This paper investigates the characteristics of opinion leaders within the computer-mediated environment, analyses the differences between online opinion leaders and online non-leaders and examines the implications of opinion leadership theory for e-commerce. This study finds that opinion leaders in computer-mediated environments possess significantly higher levels of enduring involvement, innovativeness, exploratory behaviour and self-perceived knowledge than non-leaders. Online opinion leaders also possess greater computer skills, have used the internet for a longer period of time and use the internet more frequently for longer sessions than non-leaders.

In this article, the authors examine pre-service special education teacher reaction to and experience in a collaboratively taught higher education course. Forty-three full-time postbaccalaureate students participate in a course designed to examine critical issues in special education, taught by two faculty members, one specializing in mild and moderate disabilities and the other in moderate and severe disabilities. Pre-service teachers respond to a survey about their knowledge and comfort with co-teaching. Data are collected and analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Three qualitative themes regarding participants' perceptions of skills affecting co-teaching emerge: interpersonal skills, collaborative skills, and instructional issues. Overall, participant knowledge of co-teaching increase and faculty modeling of co-teaching is reported as the most valuable contributing factor.

Teachers’ perception of self-efficacy may have a significant impact on their ability to accept the challenges inherent in including children with autism in their classrooms. The Nominal Group Technique (NGT) was used to identify perceived challenges and needs of 31 graduate students in a university course of which 14 of the 23 students were actively teaching in rural schools located in southeast Alabama. Five faculty members used the resulting NGT data to draft six recommendations for improving the teacher preparation program at Troy University.

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