Community Networks Research Articles

Methods for evaluating intersectoral action partnerships to address the social determinants of health: a scoping review.

Many of the social and economic factors that shape conditions for population health and health equity (e.g. income, education and employment) lie outside of the health sector. Intersectoral action (ISA) is pivotal to building diverse partnerships that address these social determinants of health. Despite the significant role of ISA, there are few comprehensive reports from the health sector on how such partnerships are evaluated. The purpose of this scoping review is to provide an overview of examples of ISA partnership evaluations, including the identification of evaluation methods, tools and indicators. A literature search of two academic databases, Embase and MEDLINE, identified seven relevant studies published between 2012 and 2022. Common evaluation approaches were network analysis, community- or system- level analysis, partnership evaluation and longitudinal process evaluation. Five of the studies assessed the strength and functionality of partnerships, with reach (e.g. distance between partners) used most frequently as an indicator. Despite the complexity of evaluating ISA partnerships, such evaluations are crucial for assessing impacts on health outcomes and social determinants of health, goal achievement, accountability and sustainability. Different evaluation models are available to program planners and evaluators involved in ISA initiatives.

Bayesian Lookahead Perturbation Policy for Inference of Regulatory Networks.

The complexity, scale, and uncertainty in regulatory networks (e.g., gene regulatory networks and microbial networks) regularly pose a huge uncertainty in their models. These uncertainties often cannot be entirely reduced using limited and costly data acquired from the normal condition of systems. Meanwhile, regulatory networks often suffer from the non-identifiability issue, which refers to scenarios where the true underlying network model cannot be clearly distinguished from other possible models. Perturbation or excitation is a well-known process in systems biology for acquiring targeted data to reveal the complex underlying mechanisms of regulatory networks and overcome the non-identifiability issue. We consider a general class of Boolean network models for capturing the activation and inactivation of components and their complex interactions. Assuming partial available knowledge about the interactions between components of the networks, this paper formulates the inference process through the maximum aposteriori (MAP) criterion. We develop a Bayesian lookahead policy that systematically perturbs regulatory networks to maximize the performance of MAP inference under the perturbed data. This is achieved by optimally formulating the perturbation process in a reinforcement learning context and deriving a scalable deep reinforcement learning perturbation policy to compute near-optimal Bayesian policy. The proposed method learns the perturbation policy through planning without the need for any real data. The high performance of the proposed approach is demonstrated by comprehensive numerical experiments using the well-known mammalian cell cycle and gut microbial community networks.

Beyond the Idyll: Unveiling the realities of risk perception and neighborhood influence on rural in-migrants in the COVID-19 Era in Dali, China

While the COVID-19 pandemic has intensified counter-urban migration trends globally, with rural areas often portrayed as ideal havens, the post-migration realities and risks faced by rural in-migrants remain understudied. Addressing this research gap, this research investigates the neighborhood factors influencing risk perceptions of rural in-migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on four rural destinations in Dali, China. Using a mixed-method approach combining questionnaires, participatory mapping, and regression analysis, we surveyed 234 rural migrants. Our study incorporates objective measurements of neighborhood environments through Participatory GIS. Findings reveal that reduced life quality and economic income are the main perceived risks among rural in-migrants during the pandemic. Neighborhood factors significantly mitigating perceived risks include green spaces, accessible living services, government satisfaction, and strong local community networks. The study also identifies varying vulnerability levels among migrant groups, with migrant workers showing higher risk perceptions than entrepreneurs or unemployed individuals. This research addresses a critical gap in migration studies by examining post-relocation risks faced by rural in-migrants, especially during global crises. It provides empirical evidence on the role of neighborhood environments in mitigating migrants' risk perceptions, offering insights for enhancing rural community resilience. The findings contribute to our understanding of rural in-migration dynamics in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, informing strategies for sustainable rural development and migrant integration in the face of future crises.

