Interactive whiteboards (IWBs) have been widely used in elementary schools in Taiwan. Hence, the purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of elementary school teachers and students using IWBs in English teaching and learning. Six public school English teachers and 614 students of 5th and 6th-grades in Yangmei Township, Taoyuan…

There is a recognized need for theoretical frameworks that can guide designers and educators in the development of engagement-rich learning experiences that incorporate emerging technologies in pedagogically sound ways. This study investigated one such promising framework, adventure learning (AL). Data were gathered via surveys, interviews, direct…

Instructional games fluctuate between "restricted play" and "free play." Highly structured games with lots of corrective feedback can be less engaging, whereas unstructured games with minimal feedback can lead to frustration. This mixed methods, formative evaluation study investigated how designers might find the balance between too much and too…

This paper summarizes the pedagogical design, product development and empirical evaluations of the game series, Animal Class, in terms of design study. The design phases, as well as the evaluation phases (N=2718), were carried out between the years of 2005-2007. The pedagogical idea of Animal Class is to place a learner in the role of teacher in a…

This paper examined multiple types of physical world hyperlinking hardware configurations for the purpose of determining an optimal reader/tag combination for K-6 student use. Both traditional barcode tags and two types of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags were placed on tangible items. Students ranging from kindergarten to sixth grade…

This study combined the use of student authored books and the use of children's literature with a process created by Conden and McGuffee (2001) described as e-publishing, which uses students authoring book software called RealeWriter. The purpose of the study was to determine if e-publishing assistive technology impacted learning in a social…

The purpose of this study is to examine the potential of using computer databases as cognitive tools to share learners' cognitive load and facilitate learning in a multimedia problem-based learning (PBL) environment designed for sixth graders. Two research questions were: (a) can the computer database tool share sixth-graders' cognitive load? and…

This study investigated the ideology and perspectives of sixth grade students, parents, and teachers concerning four district approved social studies textbooks from the state adoption list. Student participants were selected using a stratified random sample from special, regular, and gifted education. Parent participants were selected at random…

This study examined the effect of a computer-enhanced problem-based learning (PBL) environment on middle school students' learning, investigating the relationship among students' self-efficacy, attitude toward science, and achievement. As Bandura defined it (1986), self-efficacy refers to the beliefs people have about whether or not they can…

This article reports on a case study conducted to examine the instructional strategies utilized, teacher and student attitudes, and student achievement when a sixth-grade teacher and her 19 students implemented a hypermedia, problem-based learning unit. Results revealed that the teacher used questioning, peer support, group and individual…