Social and interpersonal support has mostly been carried out face-to-face. However, the internet was able, in the last couple of decades, to facilitate social interactions through a range of computer-mediated communication (CMC) interfaces--from email applications, chat-rooms, forums, instant messages (IM), short text messages (SMS), social…

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact text messages, social networks, Instant Messaging, email, and blogging had on rural middle school students' ability to decipher between formal and informal writing. Students completed self-evaluation logs, completed Formal and Informal Writing Assessments, and were scored on their use of…

The importance of home-to-school and school-to-home communication and parental involvement is well documented by researchers and acknowledged by practitioners. A number of earlier studies argue that there is a positive association between two-way communication, parental involvement, and student achievement at all levels of K-12 education. However,…

This case study explores the affordances a weblog (blog) offered to "Ms. Frizzle," an urban middle school science teacher and exceptional blogger, to support her professional identity development. The 316 posts she wrote over 1 school year were systematically analyzed and triangulated with data from e-mail exchanges and interviews with Ms. Frizzle…