The human desire to join and participate in communities can be seen as an attempt to satisfy some of our universal human needs. The theory of communities of practice has been widely used to explain how and why humans participate in multiple communities, and a key requirement of a community of practice (CoP) is that members engage in "joint…

Increasingly, governments are seeking ways to integrate early childhood education and care services as a social policy strategy to maximize child and family outcomes. This study examines the role of a school-based parenting and family literacy program to a system of services in one community in Ontario, Canada. Using an appreciative inquiry…

This paper outlines the redesign of an MSc module to enhance students' engagement and learning through embedding social media technologies into the academic curriculum as a learning and assessment strategy, and in a complementary manner that facilitated and enhanced the achievement of the module's learning outcomes. This paper describes the…

Teacher collaboration has become an increasingly important lever for school improvement efforts. This is especially true in high need urban districts, which struggle with capacity building in the face of significant teacher turnover, major shifts in curriculum and instruction, and scarce resources. This paper employs a mixed methods approach to…

The advent of the Web as a social technology has created opportunities for the creation of informal learning environments, which have potential for innovative methodologies in learning, teaching and assessment. However, as Wolfe (2001) admonishes, "contrary to the rhetoric of cheerleaders, the Web places greater demands on students than…

Nearly three decades after its publication, "A Nation at Risk" continues to impact our educational establishment. Most notably, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards was established as a result of "A Nation Prepared," Carnegie's response to "A Nation at Risk." Some contend that the national board has…

This study examined subtypes and stability/change in peer victimization involvement among students with exceptionalities. Data were collected over spring of fifth grade and fall/spring of sixth grade with 1,861 students in 36 rural schools as part of a cluster randomized trial of a context-based intervention (Supporting Early Adolescent Learning…

This study explored the relationship of online course intensity to the development of social networks and the impact of social networks on obtaining employment or employment information to develop a better understanding of the factors that lead to improved employment outcomes and information-gathering. Graduates from three ALA-accredited programs…

Today's youth must deal with friend management 24 hours a day, seven days a week, through smartphones and such social networking sites as Facebook. Technology in the classroom can be valuable, but not without challenges. The key is well-thought-out policies. While school districts can't completely control how students use their…

This article explores the emerging pedagogical potential offered by today's technologies and how understanding the relationship between emerging technology and emerging pedagogy can enhance the teaching of English as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL). The author begins with an overview of recent developments in the field, focused upon…

Social networking sites (SNSs) are increasingly used to communicate and to maintain relationships with people around the globe, and their usage has certainly led to incidental language gains for second language (L2) users. Language instructors are just beginning to utilize SNS sites to manage their courses or to have students practice language…

University initiatives that enhance a students' sense of belonging may increase student retention and the overall student experience. Previous initiatives have largely focussed on face-to-face interactions however with the high usage of social networking, an online initiative may prove beneficial. The aim of this study was to establish a Facebook…

This article investigates the online information practices of persons grieving and mourning via Facebook. It examines how, or whether, these practices and Facebook's terms of use policies have implications for the bereaved and/or the memory of the deceased. To explore these questions, we compared traditional publicly recorded asynchronous…

Cork and Limerick have conducted Lifelong Learning Festivals, Cork for ten years and Limerick for the past three years. This paper reviews aspects of this experience and considers the question of whether successful Lifelong Learning Festivals can be seen as a pathway to building sustainable learning cities. Discussed in the context of an…

The notion of school collaboration has become widely recognised as an effective means of fostering cultural links and supporting communication between geographically separated schools. As shall be acknowledged in this paper, school collaboration follows on from a long history of collaborative initiatives across the past 50 years. However, the…