This paper reviews a set of studies designed to test the hypothesis that the presence of animated pedagogical agents in multimedia environments can promote deep learning. This was done by first comparing the learning and motivational outcomes of students who learned in the context of social-agency to students who learned in a more traditional text…

This study examined the independent effects of six approaches to learning in online computer conferencing: (1) deep learning: (2) comprehension learning; (3) relating ideas; (4) surface learning; (5) syllabus boundness; and (6) achievement motivation. Deep learning, comprehension learning, and relating ideas were combined into a more general index…

Business educators in middle schools and high schools across the country play a prominent role in developing the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for students to succeed in the workforce. With the advancement of technology, business teachers are coming back to the teacher education program to be retooled and retrained to teach business…

Since technology use in schools has been increasing, teachers want to maximize its use in their classroom to increase student learning. Therefore, accreditation requirements for colleges include integrating computer and information technology with teacher education and professional development programs. This paper describes different models for…

The Higher Education Act of 1965 gives special recognition to some postsecondary schools--called Minority Serving Institutions--that serve a high percentage of minority students. These and other schools face stiff challenges in keeping pace with technology. One rapidly growing area, distance education, has commanded particular attention and an…

Distance education--offering courses by Internet, video, or other forms outside the classroom--is a fast growing part of postsecondary education. The Government Accounting Office (GAO) was asked to review the state of distance education at Minority Serving Institutions, which are schools that serve high percentages of minority students, including…

The Illinois Early Learning Project (IEL) is funded by the Illinois State Board of Education to provide information resources on early learning and training related to implementing the Illinois Early Learning Standards for parents and for early childhood personnel in all settings. The IEL tip sheets offer suggestions to parents and early childhood…

This interpretive case study of a teacher aims to provide an account of the difficulties and rewards of putting innovative teaching into practice. Detailed descriptions of classroom life are used to explore one teacher's attempts to make technology-enhanced, open-ended inquiry a successful mode of teaching science in the secondary school…

The TEACH Grant--Foreign Language in Elementary Schools (FLES) project assisted six Wisconsin elementary schools in developing and delivering unique model programs demonstrating the innovative use of a variety of technologies to support foreign language teaching and learning. The project involved a collaboration between the Wisconsin TEACH Board…

Factors that increase the likelihood of sustainable on-line learning community success fall into four general categories: the selection of an ease of learning and ease of use application permits an adequate default setting to begin operation yet permits users and managers to customize their on-line environment; creation and support of users,…

In this paper, animated pedagogical agents are looked at from an instructional design perspective. A "support-typology" was constructed based on different dimensions on which support can be described and different roles instructional agents can assume. This typology is used to analyze currently available pedagogical agents. This analysis indicates…

This paper examines how teachers, as educational designers, can utilize universal design for learning (UDL) concepts. UDL is a comprehensive approach to the design of educational systems that addresses elements necessary for the achievement of desired educational goals and objectives: elements such as equity among the participants, environmental…

The Discetech project, which was started in 1996 in Northern Italy, aims at experimenting the introduction of new technologies within the teaching-learning activities of high school classrooms. Since 1998, a similar project, Bimbotech, has been developed for elementary classrooms (for children ages four- to seven-years old). Several hundreds of…

This paper identifies three rationales in the relevant literature for closing the gender gap in computing: economic, cultural and political. Each rationale implies a different set of indicators of present inequalities, disparate goals for creating equality, and distinct principles for software and web site design that aims to help girls overcome…

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) (1999) stated it is important to study models that are making effective use and integration of technology in teacher education on an ongoing basis. The purpose of this study is to respond to this need by portraying three education faculty members after they experienced a federally funded…