This document is a compilation of 14 papers from presentations and posters of the Second Life Education Workshop at the Second Life Community Convention, presented at the Fort Mason Centre in San Francisco, California in August 2006. Following a foreword (John Bransford and Drue Gawel); preface (John Lester); and word from the chairs (Daniel…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe educational MOOs--MUD, object-oriented (text-based, network-accessible virtual environments) and explore how teaching and learning in such a context impacts on students' inhibitions. Design/methodology/approach: Students enrolled in a course on the psychology of cyberspace interacted for 12 weeks…

This study explores the question of access in Arizona's postsecondary electronic education environment by looking at an urban community college with a highly diverse student population. Phoenix College (PC) is a community college in the Maricopa Community College District in Phoenix, Arizona. A number of neighborhoods near the campus showed a…

Professors in higher education are experimenting with a wide array of techniques in order to preserve integrity of the academic evaluation process in the online environment. Current instructors perceive some increased risk of "cheating" in cyberspace classrooms, and some changes in the forms these incidents take. We anticipate the continuing…

Apart from studying students' interaction in Web-based environments in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL), it is essential to recognize the importance of the contextual setting in which learning takes place. This study examines the role of face-to-face encounters as contextual support in an international teacher education course…

Teaching and learning online is one of several risky practices in higher education today that threaten to disfigure academics' work and identity. For many academics, accustomed to the tempo and practices of face-to-face teaching, it threatens disorientation. In this article the author examines the teaching beliefs of a computer science lecturer,…

Virtual environments are more and more used in primary schools. One of the most interesting potentialities of these environments is to foster cross-national applications. Yet, this specific feature is not fully exploited. This paper presents a successful virtual learning environment for primary education involving two European countries and…

Computer mediated communication--including web pages, email and web-based bulletin boards--was used to support the development of a cooperative learning community among students in a web-based distance education unit for practicing science and mathematics educators. The students lived in several Australian states and a number of Pacific Rim…

This report examines the types of professional development necessary to implement successful online learning initiatives. The potential for schools utilizing online learning is tremendous: schools can develop new distribution methods to enable equity and access for all students, they can provide high quality content for all students and they can…

Manchester Business School employs a distinctive approach to learning known as the Manchester Method which is based on the principle that the most effective and rewarding way to learn and remember is through a practical reflective, live/real project-based approach. This paper investigates the use of a collaboration and information sharing…

This paper draws on experiences with teaching on online course in digital library issues. The course is offered as part of an MLIS programme. The paper explores student reactions to the online learning environment, which has been delivered using the commercial products WebCT and Blackboard. Student reactions to the use of synchronous and…

This report on state virtual schools outlines the recent trends associated with virtual high schools over the last 15 years. It notes that early trends indicate that virtual schools are on the rise. The report provides reasons for why the trends have occurred, and describes the Southern Regional Education Board's role in providing information and…

The E-Learn program is a collaboration of all seven University of Hawai'i (UH) community colleges to offer a distance-delivered Associate in Arts degree. The core mission of the UH Community Colleges is to put postsecondary education within the reach of every resident of the state. To provide that access, community colleges must be affordable,…

This study reports the development and evaluation of a web-based interactive writing environment designed for elementary school students. The environment includes three writing themes, "story pass on", "story chameleon" and "thousand ideas", to encourage reading comprehension, creativity and problem-solving skills of…

This paper explores how human service learners subjectively experience a web-based approach to learning. The course was a new iteration of an earlier course on enhancing cultural competency and involved a sample size of 72 participants. A course on cultural competency can be a difficult one to deliver via a web-based medium given the potentially…