The concept of a community of practice (CoP) is prevalent in several venues for teachers' professional development, especially in online environments. However, there are few descriptive accounts that effectively represent a CoP in a manner that will be of use to other designers. In order to illuminate potential difficulties which may arise when…

Student responses to a tertiary, flexibly delivered physics course are examined. The course was designed to provide secondary science teachers in rural regions of NSW, Australia, with a qualification appropriate to teach senior physics, and is a response to the lack of new physical science teachers currently being trained. Evaluations indicate…

The authors work as online tutors for a BSc (Hons) physiotherapy programme at Coventry University in the United Kingdom. This paper represents a stage in our developing understanding, over a 3 year period, of the impact of group dynamics on online interaction among physiotherapy students engaged in sharing with their peers their first experiences…

The purpose of this paper is to report on the development of the first online self-directed inventory on the measurement of academic programme preferences (MAPP) for potential students at the Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK). In this study, trait-factor theory and personality type theory were employed. 1,963 respondents in Hong Kong were…

"Keeping Pace" has several goals. First, it strives to add to the body of knowledge about online education policy and make recommendations for advances. Second, it serves as a reference source for information about programs and policies across the country, for both policymakers and practitioners who are new to online education as well as those who…

This volume presents 64 abstracts of keynote and parallel paper presentations of the Irish National Academy for Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning's (NAIRTL) conference on the theme of flexible learning. The Flexible Learning conference was a joint initiative by NAIRTL and the Learning Innovation Network. The keynote presentations can…

This collection of papers considers how the school library media specialist serves special needs students and classroom teachers in multiple roles as teacher, information specialist, and instructional consultant or collaborator. Included are the following papers: "Teaching Library and Information Skills to Special Needs Students" (Caren…

Frequently-asked questions about English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction are posed and answered. Questions address the following: the goals of ESL instruction; how ESL differs from bilingual education; how students needing ESL are identified; where interpreters are found; the "Lau Decision"; how to find out how much English the…

This document is the proceedings of a cross-cultural education conference held in Russia. The conference had four major themes: learning and development, family involvement in education, community and social context of education, and pedagogy. Educational levels discussed ranged from early childhood to university. The body of the document is…

This document contains 14 papers explaining how 12 further education colleges in the United Kingdom used fellowship funds to maximize their use of current information and learning technologies and make other substantial innovations to improve their flexibility, accessibility, and rates of participation. The following papers are included:…

Selected titles of refereed research papers contained in this volume include the following: "Analysis of Computer Use by Four-Year University Faculty Members" (Duff et al.); "Analysis of Undergraduate Coursework Completed by Prospective Business Teachers" (Schmidt et al.); "Business Educators' Perceptions Regarding the Integration of Business…

Selected papers are as follows: "Are Office Support Personnel Aware of the Ergonomical Issues Associated with Computer Keyboarding?" (Evans); "Background and Characteristics of Japanese Students Who Enroll in an American Two-Year Information Processing Program Taught in Japan" (Morgan, Wiggs); "Business Education's (BE)…

This book contains the following papers about the role and activities of Canada's universities in continuing education: "Introduction" (Brooke, Waldron); "Continuing Education and the Canadian Mosaic" (Selman); "Philosophical Issues in Continuing Education" (Selman); "Improving Support Services for Adult…

This book, which is intended as a practical resource for individuals who are professionally concerned with adult learning, contains 21 papers and 3 checklists concerning the new communication and information technologies (IT) and adult learning. The following papers and checklists are included: "Introduction" (Jane Field); "The Use…

This background paper is a result of a literature review conducted under Project FORUM that identifies research-based inputs and processes related to student outcomes. It was intended to provide background information for the participants attending the Wingspread Conference on Inputs and Processes in October, 1998. In addition, the report is…