With the increase in available educational data, it is expected that Learning Analytics will become a powerful means to inform and support learners, teachers and their institutions in better understanding and predicting personal learning needs and performance. However, the processes and requirements behind the beneficial application of Learning…

In the last decade, we have seen the emergence of virtual learning environments. Initially, these environments were a little more than document repositories that tutor used unicast to the students. Informed in part by social constructivist theories of education, later environments included capabilities for tutor-student and student-student,…

The purpose of the present study was to examine the network structure of a teacher community in relation to their use of information and communication technology (ICT). The participants in the study were the 33 members of the teacher community of an upper comprehensive school from a suburban area of Helsinki, Finland. The methodology of the study…

Social network analysis is increasingly used in the study of policy implementation and school leadership. A key question that remains is that of instrument validity--that is, the question of whether these social network survey instruments measure what they purport to measure. In this paper, we describe our work to examine the validity of the…

This paper examines the significance of the Dominion and Colonies Fund under the presidency of Frederick Paul Keppel and details ways in which the Carnegie Corporation worked to internationalize American educational theories and practices. It challenges previous scholarship claims that grants made were largely extensions of the Corporation's…

Policy implementation reflects a complex change process where government decisions are transformed into programs, procedures, regulations, or practices aimed at social betterment. Three factors affecting contemporary implementation processes are explored: networked governance, sociopolitical context and the democratic turn, and new public…

Three related studies conducted on the role of emotional transfer in email messages were studied in order to better understand Japanese college students' online communications and their broader participation in online communications. The first study investigated users' initiatives in preventing emotional misunderstandings when sending email.…

Analysis of interaction patterns is one of the most important indicators of quality of learning in educational web forums. Social network analysis (SNA) is gradually assuming importance in the study of interaction patterns as it focuses on the analysis of the interrelationships between individuals, thus providing a holistic perspective on group…

Background: People with severe intellectual disability have limited communication skills, small social networks, and may experience isolation. Little is known about how interactions occur with social network members and the role of social support. Method: An adult with a severe intellectual disability was observed in her daily environments. Her…

Purpose: Scholars have focused their attention on systemic reform as a way to support instructional coherence. These efforts are often layered on to existing social relationships between school staff that are rarely taken into account when enacting reform. Social network theory posits that the structure of social relationships may influence the…

Computer-based social networking has become ubiquitous on college and university campuses. However, little is known about how this form of networking reflects social integration which is considered to be an integral component of student persistence. To address this topic, a random sample of 375 entering freshman were used to evaluate the…

This qualitative study examines use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as computers, cell phones, text messaging, and social networking sites, for campus activism. Participants were 22 student leaders representing eight campuses from 2000 to 2008. The focus of this study was two-fold: first, to describe the form and function…

As Web 2.0 emerging technologies are gaining momentum in higher education, educators as well as students are finding new ways to integrate them for teaching and learning. Technologies such as blogs, wikis and multimedia-sharing utilities have been used to teach various subject matters. This trend not only creates new opportunities for us to afford…

Communication, collaboration and community development are processes that contribute to student satisfaction and learning in online courses. This paper describes a study that investigated how campus and distance graduate students in a library science program communicated with one another outside the official boundaries of their courses. We…

This article analyses an experience in collaborative learning in an asynchronous writing environment through discussion forums on a WebCt platform of the University of Huelva's virtual campus, and was part of an innovative teaching project in 2007-08. The main objectives are to describe the processes of collaborative knowledge construction and the…