The convenience and pervasiveness of smartphones have created an environment where teacher-parent communication can be easily fostered through mobile apps. The current study aims to explore the role of instant messaging apps in teacher-parent communication. Social capital and the uses and gratifications theory were used to develop a theoretical…

This paper presents pilot study results with 59 students enrolled in online Bachelor of Social Work courses that used VoiceThread (VT), an asynchronous communication platform. This study explored benefits and limitations associated with using VT to complete assignments, learn course content, and engage classmates. Students completed an online…

Online discussions have emerged as one of the most popular practices of writing in academic contexts in the twenty-first century. Nevertheless, we know little about the rhetorical features and composition strategies employed by multilingual writers in these types of discussions. Using online discussions in the brainstorming phase of the process of…

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) are the latest online teaching and learning medium through website and are seen as a key factor in future lesson delivery. One well-established and popular MOOC is Coursera which is provided by Stanford University. Online participation and interactions are complex phenomena and the answers to the questions in…

As a fundamental part of their chemical education, first-year undergraduate students are substantially involved in laboratory activities. Despite the specific teaching staff choices on the main laboratory aims, students normally receive a vast amount of information during these activities. Apart from understanding theoretical content, fundamental…

This review examines the second language acquisition (SLA) literature with regard to the role of "massively multiplayer online games" (MMOGs) in second language (L2) learning. It focuses on commercially developed off-the-shelf (COTS) MMOGs only (some of them modified for educational purposes such as Reinders' & Wattana's work). It…

Providing meaningful feedback to student writers is a nuanced, fully human endeavor. Thus, teaching preservice teachers, in all disciplines, to respond to students' writing is a complex task, one that requires intentional instruction and practice. In this article, we use practitioner inquiry to analyze our experiences and teaching approaches with…

The current study seeks to shed light on the usage habits of the "WhatsApp" application among teenagers, exploring the effect of mobile instant messaging distractions on pupils' working memory performance. Research was conducted in Israel during 2016 school year. The study sample was divided into two groups randomly--a control group and…

Understanding the relationship between social interaction patterns and cognitive engagement levels has critical implications on collaborative learning theory, pedagogy, and technology. This study used a multi-method approach to examine the relationship between students' social participatory roles and cognitive engagement levels within asynchronous…

Microscopy skills are critical for many aspects of biology, yet they are notoriously difficult to teach, especially to large classes. We trialled the use of widescreen monitors with touch-screen capability connected to compound microscopes in an introductory-level plant biology lab. Working in teams, students used the screens to interpret,…

This article deals with vocabulary learning in synchronous, multimodal eTandems focussing on Mandarin Chinese as a target language. In doing so, the study adopts an emic, conversation analytic perspective and triangulates self-reported data from learner diaries with recordings of actual eTandem conversations. The analysis of the learner diaries…

This report investigates the relationship between those students who were bullied online or by text and their demographic characteristics. It also examines students' reports of the overall negative effects of being bullied online or by text, as well as avoidance behaviors, impacts on attendance, and whether victims notified an adult of the…

In this paper, methodological issues in tracing the evidence of Intercultural Competences (IC) in online intercultural exchanges or telecollaboration are examined. The possibilities and limitations of methods for analyzing IC occurrences are explored. By considering the complementarity of methods, the study contributes to advance the…

Academic reference librarians frequently work with students who are not aware of their professional roles. In online interactions, a student might not even realize that the librarian is a person. The ways students initiate conversations reveal their understanding of the mutual roles involved in reference encounters. Conversation analysis of live…

As autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnoses continue to rise, traditional support services are unable to meet the demand. Parents are increasingly turning to online resources, which vary across a continuum of interactivity from passive online information seeking to highly interactive eHealth models, allowing engagement for parents in innovative…