This study seeks to understand the relationship between K-12 online system adoption (e.g., Blackboard, Edmodo, WordPress) and school-level academic achievement ratings. Utilizing a novel approach to data collection via website data extraction and indexing of all school websites in a target state in the United States (n?=?732) and merging these…

Facebook and other social media have been hailed as delivering the promise of new, socially engaged educational experiences for students in undergraduate, self-directed, and other educational sectors. A theoretical and historical analysis of these media in the light of earlier media transformations, however, helps to situate and qualify this…

Boundaries between formal and informal learning settings are shaped by influences beyond learners' control. This can lead to the proscription of some familiar technologies that learners may like to use from some learning settings. This contested demarcation is not well documented. In this paper, we introduce the term "digital dissonance" to…

This paper presents some of the findings from a recent project that conducted a virtual ethnographic study of three formal courses in higher education that use "Web 2.0" or social technologies for learning and teaching. It describes the pedagogies adopted within these courses, and goes on to explore some key themes emerging from the research and…

This paper reports findings from a survey and interviews with children aged 11-16 years, teachers and parents on their attitudes to e-safety in relation to social networking and media creation (Web 2.0) and their practices at school and at home. The results showed that 74% of the children surveyed have used social network (SN) sites and that a…