This paper reports the findings from a pilot study that investigated the uses of computer-mediated communication in an educational psychology course for pre-service teachers that focused on problem-based learning via CD-ROM-based case analysis. Thirty-nine pre-service teachers and eight practicing teachers participated in the development of an…

Focusing on midcareer professionals, this second volume includes descriptive accounts of professional development opportunities designed specifically so that language teachers can reinvigorate their teaching and remain on the path of lifelong learning. Due to the amount of development that comes from collaboration with other professionals, this…

This brief document offers ten principles of effective school design. They are: (1) Clear Focus and High Expectations for staff and students are defining features of an effective school; (2) A Rigorous Instructional Program provides equitable opportunities to learn and enables every student to master challenging content, skills, and learning…

The Department of Mathematics at Iowa State University teaches a freshman-level Discrete Mathematics course with total enrollment of about 1,800 students per year. The traditional format includes large lectures, with about 150 students each, taught by faculty and temporary instructors in two class sessions per week and recitation sections, with…

These proceedings contain the papers of the IADIS International Conference on Cognition and Exploratory Learning in the Digital Age (CELDA 2013), October 22-24, 2013, which has been organized by the International Association for Development of the Information Society (IADIS), co-organized by The University of North Texas (UNT), sponsored by the…

This book presents cases of schools (Part One) and programs at the district level and beyond (Part Two) in which reform, while driven by high-stakes accountability, became larger and deeper through data-driven dialogue, culture change, organizational learning, and other elements of high performing cultures. Commentaries on cross-case patterns by…

These proceedings contain the papers of the International Conference e-Learning 2014, which was organised by the International Association for Development of the Information Society and is part of the Multi Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems (Lisbon, Portugal July 15-19, 2014). The e-Learning 2014 conference aims to address the…

This case study describes an effort to design and pilot an interactive, Web-based, district-wide "professional support portal" to support new teacher retention and professional growth in the Milwaukee Public Schools. The study reviews the overarching goals of this program and focuses, in particular, on an account of the nature and kinds…

This document describes the mentoring relationship from the perspectives of several virtual schools that have built mentoring programs to assist their new teachers. Each school's mentoring program is unique and has been designed specifically for the school's staff, size, and instructional approach. These schools have learned that a successful…

A sad fact of teaching is that once the classroom door is closed, teachers are on their own under "normal" conditions. They are in charge of the teaching direction, the choice of materials, the pace of learning, the atmosphere created and the learning emphasis. Developing these skills requires expertise and experience and is aided by…

English for Academic Purposes literature is often criticized for its very functional interpretation of language (e.g. Benesch, 2001) which ignores the intellectual, cultural, and social side of learning in an attempt to appear "neutral." Furthermore, writing is the EAP skill area which seems to provide students with the most difficulty.…

The manuscript explains the rationale, development, and success of a computer-mediated asynchronous learning (CMAL) program of graduate studies in Educational Leadership and Higher Education offered through the University of Nebraska-Lincoln . It details the evolution of the concept focusing on an integrated sequence of high-quality learning to:…

This is the 2006 National Council of Professors of Educational Administration "NCPEA" Yearbook. This yearbook is being distributed to all of the registered participants of the 2006 NCPEA Summer Conference, to be held in Lexington, Kentucky. "Unbridled Spirit" is the motto for Kentucky, hence inclusion in the title for the…

The concept of a community of practice (CoP) is prevalent in several venues for teachers' professional development, especially in online environments. However, there are few descriptive accounts that effectively represent a CoP in a manner that will be of use to other designers. In order to illuminate potential difficulties which may arise when…

Purpose: The motivation for this investigation is to apply social networking features to a semantic network portal, which supports the efforts in enterprise training units to up-skill the employee in the company, and facilitates the creation and reuse of knowledge in online communities. Design/methodology/approach: The paper provides an overview…