ICST Transactions on e-Education and e-Learning (ISSN: 2032-9253)

Description

Education is one domain that has accompanied civilization throughout the centuries, adapting its tools to fulfill the expectations of students and the needs of teachers. Such tools can be as obvious and traditional as pencils and notebooks, or as complex and innovative as websites or multi-user virtual environments. Typical in-person learning environments, such as classrooms and meeting rooms, are at times not the best solution to enable and maximize a student’s ability to learn. Although they do fulfill their purpose of giving students the opportunity to understanding course material and to of reaching their instructors, they sometimes can create barriers that cannot be easily overcome.
Web-based instruction and multi-user virtual environments allow more freedom in terms of time restraints and the physical limitations innate to typical lectures and classroom settings. Through these innovative mediums we can explore concepts while being a part of a learning community through socialization and collaboration online. Many universities, public institutions and private businesses are projecting themselves on the Internet and in virtual worlds to reach the customer at any time, giving them the notion of a virtual presence that cannot be delivered through a simple website. This observation sparks the idea that is at the very foundation of this publication with a focus on e-learning and e-education.
This journal’s aim is to become a central repository of information about the utilization of on-line education through web-based instruction and multi-user virtual environments. With this journal we wish to create a one-stop resource to teachers, researchers and practitioners who wish to access information of high quality and broad coverage. Topics to be discussed in this journal focus on (but not limited to) the following concepts:
Teaching/Educational Models and Frameworks
Accessibility and usability of web-based instruction in the classroom
Best Practices
Developing courses and content to be used in on-line educational environments
Student engagement
Experiments
Impacts of on-line on traditional teaching and learning strategies
Cost analysis
Keywords

Teaching, Multi-User Virtual Environments, Learning, Classroom Extension, Teaching Practices, Education Research, Distance Learning, Instructional Technologies, Computer-Based Training, On-line Education
Editors-in-Chief
Dr. Giovanni Vincenti is a Lecturer for the Department of Computer and Information Sciences at Towson University, in Towson, MD. He received his Doctorate of Science in Applied Information Technology from Towson University in 2007. He has been teaching undergraduate and graduate courses for several years, letting him develop his interest in instructional technologies that range from simple learning objects as a supplement to in-person instruction, all the way to the utilization of virtual worlds in the classroom. He has been collaborating for years with James Braman, co-authoring several published works including the edited volumes titled Teaching through Multi-User Virtual Environments: Applying Dynamic Elements to the Modern Classroom and Multi-User Virtual Environments for the Classroom: Practical Approaches to Teaching in Virtual Worlds. Vincenti and Braman are also leading e-Learning projects for the Institute of Computer Sciences, Social Informatics, and Telecommunications Engineering (ICST). In addition, Dr. Vincenti also serves as a consultant to companies and universities that focus on online learning.
James Braman is a Lecturer in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences at Towson University. He earned a M.S. in Computer Science in 2006 and is pursuing a D.Sc. in Information Technology. James serves as joint editor-in-chief for the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering (ICST) Transactions on E-Education and E-Learning along with Dr. Vincenti. He has published several edited books, the most recent, Multi-User Virtual Environments for the Classroom: Practical Approaches to Teaching in Virtual Worlds. He has been involved in virtual world research for several years, along with providing consulting and research services for businesses and organizations utilizing virtual worlds and augmented reality. He has also published numerous research articles related to affective computing, intelligent agents, computer ethics and education in virtual and immersive environments.
Editorial Board
Adams, Nan
Southeastern Louisiana University, USA
Bellido, Francisco
Universidad de Córdoba
Bucciero, Alberto
Università del Salento, Italy
Buckner, Melody
University of Arizona
Crosby-Nagy, Michelle
George Washington University, USA
Ferlosio, Alessandro
Entròpia for Innovation
Johnson, Shaun
Towson University
Kaplan-Rakowski, Regina
Southern Illinois University
Laughlin, Daniel
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Trajkovski, Goran
Virginia International University
Wood, Denise
University of South Australia, Australia