Discusses electronic books as a disruptive technology, that is, a technology that has appeal to its users but upsets the traditional models. Highlights include a history of print technology; types of electronic books; reader devices; stakeholders, including users, librarians, and publishers; and how vendors can remain relevant. (LRW)

Describes three studies that were performed to investigate the efficacy of digital PowerPoint lecturing in undergraduate classrooms. Results revealed that lecture difficulty, but not the method of lecturing, contributed to grade differences, and suggest that the efficacy of PowerPoint lecturing may be case specific rather than universal.…

We document a set of artistic reconstructions of Elliot Eisner's "The Educational Imagination" which took place during a graduate seminar in contemporary curriculum discourses. In this project, students and their instructor collaboratively explored "The Educational Imagination" as a site for an arts-based examination of knowing, identity, and…

Study tours can help internationalize curricula and prepare students for global workplaces. We examine benefits of tours providing deep-level learning experiences rather than industrial tourism using five main theoretical frameworks to highlight the diverse learning benefits associated with intensive study tours in particular. Relevant theoretical…

The main purpose of this study has been to compare the concept mapping with the traditional instruction method in consideration of student's achievements in English course. The students who took "English" class in 9th grade at Balakgazi High School in 2005-2006 attended this study. An experimental group and a control group consisting of 23 members…

The use of manipulatives in the classroom has been advocated for decades. However, the theoretical and empirical support for this practice is mixed. Some researchers suggest that manipulatives facilitate learning by (a) providing an additional channel for conveying information, (b) activating real-world knowledge, and/or (c) improving memory…

Explains how written material started; describes the nature and supply of electronic documents; characterizes student practices in using paper texts and online electronic texts in higher education, including the role of reading; and considers communication and speed and informational inflation and choice. (Author/LRW)

Describes the development of an online physical anthropology course at Palomar College (California) that evolved from online tutorials. Discusses the ability to update materials on the Web more quickly than in traditional textbooks; creating Web pages that are readable by most Web browsers; test security issues; and clarifying ownership of online…

Discussion of quality in higher education focuses on quality assurance of Web-based learning in distance education, based on experiences at the Open University of Hong Kong. Highlights include problems with distance education; a literature review; traditional learning versus Web-based learning; and the changing role of faculty. (Contains 63…

Ever since Scriven (1967) and Bloom, Hastings, and Madaus (1971) articulated the distinction between summative and formative evaluation, "summative assessment" has referred to tests administered after learning is supposed to have occurred to determine whether it did. "Formative assessment", on the other hand, has been used to describe assessments…

PowerPoint is an inevitable technology of contemporary business presentations, a tool that is now available to virtually every office worker in the United States, but denounced by academics and by CEOs as intellectual reductionism. Requiring students to create and use electronically generated "visual aids" seems to result in a…

One of a series offering practical advice and information on distance teaching, this broadsheet first looks at the reasons for trying to measure distance teaching costs and the methodological and economic difficulties involved in such measurements. Broadcasting and print costs in distance teaching are discussed, and evidence about the costs of…

Describes a study conducted at the University of Nebraska at Omaha that used questionnaires and interviews to compare and contrast the interaction that occurred in distance learning courses offered via two-way, fully interactive audio-video classrooms and online instruction through the Internet or World Wide Web. (Author/LRW)

All over the country, college faculty and administrators are plugging themselves into one of the newest--and hottest--technologies in an effort to better connect with students: podcasting. National studies show that more than 80 percent of college students own at least one device that can download and play recordings, and proponents of podcasting…

Traditional forms of teaching and learning based on textual forms of representation and rational thought may limit how we perceive our world. Artistic forms of expression and their implications for adult education are discussed.