A decade ago, before the tech boom collapsed and the digital economy bubble burst, it seemed to some that issues surrounding information technology (IT) might be central to the politics of the early 21st century. But after September 11, 2001, with so much else on everyone's minds, "digital politics" seemed a boring sideshow. Technocrats,…

The causal relationships among the three presences in the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework are explored and tested in this paper. The CoI framework has been used extensively in the research and practice of online and blended learning contexts. With the development of a survey instrument based on the CoI framework, it is possible to test the…

This paper investigates the complex interactions that occur as teachers meet online to justify and negotiate their assessment judgements of student work across relatively large and geographically dispersed populations. Drawing from sociocultural theories of learning and technology, the technology is positioned as playing a role in either…

This article used work from the writing assessment literature to develop a framework for assessing the impact and perceived value of written, audio, and combined written and audio feedback strategies across four global and 22 discrete dimensions of feedback. Using a quasi-experimental research design, students at three U.S. universities were…

Professional teacher communities appear to be positively related to student learning, teacher learning, teacher practice and school culture. Teacher collaboration is a significant element of these communities. In initial teacher training as well as in-service training and other initiatives for teacher learning, collaborative skills should be…

Teachers are searching for new venues through which they may meet stringent professional development requirements. Under competitive funding from NASA's (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Office of Education and the NASA Explorer Schools Project, U.S. Satellite Laboratory, Inc. created a series of live, online, interactive…

We conducted research within a program serving future mathematics and science teachers. Groups of teachers worked primarily online in an asynchronous discussion environment on a 6-week task in which they applied learning-science ideas acquired from an educational psychology course to design interdisciplinary instructional units. We employed an…

This document was produced by the authors based on their research for the report "Building Learning Communities: Partnerships, Social Capital and VET Performance." It provides regional summaries and the "facts and flavour" for each of the following areas: (1) Restructuring Rural Landscape (Wide Bay Burnett, Queensland); (2)…

The purpose of this study was to review the asynchronous and synchronous tools of the Web assisted foreign language instruction. This study was conducted on the base of literature survey, so the findings was interpreted and evaluated for the purpose of the study. In the study, firstly, we were preferred to give a brief description of the each Web…

This report discusses the extent and character of the distance learning (DL) activities of Maryland colleges and universities during academic year 2000 (fall semester 1999 and spring semester 2000). Out-of-state institutions that might have been operating in Maryland are not included. Between 1997 and 2000, Maryland colleges and universities…

This study explores cultural variations in knowledge sharing strategies in virtual communities of practice at three overseas offices (located in Brazil, China, and Russia) of Caterpillar, a US-based Fortune 100 corporation. The study results show that such factors as degree of collectivism, competitiveness, the importance of saving face, cultural…

Advanced technologies, globalization, the competitiveness of business, flexible working practices, and other rapid changes in the nature of work have all led to the booming of "virtual teams." This paper will provide an overview of virtual teams, including a description of their emergence, a definition and typology of the term "virtual team," an…

Assesses the use of the strategic message structuring tactic known as framing. Analyzes 3,000 messages obtained from a diverse sampling of computer-mediated discussion groups and forums. Finds that a speaker's emotional involvement was significantly and curvilinearly related to two message framing devices (message dependency and coalition…

Proposes a framework for the design of computer-mediated communication (CMC) environments that combines constructivist learning environments (CLEs) and dynamic learning environments (DLEs). Highlights include learner involvement in the problem authenticity; computer-supported collaborative learning; goal-based scenarios; integrating CLEs and DLEs;…

A literature review explored issues of mentoring in a computer-mediated context: the effect on mentor roles, influence of type of mentoring, challenges (miscommunication, technical difficulties, privacy), and opportunities (access to mentors, reduced costs, status equality). Areas for research and a typology of computer-mediated mentoring were…