Online education is established, growing, and here to stay. It is creating new opportunities for students and also for faculty, regulators of education, and the educational institutions themselves. Much of what is being learned by the practitioners will flow into the large numbers of blended courses that will be developed and delivered on most…

A key component of conventional distance education organizations has been the network of local study centres, set up to serve as a bridge between students and the educational organization. With the capacity of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to enable direct contact between the educational institution and its dispersed students,…

This article describes how the design of digital learning objects can spark professional learning. The challenge was to build learning objects that would help experienced special education teachers, who had been teaching in math classes, to demonstrate their proficiency in middle and secondary school mathematics on the PRAXIS examination. While…

This study compares learning success of online and on-campus students in a general education soil science course with lab and field components. Two terms of students completed standardized pre- and postassessments designed to test knowledge and skills from the lecture and lab content of the course. There was no difference in overall grade or lab…

Student participation in online learning activities is a growing priority for Australian government schools. 'Online projects' have emerged as a new learning form, building on non-computer problem-based learning approaches. This paper reports on a study of online learning projects implemented in classes from year 2 to year 11. The purported…

Professional education is increasingly facing accessibility challenges with the emergence of webbased learning. This paper summarizes related U.S. legislation, standards, guidelines, and validation tools to make web-based learning accessible for all potential learners. We also present lessons learned during the implementation of web accessibility…

This paper describes the results of a study into the conditions that facilitate the implementation of innovations. The following eight conditions that facilitate the implementation of technological and program innovations have been identified: (1) dissatisfaction with the status quo; (2) skills and knowledge; (3) adequate resources; (4) rewards or…

Course Management Systems are becoming increasingly accepted as an effective and efficient method of course delivery. Often they are used as the principal means of web-based course delivery. In addition, many institutions are utilizing CMSs to more economically handle large sections of particular courses. However, CMSs can also be used as a…

A group of faculty that currently teach asynchronous online courses were motivated to ensure that course quality remained high. Many people have seen the online courses that throw some written content up on the web and then have some tests and quizzes and call it an online course. To the faculty, that is not suitable in many ways on many levels.…

This paper describes the use of webcasting technology in a personnel preparation program for rural special education practitioners. Emerging technologies offer promising solutions to the challenges of providing accessible and appropriate training to rural special educators. Web-based instruction is especially appropriate for on-the-job training of…

This document contains the papers on distance education from the SITE (Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education) 2001 conference. Topics covered include: the distance education degree program for the Master of Mathematics with a teaching option at Texas A&M University; the evolution of online learning; Internet-based distance…

The study discusses some major adult learning theories and practices and their application to the functionality of synchronous learning tools in order to better support the needs and satisfaction of stakeholders while interacting in a web-based environment. It examines how best to provide guidelines for them in choosing the synchronous learning…

This paper reviews indexing theory and suggests that information retrieval can be significantly improved by applying basic indexing criteria. Indexing practices are described, including the three main types of indexes: pre-coordinate, post-coordinate, and variants of both. Design features of indexes are summarized, including accuracy, consistency,…

This study used Bloom's Taxonomy in conjunction with new and emerging research paradigms, such as discourse analysis, to examine the outcomes of online science instruction in various biomedical science courses (i.e., histology, histopathology, physiology, microbiology, and farm animal anatomy). By combining quantitative and qualitative data, a…

Technology and educational changes force educational systems to modify their infrastructure to offer new teaching services to the learning community. The aim of this research paper is to present an infrastructure from a broader systems perspective that helps educators understand the relationship between a Web educational system and its…