogspot.com). That is in addition to…

This study investigated student and faculty perceptions of their experiences with online learning in dental hygiene Bachelor of Science degree completion programs on the dimensions of: quality of learning, connectedness to the learning environment, technology factors and student satisfaction. The experiences of dental hygiene students who took…

Mobile computing facilities may provide many assets to the educational process. Mobile technology provides software access from anywhere and at any time, as well as computer equipment independence. The need for time and place independence is even greater for medical instructors and medical students. Medical instructors are usually doctors that…

This paper argues that if new communications technologies and online spaces are to yield "new relationship[s] with learners" then research that is tuned to recognize, capture and explain the pedagogical processes at the center of such interactions is vital. This has implications for the design of pedagogical activities within Initial…

Background: Most policy doctrines promote the use of scientific inquiry in the K-12 classroom, but good inquiry is hard to implement, particularly for schools with fiscal and safety constraints and for teachers struggling with understanding how to do so. Purpose: In this paper, we present the design of a multi-user virtual environment (MUVE)…

Background: Many of the potential benefits of using virtual worlds for teaching and learning are difficult to define and often become overly focused on the functionality of the technology or on its ability to support informal or "social" forms of learning. Purpose: The aim of the paper is to highlight the experiential nature of virtual…

This study compares pauses, repetitions and recasts in matched task interactions under face-to-face and computer-mediated conditions. Six first-year English undergraduates at a Turkish University took part in Skype-based voice chat with a native speaker and face-to-face with their instructor. Preliminary quantitative analysis of transcripts showed…