Describes a study of a computer mediated graduate course on inclusive community building that explored how students talked about sensitive cultural topics and how the online nature of the course influenced reflection on multiculturalism. Discusses transformative learning, which provided the analytical framework for the study. (Author/LRW)

Examines the therapeutic use of writing therapy in London, England. Discusses the power of writing as a self help vehicle and highlights developments in computer mediated counseling and therapy. Explores the therapeutic uses of writing therapy through cross disciplinary research and practitioner reports. (Contains 68 references and 1 table.) (GCP)

This research note examines the effect that computer mediated communication (CMC) has on learner activity levels in a self-regulated asynchronous learning network environment and investigates whether or not CMC can be used to positively influence the learning experience in a university course. (LRW)

This paper proposes a set of methods and a framework for evaluating, modeling, and predicting group interactions in computer-mediated communication. The method of sequential analysis is described along with specific software tools and techniques to facilitate the analysis of message-response sequences. In addition, the Dialogic Theory and its…

This Helping You Buy survey is the next in an annual series of surveys that have been compiled by Pamela Cibbarelli in past years. This bird's-eye view should serve to both highlight some general distinctions and to underscore the commodified similarities of a wide range of library automation systems.

Over the past two decades, the rising number of outlets for communication through cable networks and electronic broadcasting (not to mention self-promoting Web "blogs") has stimulated the demand for economic commentary. Only the academic economist, as "public intellectual," can provide this commentary in a coherent and rigorous way via the three…

This article briefly describes how 20 students at Libertyville High School in Lake County, IL, are billing the new peer-counseling program they launched online in January. Students are able to e-mail questions about anything that's troubling them without revealing their identities, and their counterparts get back to them just as anonymously. The…

This study investigated the effects of using Socratic questioning to enhance students' critical thinking (CT) skills in asynchronous discussion forums (ADF) in university-level distance learning courses. The research effort empirically examined two coherent subjects: (a) the efficacy of teaching and modeling Socratic questioning for developing…

We explored the perceptions of caregivers of older adults using Internet-based social support networks regarding the unique advantages and disadvantages of online social support. Participants were recruited with permission of Web owners through 15 Web sites that offered social networks, and responses from 63 electronically submitted surveys were…

This case study, based on social constructivist learning theory, investigated the communication patterns and the knowledge construction process of students who used a computer bulletin board system (BBS) to discuss course-related content. Collected data included the outline of BBS postings and transcripts of the BBS messages from three selected…

Student participation is a central issue in debates around online education. In most instances, course convenors wish to increase the amount of participation, while ensuring that the quality is of an acceptable standard. They also wish to ensure that their students have adequate access to the technology, and that there is no undue dominance by any…

Much of the research literature from the past 25 years has supported the importance of teaching grammar in the context of writing instruction (Calkins, 1980; DiStefano & Killion, 1984; Weaver, 1996,1998). Unlike other content areas, practice does not make perfect when learning grammar. While isolated drill and practice of grammatical concepts may…

Older Americans, like other groups, vary in their use of the Internet. The participants for this study-elderly computer users from a Midwestern mid-size sample-used e-mail and considered it the most important Internet function. It was common for them to use e-mail with family and friends on a regular, if not daily, basis. When this group of older…

Listservs have become a popular computer-mediated method for communicating with others who share a common interest. They offer subscribers quick feedback and provide a forum for ideas and beliefs to be exchanged, discussed, and modified. Although rarely studied, in some practical fields listserves have been shown to increase communication of best…

This commentary discusses the methodological challenges of researching the intersection of online and offline activities of an adolescent girl engaged in instant messaging. If the New Literacy Studies stance that literacy practices are locally situated is accepted, a methodology for interrogating the multiple online and offline contexts that…