In order to develop potentially transformative Web 2.0 tools in higher education, the complexity of existing academic practices, including current patterns of technology use, must be recognised. This paper describes how a series of participatory design activities allowed postgraduate students in education, social sciences and computer sciences to…

This paper addresses several components of successful language-learning methodologies--group work, task-based instruction, and wireless computer technologies--and examines how the interplay of these three was perceived by students in a second-year university foreign-language course. The technology component of our learning design plays a central…

This study examined online group discussion from students' perspectives to determine what characteristics students identify as meaningful to their online learning. Participants were 142 graduate students in the Southeast. The multiple regression results revealed that quality of online discussion was positively associated with communication media,…

This case study focused on whether women, enrolled in a graduate course, would engage in online debate, and if so, whether their postings would contain traditional elements of argumentation (i.e., argue, elaborate, critique). Content analyses for two debates were performed. For the most part, the overarching messages in both debates were…

This paper aims to better understand the development of students' metacognitive learning processes when participating actively in a CSCL system called KnowCat. To this end, a longitudinal case study was designed, in which 18 university students took part in a 12-month (two semesters) learning project. The students followed an instructional…

An online learning community enables learners to access up-to-date information via the Internet anytime--anywhere because of the ubiquity of the World Wide Web (WWW). Students can also interact with one another during the learning process. Hence, researchers want to determine whether such interaction produces learning synergy in an online learning…

This study explored the differences among online elementary school student groups based on their communication features. Two hundred and ninety-one Taiwanese students, ranging in age from 11 to 12 years old, participated in this study. The students were randomly arranged within-class into three-member groups. Each group was asked to use a…

Mobile devices could facilitate human interaction and access to knowledge resources anytime and anywhere. With respect to wide application possibilities of mobile learning, investigating learners' acceptance towards it is an essential issue. Based on activity theory approach, this research explores positive factors for the acceptance of m-learning…

The purpose of this study was to analyze data related to rural teachers' use of online communities. Rural teachers are often isolated in their practice and sometimes have difficulty connecting with other teachers with their same assignments or needs due to their professional setting. As Internet availability increases and online communities…

Using a mixed method approach, this study explored which educational factors predicted systemic confidence in master's level marital and family therapy (MFT) students, and whether or not the impact of these factors was influenced by student beliefs and their perception of their supervisor's beliefs about the value of systemic practice. One hundred…

This paper examines the ICT curriculum in the teacher education programmes of Kerala in the context of globalization. Globalization indicates interconnectivity of technologies (Kushner. 2008). The quality of education is a direct outcome of the quality of teacher education system. Due to globalization, the last five decades witnessed several…

This article examines the relationship between online social networking (OSN) and perceptions of academic and social integration for first-year residential students at a rural regional comprehensive university. Students spent an average of 2.5 hours on OSN websites per day, primarily interacting with campus peers, friends and family. There was…

Approximately 3.9 million students enrolled in at least one online course in fall 2007. According to Allen and Seaman (2008), online education growth rates have continued to outpace total higher education growth rates and there are no signs of online growth slowing down. As higher education institutions offer increasing numbers of online and…

It is nearly a full decade into the 21st Century and unfortunately many schools are still using the term "21st Century teaching" as a far-off, futuristic idea. The fact of the matter is that the longer schools wait to use technology in their classrooms, the further behind their global peers students will become. With some research, creativity, and…

For years, the University of California, Los Angeles, has been a rare holdout. As other colleges, universities, and independent schools rushed to create their own private online social networks, the UCLA Alumni Association stood on the sidelines. This fall, UCLA will join the game, launching its own online community. According to Ralph Amos,…