The development and teaching of Web-based courses places new demands on university faculty and students. Development structures, online pedagogical practices, and issues of evaluation are presented by two faculty with online experience in the areas of visual impairment and orientation and mobility. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

School classes can be conceptualized as bounded communities of practice made up of teachers and students working together to build knowledge. Teachers make design decisions about physical and virtual spaces supported by information and communications technologies, and about curriculum. Design influences how students go about their work, and their…

In this article, the authors demonstrate how a simple math lab incorporating monthly height measurements can address multiple science and mathematics standards such as collecting, organizing, and describing data in context; drawing conclusions; and making hypotheses from these data. Although the yearlong math lab can be accomplished in either the…

One hundred sixty students in an educational psychology course used WebCT Discussions to satisfy one of two study group conditions, reciprocal peer questioning or mnemonic devices. Students made postings according to their assigned study strategy in order to facilitate the learning of their group. At the end of the academic term, student…

Studies have shown that stand-alone technology courses, such as those taught in most teacher education programs, only develop basic computer literacy skills and do not prepare educators to use instructional technology in the classroom. A 14-item questionnaire assessed instructional technology use for classroom management and instructional…

Purpose: The on-line tutor or e-moderator faces a diversity of new challenges, including instructional design, organisation, direct instruction and facilitating discourse. This study aims to contrast the views of students and tutors regarding what factors constitute effective e-moderation in order to identify key attributes of an on-line tutor.…

Recent educational reforms in China are placing increasing emphasis on the integration of new technologies in the English language curriculum. At the same time, a debate has begun concerning the effectiveness of Information Technology (IT) usage in transforming language pedagogy in the Chinese context. In response to points made in the discussions…

In this paper, we describe aspects related to learning and learning assessment including pedagogy, cognition, pilot study and results from the study. This study is conducted for an educational module on "10 Principles of Materials Handling". This module along with another on "Analysis and Design of Integrated Materials Handling Systems" constitute…

This paper describes the advancements that have occurred in the use of educational technologies over the past ten years (1995-2005) and argues that progress has been slow and reminiscent of the slow progress observed in the previous decade (1985-1995). The paper argues that one of the principal reasons for the less than spectacular results stems…

Critics of distance education frequently assert that completion rates are lower in distance education courses than in traditional courses. Such criticism comes despite sparse and inconclusive research on completion rates for distance and traditional education courses. This article reviews some of the existing research and then describes some of…

This article describes and evaluates a new alternative: distance-based training using live video and audio courses transmitted via the Internet. This alternative may address each of the problems described above, that is, it may provide a distant expert who selects and delivers training to paraprofessionals in a cost efficient manner. Because the…

Computer mediated communication--including web pages, email and web-based bulletin boards--was used to support the development of a cooperative learning community among students in a web-based distance education unit for practicing science and mathematics educators. The students lived in several Australian states and a number of Pacific Rim…

In this paper we discuss the development and implementation of a questionnaire that measures preparedness to teach secondary school science with information and communication technologies (ICT). The questionnaire was designed for the purpose of evaluating the effectiveness of instruction in a science education unit in a Graduate Diploma teacher…

The increase in childhood obesity over the past several decades, together with the associated health problems and costs, is raising grave concern among health care professionals, policy experts, children's advocates, and parents. Patricia Anderson and Kristin Butcher document trends in children's obesity and examine the possible underlying causes…

Students of biology must learn the scientific method for generating information in the field. Concurrently, they should learn how information is reported and accessed. We developed a progressive set of exercises for the undergraduate introductory biology laboratory that combine these objectives. Pre- and postassessments of approximately 100…