The expectation that universities will produce graduates with high levels of work readiness is now a commonplace in government policies and statements from industry representatives. Meeting the demand requires that students gain industry related experience before graduation. Traditionally students have done so by undertaking extended work…

Many reports on rural education give little attention to digital learning. At most, they tend to note either infrastructure needs or the potential of remote course access, with little focus on instruction, outcomes, or exemplars. This report intends to begin correcting that imbalance by connecting the dots between rural regions, rural education,…

The purpose of the report is to give a review of public education and depict how the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) and West Virginia Board of Education (WVBE) are addressing the needs of students as they prepare to enter college or the workforce. The report highlights successes achieved during the 2017-2018 school year through the…

Students are very familiar with digital media and computers. The aim of this study was to take advantage of this skill-set and examine evidence of psychological engagement in a personalized web-based learning experience, given the more general interest in student engagement of students in Higher Education. In this study, 117 students each raised…

The range of affordances that a virtual environment offers can provide opportunities for more formal Professional Learning and Development (PLD) that has flexibility of choice, time and approach for educators. It was this potential that inspired the design of the Virtual Professional Learning and Development (VPLD) program that was instigated in…

In this article the authors compare two phases of an ongoing, annual online peer observation project at the Open University. Adopting a non-managerialist approach, the project aims to give teachers a renewed sense of collegiality, allowing them to take responsibility for aspects of their professional development and share practice points. While…

Advanced three-dimensional virtual environment technology, similar to that used by the film and computer games industry, can allow educational developers to rapidly create realistic online vir-tual environments. This technology has been used to generate a range of interactive Virtual Real-ity (VR) learning environments across a spectrum of…

This exploratory study looks at how a sample of preservice teachers and historians read visuals in the context of school history. The participants used eye tracking technology and think-aloud protocol, as they examined a series of online primary source photographs from a virtual exhibit. Voluntary participants (6 students and 2 professional…

An increasing number of educators are integrating immersive media into core course offerings. Virtual worlds, serious games, simulations, and augmented reality are enabling students and instructors to connect with content and with one another in novel ways. As a result, many are investigating the new affordances these media provide and the impact…

The convergence of 3D simulation and social networking into current multi-user virtual environments has opened the door to new forms of interaction for learning in order to complement the face-to-face and Web 2.0-based systems. Yet, despite a growing user community, design knowledge for virtual worlds remains patchy, particularly when it comes to…

This research focused on teacher communication behaviour as an influential factor in students' educational experiences. This study examined students' perceptions of emotion (involving teachers' emotional support, students' emotional work and students' positive emotional valence toward class and teacher) as influenced by a variety of predicting…

The aim of this study is to assess the use of MinecraftEdu in classroom practice analyzing the outcomes and attitudes of all members of the educational community through a quasi-experimental approach. The research presents three dimensions oriented to assessing the use of this application in a didactic unit "History and Architecture"…

While students do learn real-world knowledge and skills in virtual worlds, educators have yet to adequately theorise how students' virtual world experiences bring about this learning. This paper critically reviewed theories currently used to underpin empirical work in virtual worlds for education. In particular, it evaluated how applicable these…

Innovative Digital Education and Learning-New Mexico (IDEAL-NM) was created in response to the 2005 Performance and Accountability Contract, "Making Schools Work" to leverage technology. On October 27, 2006, the statewide e-learning program that would implement a shared e-learning infrastructure using a single statewide learning…

Virtual classroom (VC) is the preferred application in distance education since it provides simultaneous interaction and a communication environment between the student and the instructor. The aim of this study is to determine the key components which make VC sessions effective in terms of environment and method. Determination of these components…