Online learning and virtual schools allow students to take classes any time and anywhere. These emerging learning environments require school library media specialists to expand their thinking about their resources and services. Creation of a virtual library can provide access to remote materials that enhance the experience of online learners.…

Online education recently has been receiving a lot of attention at the K-12 level. Some may see it as a remedy for school budgets that are overstretched. Others view it as another means for reaching and teaching students and teachers, and some view online course delivery as an alternative educational choice. In fact, online education is simply…

By evolving to keep pace with the information technology field, Auburn Career Center ensures its students are prepared for today's workplace. This article profiles Auburn Career Center, the first career and technical center in the state of Ohio. The award-winning career center annually serves approximately 650 high school students within 11 school…

In this article, the author discusses how in California, high school students are learning about real business through a virtual world. Virtual enterprise programs are helping students learn about the real business world. Learning about the business world has become about as real as it can in California high schools. Enrollment in the programs…

Based on existing Learning Object taxonomies, this article suggests an alternative Learning Object taxonomy, combined with a general Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) framework, aiming to transfer the modularized concept of Learning Objects to modularized Virtual Learning Environments. The taxonomy and SOA-framework exposes a need for a clearer…

When the faculty of the Educational and Interdisciplinary Studies Department at Western Illinois University were asked to develop an online research methods course several years ago, the author was skeptical. How could anyone possibly teach the complexities of research over the internet? The author's face-to-face course focused on helping students…

Typically, most research and academic institutions own and archive a great amount of objects and research related resources that have been produced, used and maintained over long periods of time by different types of "domain experts" (e.g. lecturers and researchers). Although the potential educational value of these resources is very…

Higher education programs across the nation have recognized that transformation in pedagogical norms is critical. Often, decreased funding for education is cited as a primary driver for the need to transform the way higher education does its business. This article describes a series of factors that confirm that the decrease in funding is only one…

This study examined the effect of physical and virtual field trips on undergraduate, nonscience majors. No significant differences were seen in achievement, attitudes, learning styles, interactions between field trip and learning styles, or students' ability to answer questions at different levels. Results imply that both field trips promote…

Since 2005, the landscape of online teaching and learning has changed as well as the landscape of the academy, and continues to transform before our eyes. These changes are not only a product of technological innovation, but also a result of new and reconceptualized "values" of higher education, and so we must reexamine what changes to…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the blended learning preferences under which adult students study mathematics, electronics and industry certificate examinations like project management and e-SAP (systems, applications and products). Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on four case studies in mathematics,…

This qualitative study examines perceptions and use of assignment feedback among adult beginner modern foreign language learners on higher education distance learning courses. A survey of responses to feedback on assignments by 43 Open University students on beginner language courses in Spanish, French, and German indicated that respondents can be…

What does the future hold for educators and facilities professionals when it comes to planning, building, funding, and operating school facilities? No one can absolutely know beforehand. However, there are many, many indicators of where public education in the United States may well be destined. These indicators take the form of already occurring…

Australian higher education increasingly relies on flexible modes of delivery as a means of attracting and retaining students in a highly competitive global education market. While education is among those disciplines that have been most actively involved in the shift from face-to-face to online learning and teaching, the transition for many…

In early models of online instruction, learning activities and assessments relied primarily on threaded discussions or papers. But advances in online technology, and a growing trend to incorporate collaborative learning strategies, have lead to the emergence of online group projects. While student-centered learning activities such as group…