Building Communities and Making Connections explores areas of academic and community engagement, through various studies that include community service learning, and the development and implementation of university programs that contain a community dimension. Academic endeavors have long been seen as separate from the realities of local and regional communities. This book closes the gap by looking at ways in which both academia and the communities its serves can collaborate to create authentic and applied learning environments.

Five keys to building a small group culture that fosters meaningful, lasting connections within your church community. Small groups are the key to impacting lives in your church. But a healthy small-group environment doesn’t just happen. So pull up a chair. Let’s talk about how to make it happen. Bill Willits and bestselling author Andy Stanley share their successful approach, which has resulted in nearly eight thousand adults becoming involved in small groups at North Point Community Church in Atlanta. Simply put, the five principles have passed the test. This is not just another book about community; this is a book about strategy—strategy that builds a small group culture. Creating Community shares clear and simple principles to help people connect into meaningful relationships. The kind that God desires for each of us and that He uses to change our lives. Put this proven method to work in your ministry and enjoy the tangible results—God’s people doing life TOGETHER. “The small-group program at North Point Community Church is not an appendage; it is not a program we tacked on to an existing structure. It is part of our lifestyle. We think groups. We organize groups. We are driven by groups. Creating Community contains our blueprint for success. And I believe it has the potential power to revolutionize your own small-group ministry!” — Andy Stanley

An authentic brand community is more than just people buying your product or working alongside one another. This book articulates the critical roles of mutual concern, common values, and shared experiences in creating fiercely loyal customer and collaborator relationships. Smart organizations know that creating communities is the key to unlocking unprecedented outcomes. But too many mistakenly rely on superficial transactional relationships as a foundation for community, when really people want something deeper. Carrie Melissa Jones and Charles Vogl argue that in an authentic and enriching community, members have mutual concern for one another, share personal values, and join together in meaningful shared experiences, whether online or off. On the deepest level, brands must help members grow into who they want to be. Jones and Vogl present practices used by global brands like Yelp, Etsy, Twitch, Harley Davidson, Salesforce, Airbnb, Sephora, and others to connect in a meaningful way with the people critical for their success. They articulate how authentic communities can serve organizational goals in seven different areas: innovation, talent recruitment, customer retention, marketing, customer service, building transformational movements, and creating community forums. They also reveal principles to grow a new brand community to critical mass. This is the first comprehensive guide to a crucial differentiator that gives organizations access to untapped enthusiasm and engagement.

Educators in online and other technology-rich environments consistently ask, “How can I build community among the learners in my class?” They know learning is strengthened by community, but aren’t sure how to design a community in a learning environment where technology plays a significant role. Ten Strategies for Building Community with Technology answers their question with proven strategies developed over the authors’ thirty years’ experience designing and teaching online classes. The ten strategies demonstrate that technology is not an impediment to community, but instead a tool for building more effective learning environments than are possible with traditional, face-to-face classrooms. Used the right way, technology can provide more instructional time, more opportunities for students to reflect, more chances to share and connect, and more access to feedback. But these effective learning environments don’t happen by chance. This book will give you all the background, tactics, examples and advice you need to design successful learning communities with technology. Ten Models for Building Learning Communities Transmission/Direct Instruction Guided Discovery Nurturing Apprenticeship Case Study Shared Praxis Insight-Generating Training Projects Inquiry

The library has always been an essential part of the collegiate experience, providing students with access to knowledge and literature. However, as virtual services and online learning become more prominent within collegiate environments, the ways students conduct research and access resources has been altered. Innovative Solutions for Building Community in Academic Libraries examines new methods librarians use to engage both on-campus and online users in library services, taking into account the significant impacts of online learning on students’ interaction with library resources. Focusing on various outreach practices, techniques of literacy instruction, and the utilization of library spaces, this research-supported book is a pivotal reference source for distance educators, program planners, academics, and library professionals interested in new ways to attract users to library services.

Social media is here to stay. A robust social media campaign can provide academic libraries with a means to showcase library resources, highlight content and events, and attract students to sample what the library has to offer. Building Communities is a handbook to implement social media technologies for academic libraries. It is a guide to planning and implementing a successful social media campaign and evaluating its impact. This title covers: the beginning of social networking in the academic context; how to implement use of social media technologies; and evaluating their use. The final section considers the future and asks: 'What's next?' - Provides information on how to plan, integrate, and assess the use of social media in academic libraries - Gives examples on the best social media technologies to implement in academic libraries - Discusses the skills and knowledge required in the academic library to launch a successful social media campaign

Building Communities through Food: Strengthening Communication, Families, and Social Capital examines the power of food as a communicative tool to bring people of diverse backgrounds together. David F. Purnell argues that food enables people to look past their differences and focus on their similarities, thus creating a stronger sense of community via the sharing of a meal. The preparation, presentation, and ingredients of meals reflect a concrete representation of our individual identities and offer others an opportunity to share and take part in those identities. Scholars with an interest in family communication, interpersonal communication, and sociology will find this book especially useful.

