The need for strong mentors has received more professional attention since the author first began teaching thirteen years ago. Tied to recent changes in teacher certification in their state, the mentoring component is now an integral part of teacher development and evaluation in her district. But mentoring alone is not enough to ensure continued…

Educational institutions have rushed to provide online courses; however, too often schools have discovered the difficulty in transferring effective teaching strategies in the classroom to an online environment. A unique aspect of quality online courses is how they rely heavily on effective collaboration to create a meaningful learning environment.…

Survey data from 174 university students are presented, on a scale designed to measure preference for absolute knowledge and perspective in instruction, including online discussions. Results demonstrate a strong effect of class level such that students in lower grade levels reported a greater preference for instruction involving unambiguous…

We examine the effect of online Argumentation Vee Diagrams (AVDs) on the quality of students' argumentation during asynchronous, online discussions. With AVDs, students develop arguments on both sides of a controversial issue and then develop an integrated, overall final conclusion. In this study, students used AVDs individually before composing…

In this article we discuss findings from a case-study related to the distance education of teachers of Italian as a second/foreign language. This case-study has examined interactions among teachers during their discussions in a web-forum exploiting the model of content analysis proposed in the "Practical Inquiry Model" by Garrison, Anderson, and…

Distance Educational Practice is today supported by a range of information systems (IS) design theories. Still, there are surprisingly few strong pedagogical ideas and constructs that are communicated across distance educational institutions. Instead it is often the technology, the software and the medium that is at the centre of attention as we…

This document consists of two publications: a participants' booklet designed to promote discussion among small groups, and a Leader's Guide. The participants' booklet contains information on four important issues in the 1992 election year: health care, the economy, welfare reform, and foreign policy. "The Health Care Crisis in America" contains…

Beginning teachers face enormous challenges in their first year of teaching. High attrition rates of teachers within the first five years attest to the difficulties inherent in commencing professional life as a teacher. This paper describes the design of a Web site developed to overcome many of the problems of professional isolation encountered by…

Efforts were undertaken to increase students' interactivity in an online course in adult development. The purpose was to increase students' engagement with the course materials, heighten their online discussions, and deepen their thinking about course-related concepts, theoretical principles, and research findings. Several strategies were used…

To help students understand prejudice, teachers in Verona, New York, planned a unit which incorporated the use of fiction, television, and film. Students were asked to select and read books in the general area of prejudice. A sample reading list of works under the headings of Negro, Jew, Italian, and Irish was provided. After writing extensive…

Based on a North Carolina feasibility study (1967-73) which focused on development of a pattern for providing comprehensive mental health services to rural people, this guide deals with programming school mental health in Vance and Franklin counties. Detailing both successes and failures, this booklet presents the following program activities: (1)…

The major portion of this publication consists of 13 papers presented at the seminar on out-of-school education. The papers include both general treatments of the subject and analyses of particular case studies. The papers are organized into four broad topical groups--possible approaches to the planning of out-of-school education, the Esfahan…

Modern drama criticism is rebuked for taking the "closet drama approach" which reduces the theater to yet another type of philosophical and content-oriented literary genre. Group participation and discussion are suggested as means by which the student is encouraged to stage an imaginary performance leading to intelligibility and appreciation of…

The concept of parent education, i.e., activities or programs that offer parents an opportunity to gain information and knowledge to aid them in their role as parents, is outlined and discussed. The topics considered are: 1. What Is the Purpose of Parent Education?; II. What People Does It Serve?; III. How Organize Parent Education and Recruit…

Published by the Association of American Colleges and Universities, this issue of "Diversity Digest" focuses on institutional leadership and how it advances diversity in higher education. Articles presented in this issue include: (1) Intercultural Learning for Inclusive Excellence (Edgar Beckham); (2) Demanding, Attracting, and Developing…