This research examined language, ethnicity, and course participation among participants at a community college in a poor, rural county bordering Mexico. Some participants' first language was English; the language of other participants was Spanish, and many were bilingual. The goal was to examine a Web-enhanced course for differences between…

This paper describes the development of augmented group awareness tools that take mutual user ratings of their online discussion contributions as input, aggregate these data, and visually feed these data back to the members in real time, thereby informing participants about how the group as a whole perceives their contributions. A specific group…

This mixed method case study provides insights about how the professional development of middle school teachers is facilitated through their participation in content-focused online communities of practice. A key finding from this research reveals that the online community provided teachers with enhanced opportunities to share ideas, to discuss…

This study was designed to investigate 19 preservice and practicing teachers' conceptions of the role of new technologies in literacy education. The study documented how these conceptions, as well as my own, evolved over time and impacted the content and curriculum of a university course. Using a design-based research model, I documented students'…

The small but developing literature on weblogging underscores its potential as an effective learning resource for use in higher education. This paper contributes to these discussions through an initial case study of the authors' experience with the on going development of an educational blogging resource for use in a large cohort, undergraduate…

Recent progress in wireless and sensor technologies has lead to a new development of learning environments, called context-aware ubiquitous learning environment, which is able to sense the situation of learners and provide adaptive supports. Many researchers have been investigating the development of such new learning environments; nevertheless,…

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.…

USENET is a system of special interest discussion groups called newsgroups, to which readers can send or post messages which are then distributed to other computers in the network. A common network is the Internet, but other networks may carry USENET as well. There are thousands of newsgroups, with a wide range of conversations on topics such as…

A number of present-day authors have noted factors that can work against or pose a threat to a sense of community, including the American propensity for individualism, industrialization, and the growth of mass communication and information technology. Some scholars have begun to suggest that schools, in particular, should get beyond mere…

This annotated bibliography lists print and electronic resources for learning about distance education. The print resources section lists 22 reference materials that are organized into these categories: three dictionaries and bibliographies; four sources on philosophical background and history; four sources of technical information; three sources…

The social construct of gender is laced throughout society and carries stereotypes through the use of language, arts, literature, and social practices. As more women begin using computers more frequently and in new ways, stereotypes become evident in the patterns of communication in cyberspace. One of the characteristics of computer-mediated…

This document outlines a proposal for the implementation of "The Virtual Campus" program in New Brunswick, a distributed online learning environment that will support the participation of all regions of the province and all sectors involved in learning and training. It also supports the development of multimedia courseware at all…

Based on the premise that computer networks are changing the way people think and interact, this Digest discusses some features of electronic discourse as a relatively new form of discourse and examines the current research on computer mediated communication text. The Digest suggests further research on how other features of electronic discourse…

This paper addresses problems and issues that arise in electronic communications, and offers guidelines and etiquette. Topics covered include: (1) drafting an electronic message, including width of messages, abbreviations and smileys, salutation, name, author address, and responding to a message; (2) "Webtiquette" (i.e., guidelines for…

Digital reference services (also known as "AskA" services, as in "Ask-an-Expert") provide subject expertise and information referral over the Internet to their users. This ERIC Digest provides an overview of the growing digital reference movement and its implications on sponsoring organizations, and examines current practices…