Stephen Downes continues his examination of open source learning management systems (LMSs) with a visit to Sakai's Web site. While Sakai's Web site is not particularly easy to navigate, it provides access to a large community and constellation of related online learning products and initiatives. Visitors can visit discussion forums to ask…

What better way to clarify a topic and allow it to come alive than to provide students with a way to actually see it? Images, diagrams, and flowcharts can draw students in. In this article, the author reviews "Roche Genetics: Education Program" CD-ROM version 4.0. The program is organized using a theme park analogy. An information booth leads to a…

Purpose: The aim of this work is to implement bootstrapping methods into software tools, based on Java. Design/methodology/approach: This paper presents a category of software e-tools aimed at simulating laboratory works and experiments. Findings: Both students and teaching staff use traditional statistical methods to infer the truth from sample…

This paper traces an experience of designing and conducting qualitative research in dance education. The primary aim is to highlight the importance of giving consideration to research methodologies in the emergence of personal research practice. Making decisions about what method/s to use will ultimately direct the engagement with any study,…

Objective: This article describes the various administrative and clinical applications for PDA use in psychiatric care and review the process for implementation in an academic medical center. Method: The authors reviewed the psychiatric literature and tested various hardware and software products. Results: The literature describes various uses of…

In this paper, a didactical proposal is presented to introduce the variational methods for solving boundary value problems to engineering students. Starting from a couple of simple models arising in linear elasticity and heat diffusion, the concept of weak solution for these models is motivated and the existence, uniqueness and continuous…

This article reports on an investigation of students' perceptions of an online discussion group conducted using PalTalk, which is Internet-based audio conferencing software. After initial practice with the program, students conducted four group sessions in which they discussed nonconfidential topics related to supervision of counseling. Students…

The purpose of this study is twofold: 1) to model changes in health over time among older adults; and 2) to assess the degree to which stress arising in salient social roles accounts for individual variation in these changes. Individual growth curve analyses using Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) software were employed with longitudinal data…

This article describes ROODA (http://www.homer.nuted.edu.ufrgs.br), a virtual learning environment and one of the official Long Distance Education platforms that has been in use since 2005 at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil. It is free software that integrates syncronous and assyncronous…

E-technology as a basis of research is now being more widely considered as potential respondents can be drawn from an ever widening audience. Early work by others has shown that many respondents are keen to use the medium and that response rates are generally higher than by conventional approaches. This article summarizes the experience of…

The Forensic Terrorist Detection System called Pinocchio Assessment Profile (PAP) employs standard issue polygraphs for a non-verbal picture technique originated as a biofeedback careers interest instrument. The system can be integrated readily into airport screening protocols. However, the method does not rely on questioning or foreign language…

"The Expert Mathematician" is a three-year program of software instruction with 196 lessons, each ranging from one to three class periods. It covers general mathematics, pre-algebra, and algebra I. It uses the "Logo" computer language to focus on writing, operating, and applying mathematical procedures to study concepts,…

Though technology can enliven and enrich a teacher's work, its glitches can sabotage the most beautifully planned presentation. High school teacher Grinvalds shares six practices that help to deal with the glitches inevitably experienced by those entering the realm of classroom technology: (1) Prepare; (2) Ask for Help; (3) Stick with What You…

Business intelligence (BI) tools offer schools the ability to look beyond a routine statistic, such as what percentage of students have passed a given test. Through data analysis, schools can view specific scores for a select group of students, for example, and compare that data to other groups, classes, or teachers. That is the kind of…

The purpose of this study is to review 10 NCES databases that can be used for researching postsecondary issues and provide lesser-known facts to using the datasets that are important but may not be widely understood. Issues addressed include: (1) access; (2) statistical issues; (3) database nuances; and (4) database training opportunities. A…