For the fortieth time, the Research and Theory Division of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented at the annual AECT Convention in Jacksonville, Florida. The Proceedings of AECT's Convention are published in two volumes.…

The adoption and use of ICT to enhance and facilitate Knowledge Management (KM) has brought to focus the urgent need to come out with new methods, tools and techniques in the development of KM systems frameworks, knowledge processes and knowledge technologies to promote effective management of knowledge for improved service deliveries in higher…

"Harvard Education Letter" is published bimonthly at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. This issue of "Harvard Education Letter" contains the following articles: (1) Unleashing the "Brain Power" of Groups in the Classroom: The Neuroscience behind Collaborative Work (Nancy Walser); (2) Putting AP to the Test: New Research Assesses the…

The pilot phase of Peer 2 Peer University (P2PU), a "grassroots" open educational project aimed at creating a new model for lifelong learning is now underway. Billing itself as an institution which promotes "learning for everyone, by everyone, about almost anything", P2PU is seeking to provide high-quality, low-cost educational opportunities by…

The pedagogical value of having biochemistry and organic chemistry students build and manipulate physical models of chemical species is well established in the literature. Nevertheless, for the most part, the use of molecular models is generally limited to several laboratory exercises or to demonstrations in the classroom setting. A simple…

This paper offers an overview of the development of the peer-led team learning (PLTL) model for teaching and learning chemistry, from the personal journeys of the authors in their classrooms to the national dissemination of the model to the full range of colleges and universities and to other STEM disciplines. In the PLTL model, students who have…

This research investigated how differently elementary school students participate in synchronous online collaborative learning by analysing their discussions with their partners. Two hundred and seventy-eight Taiwanese students, ranging in age from 11 to 12 years old, were involved in this study. The students were randomly arranged within-class…

How might teachers help students investigate the relationship between gender and homophobia? This article describes an exercise that uses fingernail polish to do just that. The authors uses anecdotal evidence to describe the exercise in which students pair with someone of the opposite gender and paint each other's fingernails. Additionally, the…

From effective learning research, there is a general consensus that hands-on experiences help students to learn. The question that this paper seeks to answer is what it is about these activities that fosters student learning. In a review of the literature, three factors have been identified as making a significant contribution to this strategy's…

Teaching mathematics through problem solving is a challenge for teachers who learned mathematics by doing exercises. How do teachers develop their own problem solving abilities as well as their abilities to teach mathematics through problem solving? A group of teachers began the journey of learning to teach through problem solving while taking a…

In Our Global Village is a project that originated when Barbara Cervone of What Kids Can Do traveled to Kambi Ya Simba, Tanzania, and spent time with the students at Awet Secondary School. Although the students were skeptical, Cervone persuaded them to write a book about their village, their lifestyles, and the challenges that the inhabitants…

One of the most important challenges a teacher faces is motivating his or her students to complete reading assignments and to complete them carefully. After all, if students bring to class a basic understanding of the text up for discussion, much deeper learning can occur than if the teacher is forced to spend time explaining the reading to…

Collaborative learning teams have emerged as an effective tool for teachers to steadily and continuously improve their instruction. Evidence also suggests that a learning teams model can affect school leadership as well. We explored the impact of learning teams on leadership roles of principals and teachers in secondary schools and found that…

In this study, a Delphi method was used to identify and predict the roles of blended learning approaches in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments. The Delphi panel consisted of experts in online learning from different geographic regions of the world. This study discusses findings related to (a) pros and cons of blended…

In Taiwan, when students learn in experiment-related courses, they are often grouped into several teams. The familiar method of grouping learning is "Cooperative Learning". A well-organized grouping strategy improves cooperative learning and increases the number of activities. This study proposes a novel pedagogical method by adopting…