Handwritten notes, meeting for coffee, eye contact, a handshake, a smile--are these social practices of yesteryear, soon to be replaced by the "wall posts" and "pokes" of today's social networking technologies? Although advances in social networking technologies allow for new and perhaps more efficient means of learning and…

The kids in today's classrooms spend lots of time playing video games, surfing the net, listening to iPods, and text messaging on cell phones. Known as Digital Kids and the Net Generation, they have grown up surrounded by digital media of all types (Tapscott 1999). Because they are already knowledgeable, why not use digital technologies to capture…

This concluding paper summarizes the main points and recommendations of the previous papers in this Special issue within a conceptual framework of cognitive load theory. Design of efficient interactive learning environments should take into account main features and limitations of our cognitive architecture. The paper provides a brief overview of…

The author introduces some basic dynamic programming techniques, using examples, with the help of the computer algebra system "Maple". The emphasis is on building confidence and intuition for the solution of dynamic problems in economics. To integrate the material better, the same examples are used to introduce different techniques. One covers the…

The aim of research is to compare difference between tenth class students and determine their level of success about classic and web based educational applications of Turbo Pascal lesson. This research was applied to 10 A and 10 TLB students of Izmir Karsikaya Anatolian Technical and industrial high school computer department in second term of…

Collaborative learning is well suited to online learning environments built around threaded discussion. Research frameworks have developed around these practices providing methodological guidance for examining learning as a collective endeavor within the boundaries of a course. Understanding how to use the powerful learning techniques involved in…

Theories about reflective thinking and deep-surface learning abound. In order to arrive at the definition for "reflective thinking toward deep learning," this study establishes that reflective thinking toward deep learning refers to a learner's purposeful and conscious activity of manipulating ideas toward meaningful learning and knowledge…

Internet is a new media for distance education that provides students with a low-cost, flexible option to expand into global markets (Casey, 1998). By 2004 at least two million higher-education students in the U.S. were engaged in distance education utilizing various technologies that allow learners to take courses independent of time and location…

Distance education is becoming a more common method of curriculum delivery across grade levels in Australia, the United States and throughout the world. Especially in remote rural areas with sparse student populations, distance delivery of course work is often the only available means for students to learn and for teachers to teach. The days of…

The publicly available free computer program, "SimChemistry," was used as an active learning tool in the chemical engineering curriculum at the University College of Boras, Sweden. The activity involved students writing their own simulation programs on topics in the area of molecular structure and interactions. Evaluation of the learning…

With the advance in information and communication technologies, computer-mediated communication--more specifically computer conferencing systems (CCS)--has captured the interest of educators as an ideal tool to create a learning environment featuring active, participative, and reflective learning. Educators are increasingly adapting the features…

The purpose of this study was to determine actions that colleges and universities can take to institutionalize their distance education programs. Thirty factors found to influence the institutionalization of innovations were identified from the literature. These were rated by distance education faculty and leaders as to their importance for…

Working memory is an important theoretical construct among children, and measures of its capacity predict a range of cognitive skills and abilities. Data from 9- and 11-year-old children illustrate how a chronometric analysis of recall can complement and elaborate recall accuracy in advancing our understanding of working memory. A reading span…

We developed the three-dimensional visualization software, Tonal Interface to MacroMolecules or TIMMol, for studying atomic coordinates of protein structures. Key features include audio tones indicating x, y, z location, identification of the cursor location in one-dimensional and three-dimensional space, textual output that can be easily linked…

Distance education (DE) practices around the world use a wide range of audio-visual technologies to overcome the lack of direct contact between teachers and students. These are not universally adopted by DE teachers, however, nor even encouraged by their institutions. This article discusses the organisational attitudes that can lead to outdated…