Though there is evidence that postsecondary foreign language (FL) teachers have not maximized computer technology for language teaching and learning, there is a lack of studies that attempt to uncover reasons for this underutilization. Research in other disciplines within general education suggested that teachers' beliefs in student-centeredness…

In this era of rapidly advancing technologies, many governments around the globe are spending a great amount of money on these technologies, in order to increase their work performance. Therefore, the Jordanian government decided to implement IT in its public organizations. However, the picture is unclear about users' attitudes toward this…

Team collaboration is necessary to fully support school-age students who use assistive technology (AT). Teams should include the student, his or her family, and school professionals. Unfortunately, team collaboration is often not realized due to constraints that range from scheduling conflicts and language barriers to lack of defined roles and…

Virtual charter schools, emerging in the 1990s, are a recent development in the education field and reflect today's technology-oriented society. This study examined existing data to evaluate what, if any, difference existed between students who attended public school and those who were homeschooled prior to entering the virtual charter school. …

Technology has enabled students to have greater access to vast array of resources, classes and experts; empowering students to become "Free Agent Learners" who are creating meaningful personalized learning experiences 24/7 outside of the traditional classroom and school structure. In the report "Creating our Future: Students Speak Up about their…

This paper introduces the background to the JISC work within the e-portfolio domain in the UK and presents an overview of past and current activities and the drivers for these developments. This is followed by a review of JISC's approach to drawing out the learning and implications for e-portfolio practice from this extensive collection of work…

In March 2005, the Department for Education and Skills published its e-strategy, Harnessing Technology (DfES, 2005, Harnessing technology: Transforming Learning and Children's Services). Within this, two of its key objectives were: firstly to transform teaching and learning, and help to improve outcomes for children and young people, through…

This paper compares and contrasts two projects in order to better understand the complex issues surrounding the use of technology to support parental involvement with schools and their children's learning. The Becta-funded ICT Test Bed evaluation (2002-2006) had the intention of saturating schools (in three areas of social deprivation) with a…

In this study, we investigated whether the understanding of the particulate nature of matter by students was improved by allowing them to design and evaluate molecular animations of chemical phenomena. We developed Chemation, a learner-centered animation tool, to allow seventh-grade students to construct flipbook-like simple animations to show…

It is known that computer games are motivating for children, but there is limited direct evidence of their effects on classroom learning. The aim of this exploratory study was to investigate the effects of a commercial off-the-shelf computer game on children's mental computation skills and on aspects of self-perceptions. A pre-post design was…

This paper discusses the results of a study of the role of the computer in scaffolding pupils' interaction and its effects on the disabled (D) pupils' participation and inclusion in the context of socio-cultural theories and the ideals of inclusive education. The study investigated the interactions of pairs of D and non-disabled (ND) pupils…

Teaching in 21st-century schools cannot easily be separated from technology-based solutions. Instead, technology is increasingly becoming an essential tool for any teacher's toolbox, especially the new teacher who is often considered a digital native. In teacher education and professional development, technology-based learning, or…

Background: Immersive virtual worlds are one of a range of different platforms that can be grouped under the concept of mediated environments, i.e. environments that create a metaphorical space in which participants can position themselves and be embodied. Synthesising the literatures concerning the various mediated environment technologies…

After more than two decades of concerted effort, less than desirable progress has been made in the integration of effective technology use in the classroom. In many cases computers have entered classrooms, but are used to do little more than support existing teaching practices (i.e. PowerPoint read as lecture). Research suggests that teachers…

One innovative practice in higher education arising from advances in computer technology is the use of ePortfolio for learning and assessment. Although in theory ePortfolios are believed to yield benefits for learning, in practice ePortfolio use often leads to confusion and frustration. In this paper we ask: what is the relationship between…