Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is essential to career development for teachers. Teachers can develop their own PCK by research-based activities such as action research and lesson study, with a particular emphasis on the employment of classroom practice, information technology, and collaborative learning. However, in recent studies, most of…

This study investigates how the combination of instructor modeling and question prompts for peer-questioning influences students' online questioning and answering activities. Fourteen students in a turfgrass management online class at a large land-grant university participated in two three-week sessions of online discussion. Two randomly selected…

While most faculty and graduate students have opportunities to meet and begin networking at local, regional, and national meetings and symposia, the same opportunities do not exist for most undergraduates. At least four needs of undergraduates might be served by developing dedicated listservers and encouraging students to begin using…

SENDIT is a telecommunications network for North Dakota educators and students in the K-12 environment. Through SENDIT, both teachers and students have access to the Internet, and some of the isolation associated with the rurality of North Dakota has been diminished. SENDIT was developed by the North Dakota State University School of Education and…

At Valdosta State University (Georgia), a philosophy course, "A Virtual Classroom: The Electronic Agora," was developed and conducted entirely through computer media. Twenty-one students were in the class. The two main activities, addressing the central objectives of a philosophy course, were: (1) research, and (2) class discussion and…

A hypermedia based UTICS (university transaction, information and communication system) is under development at the University of Auckland (New Zealand). This multi-platform system will provide alternatives to traditional forms of information retrieval and dissemination as well as public relations exercises. The UTICS will offer a virtual journey…

This paper presents a case study exploring the impact of Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) on the formation of ethnic social groups, or communities, by examining the case of Chinese students in North America and other parts of the world. The paper (1) reviews the relationship between communication and community; (2) traces the development of…

This update to a previous digest briefly describes the Internet computer network, the physical connections and communication protocols that make it possible, and the applications and information resources the network provides. The applications covered include electronic mail and listservs, the world wide web, telnet connections with remote library…

With no standards governing their creation, a variety of formats are being used for World Wide Web homepages. Some are well organized, present their information clearly, and work with multiple browsers. Others, however, are slow to load, function poorly with some Web browsing software, and are so badly structured that they are very difficult to…

Technology has revolutionized communication in a multitude of ways, allowing greater access to distant locations and to persons previously unavailable or available in only limited manners. In a number of respects, innovations such as electronic mail, voice mail, and fax machines have simplified communication and saved individuals valuable time.…

Computer Mediated Conferencing (CMC) courses are attracting students with weak computer communication skills. This document describes a study which examines the outcomes for such students when they enrolled in a CMC course that required high levels of peer interaction. It was anticipated that students with weaker skills would miss important…

Beginning with a brief history of the synergistic relationship between technology and literacy, this article examines the need for redefining literacy beyond print-based communications. It suggests that literacy, in a computer-networked society, is not solely about reading the printed word, but rather, that it encompasses receiving and sending…

Use of the Internet by colleges and universities for delivery of distance education is one trend likely to continue. Unlike previous educational trends driven by research and tradition inside the academic community, Internet use for education is enthusiastically supported by forces outside of academe. The most widely used practices are formal…

The abandonment of face-to-face voice conversations in favor of the use of electronic conversations in composition classes is an issue to be interrogated. In a recent push to "prepare students for the 21st century," teachers are asked to teach computer applications in the humanities--and composition teachers, who will teach writing in…

A study of distinctive characteristics of the style in which people communicate in computer-mediated communication (CMC), focusing on use of politeness conventions, is reported. Aspects of the concept of "face" and politeness in social interaction are first reviewed, and threats to speaker's and hearer's face are outlined. The…