The "community of inquiry" is a techno-pedagogical framework that has gathered significant attention in online education research. It has been implemented in diverse disciplines, (foreign) language learning being one of particular interest for the authors of this paper. Due to the dynamics proposed by the framework, it appears as a…

This article recounts reflections by a small group of students and their supervisor on play utilized at their meetings as part of a Problem Based Learning (PBL) process. The students experienced how a less traditional professor-student relationship arose, which transformed their interaction and relationship into a more holistic, trustful,…

Interactive whiteboards (IWBs) are being utilised at a rapidly increasing rate, especially in distance education (DE). As a medium of instruction they allow the presenter to simultaneously interact with numerous students at different centres across the country. This study is unique in the sense that a collaborative learning community is created…

This paper begins the exploration of disruption as an analytical construct that allows for the investigation of how individual learning and changes in local practice mutually influence the other within a purposefully designed learning context. We seek to describe the types of learning experiences that emerged using disruptive pedagogies and tools…

Australian pre-service teachers (PST) frequently report feeling isolated and vulnerable during the high stakes Assistant Teacher Program (ATP) final practicum. Mentoring and online learning communities have been shown to offer effective support during periods in which pre-service and beginning teachers feel challenged. As social media…

This study explores the nature of the elements that co-influence collaborative creativity in nd the intrinsic potential for enhancing pupil wellbeing as evidenced in a particular secondary-school (extra-curricular) group instrumental programme "Percussion 1." Wenger's Community of Practice (CoP) and Engestrom's Activity Theory (AT)…

In this research we present a new design component for online learning communities (OLC); one that integrates Twitter with an online discussion board (ODB). We introduce our design across two sections of upper-division information systems courses at a university located within the U.S. The first section consisted of full-time online learners,…

In this article, we--a former high school language arts instructor and former K-3 gifted resource teacher--reflect on critical experiences with students that, although unique in scope, are bound together through a common concern: How can teachers provide meaningful writing experiences for talented young writers? We advocate for the use of high-end…

Educational evaluation (Ed Eval) and professional learning communities (PLCs) are two of the nation's most predominant approaches to widespread instructional improvement. Yet key attributes of these reform initiatives are too often experienced by teachers as burdensome, or even detrimental, rather than helpful. The authors of this article contend…

Drawing on insights from Communities of Practice and critical discourse theory, this study investigates how teacher identities are discursively constructed in course of teacher education and under the influence of social structure. The participants were seven Hong Kong and nine mainland Chinese pre-service teachers. Two focus group interviews and…

In South Korea, "Damunwha" students (students from multicultural family backgrounds) have difficulties at school because of others' derogatory perception of them and the different linguistic and cultural settings. In light of this issue, this paper addresses the "Damunwha" students' identities and participation within the…

Purpose: The purpose of the paper was to explore students' learning experiences in culturally diverse urban higher education environments. Design/methodology/approach: The project used an action research method approach with a mixed-method collection of data. The data consist of a survey of undergraduate students from the two different faculties,…

This e-book is a celebration of and reflection on 10 years of the The Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies (LLAS) elearning symposium, an event which is run by the Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies based at the University of Southampton, UK. (LLAS) was founded in 2000 as one of 24 Higher Education Academy subject…

Recent scholarship on teacher professional development has shown renewed interest in collaborative forms of teacher learning. Networks, communities of practice and clusters are related concepts that describe forms of collaboration between schools and/or teachers that encourage such learning. In South Africa, teacher clusters represent a relatively…

This article reports on student surveys and faculty interviews with regard to a university pilot project of a common book program for first-year students. We found that a minority of students read the book and the book was integrated into only some faculty members' courses. First-year students varied in their perceptions of the impact the project…