An ongoing study aims to differentiate functional uses of self-criticism from destructive self-criticism. Self-criticisms and responses of 22 senior undergraduates were grouped into 8 categories covering a broad variety of self-criticisms. The final portion of the study will compare the content and form of self-criticisms of individuals with or…

This article reports the results of an investigation of the convergent criterion-related validity of two computer-based tools for scoring concept maps and essays as part of the ongoing formative evaluation of these tools. In pairs, participants researched a science topic online and created a concept map of the topic. Later, participants…

Research on animated pedagogical agents (agents) is viewed as a very positive attempt to introduce more pedagogical support and motivational elements into multi-media instruction. Yet, existing empirical studies that examine the learning benefits of agents have had very mixed results, largely due to the way that they are designed. This article…

This article provides an analysis of 20 years of key policy reports addressing the challenges and opportunities in integrating technology into K-12 education in the United States. It summarizes recommendations made in these reports, and comments on the shifting rationales for and expectations of educational technology investments that have shaped…

A total of 432 students from grades 7-9 in Canadian schools reported their experiences of cyber-harassment, which is a form of harassment that occurs through the use of electronic communications such as e-mail and cell phones. More than two-thirds of students (69%) have heard of incidents of cyber-harassment, about one quarter (21%) have been…

This article examines the change in teachers' attitudes and instruction following computerization of their schools. Parameters chosen to assure the success of the study were: teachers' training courses, establishment of teachers' teams, teachers' expectations and willingness, and teachers' use of the computer in the school. The study took place in…

This article describes an ongoing situated professional development program in which teachers bring their intact classes for an extended stay in a ubiquitous computing environment equipped with a variety of state-of-the-art computing devices. The experience is unique in that it not only situates teacher learning about technology integration in…

Guided by a situated learning framework, this research examines the nature of teachers' technology learning when participating in a content-focused technology inquiry group, the ways teachers integrate what they learn into content-specific student learning activities, and how situated features of the learning context influence teacher learning.…

The Center for Technology and School Change (CTSC) is a research and development center specializing in professional development, evaluation and technology integration research. The goal of the qualitative research reported in this article was to identify factors that strengthen the integration of technology in classrooms in ways that are…

The question of what makes for effective teacher professional development in ICT is an enduring one. In a recent study in Queensland (Australia), we visited 19 rural and regional schools and interviewed teachers, administrators and ICT coordinators to find that a school-based practicum was effective in impacting the practice and beliefs of…

Professional development that leads to change in teacher practice is hard to find, especially professional development focused on technology integration. The Teacher Institute for Curriculum Knowledge about the Integration of Technology (TICKIT) successfully answers both challenges. This article reports on a study aimed at understanding the impact…

This article describes a collaborative professional development model in which faculty in a College of Education partnered with a local school district to design and implement a year-long project in an effort to increase effective integration of technology in instruction by K-8 classroom teachers, university teacher preparation faculty,…

The Capital Area Technology and Inquiry in Education program (CATIE) is a content-focused, inquiry-based professional development program developed by the Center for Initiatives in Pre-College Education (CIPCE) to assist K-6 teachers in the technology integration process. To address concerns of sustain-ability and cost-effectiveness, this situated…

We introduce Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK) as a way of representing what teachers need to know about technology, and argue for the role of authentic design-based activities in the development of this knowledge. We report data from a faculty development design seminar in which faculty members worked together with masters…

This study has important implications for microworlds such as Logo, HyperGami, and Newton's World, which use interaction to learn spatial mental models for science, math, geometry, etc. This study tested the hypothesis that interactively rotating (dragging) virtual shapes primes mental rotation. The independent variable was observation vs.…