Social media has become the window to the world near and far for international students. Apart from socializing and connecting with friends, what educational outcomes can be attributed to social networking sites (SNS)?  This study examines the possibility that intercultural interactions on SNS can serve as a means of developing the transnational competence required for effective participation in an interconnected world.  In this exploratory study, Japanese students studying in the United States participated in a mixed method study involving (1) a structured questionnaire about their perceived empowerment benefits of frequenting global SNS and (2) semi-structured interviews about the nature of these intercultural interactions on SNS.  The implications of Facebook use for transnational-competence development are explored.

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The article presents a student-impact assessment of a model two-year place-based intercultural approach to indigenous education. Students at Lewis & Clark Primary School in Missoula, Montana, connected face-to-face with tribal educators and members residing in the nearby American Indian reservation. The program's learning outcomes included impressive gains in knowledge of Montana tribes, fewer stereotypical images, enhanced consciousness about the histories and cultures of the place in which students' reside, heightened appreciation for and connectedness with Native Americans, and increased cultural awareness. The power of the place-based intercultural-education approach is that K-5 students can acquire cultural knowledge, break stereotypes, and develop new appreciation for, and interest in, diverse peoples and issues by directly experiencing the local context in which diversity resides.

This article focuses on how three dimensions of critical democracy preparation (place-based geographical knowledge, social and political awareness of American Indian history and culture, and orientations conducive to the development of personal connections with American Indians) were impacted by different instructional approaches introduced when implementing an innovative Indian Education for All education program at a K-5 school in Montana. Student-learning outcomes were measured through pre-and post-intervention tests of place-based and social/political knowledge and a short survey of personal orientations. Instructional approaches across first-grade through fifthgrade were identified through interviews and participant observation. In their own ways, participating teachers, working in partnership with Salish tribal educators, demonstrated that Indigenous education contributes to critical-democracy learning. The specific outcomes of the Indigenous-education program varied according to the different instructional approaches teachers elected to pursue. Instructional comparisons showed that combining place-based instruction with guided reflection on personal connections with American Indian people through "boundary-breaking" approaches that aim to bring about critical consciousness ignited the most impressive changes in learners' orientations. The research findings offer particularly valuable insights for teachers striving for equity and excellence in elementary schools with American Indian populations.

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