Online students are often short-changed when they reach their most important milestone--graduation. For many institutions, virtual graduation has proven to be a holy grail of sorts--critically important to student experience, but illusive in form and difficult to achieve. This article explores several existing models of virtual graduations, and…

Video tutorials are a common form of library instruction used with distance learners. This paper combines professional experience and literature reviews from multiple disciplines to provide a contextual overview of recommendations and findings for effective and engaging videos. The tools for tutorials appear in five main categories: screencasts,…

A Monte Carlo method is used to generate interactive pointillist displays of electron density in hydrogenic orbitals. The Web applet incorporating Jmol viewer allows for clear and accurate presentation of three-dimensional shapes and sizes of orbitals up to "n" = 5, where "n" is the principle quantum number. The obtained radial…

"N3xt Practices" is a ground-breaking advisory book for education decision makers. Its purpose is to challenge the top trends and initiatives of the previous decade in educational technology and bring light to their short-falls and misses. It also highlights successful endeavors and strategies and details a common-sense methodology to…

In this regular feature of "Educational Technology," Michael F. Shaughnessy and Susan M. Fulgham present their interview with Ryan Watkins, Associate Professor of Educational Technology at the George Washington University and the author of 10 books and more than 95 articles. In this interview, Watkins discusses the following topics:…

Everyone knows that lack of internet access can reinforce the social and economic disadvantages already facing some older people. Recognising the divisive nature of digital exclusion, the government has invested 2.8 million British Pounds in Get Digital, a project that will enable sheltered housing residents to develop computer and internet…

This report describes the incorporation of digital learning elements in organic chemistry and biochemistry courses. The first example is the use of pen-based technology and a large-format PowerPoint slide to construct a map that integrates various metabolic pathways and control points. Students can use this map to visualize the integrated nature…

The Global Internet Video Classroom (GIVC) Project connected Chicago Civil Rights activists of the 1960s with Cape Town Anti-Apartheid activists of the 1960s in a classroom setting where learners from Cape Town and Chicago engaged activists in conversations about their motivation, principles, and strategies. The project was launched in order to…

This article discusses how Skype and other video-conferencing software have become a staple for teachers, librarians, and authors who want to get kids excited about reading. The past year has brought a huge increase in the number of schools and libraries using Skype to connect classrooms and bring in experts to talk with kids. And with cuts in…

This paper discusses how modern technologies are changing the teacher-student-content relationships from the conception to the delivery of so-called "distance" education courses. The concept of Distance Education has greatly evolved in the digital era of 21st Century. With the widespread use and access to the Internet, exponential growth…

Educators can connect their students internationally in meaningful activities that address multiple teaching standards that are of concern to educators, parents, and the public worldwide. In this article, the authors describe a project wherein Australian Year 7 students made an "Edible Lunar Vehicle" (ELV) together with U.S. college…

This paper chronicles the development of Drehort Neubrandenburg Online, an interactive, content-rich audiovisual language learning environment based on documentary film material shot on location in Neubrandenburg, Germany, in 1991 and 2002 and aimed at making language learning more interactive and more real. The paper starts with the description…

Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) are becoming increasingly popular in online education environments and have multiple pedagogical advantages over more traditional approaches to education. VLEs include 3D worlds where students can engage in simulated learning activities such as Second Life. According to Claudia L'Amoreaux at Linden Lab, "at…

Eighty-three percent of teenagers are online. The average teen spends 5 to 10 hours a week on the Web. When using Web sites, teenagers are easily bored. Teenagers are also not nearly as skilled as adults at navigating the Web and do not really care for glitzy graphics. Insufficient reading skills, immature research strategies, and unwillingness to…

Internet-based undergraduate research provides geographical flexibility and the removal of distance barriers, promotes diversity and interdisciplinary partnership. The data obtained from the undergraduate research project demonstrate that it is feasible to engage undergraduates using Internet-based synchronous video communication.