A well-designed syllabus provides students with a roadmap for an engaging and successful learning experience, whereas a poorly designed syllabus impedes communication between faculty and students, increases student anxiety and potential complaints, and reduces overall teaching effectiveness. In an effort to facilitate, streamline, and improve…

In this article, the authors address a high school's need for an updated technology policy that would allow educators to move from confiscating technology to teaching students how and when to use it. By replacing their technology policy with a courtesy policy, the authors describe how they made a huge step toward teaching students to do the right…

An investigation of Web-based versus in-class learning environments indicated that student's environmental knowledge, beliefs, opinions, and self-perceptions were equivalent prior to participating in an introductory environmental science course. However, by the end of the 16-week course, students from the in-class group had significantly improved…

Lydia Arnold explores how work-based learners can embrace technology-enabled ways of learning. The case study of the BA (Honours) Learning Technology Research (BA LTR) program at Anglia Ruskin University, United Kingdom, shows how a unique learning blend that combines online social learning, work-based learning, inquiry-led learning, and high…

The use of peer assisted learning in clinical education is explored in this case study. Groups of undergraduate physiotherapy students were structured into communities of practice during the second half of their clinical fieldwork program. They collaborated online in an asynchronous manner, using information communications technology (blogs) and…

The introduction, in the United Kingdom, of the Special Education Needs and Disabilities Act (SENDA) published and approved in 2001, has removed the exemptions given to educational institutions by the Disabilities Discrimination Act (DDA) of 1995. This applies to learning web sites and materials that must now undergo "reasonable…

As many higher educational institutions offer their courses online, college professors are faced with new challenges: pedagogical shift, a different type of relationship with students, and a need for redefining their role. Measurable goals and enforced accountability are challenging the conventional ways of which universities operate today. This…

This article presents the results of two studies on the applicability and use of universal design in higher education. In Study 1, the instructional climate for students with disabilities was assessed through a survey of 271 faculty members and teaching associates (TAs) and focus groups with 92 additional faculty members and TAs. Survey…

Computing devices and applications are now used beyond the desktop, in diverse environments, and this trend toward ubiquitous computing is evolving. In this study, we re-visit the interactivity concept and its applications for interactive function design in a ubiquitous-learning system (ULS). Further, we compare interactivity dimensions and…

This article introduced some of the issues and challenges faced by online learners who have disabilities by providing an overview of four major disability categories: visual impairments, hearing impairments, motor impairments, and cognitive impairments. It also discussed how assistive technologies and universal design are being incorporated in…

Objective: To test and compare the efficacy of interactive- and print-delivered computer-tailored nutrition education targeting saturated fat intake reduction. Design: A 3-group randomized, controlled trial (2003-2005) with posttests at 1 and 6 months post-intervention. Setting: Worksites and 2 neighborhoods in the urban area of Rotterdam.…

The Computer Anxiety Scale (CAS) measures the perceptions of individuals with respect to their anxiety toward computers. Although the CAS was developed a number of years ago, research has shown that its factor structure has remained stable. Recent cross-cultural studies using samples of college students from various countries have also shown that…

Project LOGgED ON was a project supported by the U.S. Department of Education that maintained two initiatives, a.) to provide online case based professional development for teachers in gifted education, b.) to provide online advanced science curriculum for underserved gifted students. For the purposes of this study, the author will examine the…

ASSISTments is a web-based math tutor designed to address the need for timely student assessment while simultaneously providing instruction, thereby avoiding lost instruction time that typically occurs during assessment. This article presents a quasi-experiment that evaluates whether ASSISTments use has an effect on improving middle school…

Purpose: Social navigation is an emerging trend for navigation in hypermedia. With social navigation, users can be guided through large volumes of learning content by cues which integrate the browsing history of past users. Earlier papers have shown that social navigation is suitable for navigation not only in classic hypermedia but also in…