A meta-analysis was performed to synthesize existing research comparing the effects of computer applications (i.e., computer-assisted instruction, computer simulations, and Web-based learning) versus traditional instruction on elementary school students' achievement in Taiwan. Forty-eight studies were located from four sources, and their…

The use of virtual environments for special needs is as diverse as the field of Special Education itself and the individuals it serves. Individuals with special needs often face challenges with attention, language, spatial abilities, memory, higher reasoning and knowledge acquisition. Research in the use of Virtual Learning Environments (VLE)…

Purpose: Applications of online Second Life (SL) prevail over the world. The purpose of this paper is to make a review and synthesis of recent research studies on SL. Design/methodology/approach: Documental analysis is employed. Totally, 135 research publications, published in 2006-2008, are reviewed and synthesized. Findings: Findings are as…

This paper reports findings of a pilot study that examined the pedagogical potential of "Second Life" (SL), a popular three-dimensional multi-user virtual environment (3-D MUVE) developed by the Linden Lab. The study is part of a 1-year research and development project titled "Modelling of Secondlife Environments"…

Innovation Education (IE) is a new subject area in Icelandic schools. The aim of the subject is to train students to identify the needs and problems in their environment and to develop solutions: a process of ideation. This activity has been classroom based but now a Virtual Reality Learning Environment technology (VRLE) has been designed to…

People use external knowledge representations (EKRs) to identify, depict, transform, store, share, and archive information. Learning how to work with EKRs is central to becoming proficient in virtually every discipline. As such, EKRs play central roles in curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Five key roles of EKRs in educational assessment are…

This book is an incredibly valuable resource to anyone involved in building a master schedule. The author provides a comprehensive description of the processes involved and makes the reader aware of what needs to be considered and done throughout the process. One of the most time-consuming tasks for school leaders is creating a master schedule…

Six teenagers with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) experienced a Virtual Environment (VE) of a cafe. They also watched three sets of videos of real cafe and buses and judged where they would sit and explained why. Half of the participants received their VE experience between the first and second sets of videos, and half experienced it between…

The process of developing concepts of time continues from age 5 to 11 years (Zakay, 1998). This study sought the representation mode in which children could best express time concepts, especially the proper arrangement of events in a logical and temporal order. Usually, temporal order is examined and taught by 2D (2-dimensional) pictorial scripts.…

P. Bloom's (1990) data on subject omission are often taken as strong support for the view that child language can be explained in terms of full competence coupled with processing limitations in production. This paper examines whether processing limitations in learning may provide a more parsimonious explanation of the data without the need to…

The central messages of this paper are that (a) unequal variances may be more prevalent than typically imagined in educational and policy research, and (b) when considering tests of equal variances one needs to be cautious about what is being referred to as "Levene's test" because Levene's test is actually a family of techniques. Depending on…

High school teacher Cara M. Arver walks teachers through her experience of setting up a virtual world to augment students' reading of "Lord of the Flies." Students interact as additional characters, discuss and solve problems based on the circumstances of the story, and complete classroom assignments within a virtual environment.

In this paper, we present a review of research into the problems of implementing authentic scientific inquiry curricula in schools and the emerging use of educational Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs) to support interactive scientific inquiry practices. Our analysis of existing literature in this growing area of study reveals three recurrent…

Developing a software environment to enhance 3D geometric proficiency demands the consideration of theoretical views of the learning process. Simultaneously, this effort requires taking into account the range of tools that technology offers, as well as their limitations. In this paper, we report on the design of Virtual Spaces 1.0 software, a…

This paper examines how a game-like 3D Multi-User Virtual Environment (MUVE), Quest Atlantis (QA), is used in an after-school programme to engage a group of 14 academically at-risk primary students in their learning. It adopts an activity theoretical perspective to identify the disturbances and contradictions during the implementation of the…