This paper addresses some of the challenges to quality assurance faced by higher education as it enters the 21st century and reviews the current status of national policies for quality assurance. Many governments have decided that traditional academic controls are not adequate for today's challenges and that more explicit assurances about quality…

The impact of "virtual" universities on higher education and on Latino students was studied through interviews with Latino students and faculty at Walden University, an accredited distributed learning graduate school. Attracting career-bound practitioner scholars, Walden achieves high minority enrollments (around 37%) and significant…

The EDC (Educational Development Center) Center for Children and Technology (CCT) and Computers for Youth (CFY) completed a 1-year comparative study of children's use of computers in low- and middle-income homes. The study explores the digital divide as a literacy issue, rather than merely a technical one. Digital literacy is defined as a set of…

"Distance Training" models, when integrated in a more complex framework, such as a "Distance Consulting" model, present specific features and impose a revision of the strategies commonly adopted in distance training experiences. This paper reports on the distance training strategies adopted in a European funded project aimed at…

For the recent exhibition "Greater New York: New Art in New York Now," the Education Department at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, a large museum located in the Long Island City section of Queens, New York, organized a unique email-based discussion. The museum set up an e-mail address for most participating artists using the free…

In the transition from traditional teaching and learning to eLearning, the authors advocate avoiding disruptive approaches. The authors claim that many virtual university and corporate university efforts worldwide try to showcase big leaps forward, yet lack sustainability, suffer from in-vitro conditions, and leave behind the big mass of teachers.…

Academic dishonesty is a concern at any educational level. However, many faculty members feel uncomfortable with delivering courses in the online environment due to a concern that students may find it easier to participate in academic dishonesty than they would in a traditional classroom. This paper looks at factors that are considered to…

This paper discusses the use of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in college teaching, especially for the teacher who is new to teaching with CMC. In part, it offers a personal narrative of how the author developed use of CMC in his teaching. It discusses the nature of CMC as a medium of communication and introduces the teacher to many…

Online support groups have the potential to improve the access and delivery of services to a wide range of people who reside worldwide. They provide an alternative vehicle of support for people in distress when it may be culturally stigmatizing to seek face-to-face support. They are not appropriate for everyone, nor can everyone worldwide access…

This study examined the experiences of nine faculty members in the development of two online courses at a community college in southeast Nebraska. The faculty members used Lotus Notes (software that was adapted for instructional delivery known as computer-mediated communication) as the delivery tool. Data was collected through interviews,…

This study tested the Adult Distance Study through Computer Conferencing (ADSCC) model developed by D. Eastmond (1994) to determine if learner readiness, online features, and computer mediated communication (CMC)-related learning approaches are associated with learner satisfaction in an academic computer conference. Participants were 50 students…

Advanced technologies are changing the way teaching and learning are conducted and experienced in the world of distance education. Network environments such as the Internet have formed a new virtual education world for online learners. In distance education, the instructor and learner are physically separated. Interactivity is an important part of…

This paper looks at challenges that face the epistemological model on which formal education is based as a result of the rapid growth in use of new communications and information technologies (CITs). The argument has three parts. The first describes some phenomena associated with the development during recent decades of these new CITs and their…

A study examined how to teach computer skills to future professionals in communications. The context of the study was the communications department in a mid-sized Finnish university. Data was collected on computer use and attitudes to computers and computer-mediated communication by means of surveys and learning journals during the Communications…

Current theories of learning have emphasized the value of dialogue for student engagement and achievement (Cazden, 2001; Bruffee, 1992). Research has also shown that the nature of classroom discourse depends greatly on the teacher (Anderson, Rourke, Garrison, & Archer, W., 2001). These issues are relatively well understood in face-to-face…