As online collaborative technologies become easier to use, an increasing range of "virtual communities" are being established, often for educational purposes. This report stresses that an efficient technology is only part of the process underlying a successful online community. It considers the social process on which an online learning community…

This is an account of one particular set meeting during a year long programme for social entrepreneurs. It triggered a number of questions and insights for me about the amazing value of honesty, and its power. It released a great deal of energy, ownership and "control". I realized how important it was to highlight, discuss and reflect on…

The article draws on interpretive frameworks from diffusion research and social network analysis to explore one particular "travelling reform"--outcomes-based education--that went global. The argument is made that by virtue of studying late adopters of a travelling reform one is examining globalisation. The cases in point for late…

To explore the possibility that collaboration between schools in Northern Ireland, in the context of post-primary review, might be used to promote interconnections between the denominational education sectors as part of a contribution to improving community relations, the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) undertook a review of…

The qualitative research described here studied interactions between first-year teachers and their teacher colleagues in an effort to understand how beginning teachers construct their interactions and employ them to master the curriculum, understand the grade level being taught, and gain control of classrooms. Seven beginning elementary school…

By synthesizing theoretical and empirical research on issue networks, this paper describes and classifies four examples of networks involving educational issues. A literature review shows that, unlike other social and economic influences, networks are marked by flexibility in membership, leadership (individual, group, or organizational),…

Systems theory and its application to educational administration are discussed in this paper. An extensive literature review concludes that systems analyses are based on the concept of interdependence and on the assumption that the whole may be greater than the sum of its parts. Applications to educational administration include model building,…

The Maryland Education Microcomputer Network and Marynet are electronic systems that focus on informal resource exchanges for individuals interested in curriculum applications of microcomputers in pre-school through twelfth grade and in teacher education. The network is free to all Maryland citizens involved with the mission of the schools. Others…

Addressing a common problem in the analysis of social networks, this study describes quantitative techniques for identifying social subgroups using individual perceptions of social affinities within natural groups. Compared are four analytic methods for abstracting composite representations of sub-structures. These methods, formally evaluated…

The goal of the Educational Technology Center (ETC) Computer-based Conferencing Project has been to explore the potential of computer-mediated communication to support teachers in collegial exchange about their subject and practice, and to develop recommendations for future applications and management of such conferences. The purposes of this…

Discusses the pedagogical and didactic problems of education relative to the use of computers, the application of long-distance transfer of data, and the combination of computers, machines, instruments, and media in integrated systems. Sets forth seven pedagogical postulates in order to analyze developments worthy of support and those to be…

Purpose: The Dementia Care Networks' Study examined the effectiveness of four community-based, not-for-profit dementia networks. The study involved assessing the relationship between the types of administrative and service-delivery exchanges that occurred among the networked agencies and the network members' perception of the effectiveness of…

This article reports results from a network analysis of international trade from 1965 through 2000. It addresses the impact of changes associated with globalization and the "new international division of labor" (NIDL) on structural inequality in the world economy. To assess this impact, I ask three specific questions. (1) Do patterns of…

This study assessed policy actors' influence on state reading policy and compared the structure of reading policy networks across eight states. Data for the study came from structured interviews and archival documents and were analyzed using social network analysis methods. This study found that state reading policy networks were heterogeneous in…

Researchers in this study analyze the websites of 30 Washington state school districts to explore differences and similarities between high- and low-performing districts. The study offers evidence about ways educators use accountability data on district websites to communicate with parents, community members, and business representatives about…