According to Barab "et al." (2004), the ideal community of practice (CoP) is a "persistent, sustained social network of individuals, who share and develop an overlapping knowledge base, set of beliefs, values, history, and experiences focused on a common practice and/or mutual enterprise" (p. 55). Thus, a CoP has a social…

Graduate students seeking certification as literacy specialists were asked to send monthly newsletters home with their students as a requirement for one of their courses. They were also asked to critically examine their newsletters, to discuss the impact, if any, it made on their relationships with parents, and to reflect on the experience. This…

If we assume that learning is best achieved in a social setting, then a vital aspect of any learning environment is its ability to support the development of trust. Trust takes many forms, from helping to identify the validity or the effectiveness of a learning resource to feelings of safety and reliance on support from fellow learners and…

For the thirty-third year, the Research and Theory Division of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented at the national AECT Convention in Anaheim, California. The Proceedings of AECT's Convention are published in two…

Background: Many of the potential benefits of using virtual worlds for teaching and learning are difficult to define and often become overly focused on the functionality of the technology or on its ability to support informal or "social" forms of learning. Purpose: The aim of the paper is to highlight the experiential nature of virtual…

In this chapter, the authors take a broad perspective on how to analyze issues of technology and equity for youth in the United States. They begin with "access" as a starting point, but consider not only whether diverse groups of youth have digital media available to them but also how that access is supported or constrained by…

This paper presents a study that used narrative inquiry to explore staff experiences of learning and teaching in immersive worlds. The findings introduced issues relating to identity play, the relationship between pedagogy and play and the ways in which learning, play and fun were managed (or not). At the same time there was a sense of imposed or…

Those responsible for the care of another human being, such as a child, an elderly parent, or an ailing spouse, often need help and support. Carepooling is the act of caregivers exchanging day-to-day help and support. This book offers simple, effective, practical ways to exchange help and share support with friends, neighbors, and co-workers.…

Little is known about how restructuring networks actually affect the cultures of school systems. This report examines the creation of an "island" of reform in a school district in northwest Ohio. The research emanated from the discovery of a new "island" in northwest Ohio called the Pathfinder Network. The group formed through…

Teaching communication skills to families with a dying member presents unique challenges. As M. R. Parks' critique of interpersonal communication literature suggests, it is important to keep in mind the larger social context surrounding the person dying and to maintain a balanced perspective of information exchange (e.g., self-disclosure) and…

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to determine if and how human information behaviour (HIB) research is used by others. Method: Using ISI Web of Knowledge, a citation analysis was conducted on 155 English-language HIB articles published from 1993 to 2000 in six prominent LIS journals. The bibliometric core of 12 papers was identified.…

The lives of adult women tend to be framed by emotional relationships created early in the life course that reflect the social roles of daughter, friend, wife, and mother. These bonds, often long-term, persist in later adult life and shape decisions made about job and career trajectories through their implementation or not in the social networks…

This paper describes the structure of a superintendent network in each of two western states (Washington and Idaho); what the networks look like; and how superintendent attributes such as age, ethnicity, gender, salary, years of experience, and size of school district influence the network. The study further compares similarities and differences…

This study examined the quality of relations characterizing adolescents' social environments and related variations in the quality of relations to associates' social roles and to the gender and culture of both associates and subjects. It investigated whether adolescents from Japan and from the United States described their relationships with…

Research in the areas of social networks and social support has illustrated some of the complex ways in which those areas contribute to health. A study was conducted to examine the structure of social support among older women, its influences on physical and emotional health status and on behaviors associated with increased risk of chronic…