This article explores how an online course was received by a group of teachers who teach students with severe/profound intellectual developmental disabilities. The intent of the course was to engage teachers in conversations, activities and reflections that support the development of curriculum and instruction in a least restrictive environment.…

Online learning programs have the potential to provide gifted students expanded access to advanced courses, but little research has been conducted on how well or in what ways the online environment is a good match for gifted students. The study presented here is an in depth qualitative and quantitative investigation of the perceptions and…

This study incorporates the 5E learning cycle strategy to design and develop Sharable Content Object Reference Model-conformant materials for elementary science education. The 5E learning cycle that supports the constructivist approach has been widely applied in science education. The strategy consists of five phases: engagement, exploration,…

Change in education is not going away; instead, it seems to be increasing exponentially. Technology has been the catalyst, and the changes with the greatest impact on education are the location and size of the classroom. The challenges associated with these changes involve working with students from potentially an unlimited number of countries and…

This paper is a comparative account and analysis of three mobile Web 2.0 projects instigated within a tertiary learning environment during 2008. Following the successful instigation of a mobile Web 2.0 project in the third year of a Bachelor of Product Design course during semester one, similar projects were initiated in semester two within the…

This study explores the interactivity of course-management systems (CMSs). First, this study reviews the concepts of interactivity, interactivity dimension, and interaction type on the basis of related theories and studies. Second, this study analyzes the interactive functions attributable to the six major CMSs in Taiwan colleges and universities,…

The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) schools were set up as centres of excellence in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) integration, so that other schools could copy their model in e-learning. It was for this reason that they were provided with computers, e-materials, internet appliances and trained personnel. But to…

Advocates of ubiquitous computing have long been documenting classroom benefits of one-to-one ratios of students to handheld or laptop computers. The recent sophisticated capabilities of the iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad have encouraged further speculation on exactly how K-12 teaching and learning might be energized by such devices. This paper…

In England there is a national survey of all students just before they graduate from bachelor's programmes called the National Student Survey (NSS). This produces a very influential ranking of all universities and colleges in England in terms of how the education they provide is perceived by their students. Top of this ranking every year is the…

This study investigated the online practices of students enrolled in graduate-level distance education courses. Using interviews and a questionnaire as data sources, the study sought to: (a) identify common practices that students adopt in asynchronous discussions, and (b) gain an understanding of why students adopt them. An analysis of the data…

Many students find it difficult to engage with mathematical concepts. As a relatively new class of learning tools, visualization tools may be able to promote higher levels of engagement with mathematical concepts. Often, development of new tools may outpace empirical evaluations of the effectiveness of these tools, especially in educational…

The need for the integration of generic skills training into structured PhD programmes is widely accepted. However, effective integration of such training requires flexible delivery mechanisms which facilitate self-paced and independent learning. A video recording was made of an eminent speaker delivering a 1-h live presentation to a group of 15…

Drawing on what researchers and professionals in the field internationally report, this paper reviews educational technology as an emergent field. The review reveals the continuum of perspectives on what the field is, and how it is bounded or fragmented. The paper describes the field from two perspectives: the professional and scholarly and…

Turnover and attrition of online faculty and adjunct faculty is a reality. While there are no reported national statistics or data on annual turnover/attrition for online faculty/adjunct, the overall costs of recruiting, training, and replacing faculty/adjunct can be staggering. Moreover, the short and long term effects of online faculty/adjunct…

The exponential growth of distance learning provision in the past forty years poses pertinent and critical ethical issues. Students participating in distance education via an online course are required to recognize and resolve various ethical issues, some of which focus on the instructor's actions. The university, too, as it supports students and…