Studies how technical communicators use the Internet. Finds that the Internet plays a significant role in the work practices of technical communicators--respondents find the Internet helpful for contacting customers, obtaining updated technical information, and publishing online documentation, but they encounter company resistance and are…

Describes a collection of systematic theory-based analyses of a system prototype that inherited its control mechanisms from preexisting systems. Demonstrates that collective use of system and user modeling techniques provides insight into a complex design problem, enabling the examination of design decisions for users and implementation. Discusses…

Examines the conceptual models that help to understand the development and sustainability of scholarly and professional communication forums on the Internet. An alternative information processing model that considers information technologies as Socio-Technical Interaction Networks (STINs) and a method for modeling electronic forums as STINs are…

Advises professors with limited technological experience on how to use features of their existing computer networks to communicate assessment expectations to their on-line students. Explains how e-mail and Web postings can serve this purpose. (EV)

Compares the effectiveness of in-person and Web-based multicultural supervision peer group formats. Results suggested that in-person peer group multicultural supervision offers a method of developing multicultural case conceptualization ability in school counselor trainees that is more effective and satisfying than Web-based supervision. Moreover,…

Describes a study of college students that examined how the use of computer mediated communication affected the transmission of performance and interpersonal appraisal information. Examined whether interpersonal judgments obtained through face-to-face communication resulted in greater positivity, but compromised accuracy, relative to…

Dialogue skills of 18 management students in a collaborative online activity were assessed using written reports summarizing dialogues and rubrics of dialogue-based behaviors. Students clearly exhibited the behaviors of information gathering, clarifying, checking understanding, personal connecting, and arriving and shared understanding. (SK)

Compares the effectiveness of a specific employment counseling activity, vocational interest inventory interpretation, across 3 delivery modalities: online text chat; online text chat with video cues; and traditional face-to-face interpretation. The difference in ratings of session value between text chat and video and face-to-face modalities was…

A study involving 180 Australian nursing students and 41 clinical mentors evaluated a flexible delivery system rotating clinical practice with classroom/online courses involving problem-based learning. There was evidence of increased self-confidence, self-direction, and goal setting. Faculty, students, and mentors had concerns about assessment and…

Discusses computer-supported collaborative learning and reports findings of college students' use of two Web-based discussion forums to supplement face-to-face instruction. Reports on student-initiated reflection and integration of perspectives through concessions and oppositions to postings of their peers, and emphasizes the importance of…

Examines a computer-mediated communication exercise designed to foster dialog on multicultural issues and practices while simultaneously being a multicultural experience itself. Conference transcripts are analyzed, and results suggest it is difficult to break cultural myths of teaching and the ideology of professionalism embraced by preservice…

Argues that humor can be accomplished in computer-mediated communication and can be critical to creating social meaning online. Analyzes the humor of the USENET news group rec.arts.tv.soaps (r.a.t.s.), which discusses soap operas. Combines user surveys with message analysis to show the prevalence and importance of humor in r.a.t.s. (RS)

States that computer-mediated communication on the Internet offers new challenges and opportunities for technical communication. Describes the cases of Lotus "MarketPlace" and the Clipper chip to illustrate the specialized nature of technical communities on the Internet. Suggests that when technical messages are not overly complex,…

Describes the JITOL (Just-in-Time Open Learning) project funded by the European Community and offers a JITOL perspective on electronic performance support as a technology for accessing distributed knowledge and promoting continuing professional development through computer-mediated communication. The learning cycle, prototype tools, and courseware…

Describes the assumptions of a constructivist epistemology, contrasts them with objectivist assumptions, and describes instructional systems that can support constructive learning at a distance. Highlights include paradigm shifts in learning and instructional design theory; computer-mediated communication; computer-supported collaborative work;…