The question of how to present cultural heritage resources in a way that attracts potential users is becoming important in our ever-changing world. This paper describes MOSAICA system--a web 2.0-based toolbox, dedicated for the preservation and presentation of cultural heritage. This paper also describes an evaluation study that examined MOSAICA…

Evaluation of methods and techniques for conversational and multimodal spoken dialogue systems is complex, as is gathering data for the modeling and tuning of such techniques. This article describes MushyPeek, an experiment framework that allows us to manipulate the audiovisual behavior of interlocutors in a setting similar to face-to-face…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the value and constraints of varied online communication tools from web 2.0 to e-mail in a higher education (HE) teaching and learning context, where these tools are used to support or be the main focus of learning. Design/methodology/approach: A structured reflection is produced with the aid of…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of The Bridging Worlds Conference which was held in October 2008 in Singapore. Design/methodology/approach: One of the main topics the National Library Board of Singapore, the organising party, wished to address was the roles cultural institutions, such as libraries, may play in…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present research exploring the pervasiveness and causes of cyberbullying, the psychological impact on students, and the responses to cyberbullying from students and administrators. The goal is to give school leaders a greater understanding of this phenomenon and suggest steps to deal with this challenging…

Within the framework of research that describes the processes of collaborative knowledge construction in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments, the present work has three objectives: (i) the identification of the strategies of six small groups of university students for the elaboration of written products in a CSCL…

The skills of knowledge-creating inquiry are explored as a challenge for higher education. The knowledge-creation approach to learning provides a theoretical tool for addressing them: In addition to the individual and social aspects in regulation of inquiry, the knowledge-creation approach focuses on aspects related to advancing shared objects of…

This study was designed as a confirmatory study of work on "productive failure" (Kapur, "Cognition and Instruction," 26(3), 379-424, 2008). N = 177, 11th-grade science students were randomly assigned to solve either well- or ill-structured problems in a computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environment without the provision of any…

In an earlier study, we had tested if observing a collaboration model, or alternatively, following a collaboration script could improve students' subsequent collaboration in a computer-mediated setting and promote their knowledge of good collaboration. Both model and script showed positive effects. The current study was designed to further probe…

This study uses voice blogs as a platform for an extensive study of language learners' speaking skills. To triangulate the findings, the study collected data by surveying the learners' blogging processes, investigating learning strategies, and conducting retrospective interviews. The results revealed that students (a) developed a series of…

There has been extensive reporting on the interactional characteristics of multi-participant text-based chat rooms. In these chat rooms there are several students typing at the same time, often on more than one topic. As a result, it is not uncommon to see multiple overlapping utterances. Despite these communicative challenges, research suggests…

The ability to argue is an important academic goal in secondary education. This paper reports on an exploratory study which investigated how asynchronous text-based conferencing provides a new site for school students to rehearse and develop their skills in argumentation. The study used linguistic tools of analysis to investigate two key…

Success and failure in language learning are partly determined by the learners' ability to regulate their emotions. Negative feelings are more likely to frustrate progress, while positive ones make the task of learning a second language (L2) a more effective experience. To date no significant body of research has been carried out into the role of…

While supplementation of face-to-face (F2F) teaching with online engagement is increasingly common, the educators' challenge of teaching F2F personalities and facilitating online personalities has not been widely explored. In this paper, we report on a project in which 1st-year students attended F2F sessions and engaged with an anonymous online…

This study implemented an online peer assessment activity to help 52 Taiwanese in-service science and mathematics teachers to develop research proposals in an educational research course. The participants were divided into 16 groups, and each group was required to submit a proposal via three rounds of online peer-assessment activity. This study…