Multi-User Dungeons (MUDs), are text-based virtual reality environments in which participants separated by great physical distances can communicate and collaborate in programming. Most MUDs started out as adventure games but are quickly being adapted for more "serious" endeavors. This paper presents a case study of the experiences of a…

The nature of the multiuser object oriented (MOO) environment lends itself to flexible and rich interactive collaboration space providing interactive discussion, mail, mailing list, and news features to its virtual denizens. EdMOO (HREF1) was created in mid-1995 as an environment for teachers to experience the text based virtual reality…

The campus data network, WABnet, at Wabash College (Crawfordsville, Indiana) provides students with access to the campus Novell servers, the library catalog, and the Internet. The College attempted to minimize the support load for the Intel-based PCs (personal computers) by developing a self-install procedure for student PC connections. The…

A survey of the participants explored the competing interests involved at a national debate tournament, including: (1) how the desire to maximize competitive prowess trades off against socialization among students; (2) how increasing the number of elimination rounds for reasons of judge equalization adds another round to an already crowded…

Approximately 35 literacy practitioners in Pennsylvania were trained and mentored in action research from July 1995-June 1996. The project used two models of delivery. With a team of five trainers/mentors, the urban model was developed in the Pittsburgh and Erie western region and an outreach model was used in the northern, northeastern, and…

Group decision support systems (GDDS) represent a technological aid for the decision-making process, combining communication, computers, and decision technologies to support problem formulation and solution in group meetings. A study examined communicative influence strategies used in a GDDS meeting. Subjects, 201 high- and low-influence persons…

For many years, foreign language teachers have used the computer to provide supplemental exercises in the instruction of foreign languages. In recent years, advances in computer technology have motivated teachers to reassess the computer and consider it a valuable part of daily foreign language learning. Innovative software programs, authoring…

Much of what characterizes, critiques, defines and describes an educator's profession and practice occurs in the form of documents which get delivered every day to the faculty mailroom. These documents are connected to cultural processes which establish hierarchies of power, exclude individuals from decision making, and foster an illusion of the…

The purpose of this paper is to describe an evolving conceptual framework resulting from the use of a computer mediated discussion assignment in a graduate nursing course over the past several years. The objective has been to build a consensus among classmates via electronic communication concerning readings about making new knowledge more…

The education system, like most organizational structures, needs fundamental changes to keep pace with the social and economic conditions of an increasingly complex global society. Taking an aerial view, this paper describes the topography of systemic change to provide multiple stakeholders a better vantage point for communicating and making…

This research paper describes how E-Mail and Vax Notes were used in the Spring 1994 political science classes, "Contemporary Global Issues" and "Women and Politics," involving 80 students at the University of Wisconsin--La Crosse. By modeling and hands-on practice, students were introduced to the electronic mail and then given three major projects…

Local genealogical societies and libraries have a common interest in providing genealogical researchers with materials and expert assistance. Societies and libraries can cooperate to meet genealogists' needs in several ways: (1) collection development, access, and creation; (2) indirect reference service (societies as a referral resource; (3)…

After extensive planning, the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) concluded that a satellite telecommunications network linking AIHEC institutions to each other and to other institutions of higher education would greatly enhance their ability to provide quality education to their students and communities. This is the first step in…

The teacher, as an authority figure in the computer classroom, can choose from a number of types of interactions with students to counteract homophobic comments as well as racial and gender prejudice. A model of four responses to student communication in the InterChange computer framework sets a continuum of teacher control: (1) passive…

Based on years of experience with intergenerational correspondence at the "Senior Partners Network," this book is designed to help grandparents (and grandchildren) to find the right topics for correspondence, all laid out in clear steps. The book also offers sample letters, cards, and e-mail messages, and provides dozens of themes. The…