The Virtual Workshop is a World Wide Web-based set of modules on high performance computing developed at the Cornell Theory Center (CTC) (New York). This approach reaches a large audience, leverages staff effort, and poses challenges for developing interesting presentation techniques. This paper describes the following techniques with their…

Focusing on online learning opportunities in higher education, this paper reviews the various tools of virtual learning and electronic synchronous and asynchronous communication, discusses their strengths and weaknesses, presents strategies for their best use, and warns against potential pitfalls. Implementation issues, including cost and training…

Creating learning environments and learning experiences for students has always been at the heart of student affairs work. This document is intended to provide guidelines, titled "Principles of Good Practice," as to how student affairs can advance student learning, and it serves as a framework to aid student affairs in meeting challenges…

In the Fall of 1998, a World Wide Web course called "Introduction to Music Theory and Aural Skills" was published at Murray State University (Kentucky) as an interactive and self-contained learning environment to provide a partial solution to the problem of incoming music students' inadequate preparation in fundamental music theory…

This paper provides an overview of the IT (Instructional Technology) Clinical graduate course at Virginia Tech and compares the perceived reality of the Clinical experience, in terms of benefits and concerns, with students' initial expectations. The paper begins with a discussion of the IT Clinical plan, the sociology of the learning environment…

Noting that many factors can influence the extent to which families are engaged in their children's education, this study examined the influence of family and school barriers as potential barriers to parent involvement. The sample was taken from a local site of the National Head Start/Public School Transition Demonstration Project. Participants…

This descriptive study has two phases. The first phase describes the mechanism for online collaboration. The second phase quantifies collaborative interaction. The coding design was partially based on ProjectH, a research study from 1992-94 involving a large number of collaborators from several countries who worked together to study worldwide…

In 1998, the British Columbia Teachers' Federation (BCTF) appointed an eight-member task force to investigate the effectiveness of the education system for First Nations students. The task force report and recommendations are intended to serve several groups of Aboriginal students: First Nations students, with or without status under Canada's…

This action research project describes a program for decreasing disruptive behaviors in the classroom and encouraging children to be more respectful of others. The targeted population was sixth- through eighth-grade students in a Midwestern suburb. The problems of disruptive behaviors and lack of respect were documented using teacher and student…

As part of ongoing research into rural school improvement, the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL) at the request of its Rural Advisory Council set out to find, examine, and profile exemplary, successful school improvement programs in rural schools and districts in the upper Midwest. This paper is a summary of the first year…

This bulletin contains a report on the development of the rural junior high school. Since their introduction in 1909, junior high schools have steadily advanced in the favor of school administrators, and they now seem likely to cause a revolution in the organization of American secondary education. Among many other advantages claimed for them, it…

Are you curious about the Reggio Emilia approach but not quite sure where to begin? "Working in the Reggio Way" helps early childhood teachers bring the reflective, high-quality practices of Reggio Emilia to American programs. Based on an American teacher's experience observing and working in the schools of Reggio Emilia, Italy, this…

This paper presents and discusses data based on the perceptions of 128 persistent school absentees on their initial and continued reasons for missing school. The findings suggest that a greater proportion of the students were inclined to blame their institutions, rather than social or psychological factors, for their behavior. (SSH)

The schools are discussed as character-building institutions, where academic and behavior standards should encourage self-discipline and learning. Less emphasis on ego-building psychology, removing nonessential subjects from the curriculum, and increasing quality at the elementary and secondary school levels are viewed as corrective measures. (PP)