This qualitative case study illustrates barriers to informal argumentation and reasoned debate, i.e., "critical discourse," in online forums. The case is the computer conference of a 15-week, graduate-level humanities course offered entirely at a distance. Twelve students, all with families and careers, were enrolled in the course. We read all…

This study explores the relative effectiveness of in class online discussion and face to face, tutor led discussion in preservice teachers' recall of concepts. Two groups of preservice teachers, who engaged in different discussion modes, were tested two weeks later on how many concepts they could recall. No significant difference in the recall…

The topic of this article concerns how students make sense of categories of progressive inquiry made available to them through a discussion and inquiry type of software called Future Learning Environments 2 (FLE2). The idea behind tools of this kind is to induce approaches to school-work that build on the metaphor of learning as research. By…

According to a growing body of research, discussion-based instruction, in the context of high academic demands, significantly enhances student achievement in reading. The effects apply to below- as well as above-average-ability students. These findings confirm what secondary English teachers have believed all along about the value of discussion.…

Background: The literature on immersive virtual worlds and e-learning to date largely indicates that technology has led the pedagogy. Although rationales for implementing e-learning have included flexibility of provision and supporting diversity, none of these recommendations has helped to provide strong pedagogical location. Furthermore, there is…

Students are, increasingly, digital content producers, and participate extensively in evolving online social networks. The emergence of the former represents subtle changes in students' experience of images, audience, copyright, ownership of learning, and technology. Experiencing the latter places students in an awkward position in terms of…

In this self-study of a secondary teacher education course, the authors investigated whether there was evidence of critically reflective problem solving on the part of prospective teachers who participated in a peer-led online discussion of a teaching case about English-language learners. They also examined what approaches to multicultural…

Australia wide, all school systems are in the process of providing teachers with computers and there is an expectation that new teachers will possess the expertise to use them in their teaching. In addition to using computers for basic word processing and data manipulation, early-career science teachers need to be able to use a range of…

Is tutoring online more than just email? Two yearlong studies explored tutoring online in two different modes. One, from Atlantic Community College in New Jersey, looked at asynchronous (not real time) tutoring online using a discussion board. The other, at Pima Community College in Arizona, used synchronous (real time) online software. The…

This article reports on an exploratory investigation of the relationship between prior experience of formal instrumental music tuition (FIMT) and the process of collaborative computer-based music composition. The study linked a school in the UK with a school in Norway to engage in computer-mediated collaborative composition via e-mail.…

The electronic medium continues to play an increasingly important role in the delivery of management education despite a paucity of empirical studies on its impact and efficacy. Results from a study of competitive attitudes and feedback-seeking behaviors across seven "hybrid" electronic cum live classes showed that…

This paper describes an experimental study which has been carried out at the Near East University using the Moodle Learning Management System (LMS) together with two types of Web-Based Collaborative Tools (CTs): Standard CT and Advanced CT to create a virtual learning environment to teach programming languages. The aim of this study was to find…

This article describes a developmental systems approach to applied developmental science (ADS), which provides a framework to design and evaluate technology-rich programs that promote positive development by emphasizing the strengths and assets of young people instead of focusing on diminishing or preventing risk-taking behaviors. Until now, most…

The study describes the factors that render possible and restrain students' learning when they try to develop new knowledge through collaboration in a net-based learning environment. The pedagogical platform takes as its starting point a framework of socio-cultural theories of learning and is based on dialogues and collaborative situations in…

This study describes the career exploratory behaviors of high school and college students and offers a typology of users of a Web-delivered computer career guidance application. Access to the records of 87,293 high school and college students allowed for the identification and replication of three emergent types of users: a general browser, a…