In this paper, different perspectives on the role of the teacher in a classroom equipped with personal digital assistants (PDAs) are presented. We report on four classroom studies conducted in two countries, Norway and the USA. The overall aim is to understand the use of new tools in different contexts. The key question that we explore concerns…

The language of school is demanding; much of the content is decontextualized and abstract, and it concerns matters that are far removed from the daily life. Students are expected to learn about rain forests and prime numbers, literary motifs, and historical events that occurred centuries ago. Consider the additional cognitive demands confronting…

Classroom engagement can be problematic for students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing (DHH), but is essential to ensure that they can reach their best educational and postschool outcomes. This study used semi-structured interviews to explore the self-perceived barriers and facilitators to classroom engagement for 16 DHH students educated in…

This study examined the interaction effects of self-explanation and game-reward strategies on sixth graders' algebra variable learning achievement, learning attitude, and meta-cognitive awareness. A learning system was developed to support the learning activity, and a 2×2 quasi-experiment was conducted. Ninety-seven students were invited to…

Spatial thinking skills positively relate to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) outcomes, but spatial training is largely absent in elementary school. Elementary school is a time when children develop foundational cognitive skills that will support STEM learning throughout their education. Spatial thinking should be considered a…

This research explored the impact of a sixth grade one-to-one laptop initiative on student attitudes about learning and technological competencies. The study compared student preintervention and postintervention survey data prior to and after a sixth grade laptop intervention initiative. The survey responses were divided into 5 dimensions (School…

High-quality field-based experiences are at the core of teacher preparation programs; however, the COVID-19 pandemic severely limited access to such placements for pre-service teachers. This descriptive study examined how virtual tutoring in a summer-semester intermediate literacy course impacted both pre-service teachers and students served.…

The authors present evidence-based digital literacy practices and resources for teaching and learning English as an additional language in two different educational contexts where these practices have been applied successfully with adolescent learners.

To support students' development of concepts in mathematics, the use of technology is often encouraged (Common Core State Standards Initiative [CCSSI] 2010). Technology can contextualize learning and provide a meaningful setting for mathematical ideas. Most teachers are supportive regarding the use of technology to encourage learning and…

Digital books or e-books have revolutionized the way we access books and information. Students no longer spend hours paging through books at the library to gather information in order to write a paper. Now, they turn to a computer, tablet, or other mobile devices and search the Web. As we continue into the twenty first century, schools are being…

According to the design principle of progressive schematization, learning trajectories towards procedural rules can be organized as independent discoveries when the learning arrangement invites the students first to develop models for mathematical concepts and model-based informal strategies; then to explore the strategies and to discover pattern…

This article is aimed to demonstrate how language policy at the local school level may create space for translanguaging. Focus is on a Mother Tongue (MT) classroom for Somali in a primary school in Sweden by way of an analysis of layers of language policy, with focus on spatial aspects. The empirical material consists of policy documents,…

The purpose of this teacher research study is to ascertain students' interest in STEM and beliefs about STEM before and after STEM specific instruction, explore possible differences in STEM self-efficacy by gender, and explore differences in STEM self-efficacy by group role. Our primary data sources include a modified attitudinal survey and…

This paper examines two factors that have been shown in previous literature to enhance students' interest in learning mathematics--personalization of problems to students' interest areas, and the addition of visual representations such as decorative illustrations. In two studies taking place within an online curriculum for middle school…

The article investigates the accessibility of mobile and networking technologies to schoolchildren of different ages living in various areas and how they use these technologies. The author considers the potential ways in which modern technologies can be used in education. The potential benefits of such technologies are particularly promising for…