The teacher-centered model that has dominated instruction for centuries is slowly giving way to a learner-centered conception with instructors in roles of facilitators, or "guides on the side." Active learning and collaboration increasingly characterize learning environments. E-learning is unable to promote learning on its own. Its use does not…

The electronic dissemination of information via computer networks is having a considerable impact on educational institutions in terms of the mechanisms that they are able to employ for course delivery. As a result of this, the number of courses that are taught electronically through the Internet and/or the World Wide Web has increased…

Factors that increase the likelihood of sustainable on-line learning community success fall into four general categories: the selection of an ease of learning and ease of use application permits an adequate default setting to begin operation yet permits users and managers to customize their on-line environment; creation and support of users,…

In this paper, animated pedagogical agents are looked at from an instructional design perspective. A "support-typology" was constructed based on different dimensions on which support can be described and different roles instructional agents can assume. This typology is used to analyze currently available pedagogical agents. This analysis indicates…

While the idea of reusing objects in digital learning environments is not new, continual strides are being made toward improving the prospects of reusability. A major trend in company training settings is to think of reusability in terms of a LMS (learning management system), but instructor use and pedagogies are little considered. This paper…

During 1994 to 1996, 15 school districts in British Columbia, Canada, received proposals to establish alternative public schools of choice based on the effective school model. These became commonly known as "traditional schools." Most of the proposals were denied, but four elementary schools were in existence by early 1998 and three…

This study offers descriptive information about distance learning courses and the faculty who teach them, and explores faculty members' opinions about distance learning. The report focuses only distance education as taught by full-time National Education Association faculty members at traditional two- and four-year colleges and universities to…

A study of the aftercare services offered juvenile delinquents after residential placement was conducted in New York State. The emphasis was on the Juvenile Aftercare Services program, which serves the majority of youth being conditionally released into the community. Based on findings from the study involving interviews and site visits, the…

Local schools and school districts lack organized information on school effectiveness to select programs and practices to meet their specific program improvement and implementation needs. Critical program features, implementation and training requirements, program costs, program-delivery systems, program impacts, and a host of other relevant…

This paper describes the development of the CalStateTEACH program at California State University (CSU), Fresno, a system-wide initiative that is grafted onto the program of individual institutions. It was originally an open university program called CalNet. It was redeveloped during the fall of 1998, when teams of CSU teacher educators helped…

This document consists of the five consecutive issues of the journal "Imagine..." published during volume year 3. Typical journal articles cover teaching academically talented secondary students in the following focus areas: (1) learning anywhere and everywhere; (2) accessing distance learning; (3) developing talent in the arts; (4) considering…

This study of the Western Governors University (WGU) suggests that its instructional model, based on distance education, could increase the value of teaching relative to research. The WGU model envisions a "disaggregated faculty," that is, one in which faculty roles typically discharged by a single individual are delegated and outsourced…

This guide describes the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology's (SIAST's) (Canada) Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) program. PLAR is an evaluation through a valid and reliable process of the knowledge and skills a student has learned through previous education, training, or experience, to determine the…

This paper evaluates the effectiveness of an alternative-school program. The research compared 1 year of the program, where there was no parental involvement, with a second year, which included family-based interventions. It was hypothesized that family involvement would generate greater improvement in students' psychosocial functioning, academic…

This paper describes a hypermedia resource, called MendelWeb that integrates elementary biology, discrete mathematics, and the history of science. MendelWeb is constructed from Gregor Menders 1865 paper, "Experiments in Plant Hybridization". An English translation of Mendel's paper, which is considered to mark the birth of classical and…