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Innovate (www.innovateonline.info) is published bimonthly as a public
service by the Fischler School of Education and Human Services at Nova
Southeastern University and is sponsored, in part, by Microsoft. The
articles in the February/March 2008 issue, guest edited by Cathy Gunn
and Susan Patrick, offer a range of studies that contribute to an
evidence-based framework to sustain further innovation in online
teaching and learning. Innovate-Live webcasts, produced by our
partner, ULiveandLearn, allow you to synchronously interact with
authors on the topics of their articles.

In the first article of this issue, Susan Lowes focuses on the
"trans-classroom" teacher who works in both face-to-face and online
classrooms, and attempts to track how such teachers make shifts in
ideas, strategies, and practices that constrain or improve their
practice in either venue. [See
http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=446&action=article
] Her webcast is scheduled for March 26 at 3:00 PM EST.

Rayenne Dekhinet, Keith Topping, David Duran, and Silvia Blanch
studied a primary school program that linked English-speaking
learners of Spanish with Spanish-speaking learners of English. Their
study provides insight on how Internet technology can be leveraged to
enhance language learning. [See
http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=479&action=article
]. Their webcast is schedule for March 26 at 11:00 AM EST.

To what degree do online learning environments sustain high levels of
engagement in students? Pu-Shih Daniel Chen, Robert Gonyea, and George
Kuh discuss the implications of their study of the engagement of
distance learners versus their campus-based counterparts at U.S.
four-year, degree-granting colleges and universities. [See
http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=438&action=article
]. Their webcast is schedule for March 26 at 2:00 PM EST.

Julie Foertsch and Morton Ann Gernsbacher describe the principles of
effective education and evaluate their value for online instruction
by assessing an online course on autism against each of the
principles. [See
http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=434&action=article
]. Their webcast is scheduled for February 22 at 2:00 PM EST.

Len Annetta, Marta Klesath, and Shawn Holmes describe virtual
learning environments and the use of avatars to foster social
presence in these environments as they examine how gaming and avatars
are engaging online students. [See
http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=485&action=article
]. Their webcast is scheduled for February 19 at 1:00 PM EST.

Next, Lydia Arnold examines the learning concepts incorporated in an
online bachelor's degree focused on experiential learning and
examines the benefits and challenges integrating learning into the
student's workplace in order to improve student engagement. [See
http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=494&action=article
]. Her webcast is scheduled for February 19 at 11:00 AM EST.

We end the issue with a new feature for Innovate: Reid Cornwell's
multimedia interview column titled Perspectives. This month's entry
features a discussion with Tony Gardner-Medwin about certainty-based
marking, a computer-based assessment system that scores answers to
objective questions based both on the correctness of the answer and
on the student's assessment of his or her certainty that the answer
is correct. [See
http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=552&action=article
]. Their webcast is scheduled for February 19 at 12:00 PM EST.

You may register for webcasts at
http://www.uliveandlearn.com/PortalInnovate/. Webcasts will be
archived and available in the webcast section of the article and in
the Innovate-Live portal archive shortly after the webcast. All times
are Eastern Standard Time (New York). You may use the world clock at
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/ to coordinate with your time
zone.

We hope that you enjoy this issue of Innovate. Please use the
discussion board within each article to raise questions or provide
additional commentary. Your comments will be sent to authors for
their response, which will become part of the record for their
article. Also, please forward this announcement to appropriate
mailing lists and to colleagues who want to use IT tools to advance
their work and ask your organizational librarian to link to Innovate
in their resource section for open-access e-journals.

If you are considering submitting a manuscript describing how you use
Microsoft technology to enhance the educational experience for
publication consideration in the From our Sponsors section, please
make sure that it conforms to the publication guidelines described at
the Contribute link on Innovate's navigation bar.

Finally, check out the Innovation 2008 conference at
http://education-2008.org that Innovate and the Focus on Education
Foundation are hosting this coming April 14-15 in beautiful
Breckenridge, CO. The early-bird discount for the conference and for
the Beaver Run Resort and Conference Center is drawing near. We would
love to see you there.

Thanks!

