Although Twitter and other social media sites have grown in popularity with educators, we still do not know what is happening within this online space or how it supports teachers. The purpose of this case study of #Edchat, a group of educators who meet weekly on Twitter, was to investigate informal professional development through the lens of…

In the Post RN BScN curriculum, one of the courses "Professional Development and Leadership (PDLM)" was offered as blended mode for the first time. In order to explore the students' interactions and Cognitive Engagement (CE) in Online Discussion Forums (ODFs), the research team conducted a retrospective study for the first time at a…

Research into Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) in Higher Education has largely focused on the positive effects of PASS on student motivation, retention and engagement. Less attention has been given to the cognitive, affective and professional development of the PASS Student Mentors through their engagement with students and academic staff. At…

This study sought to examine how educators are using Twitter to increase their professional learning opportunities beyond the boundaries of traditional professional development offers, and whether educators feel a greater sense of fulfillment receiving professional development through networking and community learning than they do through…

Digital technologies make possible new avenues for sharing and accessing literacy research and practices worldwide. Among the myriad of options available, web seminars have become popular online learning venues. The current investigation is part of Global Conversations in Literacy Research (GCLR), a longitudinal and qualitative study now in its…

Social media are fundamentally changing core practices in various industries. Although surveys indicate that social media are impacting social scientists, we know little about how education scholars, specifically, use social media for their work or professional learning. This article explores how educational scholars incorporated the social media,…

In the summer of 2015, "The Learning House, Inc." and "WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies" (WCET) conducted a survey of 202 deans, directors, and provosts at two- and four-year higher education institutions who were familiar with the online learning practices at their respective institutions. The goal of the survey…

In recent years, enrollment and overall student performance in rural schools have declined. Research shows that principals are critical to the success of a school system and that implementing a virtual community of practice (CoP) at the principal level has solved some of the issues associated with rurality in some organizations. Such…

This research examines the school-based training experiences of a female trainee teacher of physical education (Emily) at a grammar school for boys. The purpose of this research is to consider whether the sex of the trainee teacher either inhibits or advances the professional development of trainee teachers in an opposite-sex school. Emily…

EdCamp is a grassroots movement of do-it-yourself professional development "un-conferences" that originated in Philadelphia in November 2010. In just a little over a year and a half the phenomenon has gained serious momentum across the country and now around the globe. This teacher-driven, bottom-up approach to professional development…

The aim of this study was to identify when and how the interactive whiteboard (IWB) functioned as a productive tool that impacted student learning in mathematics. Using video data, field notes, and interview transcripts from 1 school year in two optimal case study classrooms, we were able to examine the unique opportunities afforded by the size of…

This article presents the results of a mixed-methods study of the Adult Literacy Education Wiki. Two research questions framed the study: (1) What do participants report they have learned by contributing to the wiki? and (2) What is the nature of participation and collaboration in the wiki? A key finding of the study is that the wiki does not…

Within teacher education programs, the use of discussion forums offers potential for creating learning communities whereby participants can negotiate meaning and engage in knowledge construction (Lock, 2006; Murphy, 2000). To this end, the present article draws on the findings of a larger research project which focused on a discussion forum…

A decade of research studies document that while blended learning has experienced rapid growth on K-12 campuses, little is known about its diverse impacts on teachers in secondary schools. Narrowing this knowledge gap was the purpose of this study, as it addressed questions relating to the extent to which high school practitioners blended subject…

This paper analyses the use of various communication channels in science teachers' professional development project aiming to develop versatile uses for ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) in science teaching. A teacher network was created specifically for this project, and the researchers facilitated three forms of communication…