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…

The use of technology and media modalities in digital technologies in today's media has created a new form of journalism. While some call it citizen-reporting, some dub it we media, or participatory news reporting. The new press evolves with the engagement of ordinary citizens in news gathering and distribution. Apart from helping to enhance the…

This paper analyses meaning-making processes in a blended setting--face-to-face interaction and web forum--purposely created for collaborative learning activity. The analysis focuses on one pair out of 14 dyads. The dyad comprises two female students aged 17 and 18 who attended a Brazilian third-year state secondary school. We envisioned…

The focus of this article is on digital literacy and students' use of digital sources. We are examining how students choose digital video sources when doing group work with tablets in a social studies project. The analysis centers on how students collaboratively negotiate and reason around their choice of video sources during an assignment about…

This study investigated the application of an online videocase discussion community into fostering preservice and inservice EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers' professional development in Taiwan. This investigation further revealed the nature and development of discussion discourse and the participating teachers' perceptions of this…

There has been an increased demand on educational institutions to provide students with value for money. The sociology course SOCI3035 Caribbean Social Problems with 111 students was transformed to a fully flipped course replacing several face-to-face lectures, tutorials and assessment with online versions as homework. Face to face lecture time…

This study explores how preservice primary teachers became engaged in meaning-making mathematics teaching when participating in online discussions within learning environments integrating video-clips of mathematics teaching. We identified different modes of participation in the online discussions and different levels of knowledge-building. The…

This mixed-methods study probed the effectiveness of three kinds of objects (video, theory, metaphor) as common reference points for conversations between online learners (student teachers). Individuals' degree of detail-focus was examined as a potentially interacting covariate and the outcome measure was learners' level of tacit knowledge related…

Critical thinking is a highly desirable goal of online higher education courses. This article presents qualitative data from a mixed-method study that explores how asynchronous discussions within online courses influence critical thinking among students. In this study, online discussions were related to higher levels of critical thinking, but…

The use of web applications has become a trend in many disciplines including education. In view of the influence of web application in education, this study examines web application technologies that could enhance undergraduates' learning experiences, with focus on Quantity Surveying (QS) and Information Technology (IT) undergraduates. The…

Schools and universities all over the world are continuously exploring ways to use the web technology in improving teaching effectiveness. The use of course web pages, discussion groups, bulletin boards, and e-mails have shown impact on teaching and learning in significant ways, across all disciplines. e-Learning has emerged as an alternative to…

For the fortieth time, the Research and Theory Division of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented at the annual AECT Convention in Jacksonville, Florida. The Proceedings of AECT's Convention are published in two volumes.…

This article explores innovations in assessment of student teaching practice employed in the University of Cincinnati, USA, online associate's degree in early childhood education, the Early Childhood Learning Community. The program's components are identified with a specific focus on assessment of teaching practicum. The use of a range of…

Leading a classroom discussion involves multiple components, including establishing norms for participation, assisting students in engaging in careful readings of text ahead of time, and modeling features of academic discourse. In other work, Grossman and her colleagues refer to this as the "decomposition" of practice--breaking down complex…

This study presents and discusses results from an EFL second language literature program in which the instructional design included a team teaching scheme, blended learning practice, and computer-mediated peer-interaction. The team teaching plan used a Mandarin speaking English teacher and a Native English-speaking teacher collaborating and…