Extensive and repeated language exposure is essential for second language learning. While not all learners can get such exposure routinely in face-to-face contexts, English language learners today create pathways to opportunities for learning English through participation in social media communities. The informal exposure to English they obtain…

Recent conceptualizations of science literacy, a key aim of contemporary science education, suggest defining it as a function of actual uses of science in daily life. We characterize expressions of science literacy in online authentic public discourse, using content analysis of a year's worth of widely-read Israeli online news site coverage of…

The global market's economic growth has been boosted by the size of the sports industry, which now has a budget in the billions of dollars. Sports marketing has emerged as a result of this growth in the sports industry. Sports marketing has emerged as the most important feature of sports companies, having grown in importance as a scientific…

Transgender persons face many barriers preventing them from accessing and receiving health care. Gender-transition care can be difficult because such care is frequently contingent upon geopolitics, such as location-based health-care policies that exclude transgender community attitudes and values. This article uses rhetorical cluster analysis to…

Students today are increasingly engaged in the use of digital information and communication technologies. The Internet continues to grow and more and more young people are using it worldwide. Educational practices, however, have been slow to adapt to the corresponding developments. For example, Internet forums are generally ignored in most…

We aim to identify the engagement strategies that higher education students, engaging in emergency online learning in low-resource settings, perceive to be effective. We conducted a sequential mixed-methods study based on Moore's interaction framework for distance education. We administered a questionnaire to 313 students engaging in emergency…

Research about adolescents sharing creative writing in interest-driven online communities has suggested that teachers can play important roles in helping young writers realize the potential of online spaces. Framed by sociocultural notions of new literacies and a conceptual framework theorizing the rhetorical situation when sharing writing in…

Being a family carer can be rewarding but can also lead to mental and physical exhaustion as well as feelings of social exclusion and isolation. Research has shown that the use of the Internet and online forums can provide an immediate place to find information and reassurance and that forum use can be an empathetic place to share experiences and…

Learning management systems (LMSs) provide possibilities to facilitate online teaching and learning; to create communities of inquiry, support dialogue and collaborative learning; and reduce students' sense of disconnectedness in distance learning. Nevertheless, studies show that LMSs are often under-utilized. This article reports on lecturers'…

The Community of Inquiry (CoI) model provides a well-researched theoretical framework to understand how learners and teachers interact and learn together in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). Most CoI research focuses on asynchronous learning. However, with the arrival of easy-to-use synchronous communication tools the relevance of…

How professional development is delivered in today's networked world has shifted greatly, and research into online spaces of learning is growing. Numerous questions, however, remain regarding how online spaces can be leveraged to foster meaningful conversations that address current critical educational issues. This qualitative study examines the…

Modern technology has enhanced many aspects of life, including classroom education. By offering virtual learning experiences, educational systems can become more efficient and effective at teaching the student population. The "Handbook of Research on Collaborative Teaching Practice in Virtual Learning Environments" highlights program…

This article presents an adaptation of established qualitative research methods for online focus groups by using the "Disqus" website-based commenting platform as a medium for discussion among doctoral and early-career academic learners. Facilities allowing Internet users to comment on the content of web pages are increasingly popular on…

Internet has a potential that will lead to important changes in our social life and our attitudes, behaviors and habits. Indeed, Internet seems to have started to change a number of social structures from family, friendship to business relationships. Internet serves many purposes such as information transfer, academic research, entertainment,…

This paper examines the impact of supplementary web-based materials on students' academic performance in a first-year economics unit at university. In particular, the paper considers the impact of students' usage of the unit's webpage, voluntary on-line discussion board, voluntary on-line quizzes and voluntary on-line homework questions on their…