The interview experience is only one component of the process of interviewing -- software programmes can coordinate the pre-interview steps and begin a digitally-mediated relationship with participants long before the actual interview commences. This essay provides examples of how researchers can maximise their time and energy by digitally…

A prototype standardized client was created and programmed to respond to students in the 3D virtual world of Second Life. This automaton, called a "chatbot," was repeatedly interviewed by beginning MSW students in a practice course as a learning exercise. Initial results were positive and suggest the use of simulated clients in virtual…

The importance of developing students' mathematical thinking is frequently highlighted in literature regarding the teaching and learning of mathematics. Despite this importance, most curricula and instructional activities for undergraduate mathematics fail to bring the learner beyond the mathematics. The purpose of this study was to enhance…

This study examined 158 lesson plans at one institution across two teacher education programs, inclusive early childhood and elementary education, to determine the impact of Internet usage as inspiration on preservice teachers' lesson plans. Fisher's exact test determined statistically significant differences between the Internet use of preservice…

Virtual worlds are innovative teaching and learning methods that can provide immersive and engaging learning experiences (Lu, 2010). Though they have potential benefits, students sometimes experience a steep learning curve and discomfort with the technology (Warburton, 2009). This study explored how students in two American Studies classes using…

Introduction: This paper reports results from an ethnographic study of teacher trainees' information activities in digital, group-based learning and their relation to the interplay between use and appropriation of digital tools and the learning environment. Method: The participants in the present study are 249 pre-school teacher trainees in…

Observation is the preferred method of assessing small children in school and play settings. Despite being taught this, based on statements during the interviews of this study, it appears little instruction is dedicated to the performance of this type of authentic assessment. The professional literature surveyed for this study finds that due to…

In this paper, we explore role-playing and experiential learning approaches applied in an immersive virtual environment for a professional counseling distance course. Training professional counselors requires practice and therefore possesses a challenge for the distant education. Although both counseling professionals' codes of ethics provide…

Mthwakazi University (MU) established the teacher education department in 2005. The purpose of this department is to empower teachers especially those who did not do education in their first degrees with pedagogical skills and competencies that will make them effective teachers in the classrooms. Students in this teacher education department come…

This study examined the extent to which the iPad app, Spatial Temporal Mathematics (ST Math), diminished college remedial mathematics students' natural number bias and deepened their fraction conceptual understanding. In this quasi-experimental study one class played the ST Math fraction games for 8 weeks, and they were compared to a control class…

The purpose of this multiple case design-based research study was to determine what elements were needed to assist two higher education instructors inexperienced in designing and teaching a blended learning course to successfully create and implement it, to document the instructors' perceptions about their first experience of teaching a blended…

Attention has been drawn to Open Distance Learning (ODL) as a mode for teaching and learning with the advancement in communication via the Internet. Education today has expanded the role of ICT in learning and knowledge generation, leveraging on Internet technology to transmit education across the country. Due to the advancement of technology and…

ICT rollouts are no longer discretionary: they have become a mandatory function of effective educational institutions. This study examines the rollout of tablet technology at a public, four-year university with particular attention to variations within the student population and the student voice. The research questions included: Do expectations…

Although the employability of graduates is of concern across further and higher education it is particularly problematic in the arts disciplines, from which few students transition to a traditional, full-time position. Arts graduates shape their work to meet personal and professional needs, and the successful negotiation of this type of career…

This article presents evaluation data regarding the MAPIS3 architecture which is proposed as a solution for the data-transfer among various tools to promote flexible collaborative learning designs. We describe the problem that this architecture deals with as "tool orchestration" in collaborative learning settings. This term refers to a…