Examines recent research on student interactions and student course evaluations in six Web-based courses taught at Arizona State University between 1996 and 1998. Topics include online interaction; computer conferencing; teaching research methods; teacher perspectives; and student perspectives. (Author/LRW)

This study examined the quality of caregiver-child interaction using the Parent/Caregiver Involvement Scale with 41 preschoolers (who were prenatally exposed to cocaine) and 39 nonexposed preschoolers. Both biological mothers and foster caregivers of exposed children were significantly less emotionally and developmentally appropriate in…

Describes a study of Japanese homestay students enrolled in a U.S. university that sought insight into the students language experience. Students were interviewed regarding the amount of conversation they had with their host families, the character and quality of the conversation, and how students and host family members negotiate…

Reports results from a study of the effects of multimedia learning environments in geography in a Dutch secondary school. Discusses information and communication technology and learning behavior, and examines the impact of multimedia environments on students' time on task, on student-student and student-teacher interaction, and on students'…

Addresses issues facing designers of Web-based university level courses, drawing from experience in distance education. Topics include a paradigm shift to distributed learning; technologies involved in an ideal online course; study guides; assignments; asynchronous and synchronous communication; email; interactive skill building; and theoretical…

Describes the system architecture of an intelligent Web-based education system that includes user modeling agents, information filtering agents for automatic information gathering, and the multi-agent interaction. Discusses information management; user interaction; support for collaborative peer-peer learning; implementation; testing; and future…

This study of the effects of gender on computer use and telecommunications, analyzed e-mail, daily logs, newsletters, text and graphic documents, and transcripts of interviews with 30 elementary school children. Study found girls and boys used technology to confirm and defy gender stereotypes and that gender biases in classroom interactions were…

Two aptitude-treatment interaction studies involving 61 college students examined comparative effects of metacognitive strategy training in self-questioning within cooperative group learning and traditional direct instruction on the acquisition of computing competence, learning anxiety, and positive cognition. Results support including cooperative…

This study attempted to increase the quantity of social interaction with peers in classroom settings between children (aged 5 to 9 years) with cerebral palsy who were using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems. The multifaceted 15-week intervention was directed at communication partners and was found effective in increasing…

Discusses engagement theory (students meaningfully engaged in learning activities through interaction with others and worthwhile tasks) and the three components, collaboration, project orientation, and authentic focus, and outlines research questions to establish its efficacy. (PEN)

Discusses opportunities for interactive learning on the World Wide Web for elementary and secondary school students. Highlights include active learning Web sites; telecollaborative learning; simulations; tools and resources; technology issues; small group collaboration; student privacy; and an annotated bibliography of applicable Web sites. (LRW)

Analyzes how less powerful subjects in an unequal encounter, an admission interview in an educational institution, were able to counter the power directed at them by the more powerful subject through "aikido" strategies. In the context of the interview, harmonizing with the ideological discursive formation of the institution in question…

Examines a kindergarten in which half the students are learning English as a second language. This ethnographic study describes communities in which two newcomer children participate peripherally; the identities, social practices, and resources available to newcomers; and the organization of each community's social structure, its power relations,…

Investigates how interaction between users and search intermediaries reveals aspects of user information problems and how users and search intermediaries focus on aspects of user information problems during online searches. Six categories were observed: documents; evaluation of search results; search strategies; information retrieval system;…

This study investigated potential effects of auditory and other communicative experience on development of visual attention in 80 infants (tested at 9, 12, and 18 months), half deaf and half with deaf mothers. Results indicate that early visual attention is associated with and potentially influenced by a complex interaction of maturation,…