The Rapid City Academy is the alternative high school program for South Dakota's Rapid City Area Schools, which has an enrollment of about 13,000 K-12 students, with five middle schools feeding two large traditional high schools and the alternative program. A high percentage of students at the academy are considered "at-risk" due to…

"simSchool" is a classroom simulation program funded by the Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Teach with Technology (PT3) program of the U.S. Department of Education. Just as a flight-simulator immerses a player in the complexities of flying a plane, "simSchool" immerses novice teachers in some of the complexities of teaching 7th-12th grade…

This study was designed to evaluate the use of asynchronous discussion in distance education in terms of student perceptions of its value for learning and for affective support. At the end of the third and sixth years of a distance delivered teacher education programme, students completed a survey to determine the extent to which the nature and…

Support is needed to promote problem-based learning (PBL) and to enhance critical thinking skills in discussion-based Internet forums. By advancing the capabilities of chat room and forum software, problem-based discussions for learning can be supported further in online learning environments. In this paper, the authors report on MALESAbrain, an…

With the advances in Internet technologies, online education is fast gaining ground as an extension to traditional education. Webcast allows lectures conducted on campus to be viewed by students located at remote sites by streaming the audio and video content over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. However when used alone, webcast does not provide…

The conference proceedings include the following papers: (1) The Arts Metaverse in Open Croquet: Exploring an Open Source 3-D Online Digital World (Ulrich Rauch and Tim Wang); (2) Beyond World of Warcraft: the Universe of MMOGs (Ruben R. Puentedura); (3) ClevelandPlus in Second Life (Wendy Shapiro, Lev Gonick, and Sue Shick); (4) Folksemantic:…

This article explores innovations in assessment of student teaching practice employed in the University of Cincinnati, USA, online associate's degree in early childhood education, the Early Childhood Learning Community. The program's components are identified with a specific focus on assessment of teaching practicum. The use of a range of…

As a part of the teacher licensure program at the graduate level at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), the M.Ed. Licensure candidate is required to complete an action research project during a 3-semester-hour course that coincides with the 9-semester-hour student teaching experience. This course, Education 590 Culminating…

The rapid growth of online learning has mandated the development of faculty evaluation models geared specifically toward the unique demands of the online classroom. With a foundation in the best practices of online learning, adapted to meet the dynamics of a growing online program, the Online Instructor Evaluation System created at Park University…

The purpose of this study was to determine what factors motivated community college faculty to participate in distance education. It examined the following factors from the perspective of faculty and division chairs: (1) preference toward synchronous and asynchronous course delivery; (2) rewards for distance education faculty; (3) rewards for…

Community colleges have been pioneers in the use of analog and digital telecommunications technologies, including the Internet, to deliver education and training to students on campus, in the community, and at greater distances. Members of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) believe that the strength of the nation's economy, as…

This paper deals with the research of the realization interaction in the Finnish Virtual University's network-based studies of cognitive science in the autumn 2001. This research examines the independent study of cognitive science which occurs through a network and the face-to-face study that takes place in cooperation in a group and the study…

The present study describes and discusses the use of a virtual community to build language and culture skills. According to the National Standards Project (2004), "The United States must educate students who are linguistically and culturally equipped to communicate successfully in a pluralistic American society and abroad." Through the…

This paper is a consideration of the issues associated with the infrastructural aspects, pedagogic considerations and the need to associate the usefulness of technology to enhance the learning experience. This technological path will potentially enhance the learning process, not replace the lecturer or tutor. For lecturers and students, the…

The president of a vastly profitable virtual education corporation asserted that customers flock to him, not for an education, but for the material comforts that an education provides. Compelled by technology and supported by the World Trade Organization, such huge credentialing agencies employ lowpaid contractors to dish out homogenized info…