This study investigated the extent to which English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) writing students in a Taiwanese university used ideas provided by their peers during computer-mediated prewriting discussions, and the quality of the peers' comments. Subjects were 17 students in four writing groups. Transcripts of discussions preceding the first…

Whether we are conscious or not, technology has made an important impact in our daily life. Like in all other areas, education has been transformed and more active learning methods are now being implemented. This paper is attempting to describe a novel approach for using modern technology. This approach expects that learners prepare their own…

This paper reports on preliminary findings from a longitudinal study on the integration of multimedia and the internet technologies into language teaching. Phase I of the study included novice computer users' approaches to multimedia design. Phase II explored the correlations between their attitudes and cognitive styles; and Phase III focused on…

To prepare teachers who will be able to draw on caring to build a strong foundation for their professional practices, teacher education programs must be created specifically focused toward this goal. This article discusses the use of dialogue journals in a course designed to enrich preservice elementary teachers' understandings of caring. Quite…

This study compared the effects of system-initiated (low-level) facilitation with that of facilitator-initiated plus system-initiated (high-level) facilitation on cognitive restructuring and learning achievement. Graduate students participated in facilitated online discussion within a web course for one semester. This study found no significant…

This study is, as an inquiry into the effectiveness of discussion leadership taxonomy, designed to help online discussion leaders support and facilitate discussions conducted by undergraduates. Participants were approximately two hundred preservice undergraduate students taking an Introduction to Educational Technology course. Each week students…

This paper aims to identify and to understand the role of the logical, the affective and the ethical dimensions of knowledge in the online interactions of post-secondary teachers and students. By understanding how these dimensions are interwoven, I intend to demonstrate that the instructor?s course design and teaching strategies must take them…

Designers who are charged with creating online environments that support students' problem-solving efforts and instructors who are searching for instructional strategies to support students' asynchronous problem-solving efforts will find this paper useful. The paper describes a systematic approach for using computer-mediated bulletin boards to…

Students today have an increasingly complex array of educational media that they can use to access educational material. While universities are under pressure to find cheaper, faster and hopefully better ways to interact with students, it is the responsibility of teachers to ensure that these media meet the educational and learning needs of…

This paper focuses on motivating online learners. Online instruction has presented teachers with new methods of instruction. At the same time, online instruction has the potential to depersonalize the teacher-student relationship and impede the teacher's ability to understand their students. This study attempts to begin translating the traditional…

In the spring of 2004, the Arcadia University launched MyArcadia, the campus web portal. MyArcadia gives students, faculty, and staff access to online courses and departmental web sites. The portal is also the main source for campus announcements and event listings, and provides a single sign-on link to campus email. This report gives a detailed…

After two years of unsuccessful pilot programs for e-portfolio development within the Teacher Education Department at the University of Indianapolis, implementation of an INTASC (Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium) standards-based assessment system including digital portfolio building using TaskStream (TS) seems to hold…

This paper presents a Web-based environment (Web-course) designed for large groups distance learning programs in which students may benefit from the availability of large user and information bases, without losing the advantages of working in small groups. The system implements concepts of Social Translucence developed by Erickson and Kellog.…

This paper summarizes the experiences of an instructor and teaching assistant who introduced online communication strategies in a graduate seminar. This paper drew on the findings of a previous paper (Schwier & Balbar, 2002), and examined how to construct structured discussions of content using synchronous and asynchronous communication in…

In traditional face-to-face classrooms, teachers lead their students through discussions using strategies that promote reflection and further exploration of issues and topics. The same holds true in the online class. There are specific techniques and strategies used in facilitating learning through discussion in both types of classes. The…