Good learning experiences ask students to investigate and make sense of the world. While there are many ways to do this, K-12 curriculum has traditionally skewed toward reading and writing to interpret and express students' sense-making. But there is another way. Infographics represent data and ideas visually, in pictures, engaging more parts of…

This paper reports on the task-based interaction of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners in the 3D multiuser virtual environment (MUVE) Second Life. The discussion first explores research on the precursors of MUVEs, text-based 2D virtual worlds known as MOOs. This is followed by an examination of studies on the use of MUVEs in Computer…

This study examined the influence of virtual manipulatives on different achievement groups during a teaching experiment in four fifth-grade classrooms. During a two-week unit focusing on two rational number concepts (fraction equivalence and fraction addition with unlike denominators) one low achieving, two average achieving, and one high…

In this study, the electronic revision and recapitulation tools 2.0 (EREP 2.0) were used to foster creative moments while creating aided recalls (ARs) (pictures electronic notes etc.). Creative and critical thinking is associated with vital skills which enable students to deal with often complex knowledge domains through an informal way of…

This study reports the effects of student response systems (clickers) "versus" online homework on students' long-term retention of General Chemistry I course material. Long-term content retention was measured by a comprehensive yearlong American Chemical Society (ACS) GC97 exam administered seven months after students had completed the General…

This paper proposes the identification and use of principle-based pedagogical patterns to help teachers to translate design principles into actionable teaching activities, and to scaffold student learning with sufficient flexibility and creativity. A set of pedagogical patterns for networked Second language (L2) learning, categorized and…

This paper reports on a project aimed at identifying and exploring the development and implementation processes of teaching practices with interactive whiteboards (IWBs) in two Swedish K-6 schools. The purpose of the project was to generate results and insights of value when preparing student teachers for professional use of IWBs and to give…

Two recent emerging trends are that of Web 2.0, where users actively create content and publish it on the Web, and also location awareness, where a digital device utilizes a person's physical location as the context to provide specific services and/or information. This paper examines how these two phenomena can be brought together so that…

Despite the importance of literacy skill training for incarcerated youth, a very limited number of empirically based research studies have examined reading instruction in correctional facilities. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the Fast ForWord computer-assisted reading program improved the reading and spelling abilities of…

Purpose: The author redesigned a course titled "Applied Information Technology: Networking" and applied online collaborative learning (CL) with initiation and self-regulated learning (SRL) to improve students' involvement in this course in an environment that is full of free online games, shopping websites, and social networking…

"Headsprout Early Reading"[TM] is an Internet-based supplemental early literacy curriculum consisting of forty 20-minute animated episodes that are designed to teach phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. The program adapts to a child's responses, providing additional instruction and review if a child does…

Simulation is an important learning tool that allows students to grasp probability concepts, especially when the actual scenario does not need to be replicated entirely. In the cases of tossing coins and rolling dice, gathering the data before analyzing them can be laborious and might be a waste of precious class time--time that might be better…

Researchers in education are often interested in determining whether independent groups are equivalent on a specific outcome. Equivalence tests for 2 independent populations have been widely discussed, whereas testing for equivalence with more than 2 independent groups has received little attention. The authors discuss alternatives for testing the…

In this article I explore one day in the life of a primary classroom in which teacher and children are "playful social" insiders in digital worlds. I argue that this snapshot offers glimmers of unimagined ways forward in teaching in digital worlds. The classroom culture is one of challenge, collective intelligence and reflection. The teacher's own…

Constructivism has recently gained popularity, although it is not a completely new learning paradigm. Much of the work within e-learning, for example, uses constructivism as a reference "discipline" (explicitly or implicitly). However, some of the work done within the simulation gaming (SG) community discusses what the basic assumptions and…