The purpose of this study was to document typical use and configuration of 1:1 computing in two schools focusing on the added value and unique challenges these uses present. A qualitative case study design was used in two middle schools (sixth, seventh and eighth grade) in the south-eastern United States purposefully selected for their 1:1…

Many have had high expectations for the impact of computer-based technology on educational practice. By and large, these expectations have not been realised. It has become evident that innovative technology alone does not necessarily guarantee progress--nor perhaps even significant change--in educational practice. This has led educational…

Although guided-inquiry methods for teaching introductory physics have been individually shown to be more effective at improving conceptual understanding than traditional lecture-style instruction, researchers in physics education have not studied differences among reform-based curricula in much detail. Several researchers have developed…

How can we prepare and encourage new teachers to take on the challenge of changing traditional views of literacy education? Teacher educator William Kist shares a first-year teacher's story of incorporating new literacies within an eighth-grade alternative classroom.

To enhance the learning outcomes achieved by students, learners undertook a computer-simulated activity based on an acid-base titration prior to a university-level chemistry laboratory activity. Students were categorized with respect to their attitudes toward learning. During the laboratory exercise, questions that students asked their assistant…

Case studies are an important vehicle for student learning in problem-based learning curricula and higher education. "WebCaseStudy.com" was designed to support student learning through case studies in a simulated community of practice. This paper reports on the process of capturing community of practice knowledge for case studies to…

The purpose of this study was to investigate possible relationships between national culture and the usability of an e-learning system. The theoretical frameworks that were used to guide this study were Hofstede's (1980) cultural dimensions, and Nielson's (1993) usability attributes. The sample for this study was composed of 24 international…

The purpose of this study was to determine if modeling by university professors and practicum and cooperating teachers was related to preservice teachers' perceptions of their computer technology skills and if preservice teachers' use of technology in academic and other settings was related to those perceptions. Seventy-nine preservice teacher…

This study investigated the ability of high school students to cognitively understand and implement parallel processing. Data indicates that most parallel processing is being taught at the university level. Instructional modules on C, Linux, and the parallel processing language, P4, were designed to show that high school students are highly…

There are many reasons for teachers' resistance to innovation in the classroom through computer use. This resistance can be categorized into one of several broad-based themes: resistance to organizational change; resistance to outside intervention; time management problems; lack of support from the administration; teachers' perceptions; or…

Virtual Reality (VR) is a computer-created sensory experience that allows a participant to believe and barely distinguish a "virtual" experience from a real one using computer graphics, sounds, and images to reproduce electronic versions of real-life situations. This digest describes how VR works and discusses applications of VR in…

SENDIT is a telecommunications network for North Dakota educators and students in the K-12 environment. Through SENDIT, both teachers and students have access to the Internet, and some of the isolation associated with the rurality of North Dakota has been diminished. SENDIT was developed by the North Dakota State University School of Education and…

Readily accessible computer technologies including on-line notepads provide new environments for notetaking. This study sought to describe the effects of technology on the notetaking strategies and behaviors of university students. The following questions were addressed: (1) Given a choice, do students prefer taking notes from a computer tutorial…

Today the chemical processing of film is being replaced by a virtual digital darkroom. Digital image storage makes new levels of consistency possible because its nature is less volatile and more mutable than traditional photography. The potential of digital imaging is great, but issues of disk storage, computer speed, camera sensor resolution,…

Computer-assisted testing (CAT) in counseling and therapy is becoming increasingly common due to dramatic improvements in cost-effectiveness and increased counselor familiarity with computer applications. The assumption underlying the use of CAT is that the effectiveness of counseling is improved by allocating repetitive computational and…