In our day-to-day routines, we are being asked to extend ourselves into virtual environments that capture mere glimpses of who we are and what we think. As education focuses on the development of online learning environments, we are once again asked to recreate ourselves for another environment. This article explores aspects of social presence and…

This article presents a personal e-learning system architecture in the context of a social network environment. The main objective of a personal e-learning system is to develop individual skills on a specific subject and share resources with peers. The authors' system architecture defines the organisation and management of a personal learning…

Past education focused on the three Rs (reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic), but these no longer give humans an edge over advanced computers and automation systems. This is why we need to understand where the future is heading and better prepare both our current workforce as well as the future workforce for tomorrow's job market. Of…

New technologies have changed the way people perceive the world as well as access to knowledge. The ubiquitous influence of the Internet has also impacted traditional teaching in schools. According to existing studies, the weblog, or blog, is one of the most commonly applied new technologies in teaching due to its ability to allow a combination of…

The concept of affinity spaces, a theoretical construct used to analyze literate activity from a spatial perspective, has gained popularity among scholars of literacy studies and, particularly, video-game studies. This article seeks to expand current notions of affinity spaces by identifying key assumptions that have limited researchers'…

In the early 1990s, Chip Bruce created a taxonomy of education technology uses, which the author of the article helped to expand and evaluate. This taxonomy is based on John Dewey's "four impulses of the child": inquiry, construction, communication, and expression. This taxonomy has helped people interested in the uses of…

What does it mean to write for change? How do we negotiate the space between hope and critique? Drawing on Dewey's notion of a common faith, this article contemplates what the author learned from Chip Bruce. It suggests that when we compartmentalize the ideal and the everyday, the hopeful and the critical, we reduce the complexity of human…

Bruce and Bishop's community informatics work brings forward four critical concepts: inquiry, community, technology, and literacy. These four terms serve as the basis for a discussion of qualitative research in the twenty-first century--what is lacking and what is needed. The author suggests that to resolve the tensions or challenges…

In this personal and revealing essay, the author traces her relationship with Chip Bruce, from its beginnings, when he served on her dissertation committee, to the present, when she realizes that she is paying forward to her own graduate students the fruits of community inquiry and supportive teaching and learning.

Responsive evaluation builds upon the methods of informal evaluation in disciplined ways: getting personally acquainted with the evaluand, observation of activities, interviewing people who are in different ways familiar with the evaluand, searching documents that reveal what happened in the past or somewhere else. It calls for sustained effort to…

The reconstructive project needed to enable information for democracy, to which Chip Bruce has contributed much, is of long standing. Using a few wide brush strokes, in this article some of the most vital historical contexts for situating this project are supplied.

In this article, the author describes and reflects on a kind of vision that is unique to Bertram C. ("Chip") Bruce. This "funny way of looking at it" includes a way of seeing the world as it is made in myriad connections, a way of seeing the world imaginatively and metaphorically, and a way of seeing the world with optimism and…

This article examines the ways in which art and aesthetics provide powerful and rich models for inquiry and connection, facilitating fresh perception, conceptualization, and engagement in qualitative research. The very engagement with research parallels the engagement with the arts. In this engagement, problem setting and problem solving, the…

The development of critical scientific literacy in primary and secondary school classrooms requires authentic inquiry with a basis in the real world. Pairing scientists with educators and employing informatics and visualization tools are two successful ways to achieve this. This article is based on rich data collected over eight years from middle…

Civic intelligence is the capacity of collectivities--from small informal groups to humanity as a whole--to equitably and effectively address important shared problems such as poverty, bioterrorism, and natural disasters. It's an abstract concept that can be expressed in policy, art, demonstrations, or conversation. In this article, civic…