Waste management through a waste bank based on entrepreneurial readiness in Ngalang Village

This research describes entrepreneurial readiness in the waste bank community at Ngalang Village, Gunungkidul Regency. This study is qualitative phenomenological research. This study's respondents were six administrators and members of the waste bank community in Ngalang Village, Gedangsari, Gunungkidul. Respondents were selected using a purposive sampling technique with the characteristics of the respondents: administrators and members of the Ngalang Village waste bank, do not have a permanent job, have an active status, and have been involved for at least one year. The data analysis employed in this research is content analysis. The results of the study show that the entrepreneurial readiness of the waste bank community in Ngalang Village has the skills needed in business, is courageous in dealing with and anticipating business failures, has a social network community that supports business activities, can see business opportunities, and prepare business development plans. In addition, in the waste bank community, they can prepare physically, mentally, and spiritually, have strong personalities, are willing to develop their skills, prepare for business activity, and prepare themselves for marketing the products. This entrepreneurial readiness will eventually become the principal capital in starting a business in the waste bank community.

Root-associated bacterial communities of vegetable Brassica parachinensis enrich pollutant-degrading taxa and functions for enhancing phthalate dissipation

Soil pollution by organic contaminants like phthalates (PAEs) significantly impacts root-associated microbial community and soil health. However, the rhizosphere effects of different vegetable cultivars on root-associated bacterial communities and their effects on PAE degradation in rhizosphere are not well uncovered. Here, two cultivars (i.e., Huaguan and Lvbao) of vegetable Brassica parachinensis significantly enhanced the dissipation of di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) in rhizosphere (higher by 23.9 % - 86.8 % compared with bulk soil). PERMANOVA tests demonstrated that the bacterial community structure was significantly impacted by niche variation and DEHP pollution, but not by vegetable genotypes, with significant gradient divergences along bulk soil to (far-) rhizosphere to rhizoplane. Niche variation and DEHP pollution also remarkably influenced the ecological networks of bacterial communities in soil-root continuum with high proportions of positive microbial interaction. Furthermore, rhizosphere and DEHP pollution significantly enriched PAE-degrading functions and bacteria (e.g., Aeromicrobium and TM7a, as keystone taxa), which is beneficial for enhancing DEHP degradation. Meanwhile, metagenomic binning identified various bacterial families such as Chitinophagaceae and Nocardioidaceae capable of degrading PAEs in rhizosphere, which may play important roles in PAE biodegradation through cooperation and co-metabolism. This study advances our understandings on the promotion of vegetables for PAE removal in rhizosphere and its related mechanisms.

Time-series sewage metagenomics distinguishes seasonal, human-derived and environmental microbial communities potentially allowing source-attributed surveillance

Sewage metagenomics has risen to prominence in urban population surveillance of pathogens and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Unknown species with similarity to known genomes cause database bias in reference-based metagenomics. To improve surveillance, we seek to recover sewage genomes and develop a quantification and correlation workflow for these genomes and AMR over time. We use longitudinal sewage sampling in seven treatment plants from five major European cities to explore the utility of catch-all sequencing of these population-level samples. Using metagenomic assembly methods, we recover 2332 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) from prokaryotic species, 1334 of which were previously undescribed. These genomes account for ~69% of sequenced DNA and provide insight into sewage microbial dynamics. Rotterdam (Netherlands) and Copenhagen (Denmark) show strong seasonal microbial community shifts, while Bologna, Rome, (Italy) and Budapest (Hungary) have occasional blooms of Pseudomonas-dominated communities, accounting for up to ~95% of sample DNA. Seasonal shifts and blooms present challenges for effective sewage surveillance. We find that bacteria of known shared origin, like human gut microbiota, form communities, suggesting the potential for source-attributing novel species and their ARGs through network community analysis. This could significantly improve AMR tracking in urban environments.

Pendekatan Pedagogic dan Skema Pembelajaran Pendidikan Kewarganegaraan untuk Mempromosikan Kewarganegaraan Ekologi

Environmental problems as a world issue require the importance of preparing citizens to have the ability to prevent environmental problems. This research aims to present a study of pedagogical approaches and citizenship education learning schemes in strengthening the integration of ecological citizenship into education as an effort to provide a foundation for citizenship education to develop ecological citizenship in schools. This research uses a comprehensive literature review research method, involving analysis and synthesis of findings from various literature to gain an understanding of the ecological citizenship education learning scheme. The research results show that the pedagogical landscape of ecological citizenship education can be packaged in learning approaches (1) place-based learning; (2) problem-based learning; (3) environmental justice pedagogy; (4) ecological citizenship education; (5) action competency learning; (6) learning to serve; (7) participatory action research; (8) socio-scientific inquiry-based learning (SSIBL). the pedagogical approach to ecological citizenship education includes six (6) stages: (1) inquiry; (2) planning action; (3) critical and active involvement; (4) community participation and networking on a scale (local, national, global), (5) maintaining environmental and social change, and (6) evaluation and reflection.

