How computer-mediated communication through international communications networks and electronic mail can be used in foreign language education was investigated in a multisite ethnographic case study of 134 Finnish secondary school students learning English and foreign participants from British and U.S. schools. Introducing these technological…

Explores benefits and limitations of online teaching and learning, online teaching strategies, and cultural aspects associated with cross-cultural collaboration based on email correspondence between American preservice teachers and Taiwanese students. American students practiced online instruction as tutors for English as a second language, and…

Technological advances have brought about the ever-increasing utilisation of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) media in the learning of a second language (L2). Computer-mediated communication, for example, provides a practical means for extending the learning of spoken language, a challenging process in tonal languages such as Chinese,…

This article describes a teaching experiment in Finland to develop critical thinking and argumentation skills in a university course using both face-to-face and e-mail settings. Subjects (n=49) were advanced students of education and three faculty members. All students received two lectures on argumentation and packages of argumentative writings…

The planning and implementing of a rural instructional television fixed service (ITFS) distance education program at California State University-Fresno (CSUF) is described. The three important functions of establishing a distance education program within a learning institution are addressed: telecommunications networking, management…

Providing a variety of instructional methods and materials, developing unique and effective communication systems, and continually evaluating the process are the keys to the effective delivery of field-based programs in graduate education offered by Nova University (Florida). It has become a leader in distance-education programs by offering…

Discusses how e-mail correspondence should be supported and integrated into the overall second language learning program. Reviews a telematics international e-mail exchange project, focusing on the documentation of integration of the project into the overall language program. Findings reveal that the strength of this work is in showing how its…

Outlines current directions that computer assisted language learning (CALL) is taking, highlighting CALL's social dimension and discussing Turkle's books, "Language Learning Through Social Computing" and "Life on the Screen." The paper explains that the current social context, which includes rich, user-friendly environments for sharing, discourse,…

Illustrates how technology can change the university atmosphere through two scenarios set in the years of 1998 and 2006 in which Jack Reynolds, an associate professor, proceeds through his day; by the year 2006, he encounters new situations, materials, and classroom settings as a result of adequate technological resources. (CMK)

This article describes an email project carried out jointly by the Institute of Modern Languages and the Department of Applied Languages at Antonio de Nebrija University in Madrid and the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) in the US during the first semester of the academic year 2004-2005. Students worked with a partner exchanging…

As enrollments decline, many institutions rush to implement distance education programs, often with only crude or solely administrative guidelines for program development. The following seven principles of good practice can be useful to guide initial program development: (1) programs should have purpose, direction, leadership, and clearly…

This paper examines two different delivery methods, video and computer-based instruction (CBI) for instructing preservice teachers in the use of an electronic mail system, FIRNMAIL. Three questions were asked about students who were taught FIRNMAIL through a video presentation and those taught through an interactive, computer-based simulation…

The present study reports results of an experiment in which the author and her students at King Saud University (KSU) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia shared an online grammar course with a professor and his students at Umm Al-Qura University (UQU) in Makkah, Saudi Arabia using www.makkahelearning.net. The experiment proved to be a total failure. Factors…

These six issues of a periodical intended for teachers and tutors of adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students offer articles and features including the following: readers' comments and questions; in-class map practice ideas; songs for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learning; suggested films to show in class; conversation activities;…

This study examined the consequences of establishing e-mail communication between two classes in different schools: a fifth grade of children with hearing difficulties and a fourth grade of children without hearing difficulties. The arrangement provided an opportunity for children to interact with peers whom they would not normally meet at school.…