Eight teams of elementary and middle school teachers developed pilot online courses for the North Carolina Virtual Public School (NCVPS) in the USA. A qualitative case study with focus groups and a follow-up survey helped to identify common needs of these non-traditional course designers during course development efforts. Findings suggest virtual…

Like any infrastructure technology, Virtual World (VW) platforms provide affordances that facilitate some activities and hinder others. Although it is theoretically possible for a VW platform to support all types of activities, designers make choices that lead technologies to be more or less suited for different learning objectives. Virtual World…

Second Life is a three-dimensional (3D) electronic environment where members can socialize, hold virtual meetings, or conduct economic transactions. Utilizing virtual environments like Second Life is believed to provide educators with a new medium for teaching and information dissemination that bypasses the normal boundaries associated with…

The increasing complexity of human body models enabled by advances in diagnostic imaging, computing, and growing knowledge calls for the development of a new generation of systems for intelligent exploration of these models. Here, we introduce a novel paradigm for the exploration of digital body models illustrating cerebral vasculature. It enables…

Learning embryology remains difficult, since it requires understanding of many complex phenomena. The temporal evolution of developmental events has classically been illustrated using cartoons, which create difficulty in linking spatial and temporal aspects, such correlation being the keystone of descriptive embryology. We synthesized the…

This paper describes a study aimed to identify most common impediments related to the introduction of an open-source mathematical software package GeoGebra. We report on the analysis of data collected during a three-week professional development programme organised for middle and high school teachers in Florida. The study identified challenges…

In this paper we report on the sustained research and development work at the AMSTEL Institute of the University of Amsterdam to improve mathematics and science education at primary and secondary school level, which has lead amongst other things to the development of the integrated computer working environment Coach 6. This environment consists of…

Pre-laboratory activities have been known to improve students' preparation before their practical work as they assist students to make available more working memory capacity for actual learning during the laboratory. The aim of this investigation was to compare two different teaching approaches which supported a pre-laboratory session by using the…

This paper introduces a hardware and software independent model for producing educational computer simulation environments. The model, which is based on the results of 32 studies of educational computer simulations program production, implies that educational computer simulation environments are specified, constructed, tested, implemented, and…

Six computer applications in education are word processing, computer-assisted instruction, computer-aided design, computer authoring systems, computer data systems, and computer storage. Computers may assist students with three learning stages: acquisition, transformation, and evaluation of information. Advances in computer programing, software,…

Simulations on computers can allow many experiments to be conducted quickly to help students develop an understanding of statistical topics. We used a simulation of a challenging problem in statistics as the focus of an exploration of situations where members of a problem-solving group are physically separated then reconnected via combinations of…

The Educational Object Economy (EOE) emerged from research on end-user authoring tools for multimedia software and, by 1997, developed into a library of over 2000 freely available interactive simulations for learning. The organization's original goals and its ongoing interest in alternative methods of software authoring led to continuing…

After the first observation of life under the microscope, it took two centuries of research before the "cell theory" was established. Luckily, today's teachers can take advantage of computer technology and speed up the discovery process in their classrooms. This article describes how computer-based instructional programs can be used to engage…

Building and launching model rockets makes a great activity for a technology education class. A model rocket curriculum provides a valuable tool for improving students' technical skills that includes, but is not limited to, following technical instructions and procedures while learning about aerospace technology. This article describes a way that…

Virtual reality (VR) that immerses users in a 3D environment through use of headwear, body suits, and data gloves has demonstrated effectiveness in technical and professional education. Immersive VR is highly engaging and appealing to technically skilled young Net Generation learners. However, technical difficulty and very high costs have kept…