With the rapid advances in technology, several online learning tools come onto the stage. Being an online learning delivery tool to support a full range of teaching and learning activities conducted by educational institutions Moodle facilitates online content creation and collaboration by entailing various social and communication tools that…

Formal learning usually takes place in a physical classroom. An extension of learning process may continue to occur in a conventional setting where learners get together physically after class hours. In other words, learning may take place within particular zones. Vygotsky's idea of zone of proximal development (ZPD) suggests that learning may not…

The purpose of this study was to investigate (1) the relationship between critical thinking skills (CTS) and critical thinking dispositions (CTD), and (2) the effectiveness of different levels of instructional strategy (asynchronous online discussions (AODs), CTS instruction via AODs, and CTS instruction with CTD cultivation via AODs) in improving…

Progress in travel, technology, and other domains has contributed to the breaking down of barriers between countries and allowed for the development of an increasingly global society. International cooperation and competition are now pervasive in areas as diverse as business, science, arts, politics, and athletics. Educating students to navigate…

This paper investigates the complex interactions that occur as teachers meet online to justify and negotiate their assessment judgements of student work across relatively large and geographically dispersed populations. Drawing from sociocultural theories of learning and technology, the technology is positioned as playing a role in either…

Professional teacher communities appear to be positively related to student learning, teacher learning, teacher practice and school culture. Teacher collaboration is a significant element of these communities. In initial teacher training as well as in-service training and other initiatives for teacher learning, collaborative skills should be…

Traditional university adult education is seen as catering for the elite in contrast to a university radio study group campaign which proved far more effective in reaching the less well educated and financially insecure rural inhabitants of Tanzania, and which promises to help break down social strata rather than reinforce them. (Author/KP)

With the resources provided by communication technologies, E-learning has been employed in multiple universities, as well as in wide range of training centers and schools. This book presents a structured collection of chapters, dealing with the subject and stressing the importance of E-learning. It shows the evolution of E-learning, with…

Background: This study was situated in Singapore, which aims to achieve engaged learning in P-12 schools with the use of educational technology. One of the foci of study among Singaporean educational researchers is a computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environment that emphasizes collaboration among learners for the coconstruction of…

Recent advances in ubiquitous computing technologies have brought reality augmentation of traditional objects to context-aware and social supports. Although a significant proportion of students prefer poring over traditional paper textbooks over electronic books, few studies have enhanced reading practice of traditional books with ubiquitous…

Choosing the "right" type of technology, either synchronous or asynchronous, to facilitate learning outcomes is a new challenge as the pace of emerging technologies increases and diversifies. Teachers are encouraged to design courses that require collaboration in online learning communities to facilitate the development of higher order…

Mutual improvement societies were at the forefront of adult education in New Zealand from 1870-1915. Although university extension and technical education were major contributors to adult education in Britain and Australia, they were less successful in New Zealand; thus the mutual improvement societies were predominant. (SK)

Discusses the administrative role and the social role of three listserv student moderators as they mediated discussions about literature with Year 12 students in Australia. Suggests student moderators can facilitate discussion by initiating topics, contributing to existing discussions, and modelling effective discussant behavior. (NH)

This paper uses Conversation Analysis to investigate the ways in which participants in an online asynchronous postgraduate reading group managed and negotiated their contributions within the discussion. Using the conversation analytic concerns with sequential organisation, adjacency pairs and topicality, this article shows the analytic insights…

The present study focuses on the use of thinking types as a possible way to structure university students' discourse in asynchronous discussion groups and consequently promote their learning. More specifically, the aim of the study is to determine how requiring students to label their contributions by means of De Bono's (1991) thinking hats…