This Digest introduces ethical considerations related to acquiring and analyzing online data and provides resources to support sound practice. Because online conversation is relatively new and unfamiliar, and takes place at a distance, participants may not realize or may not remember that their conversations could be made public. A researcher…

This report describes one group of nonprofit organizations that provide free civil legal assistance to qualifying low-income people. Between 1997-2001, legal services programs made significant strides in using technology to improve services. In the mid-1990s, they began using new technologies on an increasingly regular basis. However, few had…

With the focus on language, culture, and communication in the national standards for foreign language learning, foreign language teachers are continually searching for better ways of accessing authentic materials and providing experiences that will improve their students knowledge and skills in these target areas. This digest highlights a number…

Institutional researchers and others at East Carolina University have been concerned that requiring students to complete a survey, the institutional evaluation form, will have a negative effect on the ratings that students give the university. The responses to electronic forms of this survey completed by seniors and by sophomores are grouped with…

The booklet is the first issue of a series that will highlight a variety of successes realized by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) grantees in their dissemination and utilization efforts. This issue focuses upon the status of World Wide Web (WWW) usage among NIDRR grantees. Information is provided on the…

This study compared electronic mail, traditional, and combination approaches for teaching graduate introductory statistics classes. The electronic course that was the focus of this study was offered in fall terms of 1995 through 1999. There were 23 participants in the electronic only classes, 69 in the traditional only classes, and 27 in the…

The premise of this document is that an optimistic view of the relationship between counseling and testing services is warranted in the new century. The document focuses on the integration of testing and counseling via the Internet. Advantages and concerns related to both e-mail interactions and chat and/or video-conferencing are considered. The…

This paper reports a pilot study that examined the use of electronic mail and the World Wide Web for learning Japanese. Three college learners of Japanese at the intermediate to advanced levels and the researcher exchanged e-mail messages based on selected materials on the Web during a 15-week semester. Analyses of e-mail messages, interview…

Previous research and policy in online education has underestimated the amount of effort and commitment required by those asked to develop and deliver courses online. Although implementation of e-learning technologies is on the rise, the faculty adoption rate is slow. Prior studies attribute the lack of adoption to faculty resistance to online…

This study examines the results of a three year video mentoring program, the NASA Virtual Science Mentor (VSM) program, which paired 56 NASA mentor engineers and scientists with 56 middle school science teachers in seven Southwest Florida counties. The study sought to determine the impact on students, mentors, and teachers participating in the…

The purpose of the present study is to describe the use of a learning conversation approach integrating E-mail and to analyze the evolution of the learning conversation among students. This pedagogical strategy was aimed at supporting college students who attended regular lectures (n=57). Results show that it is possible to incite metacognitive…

Edith Cowan University (Perth, Western Australia) has introduced a Bachelor of Science degree in Library Technology, a three-year distance education program with no residency requirement and the first Australian degree for library technicians. This article describes the program and its use of the World Wide Web for flexible course delivery,…

Contains a number of short testimonials from writing educators about the value of computers. Discusses macros, key-word searching, cutting and pasting in electronic mail, online discussions, and the distance classroom. (TB)

Explains the Big6 model of information problem solving as a conceptual framework for learning and teaching information and technology skills. Highlights include information skills; examples of integrating technology in Big6 contexts; and the Big6 and the Internet, including email, listservs, chat, Web browsers, search engines, portals, Web…

Explores the use of electronic mail to link native-English-speaking teachers and teacher candidates in one country with English-as-a-Foreign-Language students in the other. An average of 10 participants per semester have spent approximately 2 months leaning about each other's cultures through an e-mail exchange of ideas and views. (Author/VWL)