Today's teachers have many personalized learning options available to them, and several are free. The author discusses how to use social media for professional learning, describes edcamps where much of the focus is on teaching best practices, technology usage, and connecting and collaborating with other education professionals, and the advantages…

Less than two decades ago most of the activities in Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) were created with a "one-size-fits-all" understanding of how computers could enhance language learning. Across the board, the sole rationale for using technology, mostly computer- based, was that it was useful and motivating for learners. The…

The online communication landscape has changed significantly from the early days of the Internet. In most developed countries, people are constantly connected through the Internet to almost everyone else in their lives, everywhere they go. The Internet makes their lives more convenient, but unintentional exposure of personal information to…

The article presents research findings on the professional growth of three in-service EFL teachers from Germany who took part in a teacher education programme centred on technology-mediated plurilingual education. The study investigated how the programme influenced the development of the teachers' pedagogical and digital skills in creating and…

Advanced computer technology has transformed the way instruction is designed and delivered at all education levels including college. However, today's younger "digital-native" generation may often take their computer skills for granted, which impacts their interaction patterns with university professors who often encourage electronic…

The One Laptop per Child (OLPC) initiative has been at the forefront of introducing low-cost computers in developing countries. We argue that the problem is not as much as a focus on the provision of affordable technologies, but the lack of consideration of deeply contextualized implementation design and the lack of understanding of psychological…

This article describes an early-stage collaborative partnership between a local community foundation and a regional campus of a major university to increase dialogue on the strategic importance and practical execution of advanced social media best practices for small- to medium-sized businesses. Started through a grant won by the author, an…

"Phatic" refers to the rhetorical function of creating effective communication channels, keeping them open, and establishing ongoing and fruitful relationships, all of which are vital in the age of digital rhetoric, social media, and global intercultural exchange. In this realm, the professional communicator functions less as an…

This article examines how the levels of student interaction change through the use of small groups and moderators in online writing courses. The study examines three technical and professional online writing courses: one course that employs small groups and group moderators and two courses that have no small groups or moderators. The results of…

This study sought to determine the difference in text-based negotiated interaction between non-native speakers of English (NNS-NNS) and between non-native and natives (NNS-NS) in terms of the frequency of negotiated instances, successfully resolved instances, and interactional strategy use when the dyads collaborated on Facebook. It involved 10…

The purpose of our research was to explore faculty members' experiences with online mentoring during the dissertation stage of an online doctoral program. During semi-structured interviews, four mentors reflected on their online mentoring of students, specifically the strategies that worked well, challenges faced while mentoring online, and other…

Research on social media use in education indicates that network-based connections can enable powerful teacher learning opportunities. Using a connectivist theoretical framework (Siemens, 2005), this study focuses on secondary teacher candidates (TCs) who completed, archived, and reflected upon 1-hour Twitter chats (N = 39) to explore the promise…

We completed a qualitative study focusing on our students' use of Discussion Roles in our general and entry level online classes and presented the information at a Brown Bag presentation for University of Phoenix instructors and staff in October 2016. The following contains the results of the study including: (1) ways to use Discussion Roles in…

This conceptual paper describes a language learning model that applies social media to foster contextualized and connected language learning in communities. The model emphasizes weaving together different forms of language learning activities that take place in different learning contexts to achieve seamless language learning. it promotes social…

This research analyses the contribution of cyberactivism to the political and social change in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, as well as the opinion of young Arabs on the present context. Meaningful information has been extracted from regular interviews to 30 undergraduates over a five-year period. These students had already participated in the process…