This digest describes an integrated approach to teaching computer skills in K-12 schools. The introductory section discusses the importance of integrating information skills into the curriculum. "Technology Skills for Information Problem Solving: A Curriculum Based on the Big6 Skills Approach" (Michael B. Eisenberg, Doug Johnson, and…

This study focused on response rates to online student ratings of faculty at Brigham Young University, Utah, where concerns about response rates have contributed to a long period for testing and implementation of the online system (more than 5 years). The first pilot study, in 1997, included 36 courses and yielded a response rate of about 40%. The…

This paper reports on recent research in human-computer interactions, gives examples of some of the most promising uses of educational technology, and categorizes the effective and ineffective applications. The purpose of this paper is to provoke discussion about the problems and the potential benefits of computer use among young people. With a…

This paper reports on efforts to design a computer-based instructional unit for 7th grade students that would not only address state standards but would also provide some groundwork for the students' subsequent formal study of algebra. SimCalc Mathworlds software was used to explore the same motion from different perspectives. The overall…

This report documents findings from a qualitative investigation conducted by the Center for Children and Technology (CCT), a multi-year study of the impact of the JASON project on students and teachers. Focus group interviews were used to ascertain how teachers use the JASON curriculum with different groups of students and to explore teachers' use…

WQ is a Web-based system that reflects some of the ideas found in WebQuests. This paper analyzes the characteristics that make the WebQuests so popular and determines which of their components give them the greatest educational value. The WQ system, which the authors have implemented, presents sites to be browsed and searched. It allows students…

This paper describes the design of an instrument to help identify teachers' level of information and communications technologies (ICT) uptake. The instrument takes the form of a typology matrix comprising four stages in ICT uptake across a continuum describing teachers' levels of dependence. Identification of teachers' positions in the typology…

When it comes to understanding and using information technology, today's pre-service education students often know more about technology than their college professors or their field-based teachers in K-12 classrooms. University and K-12 faculty members, on the other hand, know more about teaching and learning than pre-service students and less…

The authors present two case studies in the use of computers in the classroom, one involving an introductory computer science class, the other an upper division literature class. After describing each case, the differences are discussed, showing that pedagogical models developed for one discipline may not transfer to another, and that the…

This case study identifies the feasible approaches to integrate laptops into a science learning environment in middle school. The observation of learning activities and teaching strategies took place in the 8th grade science classroom with seventeen students for five class periods and data from the teacher's opinion gathered by interview. The…

One of the challenges often mentioned by users of the World Wide Web is creating and implementing successful searches on topics of interest. This article provides background information about adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) resources available on the Web. It describes various search tools, explains how to create search strategies and how…

This report, the fifth in a series from the spring 1998 national survey, "Teaching, Learning, and Computing," provides a framework for defining the various dimensions of technology support. Research has shown that teachers lack adequate support for the use of information and communication technologies (ICT). In this report, the term…

Learning at a distance has been on the fringe of educational acceptance since the first correspondence course was delivered through the mail system in return for academic credit. As distance learning has matured, elements of enhanced instructional design and advances in educational technology have migrated this medium of learning closer to the…

Since 1994, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has surveyed nationally representative samples of approximately 1,000 public schools in the fall of each academic year on Internet access and, since 1996, on the types of Internet connections used. The most recent survey of Internet access indicates that public schools in the United…

This study examines the opinions of elementary school teachers currently employed by the Greeneville City School System regarding the utilization and effects of educational technology in the elementary classroom. The System has committed to building and maintaining a state-of-the-art computer network for students served by the district. A large…