Many, even most, teachers have probably read or heard about the potential of the Internet and feel an obligation to use it in their classrooms. But, despite vast improvements in the quality of educational materials on the Internet, they are left with frustrating questions. How do teachers wade through the overwhelming amount of "information" on…

A colleague of the author once observed that papers from first-year history students often feature blinding flashes of the obvious: (1) sweeping declarations that war is bad; (2) social inequality is unfair; or (3) that China is a big place. These sorts of papers sometimes begin with mind-boggling generalizations like "Throughout history, all…

Staff development efforts are being designed to have a greater impact on the systems in which professionals work to increase the likelihood that individual positive behavior support (PBS) plans will be effective. Statewide efforts aimed at embedding PBS into developmental disability organizations and other agencies must include longitudinal…

Web-based courses have increased in number as one of the primary modes of distance education in undergraduate nursing programs across the United States. An online survey of 171 nursing faculty in the United States with experience teaching Web-based courses served as the primary data source. Interviews and a review of course Web sites provided…

The purpose of this study is to describe forum participation of international graduate students who speak English as a foreign language in two Web-based graduate courses. Research questions focused around how linguistic and cultural differences impact nonnative speaking international students' perception of classroom participation, what effect…

Much of traditional schooling in America is built around systems of compliance and control, characteristics which stifle the creative and entrepreneurial instincts of the children who are subjected to these tactics. This article explores a different approach to education, one that involves capturing the interest of the student through the use of…

This year sees the 40th anniversary of the first policy paper regarding the use of computers in higher education in the United Kingdom. The publication of this paper represented the beginning of the field of learning technology research and practice in higher education. In the past 40 years, policy has at various points drawn from different…

Online education has become a highly debated topic. While some educators see it as a commercialized and prepackaged form of education, one that limits the verbal skills of students, others see it as breaking down the geographical and financial barriers that many students face. Online delivery has changed education in a number of ways, increasing…

The S-Star Trial Bioinformatics on-line course (www.s-star.org) is a global experiment in bioinformatics distance education. Six universities from five continents have participated in this project. One hundred and fifty students participated in the first trial course of which 96 followed through the entire course and 70 fulfilled the overall…

This article reports on work undertaken within Phase 2 of a pilot study concerned with the design, development, and evaluation of online resources. Drawing on recent developments in the application of technology within open and distance education, these resources were structured around the principles of problem-based learning (PBL) for use with…

This study aims to develop and evaluate competency-based web learning material (CBWLM) for the college practicum Microprocessor Laboratory. After using the CBWLM for 8 weeks, this study investigates CBWL's learning effects and self-directed learning aptitudes (SDLAs) as well as exploring the influence of SDLA on learning effects based on the…

This paper reports outcomes from a development and evaluation effort focused on a specific World Wide Web-based learning environment (WBLE) for school library media specialists (SLMS). Background information is provided explaining how the decision to create a WBLE for the SLMS course was derived. The three main groups contributing to the WBLE…

Students in a graduate class and an undergraduate class in Information Systems completed a Web-based programmed instruction tutor that taught a simple Java applet as the first technical training exercise in a computer programming course. The tutor is a competency-based instructional system for individualized distance learning. When a student…

Training of public health professionals through web-based technology is rapidly increasing. This article describes one school of public health's effort to establish an online Master's program that serves students nationally and internationally. It examines the critical components in the design and implementation of distance education, including…

When a distance learning program administrator makes the critical choice of delivery methods, she/he needs to consider factors such as program developer centrism, international experience, cultural similarity, and desired level of control which will all be elaborated on in this article. The aim of this manuscript is to assist international…