This study compared the effects of using voice mail (v-mail) to electronic mail (e-mail) over the Internet to provide student feedback using Media Richness Theory (MRT) and Social Presence Theory (SPT) as the theoretical framework. MRT and SPT would predict that v-mail would be perceived as higher than e-mail in media richness and social presence.…

The authors developed a Web-based negotiation system that is closely modeled on real-world transactions. This paper illustrates the generality of the system by discussing two disparate applications of the system: one taken from business and the other from collaborative e-learning. The application generates, in real time, transparency-controlled…

This paper focuses on the authors' experiences with interactive, synchronous Internet video conferencing using Microsoft's NetMeeting software with deaf and hard-of-hearing students in two different settings. One setting involved teaching and tutoring computer programming to remote deaf and hard-of-hearing students in a remote situation using…

This document describes the origins of cybermentoring and focuses on projects with elementary and secondary schools throughout the state of Washington. It discusses use of telephone communication, email, web design, and low-end videoconferencing technologies in initial cyberprojects, and recent cyberprojects that have begun to make use of high-end…

Digital literacy involves more then just using software. It includes reading instructions from graphical interfaces (photo-visual literacy), utilizing digital reproduction in learning (reproduction literacy), constructing knowledge from non-linear navigation (lateral literacy), and evaluating information (information literacy). These literacies…

A Course Barometer is a method for addressing the loss of informal feedback in a distance education setting. Originally proposed and used at the University of Trollhattan Uddevella this paper describes how the idea of a course barometer has been adopted by Central Queensland University. The paper suggests connections between anonymity, observable…

This paper attempts to examine different methods of content analysis for student online discussion that takes place on bulletin boards. The purpose of that analysis is to determine whether higher order thinking can be distinguished within transcripts of dialogue. The context of the analysis was a higher education undergraduate course. A group of…

The growth of a communication network technology enables students to take part in a distant lecture. Although many lectures are conducted in universities by using Web contents, normal lectures using a blackboard are still held. The latter style lecture is good for a teacher's dynamic explanation. A way to modify it for a distant lecture is to…

This paper discusses the ideas of how to unite global villages to help create a better world. Argues that it takes just two people to begin a conversation between countries. It proposes that e-mail conversations can take place between children in classrooms in two different countries. Another benefit, besides breaking down the cultural barriers…

Rural teachers are often undertrained in the identification and education of gifted students. This paper describes the principles and development of an online introductory course in gifted education that could meet the need for rural teacher training. Using the philosophy that learners construct their own knowing, the system for developing an…

Financial support for implementing technology in the public schools has come from a wide spectrum of sources. How much is being spent, where the funds come from, and whether funding will be sustained ultimately determine the degree to which students will be participants in an increasingly technology-driven society. This edition highlights the pros…

The purpose of this paper is to portray children's writing as a medium for participation in social response to an audience, in a situation where children are active contributors to evolving written dialogues. Throughout this 2-year project, data were collected by compiling the e-mail correspondence between the adults (the researcher and five…

This serial issue contains 12 articles on the theme of "Professional Development," specifically about how teachers in the Bread Loaf Rural Teacher Network (BLRTN) are fostering their own and each other's development as teachers. The BLRTN consists of approximately 260 rural teachers in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky,…

This paper provides practical advice for making online discussions educationally durable. This advice focuses on all stages of online discussions from designing the assignment guidelines through summative evaluation. While this practical advice is grounded in the author's experience, it is more substantively grounded in a framework defining…

A writing instructor has grappled with how both to integrate and to complicate critical perspectives on technology in the writing classroom. In collaboration with another instructor, a computer classroom pedagogy was constructed emphasizing imperatives of cultural studies practice as outlined by James Berlin. The pedagogy is similar to Berlin's…