"Edinburgh Working Papers" is intended to show a yearly cross-section of current work in Edinburgh's Department of Applied Linguistics and to elicit reactions and criticism. Articles in this volume include the following: "MSC Common Room Conversations: Topics and Terms" (Joan Cutting); "Speculation and Empiricism in Applied Linguistics" (Alan…

This document describes eight models of local and state special education efforts that are providing viable ways for parents to become more involved in their children's education. The models are designed to develop effective two-way communication and collaboration between parents and teachers, develop methods for parents to actively support their…

This resource guide provides an annotated listing of funding sources for distance learning projects in the following categories: (1) corporate foundations (16 sources); (2) cable television programming sources (12 sources); (3) U.S. Department of Education funding, including Educational Development and Research Centers, Partnership Programs,…

Assistive technology that can help disabled computer users is described, and a resource guide to computer help for the disabled is presented. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 has broad implications for higher education, in that it mandates that colleges and universities give disabled students equal access to computers on public…

The University of Wisconsin-Madison began to offer computer conferencing as a service to the campus for the fall 1995 semester. The university's End User Computing Group developed a set of policies to address such questions as: who is eligible to use the service; the Division of Information Technology's responsibilities; customer responsibilities;…

This paper discusses a model of integrated instruction and assessment called SMART (Special Multimedia Arenas for Refining Thinking). SMART involves interactive use of the Internet and multimedia software. The Internet serves three important functions: it acts as a formative assessment tool by providing individualized feedback to students, creates…

This paper discusses the use of World Wide Web-based conferencing in the Collaborative Teacher Education Program (CTEP) at Indiana University. The CTEP, a program offering distance education coursework to in-service teachers in rural communities throughout southern Indiana, is described, and some of the obstacles and limitations involved in…

This report focuses on distance learning projects conducted by the Centers for Professional Development of Teachers (CPDTs) in Texas, examining projects that closely interface with CPDTs, emphasizing the trends and issues that have emerged, and noting the effect these projects have had on education in general. The report begins by describing the…

This paper presents a study of factors influencing students' perceived learning in a World Wide Web-based course environment. Qualitative and quantitative methods were employed in the process of data collection and analysis. Results indicated that percent of grade weight on discussion and instructor's specification of requirements of students'…

This report describes the development of an educational software program to assist youth with disabilities in participating in discourse in regular school settings. The software was designed to manage cooperative groups as students engaged in hands-on science activities and was specifically developed for teaching the subject of batteries and…

The guide is written for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) and bilingual education specialists, classroom teachers, building administrators, and parents. It outlines the vision of the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) for the effective education of elementary and secondary school ESL students, and presents a framework for…

This teacher's guide offers classroom techniques for teaching science to bilingual elementary students. Recommendations are made for improving teaching by: lowering students' affective filters; providing comprehensible input; providing for language output; creating a supportive environment; adjusting classroom teaching style; teaching…

An external evaluation was conducted of the Workplace Literacy Program at Chinatown Manpower Project, Inc., which provided oral and written job-specific instruction in English as a second language to Chinese garment workers. The program was designed for underemployed garment industry workers with low English proficiency, including seamstresses,…

This paper describes the use of distance learning capabilities to augment and amplify the learning opportunities for part-time graduate students at George Mason University. The students in the biochemistry course described meet periodically on campus for brief interactions with the instructor and peer classmates. Between these synchronous…

This paper reports challenges of and suggestions for conducting online courses, focusing on the following areas: (1) instructional format, including transferring classroom activities to online activities without affecting students' concentration, motivation, thought, mastery, and comprehension; (2) methods of instruction, including developing an…