What are the structural characteristics of written scientific explanations that make them good? This is often difficult to measure. One approach to describing and analyzing structures is to employ network theory. With this research, we aim to describe the elementary structure of written explanations, their qualities, and the differences between…

With the rise of network governance, and its concomitant fragmentation of public education systems across Europe, international studies have recommended teacher collaboration as a means to bring educational stakeholders together. Yet, despite some agreement over the potential benefits to student, professional and organisational learning, there is…

Social network analysis (SNA) has been used in many educational studies in the past decade, but what these studies have in common is that the populations in question in most cases are defined and known to the researchers studying the networks. Snowball sampling is an SNA methodology most often used to study hidden populations, for example, groups…

Large-scale education reforms have increased accountability for districts and schools and pressure on educational leaders to improve student outcomes. Data show, however, that school improvement is not universal. Research suggests that these reforms have failed because of the fragmented approach to reform and the limited attention given to…

This study used social network analysis to evaluate whether sex heterophily, the degree to which peers are different in sex, between 126 children with autism (ages 5-12 years) and their peers affected social network connectivity. Results indicate that: (1) the quantity and sex of friends were more important in predicting social network…

A learning community works with a collective knowledge space where members contribute and interact with one another's ideas to advance their community's knowledge. This study aims to explore designs of collective knowledge space to support cross-community interaction. A design experiment was conducted in four grade 5 classrooms with the support of…

The field of education technology (edtech) has emerged as a complex, multimillion-dollar industry, with various hubs in the USA leading the boom. This exploratory article uses a networks perspective to reveal the power dynamics of investor firms in edtech. The analysis examines the current top venture capitalists and their edtech companies, based…

We educators may have been obsessed with perfection, expertise, polished experiences and performances too much for too long. Where is the human? Ironed out? This provocative opinion paper is a collection of the authors' reflections based on experiences, observations, ideas and readings. We invite educators to consider and explore what may help…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a panoramic and systematic view of 10 Sustainable Campus Network (SCN) universities' internal entities in charge of the sustainability effort -- such as offices, committees, units, programs, or other, showing how some institutions have gained increasing deployment and momentum. However, their…

The growing access to the Internet, devices, and social media has revolutionized communication processes and democratized access to information and content creation. However, several researchers have shown that although access to the Internet is readily available, the virtual world is a mirror of the society in which we live where digital inequity…

Social learning analytics (SLA) tools are designed to visually demonstrate online discussions with a goal to foster student engagement. However, empirical studies indicate controversial results of the effect of SLA tools on student engagement. This design-based research designs a student-facing SLA tool to demonstrate discussions from three…

This article considers the wartime evacuation of English public schools as a result of enemy bombing as well as the commandeering of school buildings for government and military purposes. It looks at the way evacuation was privately organised by public school authorities often relying on the 'old school tie', while also taking financial…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand how and in what ways networking served as a vehicle to informal learning among elementary school principals. Design/methodology/approach: The authors used a multiple case study methodology across a ten-week period, studying six principals and conducting over 50 interviews. Six individual case…

Mentoring programs for education doctoral (EdD) students are unique due to the scholar-practitioner nature of the degree program. This paper utilizes mentor perceptions of a mentoring program in its second year of implementation to inform the design of the mentoring program in the future. Mentors were interviewed to discuss their experiences. Four…

Mutual learning between teachers and their colleagues plays a vital role in their professional growth. However, previous studies show that collaborative teacher learning tends to be confined to small groups, and that it is difficult to make it explicit, showcase, or transfer teachers' tacit knowledge. This study explores this problem by creating a…