People encounter stories everyday and everywhere. They are the oldest and most natural form of sense making (Jonassen, Strobel, & Gottdenker, 2004). It is a powerful tool that enables one to gain knowledge, understand phenomenon, remembers the unusual and to interact with the people around them. This paper proposes that stories can create an…

Today, teacher education programs are faced with a variety of challenges. They must prepare future teachers to meet national and state standards with regard to both content and pedagogy in an era when there is increased emphasis on performance. Further, they must also help pre-service teachers learn to use technology and develop their…

Transferring face-to-face courses into Web-based courses is a trend in higher education. Whether this course transition is for distance education or for resident instruction, faculty members play a critical role in the process. Faculty members not only provide lesson content, but important insights into how content has been best presented in…

For the twenty-seventh year, the Research and Theory Division of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented at the National AECT Convention in Chicago, Illinois. The Proceedings of AECT's Convention are published in two…

For the twenty-seventh year, the Research and Theory Division of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented at the National AECT Convention in Chicago, Illinois. The Proceedings of AECT's Convention are published in two…

Identifies some of the assumptions underlying the technology of instructional design and clarifies its role in the larger context of education and social change. Discusses instructional design, learner characteristics, individual learning, knowledge and skill acquisition, and instructional principles. (AEF)

Discusses three electronic conferencing tools that apprentice novice learners and encourage them to interact and grapple with alternative perspectives. Technical details of each tool are described, along with 1 instance where all 3 technologies were united, resulting in a highly interactive conversation shared by over 30 people at 4 different…

To determine how the Internet is being used in education, researchers surveyed newsgroup participants. Questions concerned demographics and usage. Responses totaled 147. Results indicate that there is a solid foundation of users who are optimistic about the future despite hardware and software problems and concerns about offensive material. Seven…

Discusses the need for moving beyond mere information seeking and acquisition to a critical thinking and problem solving approach. Highlights include the Deweyan emphasis on reflection and deliberation; knowledge creation as a shared endeavor; and the art of communicating meaning through intelligently guided inquiry and carefully crafted language.…

Presents an annotated list of several World Wide Web search engines, including Yahoo, Infoseek, Alta Vista, Magellan, Lycos, Webcrawler, Excite, Deja News, and the LISZT Directory of discussion groups. Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) are included. Discussion assesses performance and describes rules and syntax for refining or limiting a search.…

This article discusses telecommunications infrastructure and instructional innovation at Townview, a college preparatory school in Dallas, Texas. Topics include connectivity, Internet access, the multimedia center, videoconferencing and student-directed curricula, resource sharing, cooperative learning activities, advanced science learning and…

Discusses the effects of change brought about by technology integration in postsecondary institutions. Strategies are provided for managing the change process, focusing on articulating a vision; developing a plan; creating organizational structures; providing adequate training and support; and promoting technology use. (AEF)

The organization and availability of educational resources at 12 universities' World Wide Web sites was examined by random searching. Results suggest that Web sites at universities are not consistently organized and often contain relatively little educational content; however, the amount of significant information is increasing. (AEF)

This article describes the concepts of information literacy and resource-based learning as they relate to the Inquiry Training Model of instruction. It also provides guidelines for designing lesson plans using the Internet as a resource and assesses learning outcomes. (AEF)

The K-12 and higher education communities have already voiced the need for technologically literate teachers. Standards movements and licensing agencies are stressing the importance of technology skills for beginning teachers and legislation is being passed which provides the impetus for change. Teacher preparation programs must have goals for…