Most users have no more knowledge of what their computer or code is actually doing than most automobile owners have of their carburetor or catalytic converter. Nor is any such knowledge necessarily needed. But for academics, driven by an increasing emphasis on the materiality of new media--that is, the social, cultural, and economic factors…

Technology has become a part of the fabric of the lives of people, whether it be communicating with a loved one on the other side of the world or paying a utility bill via the Internet. Most people have experienced some level of technology integration into their life. An inescapable rite of passage for most people in developed countries is the…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how the technology beliefs of New York State Career and Technical Education Board of Cooperative Education Services administrators influenced their leadership behaviors. The participants were from a purposive selection from five suburban and rural Boards of Cooperative Education Services in…

The purpose of this study was to analyze data from Ohio schools and the frequency of use of educational technology, a teacher's comfort level using technology, and a teacher's beliefs about the effect of educational technology on teaching and learning based upon the school's Blue Ribbon award status. The study used an ex-post facto, quantitative…

The critical literature abounds with examples of possible educational uses of Web 2.0 technology in which students become active participants in the production of knowledge through blogging, social networking, creation of podcasts, and other forms of constructivist education. At the same time, teachers, whom the data indicate are somewhat…

This paper reports the effects of game technology on student learning in mathematics as investigated in two data sets collected from slightly different subjects. In the first, 41 second graders (7 or 8 years old) from two classes used either a technology-based game or a paper-based game for 5 weeks. For the next 13 weeks, both classes used a…

In the changing context of globalised higher education, a series of pedagogical shifts have occurred, and with them, a number of interactive learning approaches have emerged. This article reports on findings taken from a large-scale study that explored the socio-political impact of virtual world learning on higher education in the UK, specifically…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of using the interactive student notebook versus the use of traditional note-taking methods on math and science achievement for fifth grade students. The researcher hypothesized that the ISN would have a significant positive impact on math and science student achievement. Multiple regression…

Student commons are no longer simply congregation spaces for students with time on their hands. They are integral to providing a welcoming environment and effective learning space for students. Many student commons have been transformed into spaces for socialization, an environment for alternative teaching methods, a forum for large group meetings…

The Internet has revolutionized the social and economic environment in which people live by providing an alternative or supplemental channel for communication, gathering and disseminating information, entertainment, commerce, and education. Household use of high-speed, or broadband, Internet services has risen dramatically during this decade which…

America's "super-league" of global universities will play an increasingly pivotal role in the 21st century economy. These universities' substantial metropolitan and regional economic contributions are magnified by the role they play in fueling innovation, boosting educational attainment, and engaging with the rest of the world on an…

This article reports key findings from the first phase of a research project investigating Net generation age students as they encounter e-learning at five universities in England. We take a critical view of the idea of a distinct generation which has been described using various terms including Net generation and Digital Natives and explore age…

Johnson and Puplampu recently proposed the "ecological techno-subsystem", a refinement to Bronfenbrenner's theoretical organization of environmental influences on child development. The ecological techno-subsystem includes child interaction with both living (e.g., peers) and nonliving (e.g., hardware) elements of communication,…

There is a "reality" to being online which we know to be false. We are simultaneously "there" but "not there" as we talk, work and play with others in online spaces. We move between physical and virtual spaces in ways that realise the predictions made for computers in the mid-20th Century and enact scenarios from science fiction. We are left…

This discussion paper highlights a number of themes emerging from contemporary research into teaching with whole-class interactive technologies. Focusing particularly on the contributions to this special issue, the paper considers the significance of whole-class interactive technologies (primarily interactive whiteboards) with respect to the use…