The potential of online discussions to prompt greater reflection of course material is often stymied by a tendency of students to agree with one another rather than formulating counterarguments. This study reports an experiment using note starters and elaborated cases to encourage counterargumention. A note starter is a drop-down form field that…

This paper describes the design of an adaptive user model and its implementation in an advanced Web-based Virtual University environment that encompasses combined and synchronized adaptation between educational material and well-known communication facilities. The Virtual University environment has been implemented to support a postgraduate…

Learning networks are a proven way to deliver massively scalable blended learning solutions that have been successfully implemented in a variety of commercial situations. For learning challenges that involve educating hundreds of thousands of distributed learners across thousands of organizations, learning networks can enable the delivery of…

This digest reviews some significant research on technology use in the classroom that examines how investment in technology will pay off in terms of student learning, and it indicates the conditions under which technology is most likely to have a positive impact on student learning. First presented are two longitudinal studies on how students…

Arguably the biggest "buzz word" of the current year has been "learning or knowledge object". To understand the learning object and why it should be such a highly desirable commodity, it is necessary to unpack not only this concept but more importantly revisit some contributing concepts and constructs (more buzz words) that support the building of…

Bugscope is an emerging educational technology project that allows students and teachers across grades K-12 to study insects and other arthropods through remote access and control of an environmental scanning electron microscope from their classroom computers. Teachers and students in 33 schools from 18 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands were…

Spatial context can be expected to play an important role in computer-based instruction and distance education using PC terminals because these types of computer-mediated instruction often occur in a restricted environment such as one's home or office. These settings, while convenient, are often isolated and lack diverse spatial cues. Fundamental…

Technology can be a tremendous asset in preparing professionals to work with young children and a number of technological applications can serve to enhance early childhood teacher preparation. Among these applications are: slide show presentations; use of the internet; introduction of students to software to assist in the development of…

Scaffolding is a form of temporary support offered to a learning to assist in the process of becoming a skilled practitioner. Traditionally, the most common form of learning has been apprenticeship, where a novice learns through active participation in a task, initially only peripherally, and then assuming more control and ownership. Originating…

"Computer-Supported Intentional Learning Environments" (CSILE) is an educational philosophy developed by M. Scardamalia and C. Bereiter (1991) for the design of computer-supported learning environments. CSILE software is a communal database system in which learners are allowed to externalize their thoughts as text or graphic…

New technologies are used in many courses and for many occasions. Good teachers try to use the best tool and the best method to introduce or to treat difficult subjects by presenting the information in different ways: spoken words, written text, pictures, graphs, movies or by using interactive computer tools. It is a fact that students who…

Describes a computer learning program for career-oriented literacy, including a flow chart outlining the "how-to" of the system. (RB)

Article describes a lab to investigate instructional decisions and to help instructors acquire new strategies. It consists of a computer simulation of a set of students which permits the user, cast in the role of teacher, to make pre-instructional decisions. (Author)

Describes a computer system that seeks to provide computer-based activities in all basic and critical areas pertinent to post-high school educational planning. (Author)