Not many of us get a chance to share their teaching-learning experiences with others. Here I am, sharing my experiences by focusing on a fact, that, students we teach are on transit; they eventually leave schools and proceed with their lives in their respective communities. Our social and pedagogical obligation as educators is to teach them skills to use after exiting educational institutions, that is, helping them gain community skills. The development of community skills starts with an understanding that communities and schools interlink. That is, learners who go to school expect to use the knowledge they gain to serve their communities. This calls for a broader vision of learning that goes beyond the four walls of classrooms. It is an ideology that persuades educators to produce graduates with apposite levels of academic achievements as well as broad community skills like ability to think, be responsible, make decision and solve problems. Everyone, almost every day, uses these skills. Educators thus are pressed to think of ways to knit together learning and community's aspirations. This can be done by engaging learners in activities that help build their community skills. Every educator teaches these skills, consciously and unconsciously. This resource contributes some ideas and processes that can enhance educators' role of imparting community development skills.

Bringing together contributions from some of the leading experts in the field of Spanish as a Heritage Language, this volume aims to provide an in-depth understanding of current and emerging trends in research and praxis. To this end, the volume is divided into three thematic units. The first unit surveys the study of Spanish heritage speaker bilingualism from a formal/theoretical linguistic point of view. The second unit focuses on issues shaping the current state of affairs in heritage language education. Finally, the third unit maps out future lines of development within heritage language instruction. The wide topical scope within this single volume will undoubtedly provide a valuable resource for researchers, students, and professionals working in different areas of Spanish as a heritage language.

Aproximaciones al estudio del español como lengua de herencia reúne diversas perspectivas sobre el estudio del español como lengua de herencia en el contexto de los Estados Unidos. El volumen presenta una amplia gama de enfoques lingüísticos, modelos pedagógicos e innovaciones programáticas. Dirigido a investigadores noveles y experimentados, al igual que a estudiantes y profesionales de la enseñanza, es un volumen ideal para aquellas personas que desean actualizar sus conocimientos del campo y obtener una perspectiva panorámica sobre la investigación y la enseñanza del español como lengua de herencia. Características principales: temas que incluyen, entre otros, la fonología/la fonética, la morfosintaxis, la pragmática, la enseñanza mediante el enfoque por tareas, la literacidad múltiple, el translenguar, los programas de community college, el español para fines específicos y la investigación-acción; contenidos teóricos, empíricos y pragmáticos relevantes para la enseñanza del español como lengua de herencia; descripciones y ejemplos que facilitan la adquisición de conocimientos sobre la materia; diferentes secciones que permiten la flexibilidad en cuanto al orden de lectura del volumen; preguntas de reflexión al final de cada capítulo para facilitar la comprensión de los temas presentados. Escrito de manera clara y accesible, Aproximaciones al estudio del español como lengua de herencia es un recurso indispensable para cursos de grado y posgrado en español sobre el español como lengua de herencia. Aproximaciones al estudio del español como lengua de herencia brings together a number of diverse scholarly voices and perspectives on the study of Spanish as a heritage language with a focus on the United States context. The volume presents a comprehensive view of this growing and dynamic field with the latest on linguistic approaches, pedagogical models, and programmatic innovations. Directed to beginning and seasoned researchers as well as to students and practitioners who wish to update their knowledge of the field and gain a fresh perspective on different approaches to researching and teaching Spanish heritage bilinguals. Written in Spanish for a wider audience in the Spanish-speaking world and for the teaching of undergraduate and graduate courses in Spanish. Key features: A broad range of topics including phonology/phonetics, morphosyntax, pragmatics, task-based language teaching, multiliteracy, translanguaging, community college programs, Spanish for specific purposes and action research among others; Clear overviews of theoretical, empirical and pragmatic issues relevant to the teaching of Spanish as a heritage language; Every chapter builds on specific core questions central to current understandings of research and practice; Concise descriptions and examples throughout provide readers with the tools they need to understand the subject matter; Organized into three sections that allows for flexibility regarding reading order; A section of reflection questions at the end of each chapter to help readers gain a deeper understanding of the issues at stake. Written in clear and accessible Spanish, Aproximaciones al estudio del español como lengua de herencia is a critical resource for those interested in understanding Spanish heritage speakers’ multifaceted linguistic experience in tandem with providing a meaningful educational experience that supports their personal, professional, and learning goals.