While few business people dispute the importance of carefully crafting persuasive, demanding, conciliatory, and bad-news letters, the regular flow of routine communications receives very little meaningful consideration or scrutiny. These routine communications (letters, inquiries, requests, collection letters, complaints, confirmations,…

A study investigated the conditions under which computer-mediated communication (CMC) (electronic mail) senders were perceived as self-absorbed by CMC receivers. Experience with electronic mail was the independent variable and perceived self-absorption, attraction, and homophily were the dependent variables. Two-hundred fifty volunteers from a…

"SpecialNet," a computer-based communications network for educators at all administrative levels, has been established and is managed by National Systems Management, Inc. Users can send and receive electronic mail, share information on electronic bulletin boards, participate in electronic conferences, and send reports and other documents to each…

CMS (Computer Mail System) School-Net is an informal, grass-roots telecommunications network developed by the San Diego (California) School District to provide assistance in improving student language and communications skills. Each CMS electronic bulletin board represents a node in the network, which operates independently during the day as a…

This paper discusses email journaling for those hoping to become a teacher. The author discusses an innovative format she designed for journal entries that revolutionized her field experience supervision practices and those of other supervisors with whom she has shared this format. It has vastly improved the quality of the teacher-candidate's…

This study compared two methods of computer instruction for older adults. Elder Computer Instruction was systematically designed and developed according to criteria established by both theory and research in andragogy. This instructional design took into consideration identified cognitive and physical changes that accompany the aging process.…

Learning to communicate in English is an essential tool to access many resources via worldwide networks in the global society. Like students from many other countries, students in Taiwan study English for years, but lack opportunities to practice. For English-as-a-Second-Language students, the World Wide Web provides a learning environment in…

Nearly 90% of all University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (UWEC) students and staff are regular users of e-mail. The University has taken advantage of this widespread use and replaced many paper distributions--payroll earnings statements, unofficial transcripts, degree audits, adviser grade reports, bills, et cetera--with distribution via e-mail.…

Discusses electronic information resources related to former Soviet and east European studies that are available through academic communications networks such as BITNET. Descriptions and access information are provided for online library catalogs, databases, discussion groups, listservers, and electronic journals. Electronic mail links with former…

Describes the electronic theses and dissertations (ETD) program at the University of Virginia (UVA). The system is designed to be easy and self-explanatory. Submission instructions guide the student step-by-step. Screen messages, such as errors, are generated automatically when appropriate, while email messages, regarding the status of the…

Each new media revolution forces adjustments for both the producers of messages and the receivers of those messages. Integral to the communication process is an understanding of what it means to be literate in an eclectic communication environment and of how the new media may enhance or impede literacy. An important premise for this discussion is…

Collaboration is beginning to be encouraged as colleges and schools search for ways to transcend the isolated circumstances of the independent scholar and the traditional classroom. Three collaborative projects that can be effective in preservice teacher education classes are: (1) a partnership with single school; (1) a partnership with a group of…

Discussion abounds about the quality of rhetoric on computer bulletin boards, chat lines and e-mail. Within the past year the CEDA-L, a bulletin board dedicated to the communication of the Cross Examination Debate Association community, has become one of the most popular avenues for information dissemination. A study examined 1000 messages posted…

The authors' experiences with electronic bulletin boards are recounted. Begun in 1986, the Physics Forum bulletin board for Massachusetts high school physics teachers spent its first few years as a resource of limited use only. In 1989, however, the National Science Foundation awarded the Five Colleges/Western Massachusetts Partnership a grant…

Limited professional focus appears to impair teacher unions' external influence and internal communication. Inquiry and research may be used as a strategy to improve professional focus thereby increasing teacher unions' influence within the profession and helping them effectively address structural change issues. By shifting to the inquiry mode,…