The relationships between aspects of mother-infant interaction and both communication and cognitive skills at 1 year of age were examined in 92 African American dyads, of whom 64 were poor. The overall quality of the home environment and maternal ratings of stimulation and elaborativeness were the most consistent correlates of infant communication…

The methodological sensibility that will lead to the consideration of the new forms of cybersociality is advanced. Cybersociality refers to the new expressions of "being together," sharing emotions, and communicating in networked social environments. Social interactions in the wired city of Blacksburg, Virginia are analyzed and three groups of…

Outlines the course development of an introductory large-scale distance education course offered via the World Wide Web at the Open University in the United Kingdom. Topics include developing appropriate student skills; maintaining quality control; facilitating easy updating of material; ensuring student interaction; and making materials…

Examines the transferability of five Japanese indirect request strategies to corresponding English request contexts. Findings indicate that the Japanese strategies were differentially transferable and the transferability of each first-language request strategy was determined by interaction between the politeness and conventionality encoded in each…

Multiple measures of social behavior were used to evaluate a systematic replication of a conversational multiple-exemplar, self-instructional training intervention with 4 students (ages 14 to 19) with moderate mental retardation and limited social interaction with peers. The procedure was effective in increasing participants' generalized…

This close look at a recent research study of the various approaches mothers use in reading to very young children demonstrates the importance of modeling interactive reading to help preschool children connect books to daily experiences. (Author)

Presents the background and rationale for a description of information systems which places typical information retrieval and other types of systems in context with one another. Examples are drawn from various types of information systems, and a typology is derived for identifying useful combinations of data type, retrieval mechanism, and…

Describes intergenerational studies as means of linking young and old persons to promote mutually beneficial interaction. Reviews development of an intergenerational program in Hawaii and describes its current operation in three child care centers. (DLH)

Describes a study that compared two formats, traditional and distance education, for a case analysis/case writing model in a graduate course in professional development. Discusses media theory; media attributes of realism, interactivity and feedback, and interface; knowledge acquisition; skill development; confidentiality; and networking.…

This commentary on C. Addison Stone's paper on scaffolding for the learning disabilities field suggests that many current applications prevent rather than encourage transfer of responsibility to students for learning and task accomplishment and that current practices in many schools may result in "reverse-scaffolding". (DB)

A reading-specific multiple classification task was designed that required children to classify printed words along phonological and semantic dimensions simultaneously. Reading-specific multiple classification skill made a unique contribution to children's reading comprehension over contributions made by age, domain-general multiple classification…

Examines the issue of community in distance learning. Reviews: literature on the nature of community, trends in higher education, and virtual teams in business. Discusses: what higher education can expect from virtual teams; a virtual learning community model; how virtual learning communities in higher education differ from traditional models; and…

Given recent claims that task-based instruction has desirable pedagogic qualities, this article investigates the effects of choosing different types of tasks, as well as different task implementation conditions, on the fluency, accuracy, and complexity of the language that is produced when tasks are carried out. (Author/VWL)

Illustrates the impromptu use of German among adolescents in a multilingual school in inner London, where the aesthetics of performance play a significant role in the negotiation of identities and in the repositioning of an official code at school. (Author/VWL)

Examines users' cognitive, affective, and physical behaviors during user-Web interaction to understand better the nature of information retrieval on the Web, the needs of Web users, and the problem-solving strategies Web users employ. Describes and interprets searching behavior and problem-solving patterns within the relevant situational context…