This guide is intended for individuals and organizations interested in hosting online conferences. For the purposes of this guide, a host is the administrator or manager of a conferencing system and of the conferences held on that system. Eight sections cover the following important processes for hosting online conferences: (1) determining…

Using the example of Taking a Stand in Cyberspace, the authors articulate issues confronting school, community, and higher education groups as they create online discussions geared to deepen the level of student discourse about literature. Through a collaboration between the Vermont Center for the Book, the WEB Project, and six Vermont schools,…

Discussion of hypermedia and computer-mediated communication focuses on a project that merges a language arts Internet resource with a hypermedia-based knowledge construction approach to learning. Highlights include constructing a HyperCard-based program on Shakespeare's "Hamlet," gophers and search engines, downloading, collaborative…

Discusses how to counter problems in coupling technical/technological courses with distance learning. Presents a model which incorporates up to nine different technologies (television; student response units; voice mail; electronic mail; fax; CD-ROM; Internet; videotape; and computer) and addresses administrative solutions for delivering such a…

Distance learning using two-way audio and visual interaction offers opportunities for personal interaction with and among students. Describes the experiences of a faculty member of the California State University (Chico, CA) who taught a human geography course to students in California and Japan. Provides examples of student-centered assignments.…

Overviews the use of the Internet in second-language instruction with special attention given to learning, teaching, research, and assessing and using the Net. (77 references) (CK)

Classroom communication system (CCS) technology makes it easier to give students immediate feedback on concept tests and to manage peer and class discussions in large classes. This study compared the effects of two different CCS discussion sequences on students' experiences of learning engineering. The results demonstrated that the type of…

This study monitored use of an interactive computer system called CHESS (Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System), placed in homes of HIV-infected persons. Usage differences among demographic subgroups were small, but typically the system was used more by groups expected to use it less (women, minorities, the less educated). Results…

Reviews pedagogical claims of computer assisted language learning (CALL), multimedia applications and outcomes, and new research in second language acquisition. Findings reveal that computer mediated communication gives second language learners the opportunity to enhance their learning experience. (88 references) (Author/CK)

Describes two federally-funded rural teacher education networking programs designed to introduce telecommunications to practicing teachers. The projects mobilized school personnel, introduced some students to information technologies, provided focus for discussions and interactions, and made administrators aware of the issues and possibilities.…

Presents a series exchanges between two information and communication studies professors (one American and one Japanese) on the future of multimedia in the two countries and the technological changes that make multimedia growth possible. Issues discussed include the kinds of infrastructure being developed; impacts on education; and the cultural…

Argues that K-12 media educators and librarians should become vocal advocates for Internet connection in their elementary and secondary schools. Topics include K-12 uses of the Internet; Internet resources; FrEdMail (Free Educational Electronic Mail); and a BITNET computer conference. Appendices list computer conferences, networking contracts, and…

Multi-Media Detectives was a project where fifth graders in three Michigan school districts were linked to a children's bulletin board. The goal was to have students "think global but link local" by using online resources to search for local facts and local celebrities and to bring them to life via technology. (JMV)

Reports results from "Characters Online" a telecommunications in education project. Participating college students impersonated characters in children's books in electronic mail communications over the Internet with elementary school students reading the equivalent books. Both groups engaged frequently in informal conversation and rarely used…

Describes Internet use for electronic mail projects in elementary education. Discusses typing directly versus composing offline, and the effect of electronic letter-writing activities on improving grammar, spelling, social studies, science, and mathematics skills. (AEF)