Ten themes were explored at the Fifth World Conference on Adult Education: (1) adult learning and democracy; (2) improving the conditions and quality of adult learning; (3) ensuring the universal right to literacy and basic education; (4) adult learning, gender equality and equity, and the empowerment of women; (5) adult learning and the changing…

This paper discusses three issues facing institutions that produce distance instruction. The first section covers the retraining of students; the new cohort of distance students must be trained to be comfortable with technology, with mediated interaction, and with the new paradigm of student-centered learning. The retraining of faculty is…

Within an electronic education market, an electronic education mall is defined as a virtual service center to support various transaction processes by providing a technological platform with appropriate value-added services and interfaces for suppliers and customers. In this context, an education broker service is of central importance, because…

This study examined the effectiveness of the anchored instruction (i.e., using a theme or anchor around which various learning activities take place) approach in preparing preservice teachers to integrate technology. Participants were 48 students enrolled in the three sections of a preservice educational technology class during the summer of 1997.…

This paper provides an overview of hyperlexia, a condition found in children who have precocious reading skills accompanied by significant problems in language, learning, and social skills. These children are described as having superior auditory and visual memory but seem to have better memory for isolated words than words recalled in context.…

This publication about school library automation in Australia contains 18 chapters divided into seven sections. The chapters in the first section presents survey results: "School Library Automation in Australia: Results of the First, Second and Third National Surveys" (Ken Dillon); and "School Library Automation in New Zealand:…

The Project ALERT (Adult Literacy Enhanced & Redefined through Training) Workplace Literacy Project consisted of a partnership between Wayne State University, the Detroit Public schools, and several city organizations, unions, and manufacturers in the automobile industry, which formed to meet employees' job-specific basic skills application needs…

This document contains the student handouts and learning activities of an introductory course in oral communications that was developed by a community college for workers at a St. Louis (Missouri) chemical company. The following items are among those included: ice breaker activity; checklist for self-assessment of ability to handle criticism;…

Career and Technology Studies (CTS) is an optional program designed for Alberta's secondary school students. The program is designed to help junior and senior high school students do the following: develop skills they can apply in daily living now and in the future; investigate career options and make effective career choices; use technology…

The Optional Extended Year (OEY) program was initiated in Texas in 1995 and first implemented in the Austin Independent School District (AISD) in 1996. The primary focus of the OEY programs is to reduce student retention in grade through four school day options: (1) extended day; (2) extended week; (3) intersessions for year-round schools; and (4)…

An expatriate second language teacher working in Japan describes and discusses his use of a reflective dialogue journal, written with a colleague using electronic mail (e-mail) and using a collaborative approach to professional development. Four topic areas discussed in the collaborative journal are examined: features of doing cooperative…

Empirical evaluations of learning with hypertext have shown contradictory results. Adaptive hypertext was introduced to solve some problems when learning with hypertext. This paper reports on two empirical studies comparing different forms of adaptive hypertext. In the first experiment, four treatments were realized by a combination of adaptive…

The aim of the TEEODE project was to develop a representative survey of the models of assessment and evaluation used by institutions supporting distance learning in the 15 member states of the European Union. This paper focuses on issues of course development and assessment, and, in particular, on how effective learning outcomes are achieved and…

The Innovative Approaches Research Project (IARP) develops instructional models for language minority students. The project focuses on dropout prevention, instruction of exceptional students, math and science instruction, and literacy. IARP implemented four model programs: (1) Partners for Valued Youth: Dropout Prevention Strategies for At-Risk…

Foremost among many recent trends in education has been a surge of interest in small group instruction. Questions remain concerning the relative educational value of small group computer assisted instruction (CAI) or CBT (broadly defined as instructional use of computers). This paper presents the results of an investigation of 55 works on this…