The purpose of this study is to develop a standardized measurement tool that can be used to determine the participation styles of individuals participating in online instructional discussions. The scale consists of two dimensions called 'Why' and 'How.' The Why dimension comprises the main motivators of the participants' participation in online…

As online pornography has become more readily available and accessible, educators have begun to grapple with how to address young people's engagement with it. Much of this discussion centres the view that pornography is an inherently problematic genre that young people should be inoculated against through comprehensive media literacy education --…

High school chemistry teachers struggle to use assessment results to inform instruction. In the absence of expert assistance, teachers often look to their peers for guidance and support; however, little is known about the assessment beliefs and practices of high school chemistry teachers or the discourse mechanisms used as teachers support one…

In this article I provide an account of my use (in a particular context) of a 'post qualitative inquiry' approach, with my recognition that ways of approaching issues to be explored with participants, and the method of exploration, carry social and ecological consequences. The research was initiated in a school in South Africa with a sample of ten…

Drawing on research-informed principles for primary-grade vocabulary instruction, the authors developed a series of engaging vocabulary units for a first-grade class. The units, focused on the explicit teaching of target words and the efficient highlighting of larger sets of semantically related words, involved five complementary elements: reading…

This article presents the development and application of group feedback videos (GFVs) in design education. A case study shows how visually-rich GFVs were developed in a practice-based design studio subject where learners were required to work in teams and independently calibrate an ability to form judgements on the qualities of their own work.…

Courses: Undergraduate or graduate organizational communication courses. Objectives: The goals for this single-class activity are for students to identify and analyze differing viewpoints on globalization, and to apply organizational communication concepts to an international case study of policy responses to globalization.

As educators and business people consider what children need to be successful in this rapidly changing society, creative and critical thinking, problem solving, communication, collaboration, and persistence are recognized as the most important skills for success in education and the workforce. Among these, creative thinking is referred to most…

How can you get your students to have a robust online discussion that goes beyond, "Good post!" or "I like that!"? Education technology coordinator Jennifer Stewart-Mitchell offers up strategies on deepening discussions online with digital book clubs. Blogging, memes, video, and more enhances creativity and thoughtful response.

What does it take to make online discussions work? Educator Michael B. Sherry offers three strategies for addressing the challenges of online conversations and engaging students in going deeper in their digital discussions.

This book provides teachers and parents with the 'need-to-knows' to educate groups of young people about consent, pornography, sexting and many other related topics, as well as giving them the tools to ward themselves against abusive behaviour. Initiating a discussion with young people on topics around sex can seem daunting, but "Talking…

The relationships between social network centrality, social construction of knowledge, and nurse practitioner competency among adult gerontology acute care nurse practitioner students participating in asynchronous online discussions were explored. Social network centralities (betweenness, in-degree, out-degree, closeness, and eigenvector) were…

This study examined the impact of instructional conversations about peer observations on the collaboration and perceptions of teachers at a western New Jersey middle school. This study's impetus comes from previous work of the same impact on an elementary school in Pennsylvania. The study focused on these conversations' reflective nature, and the…

Purpose: After interviewing teachers about their beliefs on discussion, the author observed four English teachers as they led class discussions. The purpose of this study is to see what kinds of discussion were happening, and what teachers were doing to facilitate those discussions. Design/methodology/approach: The author observed six English…

One of the main characteristics of distance education is the absence of face-to-face interaction with instructor and learner as well as learner and learner. The purpose of this article is to explore the issue of social presence and the various innovations used to foster a social presence with distance education programs.