The author presents a three-step process for selecting participants for any study of a social phenomenon that occurs between people in locations and at times that are difficult to observe. The process is described with illustrative examples from a previous study of help giving in a community of learners. This paper includes a rationale for…

Instructional teacher leadership is central to a vision of distributed leadership. However, identifying instructional teacher leaders can be a daunting task, particularly for administrators who find themselves either newly appointed or faced with high staff turnover. This article describes the use of social network analysis (SNA), a simple but…

In this paper, we propose a grouping strategy to enhance the learning and testing results of students, called Pairing Strategy (PS). The proposed method stems from the need of interactivity and the desire of cooperation in cooperative learning. Based on the social networks of students, PS provides members of the groups to learn from or mimic…

Professional development for distance tutors is traditionally delivered through texts or websites, supplemented by face to face workshops. However, one of the major challenges is to ensure that they engage with the materials and carry away something which is of value to their practice. At the Open University (UK) our 8000 tutors work from home,…

The purpose of this study was to explore and investigate the ways faculty at The School of Information Studies at Syracuse University use Networked Information Sources and Services to support their service tasks. Library and Information Sciences faculty were chosen as the population for this study. The study aimed to answer the following…

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.)

Theory is a vitally important component of every undergraduate sociology program. Social theory classes are the heart of the undergraduate major in sociology: in these courses, students take on the professional and disciplinary roles of sociologists. This paper reports on two strategies that enlivened their social theory class, generating both…

This report presents a model of collaborative effort that established a network of 15 university-based and 2 non-university based Centers for Environmental Education (CEE) in the Tennessee River watershed region. The report begins by establishing definitions for a Center for Environmental Education and a network system, both of which are…