Given the variety of learning and engagement needs of the increasingly diverse student population in higher education, flexible approaches to teaching are critical for improving student success. Professional development that provides faculty exposure to effective, evidence-based instructional strategies in an online context may enhance their…

Virtually Connecting (VC) is a connected learning volunteer movement that enlivens virtual conference experiences by partnering those that are at the conference with virtual participants that cannot attend. In looking to articulate the ethos and intentions of VC, a manifesto was developed by a group of core members and presented at the Digital…

This study investigates how sustained professional learning for teachers within a centralised system was cultivated. Specifically, the sustained professional learning was initiated by officers from the headquarters (HQ) and involved interested teachers across schools in Singapore. Qualitative instruments were used to collect and analyse the data…

The use of blogging as an instructional practice has the potential to reshape teacher education. The purpose of this year-long project was to examine how blogging worked to support inservice K through 12 literacy teachers' professional development. I found that the blogging that occurred in this study demonstrated that, without support, teachers…

Teaching research requires getting students to think critically, synthesize literature, evaluate ideas, identify and analyze issues, solve problems, and be organized. Thus, whether a course is face to face or online, the content will be challenging. On the other hand, integrating instructional strategies to engage students can increase learners'…

Contemporary teachers have an obligation to support and scaffold students' learning in digital technologies and to do this in authentic contexts. In order for teachers to be successful in this, their own competency in digital technologies needs to be high, and their own 21st century learning skills of communication, collaboration, creativity and…

Building effective and supportive communities of practice in an asynchronous environment can enable students to learn from each other at their own convenient times without the need to meet for discussing concepts. In an undergraduate course with a large amount of content to learn, working collaboratively to answer practice exam questions can help…

From a perspective of social practice, learning is a socially constituted practice that is imbued with socio-culturally significant meanings and shaped by the values and norms shared within a community of learners. This focus group study examines the role of e-learning technologies in mediating the social practice of learning among coursework…

The purpose of this study is to determine whether there is a relationship between Turkish online learners' sense of classroom community, perceptions of success in team development process and their preferences of studying in teams. A survey instrument included the Sense of Classroom Community Scale, Tuckman's Teamwork Questionnaire and some other…

We investigated how participants associated with each other and developed community in a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) about Rhizomatic Learning (Rhizo14).We compared learner experiences in two social networking sites (SNSs), Facebook and Twitter. Our combination of thematic analysis of qualitative survey data with analysis of participant…

The application of information and communication technology (ICT) in education has been gaining attention worldwide. Educators and school administrators are interested in the myriad possibilities offered by new technologies to enrich teaching materials and to provide ubiquitous learning environments to enhance students' learning. This case study…

There is a metaphorical incoming tide of information technology (IT) in the global guitar community. This phenomenological study examines the activities of the online guitar community to determine its role in guitar pedagogy. It questions how the traditional teacher-student model can continue to operate amidst the floodwaters of online guitar…

Digital technologies now form an integral feature of the university student experience and there is a range of studies that explore digital technology use within a higher education context. However, very few of these studies focus on how doctoral students engage with digital technologies. This article aims to throw light on the digital practices…

This paper explores learners' and facilitators' participation in Peer 2 Peer University's Learning Circles (face-to-face study groups for people who are taking massive open online courses together). While digital technologies and open educational resources bring new possibilities for learning in informal settings, few empirical studies explore how…

Well-designed face-to-face and virtual communities of practice provide opportunities for teachers to learn, grow as professionals and make changes to their practice with the support of peers. However, as more K-12 teachers become Connected Educators and act as conduits between online spaces and communities in their schools, the boundaries between…