Secondary-school systems throughout the world are preoccupied with technology integration in subject teaching and learning. Advocacy of the educational use of new technologies often seems to suggest that their value is evident, their adoption urgent, their implementation unproblematic, and their impact transformative. However, the recent…

This article will first look past the hype at the broader technological list of existing and proposed strategies, which may be grouped under the umbrella of peer-to-peer, in terms of both information and communications technology networks, and the applications, which can leverage those networks. This will lay a base for a discussion of what these…

The culture and traditions of colleges and universities have been foci of attention by strategic planners, development officers and consultants. Developing a unique market niche to attract students and keep alumni affiliated is a constant struggle. As we build new electronic universities and add electronic courses and dimensions of existing…

The paper explores some of the key themes and discussion points that were aired at the Association of Learning Technology conference in 2004. It discusses the findings of several of the keynote speakers and presenters within the context of the relationship between technology, practice and innovation. It references the papers presented in the…

Although information technology is increasingly used to deliver distance and conventional courses, there have been few studies of the effect of technology-enhanced education on the organization and purposes of academics' instructional work. I explore this issue in undergraduate and masters level education through the vehicle of case analyses of…

Learning technologies are becoming a common, and in many cases essential, component of the contemporary learning environment. As such, those who design, implement and control these encompassing technologies have emerged as major contributors to the success (or otherwise) of such systems. This article considers the power and responsibilities of…

With the amount of research and research journals available on the subject, it may seem like we have established many "facts" and "truths" about technology and pedagogy. More realistically, the 'truth' is that we are only just beginning to learn within and about the young field of educational technology (understanding the…

This paper explores the role played by communication technologies and study orientations in the amplification and reduction of transactional distance in blended learning. Factor analysis and structural equation modelling of different communication modes (face to face, email and telephone) revealed that students experience at least some…

Digital tools are increasingly being used to support teaching in higher education. These tools place new demands on the tasks and responsibilities of the teacher, and can influence teacher roles. In this study we investigate the long-term use and development of a tool for facilitating the negotiation of meaning in argumentative student texts,…

The effect of educational technologies on learning is an area of active interest. We conducted an experiment to compare the impact of instructional software on student performance. We hypothesize that some of the impact on student performance may reflect the influence of the technology on student subject-related beliefs and that those beliefs may…

This article focuses on the social practices of propagating and circulating memes within Internet environments as a significant dimension of cultural production and transmission. Memes (pronounced "meems") are contagious patterns of cultural information that are passed from mind to mind and which directly shape and transmit key actions and…

Although there is great interest, and considerable investment, in adopting technology within Higher Education, it is less clear what this change means to the people who implement or experience it. Presently, there is no consistent framework used to study and explain this phenomenon. In this paper, we propose a framework that can structure and…

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the variety of information and communication technology (ICT) applications at traditional universities and to integrate them into a holistic picture of the institution. Using the distinction of three key elements of scholarly activity (research, publication, education), it suggests a functional…

The call for quality research into the effectiveness of learning technologies is a common feature in much of the related literature and the broad question of how schools use technology to transform and improve the quality of student learning is one main area of concern. Projects like DECStech have flagged the need for research into student…

Technology and technological applications are, indeed, a continuous process that dates way back in human history. Every time a new technology comes around, a process of change accompanies its implementation. Higher education, like any other sector in the society, is affected by technology applications and always races to institute the necessary…