This paper describes the potential use of a mobile phone Short Message Service (SMS) crossword puzzle system to promote interaction through learning activities in a large classroom environment. While personal response systems (PRS) have been used in the classroom environment to foster interaction, it is not an ideal tool with respect to cost and…

The aim of this study is to investigate the factors that affect students' participation in the online learning environment (OLE) for distance learning students of mathematics at the Open Learning University of Hong Kong (OUHK) and to find out the suggestions that can improve students' use of the OLE. A questionnaire was designed to survey to…

An integrated learning object, a web-based inquiry environment "Young Scientist" for basic school level is introduced by applying the semiosphere conception for explaining learning processes. The study focused on the development of students' (n=30) awareness of the affordances of learning objects (LO) during the 3 inquiry tasks, and their ability…

This study investigated changes in and factors related to students' technology-related abilities, beliefs, and intentions. Participants were 76 preservice teachers who responded to pre- and post-course surveys while taking an introductory educational technology course. Statistically significant changes were found in students' perceived abilities,…

In the emerging era of the "read-write" web, students can not only research and collect information from existing web resources, but also collaborate and create new information on the web in a surprising number of ways. Web 2.0 is an umbrella term for many individual tools that have been created with web collaboration, sharing, and/or new…

Computer software that shows students visual models of mathematical concepts--and lets them manipulate those models by doing math--has a certain intuitive appeal. Now, recent research on SimCalc Mathworlds, one of the pioneering examples of such software, is providing some of the best evidence so far that the approach can lead to gains in student…

Choi and Clark (2006) argue that learning is attributed to the instructional method rather than the specific medium used to deliver instruction (i.e., the pedagogical agent). Additionally, they consider pedagogical agents as unnecessarily expensive tools, whose instructional affordances can be replicated by less expensive options. In this response…

"Read Naturally" is designed to improve reading fluency using a combination of books, audio-tapes, and computer software. This program includes three main strategies: repeated reading of English text for oral reading fluency development, teacher modeling of story reading, and systematic monitoring of student progress by teachers.…

A study investigated the effects of interactive CD-ROM software on children's reading comprehension. It explored whether 31 fourth-grade children in an elementary school in a suburban school district in the Midwest comprehended narratives better when reading from the printed page or from the same text displayed by the computer. One class read each…

Science and mathematics educators are expected to use existing educational technologies effectively and to keep informed about emerging technologies that might become important educational tools in the not-so-distant future. This monograph offers some help in that regard by highlighting a number of existing and emerging educational technologies.…

Intended for a broad spectrum of teachers using or considering using computers networks for written interaction, this teacher's guide presents techniques and behaviors that encourage and support learning on a computer classroom environment. The 21 essays that make up the book are written by people involved in the ENFI (Electronic Networks For…

Electronic Classroom is an Australian-developed software product that provides a shared screen facility between two to six Apple Macintosh computers using standard telephone lines and modems. It provides an icon-based "paint" interface with point and click switching of control between sites. Used in conjunction with an additional voice…

The National Household Education Survey (NHES) CD-ROM for 1991, 1993, and 1995 contains an Electronic Codebook (ECB) program that allows the user to examine the variables in each of the NHES data sets easily and to create Statistical Analysis system and Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (for DOS or Windows) that will generate an extract…

The goal of the DataSpace project is to develop a computer learning environment for data analysis and statistics and associated materials for high school mathematics. DataSpace software will provide a concrete metaphor for data, along with interactive visual explanations of statistical concepts. Users will be able to change data smoothly and…

Silverplatter's Electronic Reference Library (ERL) provides wide area network access to its databases using TCP/IP communications and client-server architecture. ERL has two main components: The ERL clients (retrieval interface) and the ERL server (search engines). ERL clients provide patrons with seamless access to multiple databases on multiple…