This study investigated the influence of online discussion forums on student achievement in reading, writing, grammar, vocabulary, and critical thinking in English as Second Language (ESL) instruction. Fifty-four senior high school students participated in this study and were divided into three groups. Data were collected from achievement…

This study examined the impact of two Problem-Based Learning (PBL) approaches on knowledge transfer, problem-solving self-efficacy, and perceived learning gains among four intact classes of adult learners engaged in a group project in an online undergraduate business research methods course. With two of the classes using a text-only PBL workbook…

This study reports on the impact of mentor teachers using an explicit pedagogy with their student teachers. Seven mentors participated in workshops before the school year started and received ongoing support throughout the year about how to explicitly teach student teachers the strategies and skills needed to be an effective teacher. Observations…

Web-based courses are promising in that they are effective and have the possibility of their instructional design being improved over time. However, the assessments of said courses are criticized in terms of their validity. This paper is an exploratory case study regarding the validity of the assessment system used in a semi presential web-based…

One Master's Program, Initiatives in Educational Transformation, has integrated a computer management system (WebCT) into a learner-centered (Weimer, 2002) community of K-12 practicing teachers. Online discussions were an extension of instructional practices that supported dialogue, reflection, and self-assessment for the purpose of continuous…

This study assessed social skills in 116 children aged 7-12 with ADHD-Combined Type (ADHD-C; n=33), ADHD-Inattentive Type (ADHD-I; n=45), and comparison children (n=38), with consideration of the role sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) symptoms play in distinguishing profiles. Social skills were assessed using a novel computerized chat room task, in…

Various authorities outline the benefits of collaboration in the form of classroom writing groups in learning certain writing skills. Collaboration promotes interaction, dialogue and negotiation between reader and writer. Whether the collaboration resides in interior dialogue or communal discourse or both, collaborative discourse can enable the…

Each new media revolution forces adjustments for both the producers of messages and the receivers of those messages. Integral to the communication process is an understanding of what it means to be literate in an eclectic communication environment and of how the new media may enhance or impede literacy. An important premise for this discussion is…

This document is the third edition of "Conditions of Education in Utah," covering the 1994-95 academic year. The first three chapters analyze issues relative to distance education and the Internet. Chapters 1 and 2 examine the pros and cons of distance education, and chapter 3 describes the construction, maintenance, and staffing costs…

The Interactive Multimedia Distance Learning (IMDL) project evolved from discussions between Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) (New York) and AT&T about how to use the strengths of AT&T's Bell Laboratories and RPI's Anderson Center for Innovation in Undergraduate Education (CIUE) to collaborate on a project in the domain of computers…

The "ERIC Review" is published three times a year and announces research results, publications, and new programs relevant to each issue's theme topic. This issue is intended to help teacher educators, administrators, librarians, adult educators, and individual teachers introduce others to education resources on computer networks. There…

Distance education may have a greater impact on the nature of higher education than any innovation since the invention of the printing press. In "virtual classrooms," students and faculty do not have to meet at the same time, collaborative learning is facilitated, and the specialized communication provided by computers can sometimes be…

This paper describes an experience with using the internet for collaborative peer consultation on a problem that arose with an ex-client. It illustrates the utility of professional electronic mail lists in providing timely information about how to proceed with relatively rarely encountered clinical situations. A professional therapist posted a…

This document describes a project whereby a researcher spent time in a fifth-grade classroom teaching students to use electronic mail. For two 40-minute periods each week over a period of 18 weeks, 28 students received instruction on mechanics such as sending and reading mail, attaching and retrieving files, and forwarding messages with their own…

The authors' experiences with electronic bulletin boards are recounted. Begun in 1986, the Physics Forum bulletin board for Massachusetts high school physics teachers spent its first few years as a resource of limited use only. In 1989, however, the National Science Foundation awarded the Five Colleges/Western Massachusetts Partnership a grant…