According to recent research, "Very few teacher education programs in the United States offer a curriculum for online teaching, leaving districts, states, and virtual schools to train online teachers" (Dawley, Rice, & Hinck, 2010, p. 11). One of the difficulties of creating a training program for online educators is identifying their unique needs…

This study examined the effects on performance of online access to peer-generated questions during question-generation activities. Two eighth grade classes (N = 63) participated in six weekly question-generation sessions to support English learning. An online student question-generation learning system was adopted. In contrast to expectations…

According to Molnar (2014), full time virtual school education lacks a measurement tool that accurately measures effective virtual teacher practice. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, the current study sought to understand the common practices among full time K-8 virtual school teachers, the extent to which teachers believed such…

Increasing national emphasis on classroom technology integration has produced a need for effective professional development to support the acquisition of technology skills by elementary, middle, and secondary school teachers. This mixed methodology study investigates the use of Web-based training as a supplement to traditional professional…

Third grade students at a Midwestern elementary school participated in a 9-week mobile learning intervention (MLI). Two classrooms used Everyday Math and daily practice using flashcards, etc., to learn multiplication. Two other classrooms used Everyday Math and web applications for the iPod touch for daily practice. MLI students outperformed…

In 1992, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation began its "Anytime, Anyplace Learning Program", the purpose of which was to explore educational alternatives for people who wanted to pursue an education via Internet technology. Part of this grant activity was a research award to the Babson College Survey Research Group to examine online learning in…

This article describes school models that offer a vision for what deeply integrated technology can mean for children's education, for the way schools are structured, and for the promise of greater efficiency amid a lengthy economic downturn. This is much more than simply taking a class online. Already, millions of children take one or more online…

Students with disabilities encounter many difficulties in learning activities, especially in reading. To help them participate in reading activities more effectively, this study proposed an integrated reading support system based on the principle of multiple representations. An integrated e-reading support system provides physical, sensory, and…

Designing didactic objects involves imagining how students can conceive of specific mathematical topics and then imagining what types of classroom discussions could support these mental constructions. This study investigated whether it was possible to design Java applets that might serve as didactic objects to support online learning where…

Social media use has become increasingly embedded in everyday life. Among various social media, Facebook is a highly interactive virtual social communication tool and it has become increasingly popular on college campuses. Research results have indicated that Facebook could be an effective platform for informal learning. However, most of current…

Online texts present unique challenges to readers, requiring them to interact with texts in ways that differ from their interactions with static, print texts (Kress, 2003; 2010; McKenna, 2003; Reinking, 1998). Due to the multimodal, multilayered, and nonlinear nature of online texts, readers may also employ strategies when they read online,…

Advances in technology are having a profound impact on distance education as online learning is becoming a preferred educational option. Within these online learning experiences, the asynchronous online discussion has evolved into one of the most commonly used communication tools. However, a lack of cognitive processing and interaction in the…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of a ubiquitous problem-based learning system (UPBLS) on students' question-raising performance in field inquiry activities. An experiment was conducted on an elementary school natural science course. A total of 43 sixth and fifth grade elementary students divided into experienced and…

For their 57th annual conference, the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers (ALER) met in Dallas, Texas at Addison Marriott Quorum by the Galleria. This year's conference theme was Exploring the World of Literacy, which was also used as the title for this year's Yearbook, Volume 36. Included are double-peer reviewed papers,…

1:1 Laptop initiatives continue to grow throughout Nebraska schools. There are many questions regarding their effectiveness in improving student learning, justifications for expenses, and the process to guide such an initiative. The purpose of this case study was to explore students' perceptions of academic self-efficacy and self-regulation while…