To design a new distance education course with an emphasis on student group work, a collaborative effort among the University of Missouri St. Louis Libraries and faculty was established. The collaborative process resulted in a more individualized service experience for library users, and the problems of course construction, using the Blackboard…

In order to understand and meet the needs of the distance learning population, student affairs administrators must partner with our colleagues in the fields of technology and distance education. A study of distance learners at North Carolina State University provides information and opportunities for strengthening those partnerships. (Contains 3…

In a context where changes in conceptions or experiences associated with learning generic skills is a desirable learning outcome, how can assessment instruments be designed to bring about the desired changes? In this paper we show how understanding the variation in students' experience of learning a specific generic capability represents the first…

Using a new methodological tool, the authors analyzed a large number of texts on information and communication technology (ICT) and education, and identified three clusters of views that guide educationists "in the field" and in more academic contexts. The clusters reflect different fundamental assumptions on ICT and education. The authors argue…

In response to this digital divide between developed and developing countries in their use of computers to prepare students for the global economy, the World Bank and, subsequently, the World Links organization provided schools in developing countries with networked computers and training that supports integration of ICT into teaching. This…

Academic institutions worldwide are constantly trying to refine or even reinvent their Information Systems (IS) curricula to address the needs of industry and government. As many IS curricula emerge, a number of them do not satisfy well recognized standards and even lack critical components. Furthermore, a highly competitive Information Technology…

Traditionally, the library and information profession has not been strongly research led in the way in which other professions, such as medicine and education for example, might be considered to be. However, it may be that the extent of practitioner involvement in research and the extent to which research informs practice have been underestimated.…

In this paper, the author analyses the different patterns of learning one can find in the organisations of two contrasting economic fields representing different contexts for learning. The analysis concentrates on two different occupational groups at the medium skills level: specialists in the IT sector and skilled workers in the timber and…

The nature of quality teaching and learning in higher education has been subject to ongoing research and debate. In distance learning programmes, "teaching" comprises several distinct tasks including the provision of distance learning materials and the support of students' learning when they are away from the campus. This study examined the nature…

The overwhelming traditional knowledge delivery system for higher education in the Arab world demonstrates the pronounced information technology (IT) gap between Arab countries and the developed world. This study demonstrates the problems and possibilities of implementing e-learning in Arab educational institutions through analysing the attitudes…

Applied Projects is a program where every technology student engages in an intensive team project full time during the final academic semester. A wide range of enterprises provide the real-world problems that form the basis of student projects. This article describes the program and how Fleming College uses this program for applied research. To…

Even though a wide cross-section of society today has accepted Information and Communications Technology (ICT) as an entrenched characteristic of its culture, education has been slow to adopt it as an integral tool within the classroom (Cuban, 2001; Elliott, 2004). Many reasons for this lethargy have been purported in the literature, ranging from…

The use of computers in early years has become a contentious issue, with advocates calling for more Information and Communications Technology (ICT), more machines, better software, and more training for professionals, while other groups call for "a moratorium on the further introduction of computers in early childhood and elementary…

With the spread of globalization and information technology, the goal of English education in East Asian countries has recently undergone drastic change, with one such change being the introduction of English at the elementary school level. Based on a sociocultural theoretical framework, this study attempts to identify and compare the ways in…

The paper traces the inability of the curricula of LIS schools in Africa to respond to the immediate job environment in Africa. The main weakness of the curricula is that they reflect essentially the curricula of LIS schools in the Western World. Thus, while most of the LIS curricula are relevant to the traditional library setting, the curricula…