Numerous researchers discuss the solidarity-producing effects of crime, natural disasters and mass tragedies; however, there is much we do not understand about the processes involved in the phenomena. We specify the social relationships that "generate" and "sustain" solidarity by building on Hunter's descriptions of the…

This article introduces the Nokia Mobile Learning for Mathematics Project in South Africa, which made use of mobile technology to support mathematics learning at 30 public secondary schools. It draws on the evaluation of this project from January to June 2010. The article discusses learner access to mobile devices, learner and teacher uptake and…

The development and implementation of web 2.0 or social web are threatening the basis of the ways of mixing with other people. These changes are affecting everybody and, in particular, companies and institutions related to people's education, teaching and training for their inclusion in society and labour market. This article brings up some…

There are obvious differences between face-to-face instruction and learning and online instruction and learning. Although collaboration and community building do occur in the campus classroom, as does active learning, it is imperative in an online class. Students today will reluctantly attend classes that consist entirely of faculty lectures and…

The "Research & Action Report," published twice a year, describes the latest activities and initiatives at the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW). Typically featured are: news about the Centers, interviews with researchers, commentary on recent events or social trends affecting women and girls, and announcements of new publications. Articles…

More and more school districts across the country are joining social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace. This Information Capsule discusses the frequency with which school districts are using social networking sites, how districts are using the sites, and potential drawbacks associated with their use. Issues for districts to consider…

As a novice teacher, the author was confident in his ability to teach digital photography but didn't initially realize the extent to which blogs, wikis, and social networks could reshape and enhance how students learn, and how, by incorporating these tools into his curriculum, he would ultimately find ways to use Web 2.0 tools to truly engage and…

In this article the authors establish the key competencies that should be acquired by future teachers in the course of their undergraduate studies. They also develop a model of the factors for which they presume most significantly contribute to the development of the selected competencies. For the selection of competencies and predictors of their…

Faced with high uncertainty, how do producers in the cultural economy make creative decisions? We present a case study of the fashion modeling industry. Using participant observation, interviews and network analysis of the Spring/Summer 2007 Fashion Week collections, we explain how producers select models for fashion shows. While fashion producers…

As a parent of teenagers in the 1980s, I recall a concern of the intrusion by MTV into our home. After futile attempts to block the program, my spouse and I set out to convince our sons of its intrusion. Our challenge was miniscule when compared to the Internet privacy issues of today. This paper addresses such challenges and proposes some…

Perhaps the greatest power of folksonomies, especially when set against controlled vocabularies like the Library of Congress Subject Headings, lies in their capacity to empower user communities to name their own resources in their own terms. This article analyzes the potential and limitations of both folksonomies and controlled vocabularies for…

We live today in a "knowledge society", but "knowledge transfer" is no longer the dominant extension education paradigm. The principle of "learning to learn" and the concepts of self-directed, collaborative and action learning are more crucial today then ever. The key principles are to stimulate knowledge discovery…

The traditional media (television, radio, movies, magazines) and new, digital media (the Internet, Social Networking Sites such as Facebook and Myspace, and cell phones) have become important sex educators for adolescents. Adolescents in the United States spend six to seven hours a day with some form of media, often using more than one kind…

In our previous two columns, we discussed the potential for using blogs and wikis with developmental education (DE) students. Another Web 2.0 technology, virtual environments like "Second Life", provides a virtual world where residents create avatars (three-dimensional [3-D] self-representations) and navigate around an online environment (Caverly,…

Far more people are familiar with their local public or college library facility than their library's website and online resources. In fact, according to a recent survey, 96% of Americans said they had visited a library in person, but less than one-third have visited their online library. Since everyone agrees that online library resources are…