Web-Based and Blended Educational Tools and Innovations

The call to integrate web-based and blended tools into the classroom forces educators and researchers to rethink their assumptions about teaching—and education in general. Although a considerable amount of exploration has occurred in this field, the breadth and scope for dialogue and experimentation must be broadened. Web-Based and Blended Educational Tools and Innovations contributes to this search for better teaching methods by exploring the technical, social, cultural, organizational, human, cognitive, and commercial impact of technology in education. This volume outlines the impact of Web-based technology on the design, implementation, and evaluation of the learning and teaching process, as well as the development of new activities, relationships, skills, and competencies for the various actors that is implied in such processes.

Nikos Karacapilidis holds a professor position at the University of Patras in the field of management information systems. His research interests lie in the areas of intelligent Web-based information systems, technology-enhanced learning, e-collaboration, knowledge management systems, group decision support systems, computer-supported argumentation, enterprise information systems and Semantic Web. He has been recently appointed as Editor-in-Chief of the Advances in Web-based Learning (AWBL) Book Series, published by IGI Global.

Mahesh S. Raisinghani is an associate professor in the Executive MBA program at the TWU School of Management. He is a Certified E-Commerce Consultant (CEC), a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) and a Project Management Professional (PMP). Dr. Raisinghani was awarded the 2008 Excellence in Research & Scholarship award and the 2007 G. Ann Uhlir Endowed Fellowship in Higher Education Administration. He was also the recipient of TWU School of Management's 2005 Best Professor Award for the Most Innovative Teaching Methods; 2002 research award; 2001 King/Haggar Award for excellence in teaching, research and service; and a 1999 UD-GSM Presidential Award. His research has been published in several academic journals such as IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Information & Management, Information Resources Management Journal, Journal of E-396 Commerce Research, International Journal of Distance Education Technologies, International Journal of Innovation and Learning, Journal of IT Review, Journal of Global IT Management and Journal of IT Cases and Applications Research among others and international/national conferences. Dr. Raisinghani is included in the millennium edition of Who's Who in the World, Who's Who among Professionals, Who's Who among America's Teachers and Who's Who in Information Technology.

Eugenia M.W. Ng is an associate professor in the Department of Mathematics and Information at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. She obtained her Bachelor of Commerce and Master of Business Administration from Concordia University (Canada), Diploma of Education from University of Surrey (UK) and PhD from University of Warwick (UK). Dr. Ng is responsible for teaching information technology modules, ranging from undergraduate to master's level. She is interested in various research areas and her recent areas are e-learning, blended learning and learning communities. She has published over seventy articles in conference proceedings, journals and book chapters, apart from being a research investigator of many internal and external funded projects. She is a co-editor-in-chief of International Journal of Web-based Learning and Teaching Technologies and an associate editor for the Advances in Web-based Learning (AWBL) Book Series and the International Journal of Digital Literacy and Digital Competence. She is also a member of the editorial review board for Knowledge Management & E-Learning: An International Journal, Annals of Cases on Information Technology and the Journal of Computers in Human Behavior. Recently, she has been editing a book entitled Comparative Blended Learning Practices and Environments, which will be published by IGI Global's Information Science Reference (USA) in October 2009. The edited book is contributed by thirty-five authors and co-authors from nineteen countries. Dr. Ng has been appointed as the subject specialist by the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications since 2002.