For the thirty-third year, the Research and Theory Division of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. This is Volume #2 of the 33rd "Annual Proceedings of Selected Papers on the Practice of Educational Communications and Technology." This volume includes papers…

The use of animation and audio as a virtual panacea for everything from advertising to educational videos and instruction has created the presumption that any materials that use them 'must be better!' Now doubt that the addition of animation can improve message delivery on a number of scales, but the use of animation regardless of message and with…

With a growing number of courses offered online and degrees offered through the Internet, there is a considerable interest in online education, particularly as it relates to the quality of online learning instruction. The major concerns are centering on the following questions: What will be the new role for instructor in online education? How will…

This article reports the results of a study conducted to examine the use of small group learning strategies in an online college course. The study examined the effect of four types of positive interdependence and the affiliation motive on learning and attitude in an asynchronous, collaborative learning environment. Results indicated no significant…

The presentation describes the revisions to a course and the resulting student attitudes and learning. Learning Tools was revised in 2003 from oncampus only to both oncampus and online delivery. Revisions were made by standardizing the two versions, updating the technology applications presented, and modifying the instructional strategies used.…

How to ensure the quality of online learning in institutions of higher education has been a growing concern during the past several years. While several studies have focused on the perceptions of faculty and administrators, there has been a paucity of research conducted on students? perceptions toward the quality of online education. This study…

This study explored teacher educators' pedagogical beliefs and technology uses in relation to preservice teachers' pedagogical beliefs and attitudes toward technology. Correlation and regression analysis were conducted to answer the research questions. The results revealed some relationships between the teacher educators' beliefs and their uses of…

This study identifies and posits guidelines for assessing the skills and knowledge of online distance ducators. Findings derived from Cooper?s (1998) synthesis research method reveal sixteen skills that may be grouped into six areas that are thought to be essential for educators to teach successfully online. The study also shows that factors, like…

This report describes an evaluation of Computer Literacy, which is an undergraduate general studies course, offered by College of Education at a large southwestern university. The purpose of this course is to provide knowledge about computer and computing, and application skills in using Microsoft Office software. The course is coordinated by a…

The purpose of this study was to test the principle of modality by using audio to deliver verbal information when that information is designed to support non-verbal information such as animations in a computer-based lesson. This was done by comparing the effect of two types of audio support mechanisms- a simple support mechanism consisting of…

A team consisting of three faculty members from Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness management, and Food Science with two research assistants at Penn State University has been working for three years on creating a food product case library for a problem-based learning and case-based instruction course. With the assistance of experts from the food…

As most any high school or college English teacher can verify, it is the rare group of students that approaches the study of Shakespeare with anything other than a mixture of anxiety over the difficulty of making sense of the plays' language and annoyance that, once again, they will be forced to engage in an activity they find both unjustifiably…

Few universities are currently offering an online course with collaborative learning component in Instructional Design. This study shared information on an on-going evaluation of online Instructional Design courses from 94 graduate students who have taken this course, hoping to find out the most effective way to deliver similar courses. This…

Human working memory can be defined as a component system responsible for the temporary storage and manipulation of information related to higher level cognitive behaviors, such as understanding and reasoning (Baddeley, 1992; Becker & Morris, 1999). Working memory, while able to manage a complex array of cognitive activities, presents with an…

This paper reviews more than a decade of investigations undertaken to determine what motivates and what discourages faculty participation in distance education. The presenters describe the evidence that faculty extrinsic and intrinsic conditions both influence willingness to participate. The researchers compare the findings of this study with…