Purpose: The digital age has provided new possibilities for the connected learning. To better understand these opportunities in the school context, the purpose of this paper is to examine what kinds of learning communities emerge in international learning projects and how tools and technologies support students' inquiries and peer connections.…

The conception of Global Learning Communities (GLCs) was researched to discover potential benefits of the use of online technologies that facilitated communication and scientific data sharing outside of the normal classroom setting. 1,419 students in 635 student groups began the instructional unit. Students represented the classrooms of 33…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to determine the effect of lesson study on teachers' mathematical understanding. This study reviewed a three year program called SEISMIC which implemented lesson study within a school district. The goal was to increase teacher and student understanding of mathematics' Teacher understanding of…

Standards drive critical elements of the American educational system--the curricula that schools follow, the textbooks students read, and the tests they take. Similarly, standards establish the levels of performance that students, teachers and schools are expected to meet. To succeed in the 21st century, all students will need to perform to high…

The easy availability of both web-based communication tools and classroom internet access presents teachers with myriad ways to engage their students in projects with kids all over the globe. Two teachers--English teacher Hagit Goldstein in Israel and Spanish teacher Allison Baugher in the US--were connecting students through an online classroom…

The Dearborn Public Schools, with 18,300 students, is located in the Detroit urban area with the largest concentration of Arabic-speaking people in the United States. In order to prepare the students for the 21st century skills and global awareness and in response to parents' requests, the author in collaboration with the school principal and…

This article applies Engestrom's Activity Theory (AT) as an analytical lens to identify defining characteristics of the collaborative creative music making activities of composing and arranging. Attention is paid to the complex interrelationships among the various elements of interaction in children's collaborative creative music making as…

Outreach mathematicians are college faculty who are trained in mathematics but who undertake an active role in improving primary and secondary education. This role is examined through a study where an outreach mathematician introduced the concept of complex variables to junior high school students in the United States with the goal of stimulating…

The National Research Council (NRC) report on the disproportionate representation of minority students in special and gifted education represents an opportunity to draw national attention to the challenges faced by educators as they attempt to provide high-quality educational opportunities for students from culturally and linguistically diverse…