This article presents an interview with Jim Hirsch, an associate superintendent for technology at Plano Independent School District in Plano, Texas. Hirsch serves as a liaison for the open technologies committee of the Consortium for School Networking. In this interview, he shares his opinion on the significance of open source in K-12.

Writing is a recursive and complex set of cognitive processes that can be taught effectively to students with disabilities. Employing an adapted cognitive theory of writing, a broad view of what constitutes evidence, and the support of a variety of assistive and internet-based technologies, we developed a writing instructional program to meet the…

Addressing the problems of bullying in schools, this paper presents a novel and highly innovative pedagogical approach, building on the immersive power of virtual role-play. Educational role-play is widely accepted as a powerful instrument to change attitudes and behaviour, but faces some difficulties and disadvantages when applied to sensitive…

This article is a formative evaluation of a course in which a blended learning environment was created and a good balance in dimensions of blended learning was sought. Blended learning is defined as the total mix of pedagogical methods, using a combination of different learning strategies, both with and without the use of technology. The…

Approaching reflection from the perspective of a teachable skill set implies that research may inform how to help students reflect. Employing a framework of making connections often used in reading comprehension, this study aimed to characterize how making connections between the service-learning experience (SLE) and prior experiences in similar…

This article talks about a software designed by the University of Phoenix for its business, information-technology, education, and health-care courses. Through the university's "virtual organizations"--online teaching tools designed to simulate the experience of working at a typical corporation, school, or government agency, Phoenix students can…

In this article, the authors describe Web 2.0 as tools that have increased the urgency for students' and teachers' critical literacy skills and have also participated in the implementation of critical literacy. The authors define and position both Web 2.0 and critical literacy. Further, students' and teachers' power dynamics within both critical…

This paper describes research into the use of cognitive tools in the classroom using "Exploring the Nardoo", an information landscape designed to support student investigation. Simulations and support tools which allow multimedia reporting are embedded in the package and are supported by several metacognitive tools for the writing…

Texts of conference papers and summaries of colloquia on computers and second language learning are presented, including: "Computers, Language Learning, and the Four Skills" (summary of a session with Steve McGuire, Albert Dudley, Patricia Thornton, Paul Jaquith, Jay Lundelius, Steve Tripp); "Creating Your Own Software--The Easy Way" (Steve…

Describes criteria developed to determine which of three existing computer-based training lessons could be repurposed into a multimedia format. Reasons for repurposing, types of criteria generated to determine the instruction's repurposeability, and lessons learned from the evaluation experience are covered. (Contains 13 references.) (KRN)

The effects of information technology on the creative performance in small groups were examined. An experimental 3 x 2 design was used in order to assess the effects of Group Communication Support System (GCSS) and perceived usefulness on the creative product and the creative process. A chat, a video conference and a face-to-face group were…

The author analyzes properties of mutual information between dichotomous concepts and test items. The properties generalize some common intuitions about item comparison, and provide principled foundations for designing item-selection heuristics for student assessment in computer-assisted educational systems. The proposed item-selection strategies…

The aim of the research is to derive a framework for the evaluation of Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE) tool learnability in educational environments. Drawing from the literature of Human Computer Interaction and educational research, a framework for evaluating CASE tool learnability in educational environments is derived. The two main…

This paper examines the recent development of a computer-assisted learning program--in Practice--at the School of Health Science, in the University of Wales Swansea. The project, which began in 2001, was developed in close collaboration with The Meningitis Trust, the aim being to produce a software package to increase nursing students' knowledge…

Introduction: Website accessibility is a problem that affects millions of people with disabilities. While most current accessibility initiatives target government or commercial sites, a growing segment of online content is being created by non-professionals. This content is often inaccessible to users with disabilities. Everyday inclusive Web…