Examines the nature of interaction in an online course from both teacher and student perspectives. Findings suggest that the structure of the course, class size, feedback, and prior experience with computer-mediated communication all influenced interaction. Results emphasize the importance of socially constructed meanings from participants'…

Discusses information, pedagogical and cultural perspectives on distance education in Africa, as well as the roles of educators and information technology. Suggests that the design of distance education for developing countries must be sensitive to cross-national and cultural differences. (AEF)

The Humanities Advanced Technology and Information Institute (HATII) at the University of Glasgow (Scotland) carried out a study of the opportunities and obstacles posed by the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the heritage sector in order to establish a funding policy. This article discusses the need for national…

Presents results of a systematic effort to collect student feedback on a Web-based distance education course offered by a major university. Findings show some students experienced what Hara and Kling (2000) call distance education student "distress" and, while they found the course to be a satisfactory educational experience overall, students were…

This study examined relationships between faculty computer self-efficacy and integration of electronic communication when teaching. Results showed computer self-efficacy scores differed on age, gender, college, integration, and computer experience. Recommends faculty development efforts to increase self-efficacy by providing hands-on experiences…

Discusses Floyd College's (Georgia) Information Technology Project (ITP), which began in 1997. Reports that every student and faculty member at the college is given a laptop, network connections have been implemented all over campus, and a help desk service provides technical support. The project has been successful, but student headcount fell…

A survey and in-depth interviews in an isolated British coastal town examined adolescents' computer and Internet use at home and in school. Adults had ambitious, future-oriented notions about how such technologies would expand children's educational opportunities and social and spatial horizons; in contrast, adolescents actually used technology in…

Using content analysis to analyze transcripts from a graduate course conducted via computer conferencing, this study confirmed that students exhibit self-direction as indicated by both the variety and the extent of concrete self-directed activities. Furthermore, the study explained how students are self-directed in a computer conferencing course…

This paper describes how information and communication technology (ICT) is used in the modular Open University course "T209 Information and Communication Technologies: People and Interactions", first presented in 2002. In this course ICT is used to provide students with practical experience and to support an active and collaborative approach to…

Advances in information and communication technology are changing organisations, including those in educational settings. Old practices are being altered, and new practices, spaces and possibilities created. The changes are such that it is timely to consider whether our current leadership conceptions remain useful. In non-educational sectors there…

Most studies in the field of synchronous Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) deal with interactions between language learners, while interactions between native speakers (NS) and learners have not been explored to the same extent, particularly to ascertain whether chatting with NS can provide a pedagogically sound bridge to conversation. Through…

The study explored the effectiveness of a discussion support taxonomy used in a course in which graduate students served as online discussion leaders. The students' ability to effectively use the taxonomy as a support tool to facilitate the discussions was examined. A content analysis of the discussion transcripts was conducted, and findings…

Immediacy behaviors enhance perceptions of closeness to others. In traditional and online college courses, instructor immediacy predicts student reports of learning and motivation. Student immediacy is theoretically also important in any learning community. However, there is little research on cyber-student immediacy as a predictor of course…

This study focuses on the various playful uses of language that occurred during a semester-long study of two German language courses using one type of synchronous network-based medium, the MOO. Research and use of synchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC) have flourished in the study of second-language acquisition (SLA) since the late…

Technological advances have brought about the ever-increasing utilisation of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) media in the learning of a second language (L2). Computer-mediated communication, for example, provides a practical means for extending the learning of spoken language, a challenging process in tonal languages such as Chinese,…