New tools, whether developed organizationally, commercially, or within a domain may represent innovation in the workplace and can be part of larger scale reform and change. The focus of this research is on exploring the roster of issues arising as the theory of communities of practice is applied to specific cases of online professional development…

This Proceedings reports on the Distance Education strand sessions at the NCA 2001 Summer Conference. Distance education in communication (DE-COMM) refers to communication teaching and learning that occurs when faculty and students are separated in time and/or space. This separation is bridged synchronously (live) or asynchronously (other than…

This paper discusses the notion of community as an outcome of working within an online environment. In particular, the paper explores the concept of users' development of a sense of community as an outcome of working within an online environment designed to support the professional and personal development of its users. The paper discusses…

Many adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teachers and tutors, paid and volunteer alike, often have great difficulty finding the time, opportunity, and resources to get training in areas vital to adult instruction, such as principles of adult education and learning, second language acquisition theory, teaching methodology, and the use of…

The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the developmental stages of academic publication collaborations through both research on the collaborative process itself, as well as through analysis of the discovery process. Using the qualitative software package, NUD*IST, the teleconferencing system, FirstClass, and standard e-mail, the study…

The question explored in this report is whether electronic networks are effective tools for creating and sustaining reflective teacher communities. Over the past two decades, computer mediated communication (CMC) technologies have been used in a variety of efforts aimed at fostering teacher learning and teacher collaboration. A study sought to…

A new Danish act regarding library service has initiated several projects in order to promote libraries and to provide library staff experience in using the Internet to communicate with end users. Most public Danish information is found on official World Wide Web sites, and there is a tendency to publish online versions instead of printed…

Standard setting, when carefully done, can be an expensive and time-consuming process. The modified Angoff method and the benchmark method, as utilized in this study, employ representative panels of judges to provide recommended passing scores to standard setting decision-makers. It has been considered preferable to have the judges meet in a…

This book provides a critical examination of the major issues that social work education and practice must confront if social work is to remain as a mainline profession. The book explores issues that are not normally covered in social work literature, such as the challenge of reconstructing the social work profession, the use of technology in…

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of two cooperative computer-assisted language learning (CALL) environments--face-to-face and distance cooperative CALL--on learners' spelling performance and learning attitude. Traditional classroom lecture learning and self-directed CALL environments were employed as control groups. Learning…

The use of electronic conferencing in undergraduate social work courses at Southeast Missouri State University and Middle Tennessee State University is discussed. Conferencing increases student participation, encourages more effective relationships among participants, and provides additional feedback experiences. Faculty determined that selection…

This paper points to the teacher professional development practices in a networked classroom that become reality with the use of advanced telecollaboration tools such as Virtual-U and KnowledgeForum. Those tools support, extend, and strengthen the establishment of teacher learning communities and their collaborative inquiries. Those inquires are…

This paper describes the rationale for using a World Wide Web page linked with a database to share perceptions among diverse stakeholders in a field-based teacher education setting. The efficiency of the Web as an inquiry tool can make applied and empowering research possible despite severe time constraints. The second section of the paper gives…

Indicates that political debates on computer bulletin boards (primarily USENET) are characterized by aggressiveness, angry assertion, insult, and the attempt to humiliate opponents; but that they also display a high degree of formal regularity and are robust exercises in free speech, virtuosic in argument and language, and rare opportunities for…

Integrated remote access servers support many different types of access. Remote access has been integrated as a strategic tool as application developers build remote access capabilities into their software. Discusses demands of using remote access as a strategic component and management matters. (AEF)