This study was conducted with data mining (DM) techniques to analyze various patterns of online learning behaviors, and to make predictions on learning outcomes . Statistical models and machine learning DM techniques were conducted to analyze 17,934 server logs to investigate 98 undergraduate students’ learning behaviors in an online business course in Taiwan. Read the Full Article

The study investigated whether two different versions of an online professional development course produced different impacts on the intended outcomes of the course. Variations of an online course for middle school algebra teachers were created for two experimental conditions. One was an actively facilitated course with asynchronous peer interactions among participants. The second was a self-paced condition, in which neither active facilitation or peer interactions were available. Both conditions showed significant impact on teachers’ mathematical understanding, pedagogical beliefs, and instructional practices. Surprisingly, the positive outcomes were comparable both conditions. Further research is needed to determine whether this finding is limited to self-selected teachers, the specifics of this online course, or other factors that limit generalizability.Read the Full Article

Using video games, virtual simulations, and other digital spaces for learning can be a time-consuming process; aside from technical issues that may absorb class time, students take longer to achieve gains in learning in virtual environments.Read the Full Article

A unified approach to the presentation of information for online learning can inform the creation of pedagogically effective web pagesRead the Full Article

John Kuglin's background is as eclectic as the 21st century learning skillset he advocates. He's been an educator since 1971. He's worked with NASA by way of the Earth Observing System project at the University of Montana. He's been a vice president at a digital media authoring and production studio (ComChoice, now known as Scope Seven). And now, as CIO of Eagle County Schools in Colorado, he's at the forefront of developing technology-infused learning environments that will help prepare today's kids for the new realities of the 21st century.Read the Full Article

The opportunities of cyberinfrastructure have been both heralded and hyped. The express purpose of cyberinfrastructure is to enable e-scholarship: new forms of scholarship that are more information-intensive, data-intensive, distributed, collaborative, and multidisciplinary.1 But what does that mean for scholars, for academic libraries, and for campus information technology? What cyberinfrastructure strategies should colleges and universities implement to support the “scholarship” in e-scholarship?Read the Full Article

This action research study describes a course redesign using scholarly research in two ways. Traditional disciplinary research was used to inform the design of the curriculum, and SoTL was used to measure the success of the course design in achieving its objectives for student learning. The objective of the course redesign was to better engage students in applying the authentic disciplinary practices of the field. Research was then conducted on the pedagogical process to determine the success of the new course design in achieving its objectives. The research project documented: how the authentic disciplinary practices were taught to students; student attitudes toward the knowledge gained; and how the students subsequently put this knowledge into practice. The success of the course design in engaging student with authentic disciplinary practices was documented. Conclusions and implications for evidence-based research into the improvement of teaching effectiveness applied to other disciplines are discussed.Read the Full Article

As digital technology thrusts complexity upon copyright law, conflict has escalated between copyright holders desperate to institute a vigorous enforcement mechanism against copying in order to protect their ownership and others who underscore the importance of public interests in accessing and using copyrighted works. This study explores whether Creative Commons (CC) licenses are a viable solution for copyright protection in the digital era. Through a mixed-methods approach involving a web-based survey of CC licensors, a content analysis of CC-licensed works, and interviews, the study characterizes CC licensors, the ways that CC licensors produce creative works, the private interests that CC licenses serve, and the public interests that CC licenses serve. The findings suggest that the Creative Commons can alleviate some of the problems caused by the copyright conflict.Read the Full Article

What happens when the read-write web gets smart enough to help us organize and evaluate the information it provides?Read the Full Article

Chris Dede knows a thing or two about emerging interactive media, immersive interfaces and the impact that both concepts are having on the educational field. Dede, who is presenting his views on both topics at the upcoming FETC 2009 conference in Florida, gives a preview of what attendees can expect from the sessions.Read the Full Article

Using video games, virtual simulations, and other digital spaces for learning can be a time-consuming process; aside from technical issues that may absorb class time, students take longer to achieve gains in learning in virtual environments.Read the Full Article

Registration is now open for "Fundamentals of Fuel Ethanol Production," a distance-education course from the Grain Elevator & Processing Society (GEAPS), Purdue University and Kansas State University. Read the Full Article

At a NACOL symposium, virtual-school students discuss why they left their regular schools in favor of online instruction Read the Full Article

Microsoft Partners in Learning works with education leaders and policymakers around the globe, equipping them to assess and overcome challenges.Read the Full Article

NEW YORK (AP) -- Electronic books are the persistent wallflowers of the gadget world. Consumers have snubbed them again and again in favor of a 500-year-old technology: ink printed on paper.Read the Full Article

Amazon has become a major player in cloud computing in recent years. Many Web startups have come to rely on its pay-as-you-go hosting and computing services rather than investing in costly and complex infrastructure of their own. The newest offering from Amazon Web Services, called Cloudfront, may provide insight into Amazon's long-term business model. Read the Full Article

Stanford artificial intelligence researchers have developed software that makes it easy to reach inside an existing video and place a photo on the wall so realistically that it looks like it was there from the beginning. The photo is not pasted on top of the existing video, but embedded in it It works for videos as well - you can play a video on a wall inside your video. The technology can cheaply do some of the tricks normally performed by expensive commercial editing systems.Read the Full Article

In a historic demonstration 40 years ago, researchers from the Stanford Research Institute revealed the future of interactive computing. In 90 minutes of high-end show and tell, Douglas Engelbart and his team introduced the computer mouse, hypertext links, multiple windows, shared-screen collaboration involving remote sites and dynamic file linking. The audience gave them a standing ovation.

Greater clarity about the nature of critical thinking and how to support teachers in learning to implement it are needed if we are to respond to broader calls for critical thinking both as a central goal in science education and as a key aspect in the ecology of 21st Century e-learning environments. In this paper, I describe a professional development approach and a conceptual framework used to create critically thoughtful and media-rich science learning resources meant to serve these needs.Read the Full Article

While an abundance of research exists on best practices in the face-to-face classroom, the same is not true for online learning. In this new and constantly evolving environment, researchers are just beginning to understand what constitutes effective learning strategies. One of the most well recognized models for explaining online learning is the Community of Inquiry Framework (CoI).Read the Full Article