In this paper, we report on our efforts to support teachers' development of mathematical knowledge for teaching through online professional development focusing on authentic engagement in collaborative mathematical problem solving. In particular, this paper seeks to explore and understand the relationship between online mathematical collaboration…

This paper reports on phase 1 of a project commissioned by Learning and Teaching Scotland to explore the continuing professional development (CPD) needs of teachers in Scotland in years 2-6 of their careers. Nominal group technique (NGT) was employed to identify the CPD needs of year 2-6 teachers and to identify the relative priority of these…

Student-run literature circles within the classroom setting have been well documented in recent years. This past year the author was given the opportunity to have her fifth grade library class for an additional library period each week to devote to literature circles. For their program, the goal was to expand the student's pleasure in reading and…

The Great Eight competencies are work behaviors that promote employee effectiveness in 21st-century organizations. These competencies include enterprising and performing, adapting and coping, organizing and executing, creating and conceptualizing, analyzing and interpreting, interacting and presenting, supporting and cooperating, and leading and…

In this article, we address the ways children collaborate to inquire about text in the context of group discussions, addressing the question: How do students stay on-topic and sustain their discussions of text? We speculate that a framework for dialogic discourse, referred to as exploratory talk, allows students to understand that discussions of…

This study investigates the influence of interpersonal communication and intergroup identification on members' evaluations of computer-mediated groups. Participants (N= 256) in 64 four-person groups interacted through synchronous computer chat. Subgroup assignments to minimal groups instilled significantly greater in-group versus out-group…

The purpose of the research was to define online bullying, determine its incidence in higher education, and survey methods instructors used to respond to those students who use the online forum to intimidate or offend their classmates or instructors. The study extended Tattum and Tattum's (1992) definition of bullying to define the term…

Several studies examining computer-mediated communications (CMC) in online courses have found low levels of participation under both voluntary (ungraded) and mandatory (graded) conditions. This is troubling since student participation is widely considered to have a positive impact on performance. Program-level data were analyzed to explore the…

This study reports on exploratory research that investigated biology teachers' perceptions of their online information seeking practices and how these practices influenced their instructional planning activities. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the results of an online survey and ten in-depth interviews measuring use of specific online…

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are transforming the priorities of the International Reading Association (IRA) and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) to focus on preparing for the "new literacies." According to the Partnership of 21st Century Skills, "new literacy" is the ability to use ICTs to develop 21st…

The current English-language research and educational program was driven by an initiative to create a more interactive, theme-based bilingual language education model for preschools in Chengdu, China. During a 2-week teacher education program centered at the Experimental Kindergarten of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Chengdu, China, a team of…

This article describes the development, implementation, and second-year evaluation of Project Autism Competencies for Endorsement (ACE), a web-based professional development (PD) program that is designed to train teachers currently working in the field to meet the unique and diverse needs of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). A…

This paper is concerned with teaching and learning in a blended e-learning course that supports students in reflecting on and transforming their practice. In this paper we focus on two key aspects of the online learning environment: (i) the selection of the topic of discussion (the discussion question) by the tutor and how this influences the…

Preparing school administrators to promote effective instruction of English language learners (ELLs) is an important dimension of today's educational leadership programs, requiring innovative program activities. This study explores school leadership candidates' use of an observation tool targeted to ELL instruction that incorporated guided video…

Big business continues to request universities to produce graduates who possess both technical and generic skills. Although work-integrated learning (WIL) programs can be used to develop these skills, WIL placements in Australia are undertaken by a minority of students. Perceiving a gap, one Australian university undertook a major WIL revamp to…