Drawing on a research study into the spatiality of teachers' workplaces, this article explores the "concrete realities" of the artefact-filled world with which teachers, support staff and students interact, and considers the way in which networks of people and things order the spaces of the school. Spatiality is examined explicitly in…

A learning community can play an important role in facilitating student learning in a class and this is especially evident for distance learning courses. Creating a learning community that is virtual requires the use of online communication tools such as email, threaded discussion boards, and chat rooms. Many online students also benefit through…

Today, it is advantageous for academic libraries to look outside their own organizations to other potential campus and commercial partners when considering new services. This case study describes the planning and implementation of electronic reserves at the University of Kansas Libraries, including the integration of two commercial partners,…

Although the literature on social networks has made a considerable contribution to the sociological imagination in recent years, it has been largely ignored in conventional course materials. Such an omission is curious, considering social networks' intuitive imagery, broad theoretical relevance and extensive empirical application. This article…

This article reviews the emerging literature on developmental relationships and proposes a typology of relationships. Developmental relationships are defined as either formal or informal relationships where an individual takes an active interest in and initiates actions to advance the development of another. The authors focus on five dimensions of…

The need for strong mentors has received more professional attention since the author first began teaching thirteen years ago. Tied to recent changes in teacher certification in their state, the mentoring component is now an integral part of teacher development and evaluation in her district. But mentoring alone is not enough to ensure continued…

This case study describes three main strategies used from March 2002 to November 2003 at the Open University and Distance Education Coordination (CUAED) of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) to consolidate distance education at the University. The author explains how, in just 18 months, these three main strategies enabled the UNAM…

This article describes a school improvement initiative involving five primary schools (ages 5-11 years) working in partnership with each other with support from a university department of education. It provides evidence of the benefits to be gained from teachers sharing and developing collective knowledge through participation in school-based…

The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss some communicative opportunities currently emerging in networked classrooms and their implications for didactics. In particular, I examine multiple contexts that appear and how they give rise to diverse practices. However, such practices often have their origin in out-of-school contexts and not…

To be considered literate in the information age, students must develop functional, academic, and computer skills. On the basis of a needs assessment, a computer literacy questionnaire and an English proficiency test, an ESP course was designed for graduate students majoring in art education. Since the students had no access to a computer lab or…

The reasons that the current tutorial system (CTS) does not produce significant effects include the budgets and policies of schools, the greater independence of students, and the infrequent interaction of tutors with students. To reduce the deficiencies of the current tutorial system, this paper proposes a network tutorial system (NTS) and…

This report highlights the progress of the 15 statewide family advocacy projects funded by the Center for Mental Health Services of the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration during the 1993 fiscal year. Section 1 provides an historical background and a summary of the interim report. A qualitative description of the…

This annual collection contains the following 14 papers about the use of Macintosh computers in libraries: "Of Mice and Macs: The Integration of the Macintosh into the Operations and Services of the University of Tennessee, Memphis Health Science Library" (Lois M. Bellamy); "Networking Reference CD-Roms in the Apple Library"…

This research paper describes various aspects of the 12-day July Festival and period of preparation for it in one valley on the island of 'Ua Pou, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia. This case study is of a well-delineated cultural event which exemplifies many themes presented in "Patterns of Social Interaction and Concepts of…

The Homestead Campus of Miami-Dade Community College, in Florida, serves a sparsely populated area with a culturally diverse population including migrant farm workers, prison inmates, and U.S. Air Force personnel. To increase access to college services, the campus focused on implementing a computer-based distance education program as its primary…