The author began her career as a classroom teacher, and for the last 20 years has focused on improving teaching and learning in urban school districts. Now, as a principal of the Connections Academy virtual K-8 public schools in Colorado, her day may look different from that of a traditional school principal, but there are actually a lot of…

Chris Dede, Wirth Professor of Learning Technologies at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, is a leading authority on learning technologies and the ways in which they shape education. As a teacher, researcher, and policy advocate, he is a visionary whose fascination with technology has been informed by his commitment to serving the highest…

When superintendent Bill Harbron of the Northern Ozaukee School District in Fredonia, Wisconsin decided it was time to offer more instructional alternatives to students and parents, an e-learning program seemed like the perfect fit. After researching and considering several options, he invited e-learning content provider K12 to present its program…

Geographic information systems (GIS) are computer-based tools for geographic data analysis and spatial visualization. They have become one of the information and communications technologies for education at all levels. This article reviews the current status of GIS in schools, analyzes the requirements of a GIS-based learning environment from…

Currently, many students have had experience with both face-to-face and online classes. We asked such students at 46 different universities in the United States to evaluate the pedagogical characteristics of their most recently completed face-to-face class and their most recently completed online class. The results show that students rate online…

This paper presents an empirical study of how Second Life (SL) was utilized for a highly successful project-based graduate interdisciplinary communication course. Researchers found that an integrated threefold approach emphasizing project-based pedagogy, technical training and support, and assessment/research was effective in cultivating and…

This article reports on a case study of Instant Messaging (IM) in a context of high-school virtual schooling. Data collection relied on interviews conducted with 20 participants in a context of high-school web-based instruction in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The participants included e-teachers as well as other distance education personnel.…

To promote student engagement, professors must actively seek to create the conditions that foster engagement. Chickering and Gamson (1987) suggest that good practices in undergraduate education are ones that: encourage student-faculty contact, develop reciprocity and cooperation among students, encourage active learning, provide students with…

Although school websites have existed on the Internet for over fifteen years, in practice the website is not integrated into the organizational-pedagogical system of the school. Against the challenging background of the modern education system and the theoretical facets of realizing a learning environment, this paper will present an online…

Students who have the benefit of a Managed Learning Environment (MLE) are very appreciative of the facility to access lecture notes, practical and tutorial exercises and other learning resources. This access allows students to work independently and in many students' eyes, obviates the need to attend all timetabled sessions. Should the lecturers…

The development of on-line research practice across international boundaries is now a viable proposition using available asynchronous technologies such as computer conferencing. As has been reported in previous papers (Grodzinsky, et al, 2002; Griffin, et al, 2002) such use has proved to be extremely valuable for supporting the teaching of…

The topics outlined here have been developed to complement the policies and methodologies outlined in the professional development framework for e-learning. They include: (1) a core topic: e-learning fundamentals; (2) pedagogically based practitioner topics; (3) specialist e-learning developer topics; and (4) leadership topics (developed by the…

This paper investigates the relationship between quality of support services in online education and the level of satisfaction of e-learners with these services. Case study was employed to measure University of Surrey's virtual MBA students' satisfaction with course facilitator, personal tutor and help desk functions designed for online education.…

This paper is about a study carried out at a chemical production facility in Izmir, Turkey during 2005/6 using CNC Learning environment and Kolb cycle. The system has been tested with 12 chemists working in this factory. The training course was carried on in a web-based environment and also routine meetings with the instructors were held. The…

The trend toward virtual learning for K-12 students has witnessed explosive growth across the country. As enrollment in virtual classes continues to grow and blended classrooms in particular become more commonplace, teachers able to adapt skills originally used in traditional classrooms--as well as develop new ones--will be a critically needed…