This book is designed to help educators use the Internet to engage students actively in learning and thus help them achieve high curriculum standards. Section 1 explores the Internet's potential as a tool to create learning experiences that will engage students as active learners. Section 2 discusses the use of the Internet for communication and…

This paper revisits a previously published analysis of paradigm shifts within research on instructional technology (IT). Following Kuhn, the author uses the term "paradigm" to denote an actual scientific achievement. Used in this way, a particular experiment or research study must meet two criteria to qualify as a paradigm: it must be…

Distance learning and collaboration software is beneficial to on-site students as well as off-site students. Collaborative learning (CL) allows students to work together in small groups to help each other master academic material. CL helps teachers by exploiting the ability of students to communicate with each other, and more actively engages…

Students who write the least in initial prewriting are often passionate and philosophical talkers--during unplanned conversations they will freely "compose" stories. This realization led one educator to consider using interviewing as a discovery technique. From the perspective of qualitative research methods, interviews are seen as…

Educators bring up the importance of character education periodically in articles written and speeches given at teacher education conventions. They believe that pupils need to develop well in the moral as well as academic dimensions. There are major problems in society today such as drug abuse, gang membership, intoxication, teenage pregnancy,…

Language Acquisition is determined by a complex interaction of a number of critical input, output, and context variables. This digest examines these variables and reveals that cooperative learning has a dramatic positive impact on almost all of the variables critical to language acquisition. The examination looks at how cooperative learning…

Networked multimedia is described as a tool for collaborative learning, focusing on learning through discussion. It is proposed that multimedia may be used to structure and enhance communication, thereby promoting learning. The background and application of collaborative learning is outlined. Several dimensions of media which influence the…

This document contains the following full and short papers on networked social learning from ICCE/ICCAI 2000 (International Conference on Computers in Education/International Conference on Computer-Assisted Instruction): (1)" A European Learning Environment: Reflections on Teaching and Learning in a Multinational Virtual Learning…

This study describes a program designed to alter instructional and assessment processes in mathematics in order to increase comprehension levels and engagement in mathematics. The targeted population consists of high school students in a community located in the western suburbs of a large metropolitan area. The socio-economic status of the…

This report describes a project for improving problem solving skills in students at the secondary level. The targeted population consisted of high school students in growing communities located in the suburbs of a large Midwestern city. Various studies have indicated that students lack problem-solving skills. Analysis of student and teacher…

The use of cooperative learning in a middle school computer laboratory was studied. Cooperative learning helps develop oral and group skills in middle school students as it allows them to socialize in an arena that does not always condone socializing. In this study, 4 heterogeneous groups were formed from 52 students, with male and female partners…

In this interdisciplinary curriculum unit for kindergarten, students gain an appreciation for the challenges facing the United States when the Declaration of Independence was written. Students work in groups to create their own pretend declaration of independence and develop a flag, national anthem, monuments, and plans for holidays. The student…

The purpose of this paper is to report a successful technique for assessing cooperative group work reliably and validly. The paper demonstrates a simple-to-use assessment procedure that tracks individual accountability, energizes student interaction, and rewards cooperative learning, even as it uses fewer administrative resources than traditional…

This paper aims to make the techniques of cooperative learning more attractive to teachers by presenting a method of assessment that avoids the drawbacks associated with trying to extract valid and reliable individual marks from cooperative performances. The paper presents an easy-to-use method of assessing an individual's contribution to a…

This cookbook is designed to help teachers and librarians engage in beneficial collaborations to bring reading to the lips of students in new and "delicious" ways. The more than 200 recipes offered in the book will tempt even the most reluctant reader of any age to "nibble" at a new book. The book's recipes enhance the process…