This article presents an overview of online learning, particularly for elementary- and secondary-school students. Online learning has much to offer certain students under the right circumstances. However, questions remain about policies regarding online learning and the suitability of the approach for younger students. (Contains 6 online…

Three years ago, the language lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison encountered the same challenge many campuses face. Older analog technologies were getting harder--in some cases impossible--to maintain, thus making the move to digital technologies a necessity. A typical solution would have been to digitize existing materials and substitute…

This paper describes Coconuts (Concurrent Collaborative Learning Environment Supported by Awareness), a proposed module of Sharlok (Sharing, Linking and Looking-for Knowledge), an open-ended and collaborative learning environment that integrates a knowledge building tool with a collaborative interface tool. Coconuts was developed in order to…

"E-Learning and Virtual Science Centers" addresses an aspect of Web-based education that has not attracted sufficient attention in the international research literature--that of virtual science centers, the cyberspace annex of traditional science centers. It is the first book to be published on the rapidly advancing field of science education.…

This article reports the development, validation and use of a survey for assessing students' perceptions of their e-learning environments. The Online Learning Environment Survey (OLES) was administered to 325 students, 131 in Australia and 194 in Hong Kong. The data were analysed to examine 1) the reliability and validity of the survey, 2)…

This presentation is a discursive treatment of the migration of a classroom based translation class to online delivery using the Virtual Learning Environment WebCT. The main focus is not on the VLE itself, but on the pedagogical challenges posed by the move to online delivery and the course structure developed to retain as many of the advantages…

This paper describes the analysis undertaken to design a 1-credit-hour online orientation course for students new to online learning. An instructional design team, as a part of an advanced instructional design course, worked with a university-based client. The client identified specific problem areas encountered by novice students of online…

Atlantis University is an ambitious international project in the area of learning and is currently being developed by a group of universities and companies. It combines three different types of learning and teaching to form a single package offered to Students and people in the workplace alike: face-to-face learning, e-learning and project-based…

Student perceptions were investigated toward their experience of learning online in a web-based graduate social policy course. Overall, student perceptions were positive toward the online features of this course with the most useful features being the PowerPoint lecture notes and the Discussion Board. Students were more satisfied with their…

A school district in the southwestern United States has over the past several years built its infrastructure to support high-quality technology integration by its teachers. The district partnered with a nearby university's educational technology graduate program to develop a digital high school project. Teachers and advanced instructional-design…

This conference focused on the many elements of distance education that must be integrated into a smooth-functioning whole that provides a quality learning experience. This proceedings contains 76 papers presented at information sessions, 14 workshop papers, and one addendum. Topics include learning environments; learning strategies; funding;…

"The Achiever" is a monthly newsletter designed expressly for parents and community leaders. Each issue contains news and information about school improvement in the United States. Highlights of this issue include: (1) Proposed Budget Invests More Into NCLB, Neediest Students; (2) Making History: L.A. County School With Disadvantaged…

In many places across the country, public school students no longer automatically attend their neighborhood school. Instead, parents may decide that their child's needs are better met elsewhere, for example, at a small alternative school, an arts magnet school, a charter technology high school, or a media academy operating within a larger school.…

This guide is based on a model developed from experience with hundreds of online courses. The authors are members of The Concord Consortium, a nonprofit educational technology lab dedicated to improving teaching practices through the appropriate integrated use of technology in the classroom. Based on their experience, the authors offer the Concord…

In many organizations, collaborating with peers, sharing resources, and codifying know-how are not typical facets of work activity. For such organizations, knowledge management support must help people identify and orient to opportunities for collaboration and sharing, articulate values and best practices, and assimilate sharing knowledge as an…