The purpose of this study was to investigate how gender identity construction in virtuality and actuality affect collaborative learning in a corporate community of practice. As part of a virtual ethnographic design, participants were employees from a major American corporation who were interested specifically in social networking applications. The…

Updated for the first time since 2005, this indispensable volume includes revised interpretations of the Library Bill of Rights along with key intellectual freedom guidelines and policies, including: (1) A new chapter, "Interactivity and the Internet," and other fresh material on intellectual freedom and privacy in online social…

The Gilfus Education Group predicts that over the next few years, educators will make great progress in combining existing technology capabilities with the practices and theories of learning communities to develop a vigorous community learning platform which enables a richer set of educational experiences and facilitates the positive effects…

YouTube Fridays is a teaching tool that devotes the first five minutes of class each Friday to a YouTube video related to the course. Students select the videos, which expand the class's educational content in courses such as thermodynamics and material and energy balances. From assessments of two pilot studies using YouTube Fridays in Chemical…

Purpose: The paper aims to examine high school students' use of social networking to participate in teledeliberative democratic dialogue and explicates the implications of this dialogue for democratic education that is inclusive of all students. Design/methodology/approach: The case study analyzes the comments of 111 high school students over ten…

Professional development for distance tutors is traditionally delivered through texts or websites, supplemented by face to face workshops. However, one of the major challenges is to ensure that they engage with the materials and carry away something which is of value to their practice. At the Open University (UK) our 8000 tutors work from home,…

This paper presents a pre-orientation program for incoming college students, Active Citizenship through Technology (ACT), that engaged students in civic dialogue early in their academic experience while fostering a long-term peer support network. It leveraged youth's interest in Internet technologies to engage them in civic discussions and…

Knowledge Building as a theoretical, pedagogical, and technological innovation focuses on the 21st century need to work creatively with knowledge. The team now advancing Knowledge Building spans multiple disciplines, sectors, and cultural contexts. Several teacher-researcher-government partnerships have formed to bring about the systemic changes…

Universities can offer eLearning 2.0 tools and services to learners while obtaining clear benefits from releasing the control over some learning content. This means a shift from the institution centred and monolithic model of traditional virtual learning environments (VLEs) to a more heterogeneous and open model. This article tries to plot an…

The nature of knowledge is being redefined by a new media landscape that allows all participants to be media producers and owners. Without a comprehensive strategy to include Web 2.0 tools and social media practices within schools, powerful new skills will be neither harnessed, nor developed. Despite the challenge to the relationship between…

This article presents some findings of a small-scale research study carried out in 1 kindergarten in Hong Kong. The study looked at the problems associated with the transition of families from one culture (mainland China) to a new culture (Hong Kong), concentrating on the children's development of a sense of belonging in Hong Kong. Specific issues…

An estimated 200 million children worldwide experience various forms of disability. This critical review extrapolates from existing literature in 2 distinct areas of scholarship: one on individuals with disabilities in disaster, and the other on children in disaster. The extant literature suggests that various factors may contribute to the…

Middle school is a time of many changes for young adolescents. They are "searching for individual identity, struggling with society's norms, and grappling with moral issues." They are changing and maturing physically, cognitively, socially, and psychologically as they develop their identities; establish, maintain, and end friendships and social…

The last 5 years have seen a growing number of universities use social media services such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to engage with past, present and prospective students. More recently still, a number of universities have published policy or guidance documents on the use of social media for a range of university-related purposes including…

Designing Problem-Driven Instruction with Online Social Media has the capacity to transform an educator's teaching style by presenting innovative ways to empower problem-based instruction with online social media. Knowing that not all instructors are comfortable in this area, this book provides clear, systematic design approaches for instructors…