This study investigated seventh grade learners' decision making about genetic engineering concepts and applications. A social network analyses supported by technology tracked changes in student understanding with a focus on social and conceptual influences. Results indicated that several social and conceptual mechanisms potentially affected how…

Organized opposition from A to Z symbolizes both the breadth and the core values of organized opposition groups that have emerged across the nation in recent years. Technological advances have expanded the reach and impact of oppositional messages. Anti-public school websites, group e-mail, the mushrooming blogosphere and web-based marketing…

Drawing on a study of a photo-sharing website (Flickr.com), this paper explores ways in which everyday life is reconfigured through an online photo-sharing space, where traditional boundaries between the public and private spheres are being extended, challenged or eroded. The paper reflects on the presentation and subjects of the images; the…

This dissertation investigated the effects of instructor's self-disclosure using the Facebook social networking online platform on students' motivation types, attitudes, and performance in the course. The participants were 104 beginning French students enrolled in an online French course at a research one university in the southeast U.S. The…

The digital revolution has hit education, with more and more classrooms plugged into the whole wired world. But are schools making the most of new technologies? Are they tapping into the learning potential of today's Firefox/Facebook/cell phone generation? Have schools fallen through the crack of the digital divide? In "Rethinking Education in the…

Writing is an important issue in the UK today. While children's and young people's writing standards steadily improved until 2006, levels have not increased in recent years. Writing is much more than just an educational issue--it is an essential skill that allows people to participate fully in today's society and to contribute to the economy.…

The transition to adulthood can be a turbulent time. To succeed in this transition, adolescents and emerging adults must advance in several areas of development, such as education, work, financial autonomy, romantic relationships, peer involvement, citizenship, and avoidance of destructive health behaviors. However, some young people who have…

There is a century of rich literature on social learning from the fields of education, psychology, and sociology characterizing a wide variety of practical applications such as instructional techniques, consumer behavior conditioning and determining criminal motives. In social learning theory, according to Bandura, there are four fundamental…

Falun Gong emerged as spiritual social movement after being outlawed by the Chinese Communist Party authorities in 1999. Since then, Falun Gong practitioners have made heavy use of information and communication technologies, particularly the Internet, to further their movement's activities. This dissertation systematically examines the role of…

To a large extent, schools encourage collaboration all the time, especially in countries such as the United States, Britain, and Australia. Much of what goes on in schools is fairly short-term. There are, however, an increasing number of teachers who are seeing the potential value in longer-term projects in which students have to work together.…

It is no secret that learning has a social context. As library media specialists work with students nearly every day, they take for granted their pedagogical roots in social learning theory based on the premise that students need modeling and observation to learn from one another. Information gathering becomes a key activity, and social…

In this paper I identify some current elaborations on the theme of participation and digital literacy in order to open further debate on the relationship between interaction, collaboration and learning in online environments. Motivated by an interest in using new technologies in the context of formal learning (Merchant, 2009), I draw on in-school…

In a world of high tech and low touch, it is easy for public relations programs to stray from tried-and-true interpersonal strategies long associated with solid communication planning. New technologies allow communications professionals to quickly send e-mails and telephone calls to selected groups. Social media sites provide users immediate…

The information world in which library and information science (LIS) students study and are being educated is in a state of constant change. As Web 2.0 is becoming an important and central topic in our information world, the research reported here explores whether LIS students are familiar with technological changes and innovations, and whether…

Within the online environment, social interactivity is a necessity to the formation of knowledge. Learning, in order to be truly effective, must embody a social element that nurtures an individual through the multi-intelligences of a group while it also embraces and fosters an individual to recognize self-efficacy. The idea of successful learning…