Several online programs use on-site facilitators to create a stronger sense of community and reduce student dropout. However, very little research addresses how programs that are fully online can provide their students with comparable support. Using K-12 online research, this case study analyzed a "shepherding program" at Mountain…

In common planning time (CPT), middle school educators have an opportunity to share their experience and expertise during a designated period. Common planning time is especially beneficial in the collaborative process in which special and general educators can address the needs of students with exceptionalities. This column provides an outline on…

Extension educators have new computer-assisted tools as audience response systems (clickers) for increasing educational effectiveness and improving assessment by facilitating client input. From 2010-2012, 26 sessions involving 1093 participants in six diverse client categories demonstrated wide audience acceptance and suitability of clickers in…

This quasi-experimental study examined whether there was any difference in the quantity and quality of the written texts produced by two groups (N = 18) of intermediate Chinese language learners. Over one semester, students in the experimental (E) group wrote weekly updates and comments in Chinese on a designated Facebook group page, while…

Objective: To evaluate the acceptance and effectiveness of repetitive nutrition-related text messages on college students' nutrition knowledge and fruit and vegetable consumption. Participants: One hundred fifty undergraduate (18-24 years old) non-health major students with a texting mobile phone. Methods: The intervention group received biweekly…

Currently a large number of college students belong to social networks and spend several hours a week on them. Some sectors of society, like parents and teachers, are concerned about the negative impact on their academic work and in their personal lives. However, because the potential positive impacts have not been explored enough, this research…

Bullying is a problem in our schools. Bullying behavior was easier to curtail when it was face-to-face, but now, through the Internet, Bullying has transmogriphied into a form that one cannot escape. Hurtful and hate-filled messages printed "in perpetuity." The messages torment victims twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Many…

This article examines literacy coaches' (n = 7) digital note-taking practices using mobile technology and their influence on reflective practice. The study, which employed a design-based approach, investigated the coaches' transition from note-taking by paper and pencil to the note-taking application Evernote. Data included interviews with the…

Rising rates of incivility in the college classroom can generate stress for both faculty and students. However, incivility can take multiple forms, have different causes and require different management techniques. In some cases disruptive behavior is the result of student faculty interactions, and can be ameliorated by improved communication or…

Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) wants English language education to be more communicative. Japanese teachers of English (JTEs) need to adapt their instructional practices to meet this goal; however, they may not feel confident enough to teach speaking themselves. Using technology, JTEs have the ability…

This paper presents a promising and powerful approach used to cultivate a doctoral community of inquiry and practice and harness the intelligence, commitment, and energy of all of its members in a blended learning environment. The discussion board online learning community approach was developed to transform a traditional face-to-face doctoral…

Implementing Communities of Practice (CoP) in online learning is well documented (Gray, 2004; Wenger & Snyder, 2000), and is of particular interest to the LIS profession (Yukawa, 2010). Most of the students in school library programs are practicing teachers seeking to add the library science endorsement to their existing license. They are…

When a website has become a virtual storage closet rather than a place where useful, usable content is created, published, and organized, there is a problem. If audiences cannot quickly and easily find what they are looking for when they visit a website--and are not interested in what they find when they get there--they will get frustrated and…

Web 2.0 technologies have a range of possibilities for fostering constructivist learning and observational learning. This is due to the available applications which allow for synchronous and asynchronous interaction and the sharing of knowledge between users. Web 2.0 tools include online social media applications which have potential pedagogical…

This article discusses the origins of humanistic education beginning in the 1960s. The philosophy gained popularity among educators in a variety of disciplines and was adopted by teachers of foreign languages. That method was based on the premise that if students feel better about themselves, they will achieve greater results as learners.…