Most students in higher education at present are 'digital natives.' They use technology in every facet of their life, including their education. They learn from formally organised courses as well as from informal learning. Hence, informal learning has been identified as crucial for the sustainability of higher education in the current global…

Megan is a 14-year-old from Nebraska who just started ninth grade. She has her own digital camera, cell phone, Nintendo DS, and laptop, and one or more of these devices is usually by her side. Compared to the interactions and exploration she's engaged in at home, Megan finds the technology in her classroom falls a little flat. Most of the…

Over the past four years a team of Indigenous and non-Indigenous partners in learning research across Northern Australia have identified many of the issues that underpin the implementation of training and investment through enterprise development to improve economic and community outcomes of Indigenous partners. This paper provides an overview of…

This paper describes the implementation of an intervention strategy to bring about collective change in an educational organization. Key elements of the strategy, such as problem identification and design of a staff development program, are identified. Application of the strategy to increasing the computer awareness of faculty at an Australian…

Discussion of the introduction of technological improvements into an existing working environment highlights the acceptance of technological advances in administrative and academic computing. Teaching objectives are explained, and a series of workshops for training in computer awareness that gradually increase in difficulty (from Whitestick to…

Examines issues related to educational change, discussing both the teacher and the computer as change agents and the student's role in learning. Indicates that one educational goal is to have students become self-reliant and independent learners and that computers can help achieve this goal. (JN)

An overly narrow and specialized focus on technology in schools discourages the use of computers to promote higher-order thinking. Many districts have concentrated on skills training, failed to supply such necessary supports as professional development, conflated technology use with instructional quality, and classified all software applications…

Factors which may impede or promote development of computer assisted instruction are identified through interviews with teachers to ascertain attitudes and learn how computer experience had been gained, visiting a school to track computer usage, and recording first experiences of computer software use in classrooms. Suggestions for initiation…

Implementing computers and other elements of high tech into the classroom involves sound visionary planning, a comprehensive, diverse group of educators, and on-going staff development. The computer should be used as a problem-solving tool in a variety of settings and applications, the ramifications of which demand that educators in all subject…

Most computer training has made little distinction between the training of teachers and computer professionals, and few of the professional training courses discuss the fundamental elements of curriculum revision in connection with computing literacy and implementation. The implementation of computing via the microcomputer at the United Nations…

The Faculty Development in Computers Project (FDIC) at the University of Northern Iowa creates an on-going support structure for faculty involved in the process of incorporating computer technology into their personal and professional activities. Specifically, the FDIC facilitates development of broadly defined computer literacy among teacher…

Before school systems can fully utilize computers, they go through four invariant stages: (1) getting on the bandwagon, (2) confusion, (3) pulling it all together, and (4) full implementation. At each stage, the six factors of hardware, software, staff development, computer assisted learning, computer literacy, and attitude must be considered.…

Arguing that computers in education are necessary to prepare children to live in a future computerized society, this report examines the issues associated with computers in education in developing countries. The first of three parts provides a brief overview of how and why computers are used in education in developed countries; describes…

This paper describes the 6-year effort (1979-1985) of the University of South Dakota School of Education to integrate microcomputer applications into the teacher education curriculum. For the purpose of describing changes in procedures and key factors over time, the activities during those years are grouped into three phases--awareness,…

Describes the curriculum revision undertaken at Indiana University's Instructional Systems Technology Department. The impetus for change is discussed; stages in the revision process and major new curriculum features are covered; a brief synopsis of two relevant field studies is given; and the effect of revision on the faculty is briefly described.…