This case study describes the use of a synchronous communication application (MSN Messenger) in a large academic computing environment. It draws on data from interviews, questionnaires and student marks to examine the link between use of the application and success measured through module marks. The relationship is not simple. Total abstainers and…

This paper explores a middle school teacher's and his students' perceptions of the differences between online synchronous literature discussions and face-to-face literature discussions. Each member of this literature group participated in two face-to-face and two online literature discussions. Participants were interviewed twice to discuss their…

Two years ago, the then North American Council for Online Learning released the initial "Snapshot State of the Nation: K-12 Online Learning in Canada" report. This study was the first systematic examination of K-12 distance education policies and activities in each of the thirteen Canadian provinces and territories. One year ago, the…

This paper investigates the complex interactions that occur as teachers meet online to justify and negotiate their assessment judgements of student work across relatively large and geographically dispersed populations. Drawing from sociocultural theories of learning and technology, the technology is positioned as playing a role in either…

Teachers are searching for new venues through which they may meet stringent professional development requirements. Under competitive funding from NASA's (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Office of Education and the NASA Explorer Schools Project, U.S. Satellite Laboratory, Inc. created a series of live, online, interactive…

Virtual teams are a common phenomenon in organizations today. Universities are no exception to this trend and, in response, are offering class rooms without boundaries by introducing online programs which allow individuals from all walks of life and diverse geographical locations to come together. Cross-cultural virtual teams, collaborating with…

This mixed method research was designed to examine the effects of cross-age mentoring in an inter-institutional online learning community. The research questions focused on the impact of mentoring on high school students' confidence in their information seeking skills, perceptions of their information seeking standards, and the application of…

This paper provides information on the background to the two pilot investigations into "interactive distance e-learning" [IDeL] following the introduction in New South Wales and in the Northern Territory of Australia of satellite-supported two-way broad-band internet services for school-age and adult distance education. The context is…

There has been a rapid increase in the number of technology certificate programs offered around the world in the last decade. While designing, developing, and implementing these programs little or no consideration is given to geographical, cultural and developmental differences between different regions of the world. This study investigates the…

Tablet PC technology can enliven the classroom environment because it is dynamic, interactive, and "organic," relative to the rigidity of chalkboards, whiteboards, overhead projectors, and PowerPoint presentations. Unlike traditional computers, tablet PCs employ "digital linking," allowing instructors and students to freehand annotate, clarify,…

Mobile learning is undergoing rapid evolution. While early generations of mobile learning tended to propose activities that were carefully crafted by educators and technologists, learners are increasingly motivated by their personal learning needs, including those arising from greater mobility and frequent travel. At the same time, it is often…

Chinese classrooms, whether on school grounds or online, have long suffered from a lack of interactivity. Many online classes simply provide recorded lectures to which students listen after downloading. This format only reinforces the negative effects of passive non-participatory learning. At the e-Learning Lab of Shanghai Jiaotong University…

A case study of an adolescent girl provides a framework to understand what factors contribute to the development of a strong writer within an instant messaging world. The study shows instant messaging is one of a larger repertoire of practices. Facility in school-based writing was developed through a school culture that supported writing in the…

Sex offenders have used the Internet to identify and contact minors for sexual exploitation (Armagh, 1998; Hernandez, 2000; Lamb, 1998; Lanning, 1998). Yet little is known about how these individuals select their online victims. In order to gain a better understanding of this behavior, the online activity of 31 men who perpetrated or attempted to…

Mentor development in higher education in Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Botswana is explored in this article. Changes in education policy require mentors to engage in individual as well as organisational change and transformation. Most studies focus on mentee development and the resulting organisational change but there is very little…