This paper describes a computer-supported environment designed to facilitate distance learning through collaborative problem-solving. The goal is to encourage distance learning students to work together, in order to promote both learning of collaboration and learning through collaboration. Collaboration is defined as working together on a common…

Manchester Business School employs a distinctive approach to learning known as the Manchester Method which is based on the principle that the most effective and rewarding way to learn and remember is through a practical reflective, live/real project-based approach. This paper investigates the use of a collaboration and information sharing…

Design-based research is proposed as a strategy to address the need for innovation in educational contexts. The article argues the case for increased and more effective research and development in education, and then presents a discussion of design-based research as a methodological set of tools to address this need. The four phases of…

This paper looks at the pressures under which academics in Australia are currently working, with special regard to small regional universities. Some time will be spent in explaining the situation and context of those working in the field of education at Northern Territory University as an example. In many respects small regional universities are…

This paper reports on a course, offered at the University of South Alabama, that was designed to assist occupational therapy students with the transition from student role in an academic environment to entry-level professional role in the work environment by providing World Wide Web-based support to students who leave campus to complete two…

Two faculty members from Volunteer State Community College (Tennessee) were assigned the charge to design an institution-wide faculty training and development program for distance learning. The approach to planning began by reexamining the evolution of their use of technology, culminating in online course delivery. This paper explores the…

This theme issue focuses on the challenges and opportunities of online technology as it is used by teachers and students in rural classrooms in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Mississippi, New Mexico, South Carolina, and Vermont. "Computer Country" (Cynthia Baughman) is an overview of online collaborations of teachers in the Bread…

Interpersonal presence refers to the cues individuals use to form impressions of one another and form/maintain relationships. The physical cues used to convey interpersonal presence in face-to-face learning environments are absent in text-based computer-mediated conferencing (CMC) courses. Learners' perceptions of interpersonal presence in CMC…

This paper examines the impact of networked technologies on educational reform in the context of linking home and school within this context of political and social struggle. The theoretical framework is presented first, grounding the study in an understanding of the curriculum as an educational process that is currently subject to challenge as a…

This collection of conference papers includes the following: (1) "Four Decades of Foreign Language Education: Are We Still at Cheese Station N?" (T. Bruce Fryer); (2) "Teaching French with the Internet: What the Students Want vs. What They Do" (Jean-Louis P. Dassier); (3) "Learning Behind the Screen: Computers,…

Research has offered evidence that teacher candidates are continually frustrated by a perceived conflict between the ideas expressed in methods course and the practices they see in classrooms where they carry out their observations and practicums. The hypermedia tool Reading Classroom Explorer (RCE) was developed in response to this problem.…

This research project is a study of education, out-migration of young adults, and the impact of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) on the education and economies of rural communities in Newfoundland and Labrador. A qualitative study of Newfoundland and Labrador's rural schools were conducted from January to August 2001. This report…

The installation of technology in the school library is only the first step in its effective use by students. Many search engines are not intuitively obvious to users, and students often need help with searching. Systematic formal instruction in electronic search skills is necessary for awareness of library software and competence in its use. The…

This paper explores the educational benefits and limitations of e-mail as an instructional aid to classroom-based teaching. It looks at practical ideas of how e-mail has been used to aid classroom instruction, and highlights and examines each usage of e-mail in terms of its effects on classroom teaching. E-mail systems have been used for classroom…

Foreign language students experience added difficulty when they are isolated from native speakers and from the culture of the target language. It has been posited that MOO (Multi-User Domain Object Oriented) may help overcome the geographical isolation of these students. MOOs are Internet-based virtual worlds in which people from all over the real…