In this article, we propose that one way of engaging pre-service and practicing high school Social Studies and English teachers in critical conversations about social class is through the use of life-based literary narratives. By expanding upon Phillion and He's (2004) work around the pedagogical and curricular potential of using life-based…

Despite the fundamental importance of research design processes to educational research projects, research design needs to be more intentional. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether using an online learning resource and engaging in online discussion fostered learners' knowledge about educational research design and facilitated critical…

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…

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…

Web 2.0 technologies, open source software platforms, and mobile applications have transformed teaching and learning of second and foreign languages. Language teaching has transitioned from a teacher-centered approach to a student-centered approach through the use of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and new teaching approaches.…

To get money flowing from alumni, colleges try to keep them feeling plugged in to their alma mater--even if the "plug" becomes wireless. Bucknell University rolled out a new service this month that pushes cell phone text messages to its 47,000 alumni. So far only a few dozen alumni have signed up for the service. If the service, which is…

The Internet can be a tremendous aid to research, information sharing, and social networking, but it also raises Murphy's Law to new heights: If anything can go wrong online, it will. And when it goes wrong, educators' jobs and reputations are sometimes at risk. For example, there is the former student teacher in Pennsylvania who filed a federal…

In this article I argue that women's book clubs are significant sites for learning, dialogue and the accumulation of cultural capital, and that research on North American women's book clubs should be expanded to include studies of such groups' consumption of texts by and about women living in the Middle East. Using insights from transnational…

This project aimed to engage students in a critical thinking activity using both online and face-to-face methods and compare the two modes in terms of evidence of critical thinking skills. Fifty-five university students (45 females, 10 males) were randomly allocated to small groups. Transcripts of the online and face-to-face discussions were…

This study explored the use of Garrison, Anderson, and Archer's (2000) version of Dewey's (1933) practical inquiry model for assessing the influence of social presence and teaching presence on the quality of critical inquiry experienced by online learners. Students (N = 33) enrolled in an online version of a graduate-level, educational statistics…

From brainstorming to outlining, rough drafts to peer editing, revision to final copy, all of the tasks involved in the writing process can be accomplished using technology. However, when faced with the research paper, students are often asked to keep track of sources and information on handwritten bibliography note cards. In this article, a…

By virtue of the non-profit nature of school education, a professional virtual community composed of teachers provides precious data to understand the processes of knowledge sharing and creation. Guided by grounded theory, the authors conducted a three-phased study on a teachers' virtual community in order to understand the knowledge flows among…

THE POTENTIAL ROLE OF CHILDREN IN STIMULATING FAMILY USE OF EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION DURING EVENING HOURS WAS STUDIED. FOUR EXPERIMENTAL CONDITIONS WERE CREATED AMONG TENTH-GRADE SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHERS AND THEIR CLASSES--(1) A DISCUSSION PROCEDURE WAS USED TO STIMULATE VIEWING OF A PUBLIC AFFAIRS SERIES ON THE AREA'S EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION STATION,…