One purpose of professional conference attendance is to enhance social support. Intentionally fostering this support is an important political aim that should be developed. Although many multifactor definitions of social support exist (Cobb, 1979; Cohen & Syme, 1985; Kahn, 1979; Shaefer et al., 1981; Weiss, 1974), all distinguish between an…

We investigate the factors that influence adolescent self-assessed health, based upon surveys conducted between 2000 and 2004 of high-school seniors in Washington State (N = 6853). A large proportion of the sample (30%) was first and second generation immigrants from Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. Findings include a robust negative…

This year's "School Library Journal's" spending survey showed that, despite the recession, the vast majority of media centers around the country have retained their credentialed media specialists. For example, almost 85% of elementary schools and more than 95% of middle and high schools have a full-time certified librarian. In addition, salaries…

Introduces social network analysis as an approach and set of techniques for the study of information exchange. Social network analysis differs from other analysis techniques by focusing on patterns of resource exchange relationships and by emphasizing empirical observation. Measurement techniques used in social network analysis are described.…

Notes that social network mapping techniques have been advanced as means of assessing social and environmental resources. Addresses issue of convergent construct validity, correlations among dimensions of perceived social support as measured by social network data with other standardized social support instruments. Findings confirm that structural…

Observation of low-literate Southeast Asian refugees encountering literacy demands of U.S. life showed how they use social networks and develop multilingual competence, which they use to teach themselves English literacy. (SK)

Objective:: Understanding the impediments that prevented sexually abused adolescents from disclosure to their family or to professionals, and analyzing the responses they received when they did disclose. Methods:: In depth anonymous interviews were conducted in Italy through a toll-free telephone line with 36 young people who experienced sexual…

Institutions of higher education are complicated, unwieldy things. This is part of their beauty, but it is also part of their difficulty, for their complications make them slow to change, even when the value of change is widely agreed upon. Whether change grows from a campus-wide mandate with strong support, or is the aspiration of a small group…

China's class structure is changing dramatically in the wake of post-1978 market-oriented economic reforms. The creation of a mixed "market-socialist" economy has eroded the institutional bases of a cadre-dominated social hierarchy and created conditions for a new pattern of social stratification. Although conditions remain dynamic,…

Students in the US are increasingly discovering that online socializing is far from private and that sharing personal details on social-networking Web sites, such as Facebook, can have unintended consequences. A growing number of colleges are moving to disabuse students of the notion that the Internet is their private playground and what they type…

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University--Worldwide serves more than 36,000 online students across the globe, many of whom are military and other non-traditional students, offering 34 undergraduate, graduate, and professional education/workforce certificate programs, presented both online and via blended delivery modes. The centralized model of online…

Social well-being is essential to overall health and quality of life for all children, youth, and adults. However, children and youth with disabilities are often at higher risk for experiencing lower levels of social, and related emotional, well-being than their peers without disabilities. They are among those more likely to be bullied and…

Graduates need to be prepared for working in global organisations that increasingly rely on virtual, culturally diverse teams. This paper reports on a qualitative research study concerned with the perceptions of university business students who collaborated on a virtual and international project to learn about intercultural communication. The…

Michael L. Wesch, an assistant professor of cultural anthropology at Kansas State University, was writing a paper about social networking and other interactive tools, which are collectively referred to as Web 2.0, when he decided to make use of the technology to spread his message. So he put together a short video with examples of Web 2.0…

Faculty development in distance education does not happen in a vacuum. It is often interwoven with efforts to increase adoption of distance education programs and increase the effectiveness of online teaching. Training might not be the only way to meet these needs. This article presents a new faculty-development model, based on a systematic…