About the CRLT The CRLT has as its mission to promote and support a community of scholars dedicated to research on the design, use, and implementation of technology to improve learning. Three primary themes underlie the work at the Center: • research that contributes to the development of new pedagogical models for continuing professional development in the 21st century; • research on and evaluation of interactive distance learning environments that inform our understanding of student learning; and • research on teaching strategies for using current and emerging technologies to support student interaction, collaboration, and engagement in the issues being studied. This report is one of a series from our on-going research on learning and technology. If you have any questions or comments on this report, or if you would like to find out more about the activities of the CRLT, contact:

This paper presents a tool developed for the purpose of assessing teaching presence in online courses that make use of computer conferencing, and preliminary results from the use of this tool. The method of analysis is based on Garrison, Anderson, and Archer’s [1] model of critical thinking and practical inquiry in a computer conferencing context. The concept of teaching presence is constitutively defined as having three categories – design and organization, facilitating discourse, and direct instruction. Indicators that we search for in the computer conference transcripts identify each category. Pilot testing of the instrument reveals interesting differences in the extent and type of teaching presence found in different graduate level online courses.

This paper considers how forces are produced by compliance and surface curvature effects in systems where an object B is kinematically immobilized to second-order by finger bodies A

This study explored the professional development experiences of 28 practicing teachers in 10 Chicago suburban schools involved in a two-year technology supported Problem-Based Learning curriculum development effort. Asynchronous computer-mediated communications (CMC) were featured as teacher communication tools of the project. The computermediated discourse produced by the teachers was compared with the discourse produced by teachers in face-to-face meetings. Research methods including discourse analysis and archival data analysis were applied to determine the nature of the teacher discourse and its reflective content. The results show that while the computer-mediated teacher dialogue was less interactive, it was significantly more reflective (t=4.14, p=.001) than face-to-face discourse. The study findings suggest that the value of CMC lies in its ability to facilitate professional collaboration between teachers and encourage critical reflection on educational policy and practice. 284 Hawkes and Romiszowski Computer-mediated communication (CMC) presents teachers with new opportunities for communication. Though the use of CMC suggests more convenient access to professional colleagues, it does not ensure professional growth and learning experiences. The purpose of this study was to determine if and how critical reflection—as a meaningful professional development objective—arises from computer-mediated collaborative dialogue. This research begins by examining the role of collaboration and dialogue in teacher learning. Applications of CMC for teacher development are reviewed followed by a description of the study context. The results of the research are presented followed by a discussion of network technology’s capacity for facilitating new conceptions of inservice teacher development, and engaging professionals in an analysis of practice that is both contextually relevant and informed by the experiences of peers.

Luleå University of Technology has since 1997 been using net-based learning environments based on desktop video-conferencing tools to distribute courses to students. It has previously been claimed that such environments give remotely and traditionally attending students equal possibilities to take an active part of a course, in addition to enhancing the learning experience for all students. This is in part true, but in reality there are many pedagogical and technical obstacles to overcome before a course can be seen as successful. This paper identifies a number of problems, which will be considered from both a pedagogical and technical perspective. 1.

This survey research study used an extensive questionnaire to examine the academic computing attitudes, uses, needs and preferences of a sample of over 300 graduate students in four programs of an education department in a northeastern U.S. university. The results demonstrated that, overall, students were positive about the use of computers in their graduate work and used computers frequently for various academic purposes. They had completed instruction in a range of applications and wanted much more computer-related instruction, primarily through university workshops and the integration of computer use in their courses. The study also indicated that age and graduate degree status had little effect on differences found among students on these variables and that gender had no effect. Noteworthy program effects were uncovered. Concluding comments and implications are presented regarding the changing instructional role of faculty in the growing computer climate in higher education. The role of computers in the academic lives of college and university students is a relatively new phenomenon (Anglin, 1995; Henry & De Libero, 1996; Saettler, 1990). As recently as the early 1990s, paper, pencils, pens, and typewriters remained the tools most students used to record ideas. Libraries, bookstores and the postal system were their sources for texts and periodicals, along with image archives and television for visual media. Classrooms, offices, lounges and coffee shops were their options for meeting with professors, peers, and visiting professionals and scholars—extended by telephones and answering machines, notes, and letters for communication at a distance. Most students ’ exposure to computers, if at all, was restricted to mysterious, room-size mainframes at the data analysis stage of master’s theses or doctoral dissertations. However, with the diffusion of personal computers, productivity software, multimedia and network resources over the last decade, all that has changed dramatically. The Campus Computing Project’s recent survey shows that computer technologies have become “core components of the campus environment and the college experience ” (Green, 1998, p. 3). And according to a current survey of first-year students, sponsored by the University of California and the

Using computer-mediated communication to form a knowledge-building

Constructivist learning theory suggests that important components of the learning process are learner interaction and discourse. The nature of health education is such that emphasis is placed on discussion of health attitudes, beliefs, values, and behaviours as a key instructional strategy. It follows then, that health education learning environments designed using constructivist learning principles and employing instructional strategies that allow for learner discourse and interaction should contribute to knowledge construction and attitude change. The rapid development of the World Wide Web and its increasing use for educational purposes provides a unique medium for such a learning environment. This increasing utilisation of the Web, particularly in the tertiary setting, allows instructors to explore ways of taking advantage of the Web’s potential to provide for learning experiences that go beyond that possible in the traditional classroom environment. Enhancements to the tertiary learning experience that can be realised with Web technologies include: (1) direct access to a variety of international resources on a broad range of topics; (2) access to a learning environment that is not limited to scheduled lecture and tutorial hours; (3) opportunities for a variety of learning activities including small group discussion and collaborative projects; and (4) exposure to and a forum for expressing and discussing different beliefs and attitudes.

This study investigated how different types of computer-mediated communication (CMC) such as asynchronous forums, synchronous forums and e-mail were used to support an alternative approach to initial teacher education. This approach required students to work in small and large groups to solve `real world' problems. Students made maximum use of the forum accessible to all participants. Often the various forms of CMC were used in ways that were different to those intended by the facilitators. Further, many of the skills the facilitators used to mediating face-to-face discussion could be applied to on-line discussion. Key words computer-mediated communication, teacher education, knowledge-building community Introduction For over a thousand years universities operated on the assumption that information would be stored centrally and scholars would come to this central store of knowledge and collaborate to produce more information that would be stored at this site. Modern storage of info...

I dedicate this dissertation to all the volunteers worldwide, people who are generously giving of their time, strength and expertise in support of a wonderfully wide range of projects designed and implemented with the intent of improving the quality of life for human beings everywhere. Together, we can make a difference. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT As is true of almost any undertaking of a pioneering nature- a project that explores still-emerging human knowledge, technology, world views, and, hence, complex human interactions- this dissertation could not have been completed without the support and encouragement of many special people. From its inception as a half-formed idea fluttering about in my brain, this project has demanded that I have the courage of my convictions. Thus, I think first of my very special family- my mother, sister, grandfather, aunt and uncle- who have during all my life, applauded my accomplishments, and steadfastly reminded me of how “far I have