MOOCs--massive open online courses--are all the rage these days, with hundreds of thousands of participants signing up and investors plunking down millions to get a piece of the pie. Why is there so much excitement about this new disruptive form of online learning, and how does this model apply to professional learning for teachers? Traditional…

Teaching in a diverse, urban community college, it has become apparent that students spend most of their free (and classroom) time participating in social media. In response, we decided to incorporate social media, blogs specifically, as a way to increase student engagement, retention and achievement. The learning objective was for our students to…

This paper examines the impact of supplementary web-based materials on students' academic performance in a first-year economics unit at university. In particular, the paper considers the impact of students' usage of the unit's webpage, voluntary on-line discussion board, voluntary on-line quizzes and voluntary on-line homework questions on their…

Free software for the demonstration of the features of homo- and copolymerization processes (free radical, controlled radical, and living) is described. The software is based on the Monte Carlo algorithms and offers insight into the kinetics, molecular weight distribution, and microstructure of the macromolecules formed in those processes. It also…

The EDUCAUSE Awards Program, under the guidance of the EDUCAUSE Recognition Committee, has announced the three 2012 winners who are recognized for their peer endorsement and distinction to professional accomplishments in higher education information technology. Winner Melissa Woo is recognized as a strong leader and one who is expected to achieve…

The study of chemistry is central within science and other associated degrees. At the University of New England in Armidale academics need to provide chemistry teaching in both a distance and the traditional on-campus mode within science and other degrees. This study explores the contribution that the adoption of Adobe Connect technology can make…

This paper examines the integration of ICT in higher education in Nigeria. The possibilities and reach of information technologies can tear down territorial boundaries and make available equal information and knowledge of different categories as soon as necessary data are fed on the website. Nevertheless, Nigeria as a nation is yet to take full…

Business students taking business analytics courses that have significant predictive modeling components, such as marketing research, data mining, forecasting, and advanced financial modeling, are introduced to nonlinear regression using application software that is a "black box" to the students. Thus, although correct models are…

Technology plays a crucial role in facilitating collaboration within the scientific community. Cloud-computing applications, such as Google Drive, can be used to model such collaboration and support inquiry within the secondary science classroom. Little is known about pre-service teachers' beliefs related to the envisioned use of collaborative,…

Technological innovations and the prevalence of the computer as a means of producing and engaging with texts have dramatically transformed how literacy is defined and developed in modern society. This rise in digital writing practices has led to a growing number of tools and methods that can be used to explore second language (L2) writing…

The idea of providing students with their own laptops for home and school use has become more and more pervasive in schools throughout the country. This resource availability, known as the "1:1 device movement," presents students and teachers with new instructional and learning opportunities. This new capability, however, is being given…

This study examined the effectiveness of self-operated video models on the skill acquisition of a series of novel tasks taught in community-based settings. In addition, the percent of independent task transitions and the duration at which four secondary students with a moderate intellectual disability transitioned between tasks was also examined.…

Appropriation, transformation and remix are increasingly recognized as significant aspects of digital literacy. This article considers how one form of digital remix--the video remix--might be used in classrooms to introduce critical conversations about representation, appropriation, creativity and copyright. The first half of the article explores…

The benefits of collaborative learning are well documented. However, most of the research has been done with children beyond the ages of early childhood. This could be due to the common and erroneous belief that young children have not developed the capacity to work collaboratively toward a given aim. In this paper we show how small group…

Studies of one-to-one programs consistently report lower use of laptops in mathematics classrooms compared to other subjects but do not elaborate reasons for these observations. This mixed-method study investigated the experiences and beliefs of 28 mathematics teachers at five secondary schools during the second year of the New South Wales Digital…