Online discourse from a class of 22 students (11 boys and 11 girls) was analysed to assess advances in conceptual understanding and literacy. The students worked over a two-year period (Grades 3-4), during which they contributed notes to an online Knowledge Building environment--Knowledge Forum[R]. Contributions revealed that both boys and girls…

This study provides information on ways to enhance learning for students using online educational programs. Technologies that foster and engage students in the learning process are necessary in the online learning environment. Wiki is an online teaching strategy used to promote student interaction. A Wiki was introduced into three sections of a…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of adopting blogging upon Chinese language composition instruction in a vocational high school in Taiwan. The researchers developed a model that utilises blogging in Chinese language composition instruction. Forty randomly selected students from a public vocational high school served as the…

This article examines the linguistic construction of textual messages in the use of blogs and Twitter in the Nigerian 2007 electoral cycle comprising the April 2007 general elections and rerun elections in April, May, and August 2009. A qualitative approach of discourse analysis is used to present a variety of discursive acts that blogging and…

High school physics students are often capable of, and commonly interested in, understanding natural phenomena beyond those described in their textbooks. In order to supplement the shortage of topics covered in their physics courses, many students turn to popular scientific books, journals, and other media. There, they discover a plethora of…

This study examined the use of weblogs as a means to promote student teachers' reflective practice. The assumption was explored that weblogs are suitable tools to support and stimulate reflection on action in teacher training and consequently to enhance the students' ability to reflect. Three groups of student teachers used weblogs to reflect on…

This research compared the effectiveness, in terms of mathematical achievement, of online homework to textbook homework over an entire semester for 145 students enrolled in multiple sections of college algebra at a large community college. A quasi-experimental, posttest design was used to analyze the effect on mathematical achievement, as measured…

Social studies educators are responsible for successfully teaching students the knowledge, skills, and values necessary to be effective citizens. The National Council for the Social Studies urges educators to design technology-enhanced experiences that address social studies content and prepare students for effective citizenship. In this paper, we…

Tutorials and digital learning objects provide librarians a quick, concise mechanism for delivering information and training on a wide range of library topics. The semiotic theory promoted by Charles Sanders Peirce (Wiener, 1958) and Howard Smith (2005) contains implications for enhancing the effectiveness of library tutorials through the…

Ten years into the new century, people are still trying to find the web 2.0 tools that best facilitate collaboration--one of the fundamentals of 21st century learning. As the number of tools continues to grow, and fuzzy terms like "cloud computing," "hashtags," and "synchronous live platforms" are introduced into the lexicon daily, even the most…

This article details the process of upgrading and expanding an existing academic medical library intranet to include a wiki, blog, discussion forum, and photo collection manager. The first version of the library's intranet from early 2002 was powered by ColdFusion software and existed primarily to allow staff members to author and store minutes of…

With the growth of Web 2.0 library intranets in recent years, many libraries are leaving behind legacy, first-generation intranets. As Web 2.0 intranets multiply and mature, how will traditional intranet best practices--especially in the areas of planning, implementation, and evaluation--translate into an existing Web 2.0 intranet infrastructure?…

This article presents a case study of the intranet implementation and adoption process of a SharePoint intranet at a small academic library and investigates why the many Web 2.0 tools of the library intranet are currently underused. Staff interviews showed that common goals for an intranet, such as information dissemination, knowledge sharing,…

Libraries are widely known as institutions that access, organize, and preserve collections of information. Libraries are also dynamic administrative entities that generate and exchange internal business information. From small operations with limited staff and technology to large, multidepartmental institutions with full IT support, libraries…

Collaborative social interaction when using Web 2.0 in terms of VoiceThread is investigated in a case study of a Swedish university course in social psychology. The case study method was chosen because of the desire not to manipulate the students' behaviour, and data was collected in parallel with course implementation. Two particular…