Systematic changes to higher education curriculum typically occur within the extended timeframes of formal curriculum review processes. Programmes need to be reviewed periodically for internal and external accountability or to determine whether the curriculum has lost its coherence due to the accumulative effect of continual small-scale changes.…

Establishing a collaborative partnership takes a willingness to see the benefits despite the obstacles. Understanding how the partnership will impact each of the involved stakeholders is paramount to being able to foresee the possible issues. In the case of the College of William & Mary and Paradise Valley Unified Schools, challenges of time,…

As more classes move to online instruction, there is a need for research that shows the effectiveness of synchronous learning. Educators must guide students on how to use these new learning tools and become aware of the research trends and opportunities within these developing online and hybrid courses. "Educational Technology and Resources…

Informal learning networks play a key role in the skill and professional development of professionals, working in micro-businesses within Australia's digital media industry, as they do not have access to learning and development or human resources sections that can assist in mapping their learning pathway. Professionals working in this environment…

Learning communities (LCs) offer high-impact practices of active learning and practical application, but such practices demand devoted class time and room for reflection. Core science courses that serve as prerequisites for more advanced courses have specific and fixed content that offers no space in which to incorporate the ideals of LCs. Wagner…

This article aims to outline and project three new learning scenarios for Higher Education that, after the emergence of ICT and communication through the Network-lnternet, have appeared under the generic name of virtual communities. To that end, we start from a previous conceptual analysis on collaborative learning, cooperative learning and…

In the extensive literature on teacher professional development, very little attention has been paid to the role of post-graduate study groups, or to the role of on-going professional conversations, in constituting and sustaining teachers' identities as innovative professionals. The purpose of this article is to suggest that on-going…

When U.S. educators first hear that Japanese teacher preparation programs require only four weeks of formal student teaching at the end of the credential program, they're appalled: How can this be? More surprising still, few new teachers in Japan (1.35 percent) leave the profession during their first year. So where are these beginning teachers…

This theoretical essay is a learning approach reflexion on Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences and the possibilities provided by the education model known as open and distance learning. Open and distance learning can revolutionize traditional pedagogical practice, meeting the needs of those who have different forms of cognitive…

Ultimately, the national goals of improving learning outcomes for all students and reducing, if not eliminating, the achievement gap require a teaching corps that brings knowledge and professional competencies to have positive impacts on diverse learners in diverse settings (Gándara & Maxwell-Jolly, 2006). As central actors in schools,…

Imagine, for a second, a school where teachers see themselves as leaders and work together to ensure that all children have access to engaging, high quality instruction every day. How might these teachers define teacher leadership and articulate its purpose? What suggestions would they offer about how teacher leadership can be grown and supported?…

This article reports on an investigation into the role of academic identity within collaborative research in higher education in South Africa. The study was informed by the literature on academic identities, collaborative research and communities of practice. It was located within a multi-site study, with involvement of researcher collaborators…

The openness of open-knowledge communities (OKCs) leads to concerns about the knowledge quality and reliability of such communities. This confidence crisis has become a major factor limiting the healthy development of OKCs. Earlier studies on trust evaluation for Wikipedia considered disadvantages such as inadequate influencing factors and…

This paper presents the findings of a qualitative action-research study that explored how one group of district-level school superintendents conceptualized their role as they built their own learning community. Data analysis yielded four elements that supported the participants' efforts: (a) using a process as an entry point, (b) aligning various…

Professional development that bridges gaps between educational research and practice is needed. However, bridging gaps can be difficult because teachers and educational researchers often belong to different Communities of Practice, as their activities, goals, and means of achieving those goals often differ. Meaningful collaboration among teachers…