Recently, more and more researchers have been exploring uses of mobile technology that support new instructional strategies. Based on research findings related to peer and self assessment, this study developed a Mobile Assessment Participation System (MAPS) using Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) as the platform. In addition, the study proposes…

This article describes and documents the teaching and learning in a new undergraduate course at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey, USA. Students investigate the meaning of literacy in today's rapidly changing, technological world. They explore multiliteracies, ultimately weaving them into a multimedia statement--a mini documentary on a…

Many middle school students often report that what they learn in school science has little meaning or relevance to their lives. This is not surprising, as schools and students are frequently separated from what is happening in their community. "Service learning" is a pedagogy that has the potential to connect young adolescents with their community…

Library media specialists hear about Web 2.0 in numerous professional journals and during conference workshops. They know that using this aspect of the Internet is second nature to many of their students, and therefore they feel a need to become knowledgeable about this means of information sharing. What better way to learn about blogs, wikis, or…

Students learn better when they both hear and do. In computer architecture courses "doing" can be difficult in small schools without hardware laboratories hosted by computer engineering, electrical engineering, or similar departments. Software solutions exist. Our success with George Mills' Multimedia Logic (MML) is the focus of this paper. MML…

Infrared thermal imaging is a valuable tool in physics education at the university level. It can help to visualize and thereby enhance understanding of physical phenomena from mechanics, thermal physics, electromagnetism, optics and radiation physics, qualitatively as well as quantitatively. We report on its use as lecture demonstrations, student…

This article describes how the new generation of multifunction printers (MFP) couple diverse software with powerful hardware, bringing a multitude of options to educators. All of the major printer-scanner-copier makers have the education market in their crosshairs, but Lexmark's new Education Station targets K-12 with a unique combination of…

In this article, the author shares tips on how to keep students interested in learning about still-life art lessons. She relates that her main goal was to formally introduce students to observational drawing and the element of value. She shares that to prevent her students from losing interest, she keeps her time short, keeps the project simple,…

In this article, the authors describe how a time capsule project helped students at Ridgedale Elementary School in Knoxville, Tennessee understand the nature of events and the relationships of events in a segment of history. The time capsule preparation motivated students to hypothesize about important events and significant artifacts of their…

In this article, the author describes her attempt to develop more interactive mental mathematics sessions. She observed that her students perceive the multiplication tables as a series of facts which are either known or not known, not as tools which could be used to derive other facts in a flexible manner. She therefore undertook the task of…

Each year, students in Kittanning Senior High School's Principles of Technology (POT) classes have a design challenge, usually beginning with CO2-powered or Maglev-powered vehicles and progressing to such challenges as soap-box cars or radio-controlled airplanes. The author's recent POT class challenged them with the most exciting challenge yet:…

As a part of the teacher licensure program at the graduate level at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), the M.Ed. Licensure candidate is required to complete an action research project during a 3-semester-hour course that coincides with the 9-semester-hour student teaching experience. This course, Education 590 Culminating…

Using an explanatory mixed methods design, this study uses the National Standards of Quality for Online Courses to measure the extent to which teachers in a blended middle school and a fully online supplemental high school are designing quality online learning environments for students. As a part of fully online graduate coursework, graduate…

This paper deploys notions of emergence, connections, and designs for learning to conceptualize high school students' interactions when using online social media as a learning environment. It makes links to chaos and complexity theories and to fractal patterns as it reports on a part of the first author's action research study, conducted while she…

This paper examines the core academic leader development course at the United States Air Force Academy. The course serves as the foundation for individual leader development that is integrated across all four years of the student's education. The basic approach uses a self-study where the student selects a current leadership role and that role…