Integration has become a cliche in enrollment management and student services circles. The term is used to describe everything from integrated marketing to seamless services. Often, it defines organizational structures, processes, student information systems, and even communities. In Robert Sevier's article in this issue of "College and…

Notational systems, used in mature fields of study, are closely related to design languages. The future of a technological field depends on the ability to communicate ideas and changes with others in the field. Instructional technology is one field that can benefit from a notation system enabling designers to duplicate, execute, and communicate…

The authors applaud A. S. Green, E. Rafaeli, N. Bolger, P. E. Shrout, and H. T. Reis's (2006) response to one-sided comparisons of paper versus electronic (plastic) diary methods and hope that it will stimulate more balanced considerations of the issues involved. The authors begin by highlighting areas of agreement and disagreement with Green et…

In this paper, we have attempted two ambitious tasks. We have undertaken a wide-ranging survey of the Network learning (NL) literature, and tried to identify the emerging themes of this work. We have selected three of these themes, and in each case tried to identify the main theoretical perspectives in use, the main directions of the studies, and…

Transcript analysis is an important methodology to study asynchronous online educational discourse. The purpose of this study is to revisit reliability and validity issues associated with transcript analysis. The goal is to provide researchers with guidance in coding transcripts. For validity reasons, it is suggested that the first step is to…

Communication is often not so much what people write or say but how they write and often what they do not say. Thus, meaning in real-world chat messages depends not only on the words they use but also on how they express meaning through nonverbal cues. Online chat is simple, direct, and unrestrained. While it contains many of the elements of…

The development of the computer along with the widespread use of the Internet has rapidly promoted Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) as a very important communication media, which can be used widely and effectively in foreign language teaching and learning. This essay tries to explore the advantages of CMC as well as its proposed application,…

Content analysis of computer conferences provides a rich source of data for researching and understanding online learning. However, the complexities of using content analysis in a relatively new research field have resulted in researchers often avoiding this method and using more familiar methods such as survey and interview instead. This article…

This article reports on an investigation of students' perceptions of an online discussion group conducted using PalTalk, which is Internet-based audio conferencing software. After initial practice with the program, students conducted four group sessions in which they discussed nonconfidential topics related to supervision of counseling. Students…

Once, targets of bullying had to endure it only at school. Now, with the increasing prevalence of cyberbullying it can follow them home and go on 24 hours a day. For students who have been exposed to cyberbullying themselves, for parents who have either been exposed to it or are seeing their child experience it, and for educators who have either…

This case study examined interaction patterns between men and women and the effects of the patterns on gender participation in online debates. Students labeled messages to identify each message as an argument, challenge, evidence, or explanation when posting messages to the debates. The results revealed no differences in the number of male and…

Facebook is an online directory that connects people though social networks at schools, and while most students on any American campus are regular visitors to the site, many professors and administrators have yet to hear about Facebook, let alone evaluate its impact. This kind of social networking affects all levels of academe, and college faculty…

With technological advancements abounding, music educators should take advantage of technology to enhance their programs and streamline their operation. This article describes why a music program needs a Web site. Web sites for music programs and performing groups offer significant benefits. These benefits are: (1) better communication and…

In the early 1990s, Northern Michigan University started distributing laptop computers to its faculty and students. Soon, a taste for technology developed and the university community craved more. Having tempted their taste buds, they quickly found that patrons were no longer satisfied with traveling to the library and asked that they bring…

This study examined the factors perceived by in-service teachers as either facilitating or impeding successful completion of online group work in a virtual graduate school of education program. Based on a quantified qualitative data analysis of open-ended questions, five facilitative factors were identified as (a) individual accountability, (b)…