Following Sayer's (2010) examination of reflexivity and habitus, we focus on the "transnational habitus" (Darvin & Norton 2015) of Aaron, a Chinese international student at a U.S. university. Specifically, we examine how he wrestled with being identified as an ESL learner despite having attended a U.S. high school. Also exploring the…

This dissertation investigates how low-resource high schools support (or not) high achieving, low-income students depending on how they enact college readiness agendas. My study was motivated by the lack of empirical research in two areas--how college readiness policies are being actualized for high achieving, low-income students and how these…

This paper reports on a PhD study about informal second language learning in online communities (Livemocha and Busuu). In these communities learners autonomously seek opportunities for telecollaboration with Native Speakers (NSs) in the absence of teachers and pedagogical tasks, and in an informal context. This paper focuses on learning and social…

Utilizing social network analysis, UNESCO international student mobility (ISM) data, and World Bank income classifications, this paper examines patterns of social reproduction in ISM within four established regional education networks from 2008-2012. Findings indicate that the global trend of uneven flows from developing to developed nations is…

In this article the author considers how social media--a new, evolving, and increasingly pervasive form of communication and community--shapes students' attitudes towards practices of communication and community in their futures as political actors. How ought educators respond to this new world; can they lead their students into a culture of…

To better engage Maine's family forest landowners our study used social network analysis: a computational social science method for identifying stakeholders, evaluating models of engagement, and targeting areas for enhanced partnerships. Interviews with researchers associated with a research center were conducted to identify how social network…

The American Academy of Religion, in concert with the Sakai Foundation, has envisioned a scholarly use of the new Sakai Open Academic Environment open-source software. Currently working under the title "Biosphere," the program would put a rich collection of collaborative tools in the hands of AAR members, their colleagues in related scholarly…

The last decade marked a dramatic change in the college search experience as students flocked to the Internet as their primary tool for researching colleges. Institutions had to transform their recruitment efforts to keep up with the online demands and expectations of prospective students. The proliferation of smartphones is transforming the…

As both individuals and businesses are starting to embrace social media, understanding the power and influence of social media becomes an important question. This dissertation aims to address this issue and study the impact of social media in different contexts. It consists of two essays. The first essay examines the effectiveness of social media…

Over the past few years, social networking has exploded into a massive medium that has captured the attention of a large portion of the American population. The ever-growing social networking site(s) (SNS) movement has filled a networking gap and thus, has presented higher education institutions with unique opportunities (Reid 2009) to further…

Misled by a quick triumphalism of the social media, the international news agencies have confused the two: revolt and revolution. The past episodes of unrest started as a social, not a political, public revolt. Through the pain of sobriety, the protesters are learning that neither globalisation nor the McFB way of life is a shortcut to…

This study outlines a new explanation for homophily in social networks that is neither intended nor imposed by constraints on partner choices. Rather, homophily is an endogenous product of the emergent exchange process, in which actors seek high-value partners who reciprocate their gestures. Whereas all actors initially direct exchange toward…

Recent scholarship challenges the celebratory discourse surrounding Web 2.0. This paper engages with this scholarship to examine critically the implications of academic libraries' presence within commercially owned social media spaces. It considers the apparent contradiction between work to promote the principles of open access and the idea of the…

The purpose of this study is to present a review of Facebook as an educational environment, as research on its use within education is relatively new. The study is categorized into six sections: Facebook users; reasons people use Facebook; harmful effects of Facebook; Facebook as an educational environment; Facebook's effects on culture, language,…

With the advent of rapidly emerging technologies, researchers need to be cognizant of developments and applications in the area of social media as a topic of investigatory interest. To date, scholarly research on the topic of Facebook, a ubiquitous social media site, is rather extensive. This study on Facebook, using a bibliographic content…