This study investigated the effect of using advance organizers on students' motivation to learn biology. The research design used was quasi-experimental design where the non-randomised Solomon Four group was adopted. The focus was on the topic pollution. The sample comprised of 166 form three (third grade in the secondary school cycle) students in…

The process of teacher identification, selection, initial training, and on-going professional development that has developed at the Illinois Virtual High School (IVHS) over the past seven years is described and discussed in this article. Validation was based upon existing practices and research. To provide background the creation and initial…

Virtual Schooling (VS) for K-12 school students using distance technologies has increased rapidly in the 21st century with the growth of online learning and virtual schools in more than 44 states in the USA and as e-learning in over 20 clusters of rural schools in New Zealand. Although VS requires a special set of teaching methods, teacher…

The number of students taking online courses in K-12 has increased exponentially since the inception of virtual schools in 1996. However, K-12 virtual schooling is a relatively new concept for those involved in teacher education. As teacher education departments build pre-service preparation programs, in-service professional development…

Nine New Zealand secondary schools participated in the OtagoNet project, using videoconferencing technologies to deliver courses to multiple sites. This paper reports findings from a study conducted between 2001 and 2004 to evaluate the effectiveness of OtagoNet. It was found that videoconferencing technology had a significant impact on pedagogy…

The authors share findings, insights, and implications from "Going Virtual! The Status of Professional Development for K12 Online Teachers," a 2007 report supported by the North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL, now known as iNACOL). The authors conducted a national survey of 259 K-12 online teachers, administrators, and professional…

Online teachers' perceptions of online teaching standards published in 2006 by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) and the National Education Association (NEA). Interviews with two teachers from each of the four online schools were studied following an online survey of 49 online teachers from these schools. Overall, participants reported…

Infusing creative thinking competence through the design process of authentic projects requires not only changing the teaching methods and learning environment, but also adopting new assessment methods, such as portfolio assessment. The participants in this study were 128 high school pupils who have studied MECHATRONICS from 10th to 12th grades…

The paper reports on the trials of a Design and Technology (D&T) unit carried out in three different Indian contexts with a focus on collaborative learning. Both collaboration and technology education are not common to the Indian school system. As part of a larger project to introduce technology education, suitable for middle school girls and boys…

This study explores young children's abstraction of the rules underlying a robot's emergent behavior. The study was conducted individually with six kindergarten children, along five sessions that included description and construction tasks, ordered by increasing difficulty. We developed and used a robotic control interface, structured as…

In this study, the Design Collaboration Model (DCM) was developed to provide a medium for the on-line collaboration of the design courses. The model was based on the situated and reflective practice characteristics of the design process. The segmentation method was used to analyse the design process observed both in the design diaries and the…

Technology and Design was introduced at Key Stage 3 for all pupils in Northern Ireland, as a result of the Education Reform (NI) Order in 1989. Central to the process of introducing this new and compulsory subject, the government spent in excess of 167M British Pounds to make provision for the subject in all post-primary schools. This paper…

To measure attitudes toward environmental issues, interior design students responded to a four-part survey: demographics, ecology, sustainability, and comments. The ecology section was composed of modifications of questions from the New Ecological Paradigm Scale (Dunlap et al. "Journal of Environmental Education," 9:10-19, 2000). The researchers…

Given the evident potential shown by developing new technologies, there are increasingly more companies that develop and implement training programs that use the new-technology-based facilities. Likewise, suppliers developing new-technology-based programs have emerged seeking greater effectiveness and cost reduction as opposed to traditional…

Teaching future knowledge engineers, the necessary skills for designing and implementing intelligent software solutions required by business, industry and research today, is a very tall order. These skills are not easily taught in traditional undergraduate computer science lectures; nor are the practical experiences easily reinforced in laboratory…