The nature of collaborative learning involves intensive interactions among collaborators, such as articulating knowledge into written, verbal or symbolic forms, authoring articles or posting messages to this community's discussion forum, responding or adding comments to messages or articles posted by others, etc. Knowledge collaborators'…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of pre-service teachers' participation in a constructivist intervention supported by technology on their confidence in their own ability to plan and create six technology-supported, constructivist, learning activities, as well as to understand their perceptions of the experience. Participants…

Much recent research and funding have focused on building Internet-based repositories that contain collections of high-quality learning resources, often called "learning objects." Yet little is known about how non-specialist users, in particular teachers, find, access, and use digital learning resources. To address this gap, this article…

Inservice training (locally or state provided) is the primary means used to improve teachers' instruction employed in public school districts throughout the United States. Individual states are increasing inclusion efforts in the local schools. Various states have established state-initiated training programs to improve instruction for students…

The development and validation of an instrument designated as the Classroom and School Community Inventory (CSCI) are described. Scores on both the classroom form and the school form of the CSCI possess strong content validity, construct validity, internal consistencies, and 2-week test-retest reliability. Using a sample of 341 traditional and…

This research note presents a conceptual model for understanding how students embrace technology, briefly presents results of a pilot study supporting this conceptualization, and makes suggestions for web-assisted teaching and research. The conceptual framework helps the reader understand how instructors' "Marketing strategies" may need to change…

This paper examines the recent development of a computer-assisted learning program--in Practice--at the School of Health Science, in the University of Wales Swansea. The project, which began in 2001, was developed in close collaboration with The Meningitis Trust, the aim being to produce a software package to increase nursing students' knowledge…

In this article the authors focus on how features of a computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environment can elicit and support domain-specific reasoning and more specifically historical reasoning. The CSCL environment enables students to collaborate on a historical inquiry task and in writing an argumentative essay. In order to support…

The assumption tested here is whether the introduction of enhanced communication technologies in the form of high-speed broadband connectivity has removed or ameliorated any of the barriers to efficient and effective teaching and learning. Evidence is presented of how enhanced communication technologies have facilitated self-regulated learning.…

While posing important questions about how learning proceeds with new technologies, this volume demonstrates how teachers captivate the imagination of learners, from schoolchildren to postgraduates, by providing real-world purposes for language. The authors are from educational institutions in many regions of the world, and describe technology use…

Creating and evaluating Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for students with disabilities is a major responsibility for teachers and school leaders, yet the process involves legal components not always understood by educators. In "Understanding, Developing, and Writing Effective IEPs," legal and special education experts Roger…

On today's college campuses, says the author, there is no such thing as a "typical" student or "typical" teacher. Diversity abounds among both students and faculty across generations, racial/ethnic backgrounds, and socioeconomic status. This book is intended as a guide for understanding today's diverse college student population and demonstrating…

Distance education has been at the forefront of forging unique partnerships to facilitate learning. The purpose of this case study was to describe a business-education collaboration between General Nutrition Corporation, Inc. and the University of Florida, involving a series of online courses in introductory nutrition. Utilizing a competency-based…

In the Norwegian DoCTA and DoCTA NSS projects, we aimed to bring a theoretical perspective to the design of ICT-mediated learning environments that support the sociocultural aspects of human interaction and to evaluate their use. By taking a sociocultural perspective on learning activity focussing on the interpersonal social interaction in…

The importance of feedback as an aid to self-assessment is widely acknowledged. A common form of feedback that is used widely in e-learning is the use of model answers. However, model answers are deficient in many respects. In particular, the notion of a "model" answer implies the existence of a single correct answer applicable across multiple…