Examines constructivism in online learning, suggesting that part of the cause of the gap that exists between educational theorists and science instructors about how subjects can be taught appears to be due to different beliefs about what it is possible to learn. Illustrates a scientist's approach through examples of an online course designed by…

Presents a strategy for technology integration that can be used effectively with any professional staff development activity. Through properly designed workshops over an academic year, one can facilitate the implementation of change in an educational institution. Discusses focus of the workshops; focus on teachers; spaced practice; workshop…

Proposes a model for transforming equivalency in education from a unit of measurement focused on time in the classroom to one focused on learner achievement. While allowing time and location to vary across courses and academic programs, the Capabilities Based Educational Equivalency (CBEE) Units model permits the valid comparison of student…

Discusses categories of common approaches K-12 and higher education faculty members take to adapt their courses for distance delivery. Describes the "dive-in technique," the "chunking approach," and the "start-from-scratch" approach. These different approaches to the problem of distance education illustrate that there are a variety of ways to be…

Collaborative online course development brings together a group of staff with experience in course content, instructional design, multimedia, graphic arts, and HTML formatting to create a course. The process is illustrated through by a collaborative design initiative at Grant MacEwan College to convert existing print-based distance courses to a…

Outlines fruitful areas of information and instructional technology (IIT) in education research: pedagogy of online environments; simulation, visualization, and modeling; mind-tools or cognitive tools; assessment tools; wireless computing; tools for learning communities; tools for project work and authentic tasks; integration of media, tools, and…

Discussion of Web-based course management systems (W-CMSs) in higher education focuses on formative evaluation and its contribution in the design and development of high-quality W-CMSs. Reviews methods and techniques that can be applied in formative evaluation and examines TeLeTOP, a W-CMS produced at the University of Twente (Netherlands). (LRW)

Discusses the design of Web pages and sites and proposes a four-level model of Web development expertise that can serve as a curriculum overview or as a plan for an individual's professional development. Highlights include page design, media use, client-side processing, server-side processing, and site structure. (LRW)

Discussion of the notion of a community of learners focuses on two objectives: social constructivism, or negotiating knowledge; and apprenticeship, or appropriating knowledge. Topics include appropriating knowledge based on stipulated instructional objectives; developing epistemological dispositions; activity theory; implications for instructional…

Describes the Distance Education Learning (DEL) Systems model that provides a learner focused process for distance education through the lifelong learning process. Compares distance education systems models and describes three applications of the DEL model, two in higher education and one in corporate training. (LRW)

Reviews the incorporation of interactivity in Web-based instruction. Discusses computer mediated learning; interactivity and learning, including instructional transaction theory and cognitive flexibility theory; advantages of Web-based instruction; content and social interactivity; asynchronous and synchronous communication; individual and group…

Reviews current literature regarding interaction in distance education, specifically exploring its importance, perceptions of participants, and struggles to incorporate greater interaction. Discusses teacher-to-student interactions and student-to-student interactions, and offers suggestions for teachers to promote interaction. (Contains 51…

Discusses Web-based training for corporations and offers guidelines to help determine whether an organization is ready for this use of technology. Considers the organizational culture, size, characteristics of learners, content complexity, technical infrastructure, just-in-time or anytime training needs, and support available. (LRW)

Examines the phenomenon of learning on the Internet in terms of a digital ecology metaphor, proposing that an ecological perspective is consistent with the perspective of distributed cognition. Topics include diverse participation; information production, access, and consumption; representations of knowledge; and experiences. (LRW)

Provides a structural definition of interactivity in instruction, with the goal of describing and delimiting a broad and general process. Examines the four major attributes to the concept of interactivity, and defines four additional variables that arise through the structural study of interaction. Outlines five common patterns that deal with…