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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