This article describes our experiences as six faculty members at a mid-sized state college whose collaboration grew into a substantive endeavor to improve writing pedagogy and practice across our disciplines of English, Educational Studies, Instructional Technology, Educational Psychology and Counseling. Within our practice, we approach writing in…

This research shares the experiences of two colleagues who engaged in an e-mentoring relationship for a period of one academic term. Their candid and reflective comments are interspersed among the voices of the best practices literature. Mentoring is a traditional method of passing knowledge and skills on from an established professional to a…

The aim of this study was to analyse how a model for practitioner-oriented research can be used as a tool for professional development in the preschool. The focus of interest is the type of knowledge that is formed when researchers and preschool staff cooperate on local projects, and what this new knowledge means for the images of professional…

A distance learning educational program for in-service teachers from disperse islands was implemented in Greece. The program was designed to create and sustain a learning community within which learning would be achieved in both a formal manner (by implementing electronically supported courses) and an informal manner (through interaction and…

This article provides six case studies situated in an online community of practice relating to a module in a university Master of Arts in Education programme. During the module the online community allowed students to immerse themselves in problems brought to the community by their tutor. Students continued to participate in the online community…

The study focuses on the use of technology to design an electronic learning community for students. The importance of social experience in education and social participation through communication is examined through discussion boards of two different freshmen courses offered at Zagreb School of Economics and Management (ZSEM). Effectiveness and…

This mixed-methods study probed the effectiveness of three kinds of objects (video, theory, metaphor) as common reference points for conversations between online learners (student teachers). Individuals' degree of detail-focus was examined as a potentially interacting covariate and the outcome measure was learners' level of tacit knowledge related…

How much do specialized academic discourse communities matter to undergraduate writers? To what degree should theories of specialized discourses influence the design of undergraduate Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) programs? At the University of Iowa, where an undergraduate Writing Fellows program engages peer tutors in writing-intensive…

This report summarizes the 2007-2008 program evaluation results of Austin Independent School District's high school professional learning communities initiative.

Building faculty or professional learning communities is an idea that has come of age. This article describes work being done within the Brigham Young University (BYU)-Public School Partnership to form and sustain such communities across higher and public education and in ways consistent with the four aims of the Agenda for Education in a…

The 23rd EUROCALL conference was held in Cyprus from the 24th to the 27th of August 2016. The theme of the conference this year was "CALL Communities and Culture." It offered a unique opportunity to hear from real-world CALL practitioners on how they practice CALL in their communities, and how the CALL culture has developed in local and…

This volume emphasizes that TESOL professionals can accomplish a great deal as members of inquisitive, cooperative communities. The contributors tell stories of their struggles and achievements, describing teacher learning communities and exploring how teachers might cultivate more collaborative communities in their lives. [Additional Volumes from…

This paper examines the rationale for the Woodworking Skills section of a course on Practical Craft Skills which forms part of the new technology curriculum in Scottish Schools. Introduced with the intention of making technology subjects more accessible to a wider range of pupils, the subject has potential for contributing to a more inclusive…

Communities of Practice offer state agency personnel a promising approach for engaging stakeholder groups in collaboratively solving complex and often persistent problems in special education. Communities of Practice can help state agency personnel drive strategy, solve problems, promote the spread of best practices, develop members' professional…

When school nurses embrace evidence-based practice (EBP), higher-quality care is provided to students, their families, and the larger community. Despite this, school nursing has been slow to embrace EBP. Practice-Based Research Networks (PBRNs), which capitalize on the combined strengths of clinicians and researchers to study clinical questions,…