Jim
----
James L Morrison
Editor-in-Chief, Innovate
http://www.innovateonline.info
Fischler School of Education and Human Services
Nova Southeastern University
http://www.schoolofed.nova.edu/home.htm

Innovate (www.innovateonline.info) is published bimonthly as a public
service by the Fischler School of Education and Human Services at Nova
Southeastern University and is sponsored, in part, by Microsoft.

The February/March issue opens with Marc Prensky revisiting--and
revising--the digital native/digital immigrant dichotomy he added to
our lexicon in 2001. Arguing that the native/immigrant paradigm will
become less meaningful when everyone will have grown up in the era of
digital technology, Prensky introduces the notion of digital wisdom.
Digital wisdom, as Prensky defines it, comprises both wisdom in the
prudent use of technology and the wisdom we gain from sophisticated
technologies that enhance human cognition. (See
http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=705&action=article)

Patrick McGrail and Ewa McGrail offer practical advice for students
and educators attempting to comply with copyright law as they use Web
2.0 technology. They argue that copyright will continue to limit the
integration of many technologies in education until the law is
reshaped to reflect the reality of a digital culture. (See
http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=630&action=article)

Our next two articles describe attempts to bring technology into the
classroom. Neelu Sinha, Laila Khreisat, and Kiron Sharma's pilot study
found that the interaction enabled by the tablet PCs and accompanying
tools enabled active learning for students in face-to-face computer
science courses. These technologies facilitated the creation of a
nonthreatening, flexible, and challenging learning environment with a
focus on practical applications. (See
http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=622&action=article)

Next, Annick Janson and Robin Janson describe an effort to introduce
digital learning objects into elementary-school science classes in New
Zealand. While their study illustrated that digital tools can enhance
learning, it also revealed that the key to the acceptance of such
technologies is leadership. (See
http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=581 you are
invited to participate. (See
http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=710&action=article)

In Innovate-Ideagora, Alan McCord and Denise Easton describe webcast
interviews with Ed Gehringer about Expertiza, an online peer-review
tool, and with Tim DiScipio whose organization, ePals, connects
students across cultural and national boundaries. They also describe
new discussions around such topics as the challenges of integrating
technology into education in countries where the infrastructure is
unreliable or absent, the effect that new media is having on the very
idea of "school," and the ongoing discussion of educator resistance to
technology-enhanced active learning strategies. (See
http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=709&action=article)

In the From Our Sponsor section, Daniel W. Rasmus offers a follow-up
to his June/July 2008 article "Scenario Planning and the Future of
Education" by describing what education looks like in the four
scenarios that emerged from Microsoft's scenario planning process.
Rasmus suggests that educators and policy makers can use these
scenarios to consider how large and small choices work toward or
against a particular future. Set against a vision of the future we
want, this imaginative thinking process can help guide policy
decisions large and small. (See
http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=656&action=synopsis)

As noted earlier, Microsoft is our sponsor. Please consider
submitting a manuscript describing how you use Microsoft technology to
enhance the educational experience. Make sure that the manuscript
conforms to the publication guidelines described in the "Contribute"
link on Innovate's navigation bar. The senior authors of the top three
papers published on Microsoft's Web site at
http://www.microsoft.com/education/highered/technology.aspx prior to
June 2009 will be invited to present their papers at the Microsoft
Global Exchange summit in July 2009 (with expenses covered by
Microsoft).

We hope that you enjoy this issue of Innovate. Use the discussion
board within each article to raise questions or provide additional
commentary. Your comments will be sent to authors for their response,
which will then become part of the record for their article. Don't
forget to register for this issue's live author webcasts hosted by our
partner, ULiveandLearn, at the Innovate-Live portal at
http://www.uliveandlearn.com/PortalInnovate/index.cfm). Also, please
forward this announcement to appropriate mailing lists and to
colleagues who want to use IT tools to advance their work. Finally,
ask your organizational librarian to link to Innovate in their
resource section for open-access e-journals.

Thanks!

Jim
----
James L Morrison
Editor-in-Chief, Innovate
http://www.innovateonline.info
Fischler School of Education and Human Services
Nova Southeastern University
http://www.schoolofed.nova.edu/home.htm