In the fall of 2002, Visions In Education, a charter school for home-schooled and independent-study children, opened Visions High School Academy (www.visions academy.org), a virtual project-based high school. The five educators who started the program--Mark Jackson, Fred Lamora, Celine Darby, Jennifer Russell and the author--identified three…

This article examines whether the ubiquitous presence of technology in schools negatively affects democratic learning by promoting instrumental rationality and, hence, reifying social reality. The author suggests that structural critiques of educational technology ignore the considerable impact of human agency on shaping related learning outcomes.…

Teaching university physics through the internet is not new, but a new course providing the same service for secondary school students is the first of its kind in Hong Kong. Taking advantage of the fast and affordable broadband internet in the region, some university courses have been converted to a cyber curriculum suitable for secondary school…

This document looks at the academic reasons why states should take seriously the use of Web-based courses provided by state virtual schools to improve student access to quality teachers and quality courses. State virtual schools are not about technology, but rather about using today's technology to meet the tremendous academic needs of middle…

Information and communications technologies are radically changing the way that teaching and learning activities are organised and delivered within higher education (HE) institutions. A wide range of technologies is being deployed in quite complex and interactive ways, including virtual learning environments (VLEs), mobile communication…

Web-based (or online) learning provides an unprecedented flexibility and convenience to both learners and instructors. However, large online classes relying on instructor-centered presentations could tend to isolate many learners. The size of these classes and the wide dispersion of the learners make it challenging for instructors to interact with…

This paper discusses the use of online learning communities for library professional organizations to promote collaboration and learning. The addition of an online learning community component to a library organization expands collaborative and educational opportunities for members through a virtual environment. Although technologies used to…

The article addresses the issue of whether student learning style has an impact on use of a learning technology such as a virtual learning environment (VLE). It is based on material from a broader research project at a UK university (Kingston University) on the use of VLEs in teaching and learning and explores the findings from the analysis of…

This article presents a synthesis of the theoretical and research literature on facilitating asynchronous online discussions effectively. Online courses need to be designed so that they provide motivation for students to engage in productive discussions and clearly describe what is expected, perhaps in the form of a discussion rubric.…

This article addresses a pervasive need in the area of videoconference-supported distance language learning: task design. On the basis of Chapelle's (2001) criteria for CALL task appropriateness, this article proposes a set of criteria for evaluating videoconferencing-based tasks which examine such aspects of a task as practicality,…

This paper provides an overview of opportunities for graduate education in Gerontology in the Asia-Oceania Region. It locates emerging demand in a demographic context, highlighting high rates of growth in the aged population within the Region and growing awareness of governments of the need for appropriate planning. An important component of…

During distributed virtual laboratory experiment sessions, a major problem is to be able to collect, store, manage and share heterogeneous data (intermediate results, analysis, annotations, etc) manipulated simultaneously by geographically distributed teammates composing a virtual team. The electronic notebook is a possible response to this…

Technological improvements in broadband and distributed computing are making it possible to distribute live media content cost-effectively. Because of this, organizations are looking into cost-effective approaches to implement e-Learning initiatives. Indeed, computing resources are not enough by themselves to promote better e-Learning experiences.…

Learning object design currently leads the instructional technologist towards more effective instructional design, development, and delivery of learning content. There is a considerable amount of literature discussing the potential use of learning object in e-learning. However, most of the works were mainly focused on the standard forms of…

Although much has been written about fostering self-regulated learning in traditional classroom settings, there has been little that addresses how to facilitate self-regulated learning skills in distributed and online environments. This article will examine some such strategies by specifically focusing on time management. Specific principles for…