This article describes how online discussion groups and visual collaboration can be used in combination to build and support a virtual community of learners. Data derived from several online discussion groups are presented, and the support needs of learners are highlighted as a key factor of success. (Contains 1 figure.)

As part of a larger project, we studied how a foreign language test got discursively constructed in the talk of upper-secondary-school leavers. A group of students were asked to keep an oral diary to record their ideas, feelings and experiences of preparing for and taking the test over the last spring term of school, as part of a high-stakes…

Many consider rich argumentation to be the core of quality discussions and view it as a vehicle to solving problems and clarifying content. This study examined the influence of a discussion leader intervention on the quality of online argumentation and interactivity. Subjects were 44 undergraduate students who participated in online discussions on…

This study aimed to catalog the nature of written message exchanges on a network computer bulletin board, HSJOURN, which caters mainly to high school journalism teachers and publications advisers. The study analyzed the content of messages between December 1993 and January 1995 and cataloged them in the following categories: announcements;…

The Project for Enhancing Effective Learning (PEEL) is a well-established Australian example of teacher collaborative action research. The aim of the project, which began in a secondary school in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia) and later spread to other countries, is to improve the quality of students' classroom learning through practice in…

This guide was developed to assist teachers and media staff in Winnipeg, Manitoba to work together to plan programs that help students develop independent, resource-based learning skills. The first section of the guide describes how library research projects can be used to teach independent learning skills. The guide discusses opportunities for…

Noting the rapid and large changes in international finance over the past 2 decades, this paper offers suggestions for teaching business education courses on international finance. The paper recommends a combination of computer-assisted instruction and electronic classroom, discussion group, independent study, and lecture. Computer-assisted…

This document consists of a packet of materials published in December 1990 and designed to assist citizens in forming study circles to discuss the crisis in the Persian Gulf. The resources are designed to be nonpartisan, fair, and balanced, and try to make the strongest possible case for four different options, reflecting a broad range of…

Asynchronous discussion allows students to read and respond "out-of-time." This form of online discussion, as experienced in a college literacy course, creates a text of talk that has the potential to be reflective given the freedom participants have in their response time. However, students often struggle with reflection. Instructors…

Drawing on previously unpublished archival materials as well as historical accounts of American education and the self-help tradition of education in the United States, this book examines the origins, theoretical bases, and implications of writing groups. Following an introduction that points out the varied circumstances under which writing groups…

For a variety of reasons, including overemphasis on professional autonomy, many classroom teachers experience disillusionment and feelings of isolation. This paper explores teaching clinics as a way to break down barriers and foster dialogue among teachers. The Schenley High School Teacher Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, developed a teaching…

A practical guide and checklists for planning a conference concerning strategies for the advancement of women in higher education administration are presented. The guide is based on the planning of two conferences in Kentucky. Checklists are provided for each of the following 15 planning/implementation steps: determine the size and characteristics…

A general education cluster course structure at the State University of New York, Plattsburgh, is described. Philosophy, anthropology, and geography classes met separately to cover the different disciplines, and joint sessions for learning exercises were held. Cluster course objectives were: to provide undergraduates with a broad and integrative…

RESEARCH ON TEACHING METHODS WAS REVIEWED TO DETERMINE WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT ACHIEVING EFFECTIVE TEACHING. EMPHASIS WAS PLACED ON EMPIRICAL RESEARCH, BOTH HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY, RATHER THAN THEORETICAL INNOVATIONS. DISCUSSIONS WERE PRESENTED ON (1) COURSE CONTENT AND CLASS SIZE, (2) TRADITIONAL TEACHING METHODS OF LECTURE AND DISCUSSION…

FOURTEEN NONPROFESSIONAL PROGRAM ASSISTANTS WERE CHOSEN TO CONDUCT THE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS FOR LOW INCOME HOMEMAKERS IN FIVE ALABAMA COUNTIES, SUPERVISED BY THE COUNTY HOME ECONOMIST. THE STATE ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF INCLUDED A SPECIALIST IN EDUCATIONAL METHODS, AN ASSISTANT SPECIALIST, AND AN ARTIST. DEPRIVED MOTHERS WERE REFERRED BY PUBLIC…