Facing significant budget deficits and stagnant enrollments, a local school district realized that they would likely need to close some schools, which is always a difficult issue for communities to consider. The school district, hoping to find a way to have a productive community conversation about this difficult issue, turned to a local,…

The authors realized that participating in a book club with friends has often provided the incentive to read books they normally wouldn't choose on their own. Book clubs have offered them relaxed and informal places to share and compare opinions, to explore texts and authors they wouldn't as readily appreciate or fully understand without friends…

This paper focuses on the implications of two emerging digital technologies on the act of field birding, and the implications of these objects for thinking about wild birds. While the adoption of new immaterial technologies promises to improve the ease with which birding is practiced, their use leads to new ethical considerations. Using the…

Sophisticated software such as Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) are rapidly being deployed by universities. Despite widespread use of such systems, experience shows that there is frequently poor pedagogic development, leading primarily to use of VLEs as electronic document repositories rather than as online learning systems in which the…

This article describes how online discussion groups and visual collaboration can be used in combination to build and support a virtual community of learners. Data derived from several online discussion groups are presented, and the support needs of learners are highlighted as a key factor of success. (Contains 1 figure.)