Ambiguous Losses and Their Traumatic Effects: A Qualitative Synthesis of the Research Literature

This paper presents a comprehensive review of the research literature on ambiguous losses, focusing on the psychological impact of uncertainty and the associated unresolved circumstances. The research method involves synthesizing data from various sources, including academic articles, books, and case studies, accessed through databases like PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and PsycINFO. The study underscores the need for specialized therapeutic methods and comprehensive support systems to improve the resilience and psychological health of those experiencing ambiguous loss. Effective coping strategies include seeking social support, engaging in meaning-making activities, and using therapeutic interventions like resilience training and narrative therapy to improve the psychological health of those experiencing ambiguous loss. Healthcare providers should integrate narrative therapy and resilience training techniques, while social workers should enhance support systems involving community networks. Further research is urgently advocated to expand the understanding of ambiguous loss across various contexts and cultures, leading to more effective, tailored interventions. The study's contributions are significant, as it elucidates the complex dynamics of ambiguous loss and identifies effective coping mechanisms and therapeutic interventions. By highlighting how ambiguous loss differs from other losses in closure and resolution, the paper offers new insights into the tailored approaches necessary to support affected individuals. The study consolidates diverse aspects of ambiguous losses and makes unique suggestions for policy and practice in one scholarly work.

Sports following and social capital in the United States: Social networks and trust

Scholarship on sports following represents a burgeoning field of inquiry in the sociology of sport, yet sport following's connections to, or ability to facilitate, social capital remains underexplored. Drawing on a contemporary nationwide survey of the United States and employing the foundational theories of social capital by which we operationalize statistical analyses using regression modeling, this study investigates the nuanced contributions of sports following to various dimensions of social capital. Our analysis reveals complex relationships of sports following to social network size, community engagement, neighborhood trust, and social network variety, highlighting sports following as a significant predictor for all our operationalized social capital measures, although negatively so for neighborhood trust. Exploring the interplay between sports following, individual characteristics, and socio-political affiliations, results underscore the powerful predictive capacity of sports following even controlling for other characteristics, highlighting strong potentiality for building social capital, although along some dimensions more than others. These findings spotlight the domain of sports following as fertile ground for further investigation into its capacity to serve as a unique facilitator of social capital on the increasingly divided American socio-cultural landscape.

Plant growth promoting endophyte modulates soil ecological characteristics during the enhancement process of cadmium phytoremediation

Endophyte assisted phytoremediation of cadmium (Cd) contaminated soil represents a promising strategy. However, the precise soil ecological regulatory mechanisms by which endophyte enhance the Cd phytoextraction remain unclear. Here, we employed the plant growth promoting endophyte (PGPE) Pseudomonas sp. E3, which has been validated to effectively enhance Cd extraction in Solanum nigrum L., to investigate its regulatory mechanism on soil ecology. The results demonstrated that while PGPE inoculation resulted in minimal alterations to the physicochemical properties of the bulk soil, it led to a notable increase in acid phosphatase activity by 17.86% and urease activity by 24.85% in the rhizosphere soil. This, in turn, significantly raised the available nitrogen and phosphorus contents by 16.93% and 21.27%, respectively, in the rhizosphere soil. Additionally, PGPE inoculation effectively replenished the bioavailable fractions of Fe and Cd, which had been depleted due to root uptake. Importantly, the inoculation specifically augmented the abundance of biomarkers p_Patescibacteria, f_Saccharimonadales, and g_Saccharimonadales in the rhizosphere soil. These biomarkers exhibited a significant positive correlation with the available nutrient and metal element contents. Moreover, the co-occurrence network analysis demonstrated that the inoculation resulted in a simplified bacterial community network, which may have facilitated community synergism by displacing bacteria with a negative association. This regulation appears to occur independently of PGPE colonization. Overall, our findings suggested that PGPE also exerts a regulatory influence on soil ecological features, significantly aiding hyperaccumulators in nutrient acquisition and heavy metal accumulation.

