University students use social media tools not only to connect with friends socially but also to collaborate with classmates. Many universities have embraced academically-focused social media platforms such as social question answering (SQA) applications to make student interactions easier. This study addresses how students in a face-to-face…

While current reform efforts press for ambitious changes to teachers' instructional practice, teachers' instructional beliefs are also consequential in such efforts as beliefs shape teachers' instructional practice and their responses to instructional reforms. This article examines the relationship between teachers' instructional ties and their…

The purpose of this study was to discover how three person teams use game templates (trivia, role-play, or scavenger hunt) to socially construct knowledge. The researcher designed an experimental Internet-based database to facilitate teams creating each game. Teams consisted of teachers, students, hobbyist, and business owners who shared similar…

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…

The nexus between paid work and study is important. Developing opportunities to facilitate this link is a key part of good course design especially in postgraduate programs. Strong communities of practice can also assist with improving links between research and practice. The online study environment affords some challenges to achieving these…

The purpose of this multiple case study was to examine the role of social presence in a professional online conference. This study explored how presenters and attendees convey social presence and how might it influence their conference experience. The participants were presenters and attendees registered for the 21st Annual Teaching Colleges and…

STEM learning communities facilitate student academic success and persistence in science disciplines. This prompted us to explore the underlying factors that make learning communities successful. In this paper, we report findings from an illustrative case study of a 2-year STEM-based learning community designed to identify and describe these…

In online learning environments, tutors have several problems to carry out their activities, such as evaluating the student, knowing the right way to guide each student, promoting discussions, and knowing the right time to interact or let students build knowledge alone. We consider scenarios in which teaching and learning occurs in online social…

Previously, research about teacher expertise has adhered to relatively fixed notions of teacher expertise. However, in this study, we share data from teacher study group (TSG) meetings, which demonstrate a dynamic understanding of teacher expertise. In these meetings, teachers discursively positioned themselves, their colleagues, and the research…

The current study explored the interaction patterns of a cohort of international students in a Professional Doctorate of Higher Education program (EdD) in order to establish the extent to which (if at all) the cohort evolved into an authentic online learning community. Phase 1 of the study consisted of a retrospective audit of three out of the…

Much of the work on teacher knowledge suggests that content knowledge shapes pedagogical content knowledge, and in fact is primary in the relationship between the two forms of knowledge. In this paper we challenge this view, arguing from a situated perspective on knowledge and learning, that pedagogical content knowledge strongly shapes content…

Online courses are increasing in popularity while universities are using first-year seminars to address the challenges of large impersonal classes, lack of student engagement, and increased skills development. Could the learning experience and benefits of an in-person first-year seminar be achieved through an online distance education (DE) format?…

In the process of transitioning from one institution or workplace to another, people often encounter new interactional norms and values. For those moving countries as well as workplaces, the transition may involve different cultural and societal norms and values; but even a move between organisations or workplace teams within a country may present…

Background: Sports coaching is largely a social activity where engagement with athletes and support staff can enhance the experiences for all involved. This paper examines how high performance football coaches develop knowledge through their interactions with others within a social learning theory framework. Purpose: The key purpose of this study…

The study explored how the use of digital news stories promoted the development of content knowledge and oral language skills. The study involved 15 advanced Spanish students who used VoiceThread, an interactive multimedia tool, to create and exchange digital news regarding current events over the course of one semester. Both quantitative and…