Higher education today fails to exploit the power of emergent educational technology. If it did, the authors contend that "everyone on the planet would already have access to a top-quality college education for pennies a day acquired in less than half the traditional four years." The authors envision a college education that replaces the lecture…

Statistical analyses of pre-test and post-test results, as well as qualitative insight obtained by essays, compared introductory physical geography college students who learned desert geomorphology only virtually, in the field and both ways. With the exception of establishing geographic context, the virtual field trip was statistically…

Ana-Paula Correia offers a case study of an experiential e-learning pedagogy used in one of this program's distance courses. This graduate course in instructional design brought experiential learning into an e-learning community by asking students to apply knowledge and skills to real-world instructional design projects. Correia explores how the…

An article this author wrote about avatar harassment and assault in Second Life (SL) inspired a considerable response after it was published. Perhaps the most notable reply was from Linden Lab, the company that created the virtual-reality world. In his initial essay ("The Chronicle of Higher Education," September 14, 2007; "The Education Digest,"…

The purpose of this issues brief was to obtain a better understanding of how online programs are dealing with students who have been identified as at-risk. The first section, "Strategies for Working with At-Risk Student Populations in Online Environments," documents a sampling of K-12 online programs currently working with at-risk…

The impacts that the lack of physical cues and non-verbal cues of emotional expression has on the student learning experience in text based online environments were targeted separately in this study. A questionnaire was constructed with separate items for non-verbal cues of emotional expression and cues to physical identity. The survey also…

This manuscript uses interview data collected during a qualitative study in 2007 of a secondary US history e-learning course. The teacher, Mr. Harding, and 11 of the 13 students in the class were interviewed about their general perceptions of e-learning and the ability to effectively learn content online. The findings of the study show that nearly…

Research has established that individual student interest has a positive effect on learning and academic achievement. However, little is known about the impact of a blended learning approach on individual student interest and whether combinations of online and face-to-face learning activities significantly enhance student interest. This paper…

This paper examines the effective deployment of conversational agents in virtual worlds from the perspective of researchers/practitioners in cognitive psychology, computing science, learning technologies and engineering. From a cognitive perspective, the major challenge lies in the coordination and management of the various channels of information…

Traditional approaches to learning have often focused upon knowledge transfer strategies that have centred on textually-based engagements with learners, and dialogic methods of interaction with tutors. The use of virtual worlds, with text-based, voice-based and a feeling of "presence" naturally is allowing for more complex social interactions and…

Explores what a return to a more theory-based scientific approach to education might mean for the study and practice of educational technology. Topics include science, technology, and constructivism; knowledge construction; how to deal with complexity; and roles of educational technology, including creating virtual learning environments and…

Discusses the use of information and communication technology in collaborative learning environments and reports on a study of four good practice examples of collaborative learning and virtual learning environments. Explains factors critical to success and emphasizes the importance of coherent coursedesign. (Author/LRW)

Describes for-profit U.S. schools, focusing on the University of Phoenix, Arizona, and DeVry University, the largest for-profit schools in the country. Notes that these schools are in fierce competition with community colleges, regional state universities, and private schools. Notes that opponents complain that such schools are operated as…

This quantitative study investigated the perceptions of principals, guidance counselors, and site facilitators in city/suburb, town, and rural schools concerning the Louisiana Virtual School (LVS). This study provided a benchmark of attitudes from school personnel about the LVS. The non-experimental research design used an online survey adapted…

This qualitative research study used a phenomenological approach to examine educators' experiences in the virtual world of Second Life[TM]. The rationale for this study's focus on educators using a virtual world stems from an interest in the factors that influence educational practices in virtual worlds. The researcher conducted focus groups…