This article is a case study that aimed at understanding the dynamics of two complementary communities involved in a distance education graduate program: one community of practice formed by the instructors and instructional developers, who designed and developed the program, and another created by the students and instructor in one of the online…

A decade ago, the Supreme Court was almost ready to confer First Amendment protection on the "Internet" believing that it was sufficiently benign. Little did everyone anticipate how different that rosy view might seem today. Several troubling developments have occurred within the past months. Megan Meier, a 13-year-old in Missouri, was apparently…

In this report from the field, computerized auditory feedback was used to inform order selectors and order selector auditors in a distribution center to add an electronic article surveillance (EAS) adhesive tag. This was done by programming handheld computers to emit a loud beep for high-priced items upon scanning the item's bar-coded Universal…

This essay provides a queer reading of MySpace (http://www.MySpace.com). The analysis engages how this hugely popular youth site, as exemplar of online peer-to-peer networking, might provide educators and researchers with an ideal location for asking good questions about queer relationalities within hyper-mediated spaces. Social networking sites…

The future of education will be shaped by innovative online communication tools that will change both the context and the nature of the relationships that influence education. In this article, Nancy Evans, Thalia M. Mulvihill, and Nancy J. Brooks explore the educational possibilities of "Second Life", a three-dimensional virtual online…

Social networking sites (e.g., MySpace and Facebook) are popular online communication forms among adolescents and emerging adults. Yet little is known about young people's activities on these sites and how their networks of "friends" relate to their other online (e.g., instant messaging) and offline networks. In this study, college students…

In this paper, we examine the meaning of conversing with pedagogical agents. Previous research has focused on examining cause and effect relationships, failing to take into account the meaning of the experiences individuals have when holding a dialogue with conversational agents for educational purposes. To understand these experiences, we have…

Learning 2.0--aka the "23 Things"--is a self-paced online learning program that the author designed in 2006 as a one-person crusade to move an entire organization of 500-plus staff onto the Web 2.0 bandwagon. Along with numerous requests to duplicate the program, many seek insight on how to do this successfully. In this article, the author shares…

Many educators have attempted to implement a blog in educational contexts to enhance the communication environment among students and teachers. However, it is uncertain as to why traditional computer-mediated communication (CMC) applications should be replaced with blogs. It is time to comprehensively explore the effects of educational blogs by…

A widget displays Web content from external sources and can be embedded into a blog, social network, or other Web page, or downloaded to one's desktop. With widgets--sometimes referred to as gadgets--one can insert video into a blog post, display slideshows on MySpace, get the weather delivered to his mobile device, drag-and-drop his Netflix queue…

The National Board for Certified Counselors describes cybercounseling as the provision of some aspects of counseling through technology, via such applications as e-mail, Web-based information access, course registration, academic advising, and career guidance. The authors explore the characteristics of cybercounseling, describe its current use in…

Using a socio-historical perspective to explain social interaction and taking advantage of information and communication technologies (ICTs) currently available for creating digital learning environments (DLEs), this paper seeks to redress the absence of empirical data concerning technology-aided social interaction between autistic individuals. In…

This qualitative study explored the experiences of therapists and clients who were involved with online therapeutic interventions. Specifically, this study looked at the experiences of clients who live in rural areas and who struggle with substance use issues as previous research has indicated a need for creative ways of reaching these…

Information systems benefits for individuals (ISBI) has been a key construct for the IS success model, which has evolved over the years to strengthen the theoretical foundation for the IS field. However, relatively little research has been done to explore, develop and validate the underlying theoretical dimensions for this crucial construct.…

Over the last decade, increasing attention has been given to the networking in the tourism industry (Lynch, 2000; Pavlovich, 2003). The existing literature mainly focuses on the interrelationships among tourism stakeholders at sector level and the structure of the interorganizational networks in tourism industry. However, little research has been…