The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore how mid-career elementary school principals in the suburbs of Philadelphia experience their interactions with parents who participate in social networking as a form of school engagement. Analysis of the accounts of the lived experiences of 11 elementary school principals…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore the relationship between the use of collaborative technology, video-facilitated observation and feedback, and virtual professional development and coaching and levels of collective teacher efficacy. The study used a questionnaire to survey 547 coaches, content specialists, and district…

As social behavior moves increasingly online, the study of social behavior has followed. Online traces of social systems, whether to study online behavior directly or the online traces of offline activity, have made possible previously unavailable empirical analyses of people, groups and organizations. However, practically observing any social…

Instructional rounds are an emerging network structure with processes and protocols designed to develop superintendents' knowledge and skills in leading large-scale improvement, to enable superintendents to build an infrastructure that supports the work of improvement, to assist superintendents in distributing leadership throughout their district,…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the use of social media among principals in the state of Indiana. Data from the national 2009 report, "A Survey of K-12 Educators on Social Networking and other Content Sharing Tools," were used to compare national results and data collected from Indiana. A survey was also created to…

Research has documented numerous benefits of parent involvement in children's education including increased attendance, increased test scores and better behavior. Access to increased and meaningful communication between home and school enhances parent involvement. The utilization of technology through the use of the Internet and e-mail for school…

Flexible, mobile, and distributive social web technologies afforded online users with unprecedented opportunities to connect previously disconnected groups of people at a distance surrounding shared interests or common issues. Reflecting the opportunities opened by social web technologies, recent extreme events have exposed both positive and…

The purpose of this qualitative, multiple-case study was two-fold: 1) to describe, analyze, and interpret the experiences of school principals and superintendents who use multiple social media tools such as blogs, microblogs, social networking sites, podcasts, and online videos with stakeholders as part of their comprehensive communications…

The purpose of this study was to determine the communication technologies preferred by school based administrators. This study surveyed and interviewed 96 school based administrators in a mid-sized suburban school system. The data show that individual emails, email lists, and cell phone technologies had the highest percentage effectiveness ratings…

This dissertation aims to investigate how advanced information technologies cope with the various demands of disaster response. It consists of three essays on the exploration of micro-blogging and FOSS environments. The first essay looks at the usage of micro-blogging in the aftermath of the massive 2008 China earthquake and explores the…

Tourism is a growing and significant component of the world economy and competition for tourism revenues is intense. For countries or regions seeking community development through tourism, communication strategies are an essential element of success. The Internet plays an increasingly large role in how we communicate in the 21st century and with…

Technology has become a part of the fabric of the lives of people, whether it be communicating with a loved one on the other side of the world or paying a utility bill via the Internet. Most people have experienced some level of technology integration into their life. An inescapable rite of passage for most people in developed countries is the…