Preparing students to be successful in high school AP courses and exams begins at the middle school level. SpringBoard is a program created by the CollegeBoard to bridge content expected in high school with the current middle school curriculum. SpringBoard was introduced and piloted in the Colonial School District during the 2014-2015 school year…

This study investigated 28 graduate students' knowledge construction and attitudes toward online synchronous videoconferencing collaborative learning environments. These students took an online course, self-selected 3 or 4 group members to form groups, and worked on projects across 16 weeks. Each group utilized Elluminate "Live!" for the…

Cyberbullying is a concern for any college or university. Digital harassment incidents are featured daily in the news. The authors of this study examine the perceptions of faculty on cyberbullying at a major metropolitan university. From the findings of a survey distributed to faculty in all schools of the university, the authors learn of high…

School leaders need to look beyond the hyped stories of social media being misused by teenagers. They must begin thoughtfully using tools like Twitter and Facebook to help their students gain skills and to reach out to their communities. Larkin, principal of Burlington High School in Massachusetts and a well-known advocate for technology in…

Universities are among the users of the most popular social media networks. Usage of social media by especially students and many other people and institutions, which constitutes the target audience for universities, encourages the universities to effectively use this environment. Twitter is among these social media networks which facilitate the…

By the time Superstorm Sandy struck New Jersey in late October 2012, Kathy Corbalis, executive director of communications and college relations at Atlantic Cape Community College, and her team were battle-tested. In the 15 months before the hurricane, the college experienced two bomb threats via Twitter, a lockdown due to gunfire, an on-campus…

To learn more about how learning takes place online, this study outlines and analyzes the micro-level features of the online class discussions of students in a college course. A positive relationship between online participation and student performance was found, in which higher-graded students submitted more messages and engaged in more…

This study explores students' choices of verbal and text interaction in a synchronous Live Virtual Classroom (LVC) environment that mixed onsite and online learners. Data were collected from analysis of recorded LVC sessions and post-course interviews with students in two different offerings of a graduate instructional design course that used…

Relevance is discussed in light of 21st c. communication skills and relevance. How do these areas impact both the face-to-face and online candidates in the MAT and MAED programs to positively impact P-12 students? Relevance theory and communication in 21st c. is clarified for working in both face-to-face and online learning environments leading…

In this study, 51 individuals from online substance abuse support groups were surveyed to investigate the mediating role of social support on the relationship between internalized stigma and coping. Regression and bootstrapping were conducted to perform mediation analysis. Findings suggest that social support mediates the negative impact of…

Recent developments in the use of social media for learning have posed serious challenges for learners. The information overload that these online social tools create has changed the way learners learn and from whom they learn. An investigation of learners' goals, motivations and expected outcomes when using a personal learning network is…

This paper documents the initial phase of a research project to improve peer interaction in a discussion forum for a Spatial Sciences class (unit) at Curtin University. A number of strategies were implemented to redress the low levels of online participation prevailing for a number of years. Three research questions were formulated to evaluate the…

A comparison study between two different methods of conducting online discussions in an introductory astronomy course was performed to determine if the use of Facebook as an online discussion tool has an impact on student participation as well as student response time. This study shows that students using Facebook for their online discussions…

Today’s young generation (often called "Millennials," "GenY," or "Generation Me") are the first to grow up with the Internet and social networking websites. Have these experiences led to more and better social connections, or fewer and atrophied ones? Social media use may lead to online political action such as signing an e-mail petition but does…

We present an exercise on "doing gender" that uses digital media to create an opportunity for interactive learning. Students create photo essays on gender performances in everyday life and then present their photo essays to their peers. This exercise allows undergraduates to engage in "real-life" learning regarding the socially…