In November 2008 the Sloan Consortium published "Staying the Course: Online Education in the United States." This study produced survey statistics relating to enrollments in online courses. The study confirmed what most administrators and faculty members already suspected: the growth of online higher education continues to be astounding;…

Readers, texts, and readings can take unpredictable and seemingly tangential detours that educators might find undesirable and difficult to control. Readers can stray far from the text to seek out desired meanings. In the same way, media outlets can reappropriate favorite literary fictions in ways that can perturb educators and readers alike.…

The purpose of this study was to identify and explain factors that motivate and assist adult, online chemistry students to both enroll and persist in successfully completing general chemistry. Secondarily, the study sought to identify aspects of the online education process that are most challenging for adult, online chemistry students. Using a…

In this paper we explore the dispositions towards "communal e-learning" of a cohort of initial teacher trainees within a primary post-graduate (PGCE) programme. We describe a one-year case study involving 154 postgraduate trainees in West London, working to meet the nationally decreed "professional standards" for qualified…

One of the challenges of teacher education is to train preservice teachers to deliver a wide range of literacy skills to a diverse population. This article describes a mixed methods research study into preservice undergraduate literacy methods courses. This research examined how online, asynchronously conducted discussions influenced and impacted…

This article describes the Tribal Paradise Project the author and her colleagues designed for their high school students. This project was a bold attempt to bring together the real-world skills of collaboration and online writing into one major, cross-school project. Adapted from the famous "Flimibuff" assignment cited by Ray Saitz on his teacher…

This study examines the production of topical talk in peer collaborative negotiation in an interactive assessment innovation context. The ability to stay on topic, to move from topic to topic and to introduce new topics appropriately is at the core of communicative competence. Applying conversation analysis (CA), we describe and analyze how one…

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…

In this paper, the author looks at how she attempted to teach her students--preservice teachers--to engage in dialogic conversation about gay and lesbian identity using children's literature with gay and lesbian characters as a jumping off point. Through her analysis, the author has identified two requirements for dialogic conversation among…

A study examined the listening needs experienced by people who engage regularly in small group communication situations. Subjects were 137 students, including graduate communication students, senior level students in organizational communication classes, undergraduate communication students in an adult re-entry program, and undergraduate students…

An experiment in behavior technology is described in which the results indicate that token technology can be an effective technique to increase small group participation when a variety of back-up reinforcers is offered. (Author/HB)

Article discussed problems in education presented in the form of a play with a moderator, superintendent, and a teacher as the cast of characters. (RK)

Creating poetry with your students is fun for everyone - class excitement is high and rewards are many. (Editor)

The handbook, an outgrowth of a project involving 8-13 year-old siblings of handicapped children and their parents, describes ways to implement sibling programs. Problems facing siblings are reviewed, including overidentification, resentment, and embarassment. Guidelines for conducting "sibshops" are offered with information on five goals, such as…

This document contains a leader's guide for Recording the Hard Times, a program designed to help young people between the ages of 11 and 15 handle the stress in their lives or the stress of their friends. It notes that the workbook is designed to be used in a group setting while the specific recording sessions are designed to be completed…