Begins with a tribute to Professor G. Ram Reddy (founder of Indira Gandhi National Open University), then focuses on enhancing the role of open universities in providing borderless distance education. Highlights include the need for open distance-education; philosophy and vision; the distance teaching system; the role of information technology;…

Discusses the adoption of online instruction for distance education in the context of the Open University of Hong Kong. Academic and non-academic services that can be offered online are described. The importance and benefits of instituting electronic tutorials are addressed, including time savings, peer interactivity, and student/tutor…

Addresses the use of e-mail for communication and collaborative projects in schools. Discusses the effectiveness of an e-mail system based on a UNIX host; problems with POP (post office protocol) client programs; and the new Internet Mail Access Protocol (IMAP) which addresses most of the shortcomings of the POP protocol while keeping advantages…

Relates the benefits of interactive textbooks and describes three levels of publisher-maintained Web sites for textbooks: textbook information Web sites, textbook companion Web sites, and Web-enhanced textbook sites. Highlights features of a revolutionary Web-based textbook published by Course Technology. Includes an annotated bibliography with…

Discusses online testing using the inQsit[C] Web-based software system, a system that enables an individual to create an assessment module, administer that module to gather responses, and perform simple analyses with responses. Describes how to create an online test using inQsit[C]; administering the test; grading the tests; concerns/problems…

Demonstrates how the Internet can be used to meet the five standards of historical thinking from the National Standards of Historical Thinking: (1) chronological thinking; (2) historical comprehension; (3) historical analysis and interpretation; (4) historical research capabilities; and (5) historical-issues-analysis and decision making. (CMK)

Describes the University of California's new Washington, D.C. Center (USDC) that is scheduled to open in October 2001. Highlights include funding for new educational technology; the Web site; the university's office of Federal Government Relations; high-speed Internet connections; distance learning facilities, including videoconferencing; and…

Examines major trends for changes related to e-learning in several sectors (i.e., corporate training, postsecondary education, K-12 education, and non-traditional K-12 settings) and describes how these trends are affecting the development and dissemination of instructional design theory and methodology. (MES)

Six experts in early care and education discuss trends that will shape early childhood education by 2010. Six trends with the greatest impact are brain research, public financing, universal prekindergarten, technology, diversity, and staffing issues. Other key trends include employer involvement, outcomes orientation, aging population, peace…

Advice for students taking distance education courses includes knowing the technology; finding ways to communicate with the instructor; showing initiative; being courteous; and being familiar with the policies on attendance, absences, technology failures, written products, and evaluation. (Contains 15 references.) (TD)

Introduces the Instructional Technology Project (ITP) which provides universal, 24 hours/7 days a week Internet access to both students and faculty and incorporates technology into the curriculum. Uses five different modules involving technology that include e-mail, electronic discussion board, CD-ROM and multimedia, internet browsers, and…

A survey of 70 deaf education faculty and 50 administrators of programs serving students who are deaf of hard of hearing found 99 percent used computers and printers for instruction during class, 84 percent used VCRs for instruction during class, and 56 percent used video cameras for instruction during class. (Contains references.) (CR)

This article describes a university course designed to introduce preservice teachers to current technologies, help them attain a reasonable skill level using these technologies, develop effective integration strategies, and become critical thinkers and evaluators of digital information. The development and evaluation of the program is discussed.…

Addresses the implications of technology for multicultural education by examining the potential for global learning networks to promote intercultural literacy and critical thinking. The authors argue that computer and telecommunications technology has the potential to act as a positive catalyst in both areas through linkages of distant classrooms…

Reviews the academic literature of distance education that has considered whether the media and technologies of education affect learning and finds the conventional answer is in the negative. Also describes this issue in literature in the following fields: neurology, mass communications, and feminist approaches to the situated nature of knowledge.…