During 30 months in 2010-2013, 56 instructional TV programmes for an English Language Learning course were scripted in the UK and produced in Turkey. Each TV programme has three drama clips, each one followed by a review of key phrases, then by a section inviting viewers to practice speaking those phrases. The rationale for this structure and for…

Motivating students to learn in general education courses, particularly in an online environment, is a challenge for many colleges and universities. A general education curriculum, by definition, is wide-ranging in its scope of topics, disciplines, and applications, but many students enter college with specific personal interests or affinities for…

Most teachers' design practice is implicit and practice based, focusing primarily on discipline content. In recent years, a number of visual design representations have emerged that help guide teachers' design practice, enabling them to create explicit designs, which can then be shared and discussed with others. These design representations help…

This paper will consider the phenomenon of design research. It will then consider four research positions in social science research. The paper will show how the design perspectives map onto the research paradigms and how by rotating through these paradigms, a design research cycle is formed. Finally, the paper will discuss four research questions…

This paper presents a framework for developing pre-service teachers' competencies in using technologies to enhance teaching and learning. It focuses on building the capacity of teacher education institutions (TEI) based on six strategic dimensions: (1) vision and philosophy; (2) program; (3) professional learning of deans, teacher educators and…

The "cyberinfrastucture" is a broad informational network that entails connections to real-time data sensors as well as tools that permit visualization and other forms of analysis, and that facilitates access to vast scientific databases. This multifaceted network, already a major boon to scientific discovery, now shows exceptional promise in…

This paper describes an approach to conceptualising and performing Web 2.0-enabled learning design. Based on the Technological, Pedagogical and Content Knowledge model of educational practice, the approach conceptualises Web 2.0 learning design by relating Anderson and Krathwohl's Taxonomy of Learning, Teaching and Assessing, and different types…

Educators participating in networked learning communities have very little support from integrated tools in evaluating students' learning activities flow and examining learners' online behaviour. There is a need for non-intrusive ways to monitor learners' progress in order better to follow their learning process and appraise the online course…

The purpose of this paper is to present the rationale and principles that guided the design and development of PARENTS, a multimedia case-based environment. Following a development research approach, the tenets of constructivist learning, and the advantages of case-based instruction, we developed a multimedia program in which we utilized and…

A major change has occurred in the way Web technology is being used in society. The change is grounded in user empowerment using Web 2.0 tools and processes. Students are already sophisticated users of these tools and processes, but outside of the mainstream instructional practices in higher education. In this reflection, the educational potential…

During the past decade, WebQuests have been widely used by teachers to integrate technology into teaching and learning. Recently, teacher educators have applied the WebQuest model with preservice teachers in order to develop technology integration skills akin to those used in everyday schools. Scaffolding, used to support the gradual acquisition…

This article presents a design methodology for matching learning tasks with learning technologies. First a working definition of "affordances" is provided based on the need to describe the action potentials of the technologies (utility). Categories of affordances are then proposed to provide a framework for analysis. Following this, a methodology…

Web 2.0 technologies empower learners to create personalized and community-based collaborative environments. Social networking technology affords learners to weave their human networks through active connections to understand what we know and we want to know. Social acts that bring out identities, awareness, relationships, connections, and…

This article reports on the collaborative journal review of an online professional community that was established to prepare this special edition for publication. The focus is on how Web 2.0 technology can be used to support a professional journal review community and to enhance active social interaction among reviewers. The theme of this special…

Understanding of the nature of social negotiations in social software spaces used in support of formal, face-to-face education remains limited. In this paper, we consider how a community of learners working collaboratively in a wiki environment established social hierarchies and negotiated power. Described is a study with 36 pre-service teachers…