This study presents findings on the efficacy of an online learning environment developed to foster EFL students' intercultural competence via reading articles on topics of their own culture and communicating their responses with speakers of another culture. The project offered opportunities for EFL students to use their own societal and cultural…

College administrators across the US are learning that chatter on e-mail, blogs, and social-networking sites can turn even minor faux pas into major controversies. The issue is discussed with reference to the firing of a teaching assistant whose Web site lampooned the president of Columbia College Chicago and left the institution facing serious…

Blogs and the whole gamut of interactive, Web-based tools are redefining how we connect with people and content on the Internet. This is the widely discussed next step known as Web 2.0, a truly revolutionary concept in which pervasive interactivity, where multitudes of users online actively exchange or contribute content, will transform the very…

This article discusses two Cornell research studies on the prevalence of self-injury or "cutting" in today's youth, led by Janis Whitlock, and presents historical perspectives on the issue. The first study randomly surveyed 3,069 undergraduate and graduate students at Cornell University and Princeton University. Data showed that 17 percent of the…

The present study expands the design of Warschauer (1996) surveying freshman foreign language students at a Turkish university. Motivating aspects of computer assisted instruction in terms of writing and e-mailing are explored through an exploratory factor analysis conducted on the survey developed by Warschauer (1996). Findings suggest that…

New technologies now offer teachers alternative models of collaboration with schools overseas, but how effective are they as professional development opportunities? The experiences of 18 specialist primary and secondary teachers in the Teachers' International Professional Development Programme who visited schools in the USA were investigated as…

Development workers studying at the graduate level benefit from exposure to the great variety of cultures and worldviews. In the Australian National University's Master of Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development (MAAPD) program, peer learning is giving current and future development workers in the field and in the classroom the chance…

This article offers a critique of the lack of attention to the place of online course offerings in foreign language departments and/or distance education in general by the MLA's 2007 report on foreign language departments and their role in the academy. The article responds to how currently accessible technology (course management system platforms…

Teenagers' lives are filled with writing. All teens write for school, and 93% of teens say they write for their own pleasure. Most notably, the vast majority of teens have eagerly embraced written communication with their peers as they share messages on their social network pages, in emails and instant messages online, and through fast-paced thumb…

Decades of research have shown that student collaboration in groups doesn't just happen; rather it needs to be a deliberate process facilitated by the instructor. Promoting collaboration in virtual learning environments presents a variety of challenges. This book answers the demand for a thorough resource on techniques to facilitate effective …

The primary purpose of this exploratory study is to provide insight on how to use online discussions to foster collaborative learning and how to design assessment processes to evaluate the effectiveness of those discussions. This study focuses on the pedagogical role of discussion, effective practices in discussion, guidelines for creating…

Many recent studies on computer-mediated communication (CMC) have addressed the question of orality and literacy. This article examines a relatively recent subgenre of CMC, that of written online sports commentary, that provides us with written CMC that is clearly based on firmly established oral genres, those of radio and television sports…

In this paper, the authors propose that psychological safety, a sense of interpersonal trust and being valued in a work team, is an important determinant of groupware technology adoption in an educational setting. They develop and test a model of antecedents and consequences of psychological safety. Data were collected from 361 university…

Educators who are prepared to make use of CSCL can find themselves restricted in their space for maneuvering regarding educational innovation. As a supportive context can be very important for them, the study presented here describes and analyzes a related case of a Community of Practice (CoP) among tutors contributing to the development and…

Each August, teachers from around the state gather for the Arizona K-12 Center's Tech Camp, a week-long immersion in technology for the classroom. The Arizona K-12 Center's mission is to improve teaching and learning in Arizona's schools through high-quality professional development and teacher leadership. The formula Tech Camp follows is a simple…