Focuses on the collaborative partnership between Northern Illinois University (NIU) and the Dukane Corporation to encourage teachers to integrate technology into their instruction. Discusses first contacts; mutual concerns and vision for integrating technology into Pre-K-12 schools; faculty training in the new multimedia rooms; and the shared…

Describes a theme-based language course for science students at a South African university. Suggests that acquisition of language for science and technology should be regarded as acquisition of a range of literacies of science rather than acquisition of skills or grammatical features. (Author/VWL)

The need for lifelong learning is increasing as humanity transforms the planet into a global village. The growing number of people using the electronic infrastructure is creating new practices in which learning and work are intertwined. Professional educators must build the collective intelligence required for a knowledge-based society, and in…

Discusses the influence of a reflective, explicit, activity-based approach to nature of science (NOS) instruction used in an elementary science methods course on preservice teachers' views of some aspects of the nature of science. Finds that participants made substantial gains in their views of some of the target NOS aspects. Advocates a…

Discusses a method of evaluating middle school students' writing portfolios that places responsibility on the students themselves. Presents the evaluation assignment in three parts: students' self-evaluation, peer-evaluation, and parent-evaluation. Notes the effects of the portfolio method and evaluation strategy on literacy education. (JPB)

Traces the author's own literacy development to her girlhood in a village in rural Jamaica. Looks at storytelling, singing, and rhymes in the rhythm of the village; reading from the Bible and stories told at home; rhythms of song and language in church; and the rhythm of poems and stories in school. Looks at implications for literacy instruction.…

Explored the meanings six preservice elementary teachers constructed about their students with reading difficulties. Information from case studies indicated that each preservice teacher's stance on meaning, while idiosyncratically based on experience, was tied to pedagogy in two distinct ways (focusing on the important role of the supervising…

Explores the contradiction between communicative theory and practice in beginning and intermediate English-as-Second-or-Other-Language (ESOL) materials and compares this situation with that prevailing in early first language literacy instruction. Proposes that ESOL teachers create and use materials that are primarily designed to appeal to adult…

Addresses the effects of an after-school computer club network, the Fifth Dimension, on children's computer knowledge development. Compares Fifth Dimension novices and "experts" who had attended several times previously. Concludes that despite the absence of formal instruction, children's knowledge about computers is enhanced. (AEF)

Preservice programs often lack resources, time, and faculty expertise to instruct teachers in new technology. At Central Washington University in Ellensburg, faculty volunteers overcame these deficits by using the Internet to present technology in small doses. After just one year, Internet activities were incorporated into almost every preservice…

ComWeb is an analog/digital hybrid computer network providing communication between students and teachers directed from the teacher's workstation that can be adapted for deaf and hard of hearing students in a mainstream environment. This article describes the implementation of a ComWeb-based class in computer literacy classroom and compares…

The language used in environmental education texts has linguistic features that affect students' comprehension of concepts and their ability to envision solutions to environmental problems. Findings indicate that features of texts such as abstract nouns and lack of explicit agents impede students' full comprehension of complex issues and obscure…

Examines the sociocultural context in Singapore to determine the existence of an examination culture there. Argues that an examination culture has important repercussions for the introduction and implementation of innovative practices into the education system. Examination focuses on the 1991 English-language syllabus and how the introduction of…

Argues that science investigation by young children should not be constrained by rigid curriculum frameworks, but be prompted by natural curiosity, as in the constructivist approach. Maintains that cognitive abilities in science and investigative skills will develop if children are encouraged to test their observations, questions, and hypotheses…

Introduces the Towson Transition Course (TTC) which focuses on preparing students to be scientifically literate and describes the components of the course. Focuses on problem solving, gathering traditional and electronic information, using the case study teaching method, ethical scientific behavior, and evaluation. (Contains 33 references.) (YDS)