Humans are fundamentally social creatures and our social relationships depend on communication to survive. It is not surprising that communication is the most popular use of the Internet. Researchers have examined computer-mediated communication since the early 1980's, yet, the precise role of computer-mediated communication in growth,…

Students in higher education, most frequently, use the frontal approach while being asked to collaborate on a writing assignment. However, the difficulty in collaborative writing using conventional technologies such as pen and paper, board or computer is the limited ability to view the work of your peers during the process (Baeker, Glass,…

This article describes the formation of a pedagogy-focused online discussion group for middle school mathematics teachers. Advice is offered for those seeking to establish similar conversations among their colleagues.

The availability of online collaboration software has provided new opportunities for instructors to interact with students outside the classroom. This report describes how Elluminate "Live!"[R], a particular conferencing software package, can be used with a tablet PC to conduct virtual office hours in a biochemistry course. The educational value…

Two questions are considered in this article: (a) What should professionals in school psychology do in an effort to stay current with developments in applied statistics? (b) What should they do with their existing knowledge to move from surface understanding of statistics to deep understanding? Written for school psychologists who have completed…

By providing the public with online computing facilities, librarians make available a world of information resources beyond their traditional print materials. Internet-connected computers in libraries greatly enhance the opportunity for patrons to enjoy the benefits of the digital age. Unfortunately, as hackers become more sophisticated and…

Virtual communities are quickly becoming the standard mode of interaction in educational and professional contexts. However, the literature fails to accurately address the possibility of differences in the perceptions of these communities related to sex. Two-hundred and twenty-six students from a medium-sized university in the Mid-Atlantic United…

This study focuses on the process, output, and interpretation of "multilevel analyses" on "quantitative content analysis data" derived from asynchronous discussion group transcripts. The impact of role assignments on the level of knowledge construction reflected in students' contributions and the relation between message characteristics and these…

Although Instant Messaging (IM) has established itself as one of the most popular modes of communication, little empirical research has explored how adolescents are affected by its use to satisfy their virtual interpersonal relationships. This research investigates cause and effect in the satisfaction of these relationships among adolescents in…

This Media Literacy column is a follow-up to the column in the September 2007 issue that discussed Guy Debord and the artistic, political avant-garde organization called the Situationist International. This column continues the discussion of the situationist concepts of the spectacle and "detournement" by explaining quick and easy ways to…

Purpose: A learning community has been developing in a distributed environment amongst the members of the Centre for Enhancing of Learning and Teaching (CELT) located in the Bathurst, Goulburn and Orange campuses of Charles Sturt University. This group is known by the acronym of GDMOB, with the purpose of the community to facilitate the…

This qualitative study was intended to explore the roles that an early childhood instructor undertook in a virtual learning environment. Throughout three consecutive semesters, multiple forms of data collection techniques were employed, including: field notes, teacher-student online interaction, the course design, students' online submissions,…

Adolescents recruited from chat rooms were interviewed via instant messaging about their interracial and inter ethnic experiences online. The types of messages participants sent and received about race on the Internet were identified using thematic analysis. Of particular interest within these online exchanges was what and how participants learned…

This study investigated whether providing students with the choice of chat versus threaded discussion boards for online discourse is an effective instructional strategy in terms of student learning and satisfaction. The sample was teacher education students enrolled in face-to-face (FTF) and online sections of one undergraduate foundations course.…

High school teacher Cathie English believes online threaded discussions are "an amazing ally to the teacher who cares about giving voice to every student in the classroom." They offer a forum for quiet students to develop and verbalize ideas; promote in-depth response and reflection; encourage peer affirmation; and provide opportunities for more…