Identifying characteristics of individuals who will be negatively impacted by interactive learning environments (ILE) was explored in a field study conducted among learners whose high-stakes performance depended upon grasping training scenarios quickly. Gauging the appropriateness of computer-based simulations for individuals became a pedagogical…

Many older adults who lose their jobs face challenges in finding new employment due to fundamental limitations in their technology skills. While training could give them the skills they need, older workers often have less access to training programs than younger workers. This study examined the feasibility of using an e-learning training program…

This case study used qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate challenges of learning and teaching research methods by examining graduate students' use of collaborative technology (i.e., digital tools that enable collaboration and information seeking such as software and social media) and students' computer self-efficacy. We conducted…

This study focused on technology usage among community college faculty. Overall technology use among older faculty was slightly less than younger faculty; older faculty were no less likely than younger respondents to use technology. Both age groups used similar technologies and reported equivalent degrees of perceived skill with those…

Understanding the connections between scientific inquiry and digital literacy in informal learning environments is essential to furthering students' critical thinking and technology skills. The Habitat Tracker project combines a standards-based curriculum focused on the nature of science with an integrated system of online and mobile computing…

This study examined the student characteristics of learning style, locus of control, computer experience and access, and online course experience on persistence of community college students in online courses. An online survey instrument based on the Barsch Learning Style Inventory (1996), the Abbreviated Measure of Internal-External Locus of…

Metadata is information about computer-generated documents that is often inadvertently transmitted to others. The problems associated with metadata have become more acute over time as word processing and other popular programs have become more receptive to the concept of collaboration. As more people become involved in the preparation of…

With the ever-increasing impact of computerized communication and information delivery, the need to encourage learning about technology is critical for the older population today as well as for soon-to-be retirees. Adler (1996, 2002, 2003) has described and defined the key benefits to seniors: enhanced communication with family and friends,…

Computer literacy is now considered a basic skill as important as the Three R's in Florida, where instructors have been given a legislative mandate to ensure it. A leader in this movement shares the written standards that support this mandate and explains how they were developed. (JN)

Florida Cooperative Extension Service educators (n=261) completed the Computing Concerns Questionnaire. Analysis of the variability in computer-use mean scores using the Concerns Based Adoption Model identified the influence of informational, personal, and consequence concerns on computer use. Ways to reduce these concerns in training were…

This paper examines the contribution of focus groups in evaluating learner satisfaction with a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). It explores the views of a group of introductory level Post Compulsory Education learners that have a history of disaffection, impoverished learning and challenged written and communication skills. The outcome of this…

Outlines processes by which the Florida Department of Education, as a result of official state policy, provides services to computer-using educators in public schools in such areas as courseware selection and evaluation, distribution of computing materials, inservice training, programing planning and development, hardware selection and purchase,…

Reviews the efforts undertaken in the Florida Model Microcomputer Trainer Project (FMMTP) and its statewide impact. Outlines its procedural strategies, trainer curriculum, networking system, and the results of its multiplier effect. (ML)

Describes the Individualized Manpower Training System at a comprehensive high school in Tampa aimed at academically disadvantaged students; computer instruction at a Florida community college; and the use of microcomputers in the teaching of electronics technology at another Florida community college. (CT)

Discusses Florida's remediation program that was mandated by the Educational Accountability Act in light of the use of computer-assisted instruction. Cites several studies which question the relative effectiveness of such instruction on boys and girls. Argues that mathematics remediation programs could be enhanced through the use of computers. (TW)