Examined the impact of a computer-mediated versus traditional classroom on students' learning, performance, and interactivity in a graduate finance class. Questionnaire responses revealed no significant differences between groups in terms of learning experience or satisfaction. (EV)

Asserts that the dynamic nature of virtual classrooms presents numerous challenges to assessment and interpretation. Provides an overview of these challenges and sets forth general measures to guide research. (EV)

Considers combining topics in a virtual class as an attempt to assist incoming Master of Science Management students in accomplishing their long list of managerial communication learning objectives in a shorter delivery time and within the virtual environment. Describes the contemporary book review and discussion assignment and considers benefits…

Discusses the distribution of cognition in small virtual group learning and examines how the distribution of cognition is manifested in the context of student-student interaction. Describes a collaborative problem-solving situation in a virtual learning environment and presents an approach to analyzing and modeling asynchronous collaborative…

Presents a case study of the online literature discussions of undergraduate children's literature students in geographically distant classrooms. Notes that with their digital conversations, students constructed a text in which diverse voices were heard and engagement with the social and political issues raised in the literature was deepened.…

Considers the relationship between pedagogy and technology in driving changes in education in the 21st century and assesses the efficacy of new learning environments. Describes effects on university organizational structure resulting from information technology; addresses funding and staff, impact on management, changing role of lecturers, changes…

Explores how some professors are introducing virtual classrooms into traditional courses. (EV)

Describes a Finnish project that linked a remote and an urban secondary classroom to make one virtual classroom. Data from student and teacher interviews and from participant observations indicated that the virtual classroom included multiple social contexts. Remote participants appreciated the access to quality education, though teacher-student…

The article provides an actor-network critique of ideas on community that are influential in higher education and draws implications for networked learning theory and practice. Networked learning is examined as an educational movement which contains alternative models of learning but which offers to create a sense of virtual community within the…

In this article, the author discusses that emerging devices, tools, media and virtual environments offer opportunities for creating new types of learning communities for students and teachers. Examples of learning communities include a national mix of kids working together to create an online encyclopedia about Harry Potter's fictional world, or…

Kansas librarians were delighted when Cindi Hickey came into their lives. Kansas is a really big state, sprawling over 82,000 square miles. For its small-town librarians, many of whom are without an MLS, professional development opportunities required hours spent driving--as well as hard-to-come-by travel money for overnight lodging. Hickey,…

Pedagogical research on Web-based learning and instruction has not kept pace with the proliferation of Web-based courses offered by colleges and universities. Consequently, we encourage the application of the "Seven Principles of Good Practice in Undergraduate Education" (American Association of Higher Education, 1987) to guide the design and…

Although the professional literature identifies feelings of alienation and low sense of community as factors that help explain relatively low student persistence rates in distance education programs, no studies have attempted to investigate the relationship between these two constructs. Accordingly, the present study uses canonical correlation…

Internet extends the reach of existing laboratory and training infrastructure to beyond the walls of such facilities. Though nothing can replace the hands-on experience in a laboratory; a carefully developed web-based digital lab may be the next best thing. In some cases, there may be benefits associated with a "distance laboratory" that…

The introduction of web-based education in Canadian schools, as in other developed countries, has been particularly noticeable in rural areas. Small schools in rural communities have continued to get smaller as families relocate in urban areas in search of increased educational and vocational opportunities. There are a number of issues common to…