This paper describes three instructional strategies designed to support community building in an online graduate teacher education course: (1) MOO (Multi-User Dimensions Object Oriented) field trips, in which participants are introduced to text-based virtual environments on the Internet through metaphoric online "field trips"; (2)…

Presents ideas for encouraging teachers' technology use: create video illusions; challenge teachers to an online personality test; get staff e-mail accounts; encourage students/staff to e-mail relatives and friends; give seminars on multitask/multimedia programs; help students create newsletters; print holiday letters; search the Web for topics;…

Centers on computer-mediated communication in a second language (L2). Introduces a conceptual framework for understanding the role of computer-mediated interaction based on a sociocultural analysis of the relationship among text, talk, and learning. Then analyzes current research according to five features particular to online interaction. (90…

Discusses the concept of the intranet, comparing and contrasting it with groupware, and presents an argument for its value based on technical and information management considerations. Presents an intranet development project for an academic organization and describes a portable, user-centered and team-based methodology for the design and…

Reviews the current state of "one-stop shopping" for telecom services. Discusses regulatory obstacles; administrative problems with single billing; and resistance of telecom providers to change. Concludes that the leading one-stop shopping providers will be individual carriers who offer cost savings. (AEF)

Reviews the sixth Conference on Computers, Freedom, and Privacy (CFP) held in March 1996. Highlights include the Communications Decency Act, part of the 1996 Telecommunications Reform Act; European views; Internet service providers; limiting online speech on campus; cryptography; the global information infrastructure; copyright; and China and the…

Discussion of asynchronous communication technology focuses on a pilot project in the English for Academic Purposes program at the University of Alberta where two courses incorporated a voice-based conferencing tool to improve their oral skills. Describes the evaluation survey that tested student reactions and investigated course effectiveness.…

Discusses computer mediated communication in education and reports findings from a study of a teacher training program in Singapore that examined the quality of message ideas, thinking, and interaction in an asynchronous CMC environment. Topics include participation and quantity of individual messages; interaction with peers and lecturers; and…

Declares that one of the products of a liberal undergraduate education is the ability to think critically. Explains that this is a crucial skill for economics majors to master. Describes how electronic discussion provides a natural framework for effectively teaching this skill. (JEH)

Proposes a computer-mediated education system, developed at Doshisha University (Japan), which uses discussion-embedded digital lectures. Explains how students can read related discussions while watching the lecture video, facilitating further discussion and thus achieving a more effective distance learning environment. Includes evaluation of a…

Explores asynchronous communication perspectives and experiences of undergraduate students in an online course. Interviews with 22 preservice teachers, student-to-instructor email transcripts, asynchronous discussion transcripts, and two independent reviewers' reviews of the asynchronous discussions were used to collect and analyze the data.…

Studied whether computer-mediated communication results in more equal participation among students by comparing face-to-face and electronic discussion. Findings reveal a tendency toward more equal participation in the computer mode as well as a pattern of student use of more lexically and syntactically formal language in electronic than in…

Examines preservice teachers' interactions with the Internet in searching for information and in communications. Discusses embodied computing, user "domination and silencing,""brotherhoods" on the Internet, ethical issues, privacy versus the public nature of the Internet, sharing of text and sharing of voice, language of searches, and explorations…

Describes a tool called the Electronic Issue Forum which was designed to give college students experience in writing both persuasive and balanced papers in a way that supports distance learning. The role-playing nature of the forum is explained, and grading criteria and other student needs are considered. (Author/LRW)

Suggests that a combination of face-to-face and computer-mediated discussion (CMD) provides a learning environment superior to that of the traditional classroom. Finds that students actively involved in CMD groups not only reported learning more than they otherwise would have but also tended to earn higher grades than students taking part in…