This article demonstrates the evaluation of a German Computer and Law (C&L) seminar, which has been conducted in an experimental, distributed manner with five institutes co-operating. The evaluation was dedicated to the question, in which way the course supported cooperative learning among the students of the different participating…

Realizing the potential of online or virtual communities to facilitate teacher professional development requires educators to change their current perceptions of professional development. This calls for educators to develop new images of ongoing opportunities for professional development, based on their needs within an online community of learners…

Case studies are frequently used to prepare preservice teachers through reflection and analysis of classroom situations. Previous research suggests asynchronous online discussions provide more opportunity for reflection and analysis than face to face environments. Online case study discussions of two groups of preservice teacher education…

Laboratory exercises, field observations and field trips are a fundamental part of many earth science and environmental science courses. Field observations and field trips can be constrained because of distance, time, expense, scale, safety, or complexity of real-world environments. Our objectives were to develop an environmental virtual field…

This paper discusses the role of blended learning in teacher education on a Master's programme at Manchester University. Blended learning is the bringing together of traditional physical classes with elements of virtual education. The paper focuses on one particular module of the degree and attempts to capture students experiences of using a…

The nature of quality teaching and learning in higher education has been subject to ongoing research and debate. In distance learning programmes, "teaching" comprises several distinct tasks including the provision of distance learning materials and the support of students' learning when they are away from the campus. This study examined the nature…

This qualitative, explanatory study examined Post-RN baccalaureate nursing students' experiences of empowerment with distance education and computer conferencing (CC) for fit with the constructs of Kanter's (1977, 1993) Theory of Structural Power in Organizations. Seven post-RNs from Canadian distance education nursing programs were interviewed.…

There are many ways to use manuscripts images to allow undergraduates the change to employ problem solving techniques to interact actively with these materials. In this article, the author uses her undergraduate survey course entitled "Medieval Europe" to suggest ways in which digitized manuscript research can be brought into the…

This article focuses on the design of competency-based performance assessment in e-learning. Though effort has been invested in designing powerful e-learning environments, relatively little attention has been paid to the design of valid and reliable assessments in such environments, leaving many questions to educational developers and teachers. As…

In recent years, many distance educators and institutions have successfully adopted asynchronous text-based environments as the backbone of their online classrooms. Group email, electronic references, and course websites, coupled with online discussions, typically constitute the model of online course delivery. Although the structure and pacing of…

In this article integrativism is proposed as a framework for e-learning and practitioner research. The philosophical bases of integrativism are outlined. Foundational principles of integrating education, derived from the notions of continual quality improvement and high-quality learning, are explained. The extension of integrating education to…

Interactional ethnography with a social constructionist perspective was used as an orienting theoretical framework to investigate how a community of learners was constructed in a postsecondary distance education class. The question guiding this research was: How do the interactions of the participants in an on-line classroom construct the social…

We investigated variables that affect learning and satisfaction in Web-based and lecture versions of introductory psychology courses. Student characteristics, including year in college, college major, and personality characteristics, predicted performance equally well in Web-based and lecture courses. Differences among instructors predicted…

Virtual Enterprises International (VE) is a high school program that teaches students about business through task-oriented and hands-on coursework. With the assistance of a coordinator and business mentors, VE students create and oversee a virtual firm, conducting business with other virtual firms nationally and internationally. The program…

This article explores the implementation of critical pedagogic practices into a graduate level landscape seminar Web site. Critical pedagogy seeks to reconfigure student-teacher relationships and disrupt embedded power regimes within academia and society. Critical pedagogic practices create a dialogue amongst learners, where everyone has a stake…