The importance of using systematic formative assessment to guide students toward meaningful learning has gained more recognition in the education community in recent years. This form of assessment is characterized by task-oriented feedback in a low-risk environment, which is believed to promote mastery goal orientation and self-regulated learning.…

This study examines the uptake of multiple interactive features on news sites. It looks at the thematic composition of the most clicked, most e-mailed, and most commented stories during periods of heightened and routine political activity. Results show that (a) during the former period, the most commented stories were more likely to be focused on…

L2 pragmatic instruction in grammar and writing is an area of second language acquisition that is underutilized by many teachers. This paper follows the process of one teacher as the instruction of the pragmatic speech act of requesting is integrated into a low-level grammar class. First, an argument is made for the importance of including…

This study explores the differential effect of two types of corrective feedback strategies--explicit and implicit--on the acquisition and retention of correct past form of irregular verbs by Iranian English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners. Sixty out of 80 pre-intermediate EFL learners were selected as the participants, based on their…

Educators may start off a school year with the best of intentions for staying organized, but by about November, they quickly find their systems, energy and motivation starts to dwindle. By March, they can't even see their desk, and have hundreds of e-mails in their inboxes. Incorporating a few organizational strategies at the beginning of the…

This study examined instructor views of what constitutes plagiarism. The authors collected questionnaire data from 158 participants recruited through three teaching-related electronic listservs. Results showed that most participants agreed that behaviors that claim credit for someone else's work constituted plagiarism. Instructors differed in…

Participants with symptoms of depression received either eight sessions of therapist-delivered email cognitive behaviour therapy (eCBT; n = 37), or eight sessions of computerised CBT self-administered treatment (cCBT; n = 43). At post-treatment participants completed a questionnaire to determine what they found satisfying about their online…

Using the same specialist terms in online discourse can indicate knowledge overlaps between partners. However, linguistic overlaps do not automatically ensure overlaps in conceptual representations. In particular, learning situations, which typically focus on knowledge acquisition, require a sufficient understanding of domain-specific concepts.…

Universities are facing severe cuts in funding and a transformation of both the economic model underpinning higher education and the relationship between students, tutors and universities and the traditional forms of support for students' learning may be eroded. At the same time, mobile communications, instant messaging and social networking are…

The present study approaches the Internet as a social space, where university students make use of computer mediated communication (CMC) applications, i.e. e-mail, instant messaging and social network sites, in order to satisfy social and academic needs. We focus on university students, because they represent one of the most avid groups of CMC…

There is much evidence to support the occurrence of learning in connection with collaboration, both in face-to-face and online teaching situations, but much less research on how such collaboration develops over the duration of a course. Using Dillenbourg's concepts of "situation," "interactions," "mechanisms," and…

The application of computer-assisted platforms in writing classes is a relatively new paradigm in education. The adoption of computers-assisted writing classes is gaining ground in many western and non western universities. Numerous issues can be addressed when conducting computer-assisted classes (CAC). However, a few studies conducted to assess…

The need for the application of technology in education has been increased. One of the new approaches in technology is using email for learning a second or a foreign language. The present study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of using email in improving writing skills among Iranian EFL students. The participants of the study were 42…

This paper examines a good practice for service learning that has been implemented for years in TESOL Internship, a professional unit for students doing Master of Arts (MA) in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) at a major university in Australia. The author has investigated and identified three key features of a good practice…

This study investigates academic staff and student attitudes to style and etiquette of emails. Data were collected through two online staff and student surveys. Reported use and acceptability of particular features of email style were assessed. Open-ended responses yielded four themes: the balance between formality and informality, relationships,…