A graduate's ability to be a critical thinker is expected by many employers; therefore development of students' critical-thinking skills in higher education is important. There is also a perception that today's students are technologically "savvy", and appreciate the inclusion of a technological approach to learning. However, the…

As interactive whiteboards appear in increasing numbers in primary classrooms, questions will continue to be asked about the effectiveness of these devices in supporting teaching and learning. It is not the board itself, however, which is likely to make a difference to student learning outcomes, but the resources which teachers choose to use in…

This study investigates the use of software technology that is used by emergency management professionals to create an authentic learning environment in emergency and disaster management courses in the classroom. Participants were 235 upper-level students enrolled in residential and online emergency and disaster management courses at a mid-sized…

Through this study the authors evaluate outcomes associated with the use of handheld computers by interventionists in improving the efficiency of direct systematic classroom observation. Information from observations is used by interventionists for treatment planning and evaluation. In this study, interventionists were trained to use personal…

This paper presents the results of an interview-based study of the use of virtual learning environments (VLEs) among dyslexic students. Interviews were carried out with 12 informants who had been formally diagnosed as dyslexic. The informants were either enrolled in a university or college programme, or had graduated less than a year before the…

Libraries are moving toward electronic resource management systems (ERMSs) to track their usage statistics, but these can be expensive to purchase and maintain. For some libraries, an ERMS can be cost-prohibitive, but they still need to justify the renewal of databases and e-journals to their budget officers or determine which e-resources should…

In 2000, Eastern Washington University became part of the Cascade Consortium and participated in consortial borrowing through the Cascade Union Catalog. In 2003, the Orbis and Cascade consortia merged into the Orbis Cascade Alliance, which manages the Summit Union Catalog. Since 2000, Cascade or Summit consortial borrowing has increased while…

Passwords have the distinction of being the most widely-used form of authentication--and the most vulnerable. With the dramatic increase today in the number of accounts that require passwords, overwhelmed users usually resort to creating weak passwords or reusing the same password for multiple accounts, thus making passwords the weakest link in…

The arrival of a new generation of students, known as the Net Generation (Junco, 2010), into colleges and universities has demanded changes to the traditional administrative and support services provided on campuses across the nation. In times of ever-changing technological advances, colleges and universities have begun to utilize new and…

The purpose of this quantitative research study was to observe if students' levels of Mathematics Self-Efficacy (MSE) had any effect on how they used resources available to them through an academic intervention and retention program. The sample size consisted of 81 students admitted to a four year university under the special criteria of…

This paper reviews the literature about peer and self-assessment in university courses from the point of view of their use, and the suitability of their use, in the first year of university study. The paper is divided into three parts. The first part argues that although first-year students are involved in many of the studies that report on the…

This article presents the findings of a study on the use of an electronic portfolio (EP) in 16 elementary classrooms across Canada. Using a mixed-methods approach, data were collected to understand how teachers used EPs in their classrooms, to what extent they integrated the EP into their practice, and the factors influencing their use. Using…

As children and adolescents spend less time outdoors, research increasingly demonstrates that natural environments play an important role in healthy development. School counselors work to optimize student learning and psychosocial development, while serving as frontline professionals promoting mental health among youth. This literature review…

The use of learning management systems (LMS) has grown considerably in universities around the world. The University of Minho (UM) has pioneered in this area in Portugal, adopting Blackboard as its official LMS. Moodle is also used in UM in scattered initiatives, allowing for interesting comparisons. Previous studies comparing Blackboard and…

This study investigates the relationship between young children's habitual computer use and influencing variables on socio-emotional development. The participants were 179 five-year-old children. The Internet Addiction Scale for Young Children (IASYC) was used to identify children with high and low levels of habituation to computer use. The data…