This Evidence Based Education (EBE) request asks for information relating to funding for virtual schools. The EBE Request Desk was asked to provide a scan of states for information on how they fund virtual schools and what the current funding levels are (most current year for which such data is available). This paper provides answers to this…

Online teaching, a new phenomenon in literary studies has elicited strong emotions among scholars of children's literature, some of whom are noted for their progressive beliefs. Like most of my colleagues in the academy, I was skeptical about teaching a graduate children's literature course online initially because I thought it would not only…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review some of the learning technologies associated with teaching and learning in higher education (HE). It looks at e-learning and information technology (IT) as tools for replacing the traditional learning experience in HE, i.e. the "chalk and talk" lecture and seminar. HE is on the threshold of…

While classroom teaching and management strategies are well documented, the online learning environment presents different challenges and benefits. Teaching in an online environment requires a special set of teaching skills since many of the strategies and tactics associated with best teaching practices are somewhat constrained by the primarily…

A qualitative research project was conducted to evaluate the suitability of e-learning as a means of delivering training to workplace learners in the South African furniture manufacturing sector. Twenty learners participated in a three-month pilot e-learning course and were monitored throughout. While the study was designed primarily to…

Creativity and high performance in learning processes are the main concerns of educational institutions. E-learning contributes to the creativity and performance of these institutions and reproduces a traditional learning model based primarily on knowledge transfer into more innovative models based on collaborative learning. In this paper, the…

Authors have claimed that Internet-based instruction promotes greater learning efficiency than non-computer methods. Objectives Determine, through a systematic synthesis of evidence in health professions education, how Internet-based instruction compares with non-computer instruction in time spent learning, and what features of Internet-based…

This paper discusses the findings of a research study concerning the use of e-portfolios to develop independent learning, from the perspectives of teachers and students in a Hong Kong university. While most of the findings confirm the value of e-portfolio practice reported in other contexts, they throw into relief a complicated interplay and…

This paper discusses the frequency of use and the reasons for non-use of the online component of a course developed in "Blackboard 9", one popular learning management system (LMS) in tertiary education. The study particularly focuses on the three tools in the LMS: Groupwork tool, Downloadable quiz and Discussion forum. These tools were…

This paper describes a new social networking site, Cloudworks, which aims to provide a dynamic environment for finding, sharing and discussing learning and teaching ideas and designs. The paper begins by discussing the mismatch between the potential application of technologies in education and their actual use in practice. It considers some of the…

The growth of eLearning technologies has blurred the boundaries of educational modes to a point where distance education programs can be offered without drawing particular notice on campus. The experience of distance education staff working in campus-focused universities and their perceptions of their chances of successfully planning and teaching…

Instructional systems design (ISD) has been frequently criticised as taking too long to implement, calling for a reduction in cycle time--the time that elapses between project initiation and delivery. While instructional design research has historically focused on increasing "learner" efficiencies, the study of what instructional designers do to…

There exists great diversity in the teachers' digital world. Teachers are being discriminated based on numerous educational gaps. This paper seeks to assess the extent of the digital divide among the North Cyprus vocational teachers along the four axes: age, Internet access, computer access, and performance (computing knowledge/experience). A…

Experienced teachers, tasked with mentoring, often find themselves inundated with large amounts of didactic information as they prepare for guiding new interns. In an effort to develop training that would both prepare new mentors and revitalize experienced mentors, a state Educational Professional Standards Board enlisted the help of instructional…

This paper reports a 5-year design experiment on cumulative knowledge building as part of an international project. Through a longitudinal study and analysis of cumulative research data, we sought to answer the question, "what happened and why in knowledge building?" Research data constitute messages which participants have written into a shared…