Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review cross-disciplinary research on e-learning from workplace learning, educational technology, and instructional communication disciplines to identify relevant e-learning design principles. It aims to use these principles to propose an e-learning model that can guide the design of instructionally sound,…

Multiuser virtual environments (MUVEs) are quickly gaining importance as tools for foreign language instruction by promoting collaboration and social presence in a lifelike 3-D environment. One of the largest and fastest growing of these MUVEs is Linden Lab's "Second Life" (SL). With an international membership of over 9,000,000 residents, SL is…

Online learning is expanding rapidly today in many Canadian universities. Fuelled by Canada's unprecedented broadband access, online teaching is creating new challenges for faculty and new responsibilities for educational developers. Although there is adequate literature with regard to faculty thinking about course planning in general, there are…

One of the key concepts in the right to education is access: access to the means to fully develop as human beings as well as access to the means to gain skills, knowledge and credentials. This is an important perspective through which to examine the solutions to access enabled by Open Educational Resources (OER) and online learning. The authors…

The purpose of this study was to consider the efficacy and popularity of "Virtual Lectures" (text-based, structured electronic courseware with information presented in manageable "chunks", interaction and multimedia) and "e-Lectures" (on-screen synchrony of PowerPoint slides and recorded voice) as alternatives to traditional lectures. We…

Simulation is the process of executing a model that describes a system with enough detail; this model has its entities, an internal state, some input and output variables and a list of processes bound to these variables. Teaching a simulation language such as general purpose simulation system (GPSS) is always a challenge, because of the way it…

Because finding software that exactly complements curriculum objectives is so difficult, many software designers have developed educational programs with authoring features that allow teachers to change the content but not the format of coursework. Four programs simple enough for students to take creative control of are reviewed. (MT)

Solutions to concern over computer software copyright infringement include seeking a licensing agreement with the software publisher or negotiating with a supplier for discounts on multiple copies of a program. The best sourcebook for guidance is "Software Quality and Copyright: Issues in Computer-Assisted Instruction," by Virginia Helm. (DCS)

Discusses steps that companies who develop and distribute technology-based training products need to take in order to be more successful, including focusing on the customer; moving away from large, generic courseware libraries; better pricing schemes; commitment to produce learning outcomes; and partnerships with clients to produce documented…

Suggestions for selecting the appropriate software for school needs are provided. Tips are given for categorizing and storing programs. (MT)

Grade earned and class attendance records were examined to determine if posting PowerPoint notes on a web-based course management system was related to enhanced performance or increased absences. There were no differences in either grades or absences between classes that had notes posted and those that did not. However, results indicated…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to introduce some new functions achieved in a web-based multimedia courseware, which is developed by Flash software and used by part-time graduate students. Design/methodology/approach: The courseware uses Adobe Flash CS3 as its development software, which supports Actionscript language, FMS and FLV technology…

In the Singapore primary school Mathematics curriculum, students are taught the model method that uses bar diagrams to visualize the problem structure in a given word problem. When these students progress to secondary school, they learn the algebraic way of solving word problems. Studies (e.g. Ng et al.) have shown that poor bridging of students…

This paper describes the background, methodology, preliminary findings, and anticipated future directions of a large-scale multi-year randomized field experiment addressing the efficacy of ST Math [Spatial-Temporal Math], a fully-developed math curriculum that uses interactive animated software. ST Math's unique approach minimizes the use of…

Humans draw on their stereotypic beliefs to make assumptions about others. Even though prior research has shown that individuals respond socially to media, there is little evidence with regards to learners stereotyping and categorizing pedagogical agents. This study investigated whether learners stereotype a pedagogical agent as being…