Oregon is raising its expectations for students. The current academic standard, which allows students to graduate with only a D-minus average in 22 credit hours of classes, is being replaced by the requirement that students prove that they are proficient in English, mathematics, science, history, and other academic subjects. Students will…

During the 1995-96 year, the Education Commission of the States (ECS) Clearinghouse issued almost three dozen "Clearinghouse Notes" on a wide array of education issues. The notes, which are usually one to two pages long, show at a glance state legislation passed or pending on specific education issues. This packet contains the complete…

This proceedings includes 62 papers on rural special education. Papers present promising practices for rural special education, current research, program descriptions, discussions of theory, and topics of timely concern. The papers are organized in order of presentation, and are categorized in a topical index under the following subjects:…

This book contains new and previously published translations of 11 essays and articles about the industrialization of teaching and learning in distance education that were originally published in German by Otto Peters between 1965 and 1993. A "Preface" (Desmond Keegan) and an introduction placing Peters' writings in their historical…

Papers from the conference include the following: "Activites orales et motivation dans l'etude du vocabulaire d'une langue etrangere (Oral Activities and Motivation in the Study of Vocabulary in a Foreign Language)" (M. Guisset); "Bridging High School and College Classes through the Multicultural Approach: The Case of Francophone…

The North Central Indiana Workplace Literacy Initiative seeks to develop a curriculum management system addressing work force literacy needs and a coordinated human resource investment system meeting individual economic self-sufficiency needs and labor market needs. The workplace of the future will contain six key changes: employers will require…

The Des Moines (Iowa) Public Schools foreign language program for K-12 is described and evaluated. The evaluation report focuses on six areas, including: (1) school district mission and philosophy of foreign language instruction; (2) context (state policies and standards, foreign language program overview and enrollment, fiber-optic communication…

Interdisciplinary study with computer-based multimedia in the classroom is reviewed. The multimedia revolution involves multiple technologies and multiple modes of sensation, but the computer is at the heart of this revolution. Despite the many challenges, interest is strong for multimedia courseware. The predicted market is enormous, and nowhere…

Strategies and programs for improving mathematics instruction should be derived from sound educational theory. The sociocultural learning theories of Vygotsky may offer guidance in developing technology-based mathematics curriculum materials consonant with the NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) goals and objectives. Vygotsky's…

Scholars and proponents of computer-supported learning advocate the use of collaborative learning as an important component of Internet courses. Advocates claim that computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) is an instructional strategy that can help instructors avoid the pitfalls of Internet correspondence courses that rely on information…

Trends in pedagogy and in technology are converging to make distance learning environments of the 21st century. Trends in pedagogy have encouraged the movement away from the learner as a passive recipient of information and toward a more active model of learning. Earlier generations of distance learning media and methods were ill-suited to the…

The purpose of this yearbook is to highlight multiple perspectives about educational technology and media development and to provide information about the purposes, activities, programs of study, and accomplishments of organizations and associations dedicated to the advancement of educational communications and technology. The 1999 edition is…

This paper describes the development of a case-based system for information technology (IT) education, to be used in high schools across Japan, so that teachers can share a common knowledge about IT education. The first section covers the study purpose and describes the case-based system, including registration of cases, searching cases, and…

This study investigated the use of tools and design features as employed in a problem-based learning (PBL) environment and their effectiveness on seventh grade students' learning of science concepts. Specifically, the study examined: (1) the effect of the computer-supported PBL environment on the achievement of middle school students; (2) the…

The proceedings report is divided into four sections that include: (1) two invited lectures by Colette Laborde and James Kaput on the topics of students' reading and writing of mathematics and an allegory in which writing is introduced into a technology-based mathematical society; (2) working group reports on the topics of fractal geometry in the…