Volume 3, Issue 4, Spring 2005
Using Blackboard in an Educational Psychology Course to Increase Pre-service Teachers' Skills and Confidence in Technology Integration
Abstract
An important education issue that needs to be addressed in teacher education is the gap between the continuing and increasing technology demands placed on new teachers entering K-12 classrooms and the training that they receive during their college years. There is evidence that not only are new teachers lacking the technological skills, they also lack the confidence needed to motivate them to expand their technological abilities. There is concern that many school of education faculty are not effectively modeling the use of technology to pre-service teachers in education courses. This paper investigates how the incorporation of the Blackboard Learning System, with its expanded communication and hands-on features, helps pre-service teachers to gain confidence in integrating technology into their future teaching. In addition, it documented how students and professors think the use of a course management system helps students’ learning. It will also provide guidance for the effective use of a web-enhanced learning system.
Examining Technology Uses in the Classroom: Students Developing Fraction Sense by Using Virtual Manipulative Concept Tutorials
Abstract
This paper describes a classroom teaching experiment conducted in three fifth-grade mathematics classrooms with students of different achievement levels. Virtual fraction manipulative concept tutorials were used in three one-hour class sessions to investigate the learning characteristics afforded by these technology tools. The virtual fraction manipulative concept tutorials exhibited the following learning characteristics that supported students during their learning of equivalence and fraction addition: (1) Allowed discovery learning through experimentation and hypothesis testing; (2) Encouraged students to see mathematical relationships; (3) Connected iconic and symbolic modes of representation explicitly; and (4) Prevented common error patterns in fraction addition.
Digital Study Groups: Online Learning Communities in Middle School
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of an online learning environment on student computer use, classroom/school activities, and parental involvement. An online learning environment was created with the goals of giving students access to a variety of software programs from home and school, facilitating home-school connectivity, and increasing student academic performance and technological competencies.
From Face-to-Face Classrooms to Innovative Computer-Mediated Pedagogies: Observations from the Field
Abstract
In this paper, we present a case study concerning a Masters level course in Computer-mediated communications and pedagogy delivered at the University of Mauritius through e-Learning mode. We provide a brief overview of the program, its rationale and the pedagogical approaches that have been used to design the modules that are delivered in the first semester. There are currently 15 students enrolled on this course, and we relate our experiences and observations on the field in this article. We also expose our findings from a questionnaire survey that was done with the students towards the end of the semester to get the feedback on their perceptions on the program and on its pedagogical approaches. This is a very crucial step since this batch of students are supposed to be the agents of change in the reconceptualization of the teaching and learning process. We end up identifying some key factors that are perceived to be barriers to the actual wide-scale implementation of such approaches to education.
Book Review: Hewett, B.L., & Ehmann, C. (2004). Preparing educators for online writing instruction: Principles and processes.
Hewett, B.L., & Ehmann, C. (2004). Preparing educators for online writing instruction: Principles and processes. Urbana, Illinois: National Council of Teachers of English.
ISBN: 0814136656
