This report highlights distance delivery courses in Nebraska for the academic years 2004-2005 and 2005-2006. All six community colleges, the three state colleges, and the University of Nebraska campuses offer courses at distance; more than 40 degrees, endorsements and certificates are now offered completely by distance technology. The total number…

Computer video games have become highly interesting to educators and researchers since their sophistication has improved considerably over the last decade. Studies indicate simple video games touting educational benefits are common in classrooms. However, a need for identifying truly useful games for educational purposes exists. This article…

In this article, Kavita Rao describes a distance learning course offered to K-8 teachers in Micronesia that focused on the use of synchronous technologies to address cultural learning preferences for face-to-face and real-time communication. Rao presents a case study of the course that was conducted on the islands of Pohnpei and Ebeye.…

Geographic information systems (GIS) are computer-based tools for geographic data analysis and spatial visualization. They have become one of the information and communications technologies for education at all levels. This article reviews the current status of GIS in schools, analyzes the requirements of a GIS-based learning environment from…

Currently, many students have had experience with both face-to-face and online classes. We asked such students at 46 different universities in the United States to evaluate the pedagogical characteristics of their most recently completed face-to-face class and their most recently completed online class. The results show that students rate online…

This paper presents an empirical study of how Second Life (SL) was utilized for a highly successful project-based graduate interdisciplinary communication course. Researchers found that an integrated threefold approach emphasizing project-based pedagogy, technical training and support, and assessment/research was effective in cultivating and…

This article reports on a case study of Instant Messaging (IM) in a context of high-school virtual schooling. Data collection relied on interviews conducted with 20 participants in a context of high-school web-based instruction in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The participants included e-teachers as well as other distance education personnel.…

To promote student engagement, professors must actively seek to create the conditions that foster engagement. Chickering and Gamson (1987) suggest that good practices in undergraduate education are ones that: encourage student-faculty contact, develop reciprocity and cooperation among students, encourage active learning, provide students with…

The knowledge distributed Web-based learning community (KnowDisLC) based on knowledge sharing for college students has been constructed, implemented and evaluated. The system helps students form a virtual learning community through Web-based learning, which they can use to facilitate learning and growth. Ultimately they would like to accomplish…

Virtual schools make available a world of new courses from obscure electives to advanced placement classes that challenge students intellectually and open up new doors educationally. Thanks to the anytime, anywhere nature of online courses, students with a range of special circumstances (from health issues to job or family constraints) don?t have…

Discusses three potential problems in the application of virtual history: (1) extrapolation; (2) critical analysis; and (3) the danger of using it as wishful thinking. Offers comparative history as a possible alternative way to overcome virtual history outcomes. (KDR)

Discusses concepts of mediation and focuses on the importance of implementing comprehensive virtual learning environments. Topics include education and technology as they relate to cultural change, social institutions, the Internet and computer-mediated communication, software design and human-computer interaction, the use of MOOs, and language.…

Discusses the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to improve education. Highlights include virtual discussions; the need for data about students to help them learn effectively; listening to students; current uses of ICT in teaching; feedback from students; and a proposed model for virtual classrooms. (LRW)

Noting that the least responsive fields of higher education to virtual provision seem to be the humanities, asserts that as humanists come to see that education has been overly teacher-oriented, they may become increasingly receptive to virtual teaching and learning. (EV)

Describes how the British government views the electronic campus as a quick fix for delivering the ideas of a learning society and mass higher (and further) education. Argues that in the humanities interventions are needed to secure a meld between face-to-face teaching methods and the new technology. (CMK)