Documents Contributed by ECAR and Teaching

This research bulletin examines the current state of Second Life in relation to the educational environment. Although literature about virtual worlds dates back many years, this bulletin reflects on more recent publications that discuss both technological and pedagogical issues. Content is drawn from interviews with educators and innovators who are already involved in building campuses, teaching classes, and providing resources to those using Second Life.

This research bulletin addresses how technology systems support online learning in ways that address multiple learning style preferences, paces, and performance goals. It discusses the need for an educational paradigm shift, the promise of adaptive learning, and questions that educational organizations should ask to ascertain their road to the next generation of online education.

This case study examines the rationale and design of the Computing Center at Cox Hall at Emory University and the ways in which the Center supports innovative teaching and collaborative learning. Using creative and flexible designs and technologies, the facility supports multiple learning environments, teaching styles, and collaboration activities.

Through a series of case studies, this research bulletin describes the current state of wireless, mobile learning (m-learning) in higher education. It explores the impact of mobile technologies on new learning spaces and on teaching and learning behaviors, both inside and outside the classroom.

This bulletin illustrates how to harness technology to make evaluating student learning and development meaningful to both the expert measuring the intended result and to the decision maker who must inform policy. The bulletin discusses how technology can assist with mapping student learning to values that are meaningful to instructors and specialists, as well as to institutional, state, and federal administrators. By mapping values, articulated as intended outcomes, and by gathering meaningful data that can be linked to standards used to inform decisions and recommendations for continuous improvement, expert-driven assessment can influence state and national policies.