This study explores the effects of the use of Second Life (SL) as a learning environment on a course's dialogue. An experimental design within groups was used with thirty-seven graduate students for three weeks. Half of them followed the course activities in the official Learning Management System (LMS) of the program, Blackboard Vista, and the…

We surveyed the use of Great Lakes online learning materials by a sample of K-8 teachers. Analyses tested for correlation of use with 1) whether teachers learned about the resources in pre- or in-service education, 2) geographical significance, and 3) whether teachers taught about the topics emphasized in the online learning materials. We compared…

The purpose of this study was to investigate proper website and courseware for e-learning in higher education. Methods used in this study included the data collection, the analysis surveys, the experts' in-depth interview, and the experts' focus group. Results indicated that there were 16 components for website, as well as 16 components for…

Programming is recognized as being challenging for teachers to teach and difficult for students to learn. For decades, computer science educators have looked at innovative approaches by creating pedagogical software tools that attempt to facilitate both the teaching of and the learning of programming. This dissertation investigates the motivations…

In large lecture courses, it can be challenging for instructors to address student misconceptions, supplement background knowledge, and identify ways to motivate the various interests of all students during the allotted class time. Instructors can harness instructional technology such as screencasts, recordings that capture audio narration along…

Thanks in part to groundbreaking work by companies such as Apple and IDEO, there has been growing interest in design as a way to improve the odds of new product success. This paper describes a user-centered design workshop developed for a new product marketing course. The workshop included exercises designed to explain and illustrate the…

This paper presents a comprehensive usability study conducted within the context of a Europe-wide project. The design of the evaluated e-learning platform is based on an innovative approach to the education of young Europeans by integrating into the curricula of a Europe-wide network of 14 schools different state-of-the-art technologies in…

Despite clear European and Dutch policies about media education, there is currently no media education curriculum in Dutch schools. A survey among preadolescents (n = 257) in six primary schools in the Netherlands included questions regarding media access, fears, risks, parental mediation of television and the internet, and the need for media…

To conduct evaluations that can benefit individual programs as well as the field as a whole, environmental educators must have the necessary evaluation competencies. This exploratory study was conducted to determine to what extent a self-directed learning resource entitled "My Environmental Education Evaluation Resource Assistant" (MEERA) can…

The Dutch website Bereslim (http:// www.bereslim.nl) provides digital picture storybooks for three- to seven-year-olds for daily use. The present study investigates whether this new opportunity to enhance linguistic development actively assists preschool children from low- and high-educated families in an equal manner. We looked closely at the…

There are a lot of studies that have dealt with the different facets of the use of the internet. Most studies have identified entertainment and amusement as the major motivation for internet use with seeking knowledge and making social relationships coming as distant second and third respectively . Varying lines of investigation have been taken in…

A social navigation system collects data from its users--its community--about what they are doing, their opinions, and their decisions, aggregates this data, and provides the aggregated data--community data--back to individuals so that they can use it to guide behavior and decisions. Social navigation systems empower users with the ability to…

The World Wide Web has come a long way in a very short time. A little more than a decade ago, with the invention of Mosaic, the first browser to display images inline with text instead of displaying images in a separate window, and Netscape, the first graphical user interface (browser), people began to experience a rapid expansion of information.…

The social environment prevailing within higher education institutions in Australia has seen many changes in recent years. Many factors have contributed to these changes and this paper explains the areas in which student life in Australia has changed and the challenges these changes have posed to students. This paper argues that universities in…

This study used concept maps to investigate the effect of using graphing calculators on students' understanding of the derivative at a point. The study looked for differences between the concept images that are held by students' who are using graphing calculators and the students who are not using them. Seventy one students enrolled in two…