This paper aims to analyse if virtual forums set up in an environment specifically designed to improve collaborative learning can effectively influence students' discourse quality and learning when compared with those forums set up in a general environment. Following a coding schema based upon the set of scaffolds offered in the Knowledge…

Schools have struggled for decades to provide expensive augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) resources for autistic students with communication challenges. Clunky voice output devices, often included in students' individualized education plans, cost about $8,000, a difficult expense to cover in hard times. However, mobile technology is…

This chapter explores the use of social media in the higher education classroom highlighting potential issues for student-faculty boundary management and providing suggestions for praxis. Social media has captured the attention of educators and provides exciting new ways to engage students in course material. However, instructors and students…

Computer-supported collaborative learning has an unexploited potential of becoming an effective learning method for pupils with intellectual disabilities. This paper aims at showing how some specific requirements of this target group may be met by structuring a learning situation with the help of "floor control," which restricts the opportunities…

That the world outside schools is changing faster than ever is old news. Unfortunately, that the world "inside" schools is changing at a glacial pace is even older news. As school leaders, principals have an important choice to make as they move into the second decade of the 21st century. School leaders have a moral obligation to connect and…

Based on a client project assigned to students in two undergraduate business classes, this article argues that social media learning is best done in a context that mixes social media with more traditional kinds of media. Ideally, this approach will involve teams of students who are working on different aspects of a larger client project. This…

Three-dimensional (3-D) multi-user virtual environments (3-D MUVEs) have been used to provide language learners with realistic scenarios in which verbal and non-verbal interactions are simulated. However, little is known of the underlying factors that shape interaction in avatar-based virtual worlds. This study examined the perceptions of 38…

Maximize the effectiveness of your professional activities through the use of wikis, and raise student achievement in turn! With strategies from online educator and technology expert Stephanie Sandifer, this book provides how-to advice on the way in which wikis result in a more efficient use of time, better communication, and increased adult…

A research team conducted an evaluation of a laptop initiative in 18 North Carolina high schools through administrator, teacher, and student focus groups; teacher and student surveys; and classroom observations. The study aimed to provide information about the value of the laptop initiative in enhancing student learning. In addition, it intended…

This paper studies the social talk of high school students in online discussion forums. On-task talk has generally been assessed as valuable discussion because it contributes directly to productive learning. Off-task conversation, on the other hand, is often regarded as useless and a waste of time. Should this social talk indeed be regarded as an…

This study analyzed the content of college and university Web site home pages to determine the frequency of marketing messages that might persuade adult learners to enroll at the institution. The findings suggest that colleges and universities in this study do not have adult-oriented marketing messages and are giving scant attention to the…

Meta communication plays a key role in foreign language learning and teaching. Broadly speaking, meta communication is communication about communication. Meta communication is something that goes beyond communication and all language learners and teachers should be familiar with its existence. It should be stressed that meta communication which…

Purpose: This paper aims to describe the incorporation of technologies into two upper division Communication Studies courses at Texas Tech University. Design/methodology/approach: The article discusses the methodological and pedagogical rationale used to select the appropriate technologies and to effectively incorporate them into the classroom. An…

Have you updated your Web site today? Is it possible that answering "yes" to this simple question is the key to the success of your marketing and recruiting efforts? In the current recruitment arena, the ability to update and maintain this one high-value asset (your Web site) might be the key to the potency of your institutional…

Nearly 700 US journalism and mass communication faculty (all teaching personnel) reported their perceptions of student email use via a web-based survey. This nationwide study focused on the content of email sent by faculty to students, email's effectiveness, and email's effect on student learning. Comparisons were made based on faculty gender,…