Dispersal limitation determines the ecological processes that regulate the seasonal assembly of bacterial communities in a subtropical river.

Bacteria play a crucial role in pollutant degradation, biogeochemical cycling, and energy flow within river ecosystems. However, the underlying mechanisms governing bacterial community assembly and their response to environmental factors at seasonal scales in subtropical rivers remain poorly understood. In this study, we conducted 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing on water samples from the Liuxi River to investigate the composition, assembly processes, and co-occurrence relationships of bacterial communities during the wet season and dry season. The results demonstrated that seasonal differences in hydrochemistry significantly influenced the composition of bacterial communities. A more heterogeneous community structure and increased alpha diversity were observed during the dry season. Water temperature emerged as the primary driver for seasonal changes in bacterial communities. Dispersal limitation predominantly governed community assembly, however, during the dry season, its contribution increased due to decreased immigration rates. Co-occurrence network analysis reveals that mutualism played a prevailing role in shaping bacterial community structure. Compared to the wet season, the network of bacterial communities exhibited higher modularity, competition, and keystone species during the dry season, resulting in a more stable community structure. Although keystone species displayed distinct seasonal variations, Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria were consistently abundant keystone species maintaining network structure in both seasons. Our findings provide insights into how bacterial communities respond to seasonal environmental changes, uncovering underlying mechanisms governing community assembly in subtropical rivers, which are crucial for the effective management and conservation of riverine ecosystems.

Mulching drive changes in soil microbial community assembly processes and networks across aggregate fractions

Soil microbial community assembly processes and networks in croplands have been widely explored; however, their dynamics and how they regulate winter wheat yield across distinct soil aggregate fractions under the combined effects of mulching and soil horizons have not been comprehensively understood. Therefore, based on a 9-y field experiment, the responses of soil bacterial and fungal community assembly processes and interkingdom association networks to mulching were specifically investigated at the soil aggregation level. Soil properties and microbial biomass were separated into distinct mulching in the topsoil (0–10 cm), and soil water content was considered the most critical factor. The soil bacterial community was affected mainly by mulching and soil horizon compared with the fungal community in microaggregates (<0.25 mm). Notably, the bacterial community displayed more robust stochastic processes than the fungal one, and microbial interkingdom association networks were more complex and stable in micro-than macroaggregates. Soil potential carbon mineralization, pH, and total nitrogen were the dominant properties regulating winter wheat grain yield in combination with microbial community composition, assembly processes, and networks in each soil aggregate class. Wheat yield decreased under straw mulching and was mainly regulated by bacterial community composition and assembly processes. Thus, this study enhanced our understanding of the regulations for wheat yield, which could facilitate soil microbial community management at the aggregation level for sustainable crop production in mulching conservation agroecosystems.

Seasonal dynamics of microbiota in winter-adapted Collembola: Insights into symbiotic relationships and adaptation to low temperatures

Soil-dwelling invertebrates, found worldwide, are essential for decomposition of plant litter and other soil processes, requiring adaptations to changes in the climate. The microbiota associated with these animals profoundly impacts their health and fitness. While seasonal changes have been shown to shape vertebrate microbiota, the microbiota of arthropods adapted to winter remains unknown. In this study, we investigated microbiota of two Collembola species with different overwintering strategies, Tomocerus cf. jilinensis and Tomocerus nigrus, in summer and three different periods in winter (early, mid, and late winter) using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. The results reveal pronounced alterations in microbial diversity and composition of the Collembola driven by seasonal variations and temperatures. Collembola associated microbiota exhibited higher Shannon diversity during mid and late winter. Furthermore, early, mid, and late winter periods were characterized by an enrichment of representatives from Hungateiclostridiaceae, Pseudomonas, and Pedobacter, respectively. Distinct seasonal patterns in microbiota were observed across different Collembola species. Bacterial community networks in winter Collembola were predominatly marked by positive interactions. Ground temperature exhibited a negative correlation with the Shannon index of Collembola-associated bacteria and the relative abundance of Comamonadaceae, Renibacterium, Mycobacterium, Sphingomonas, and Aeromicrobium. Our study indicates that season alters Collembola associated microbiota and these microbial changes could facilitate Collembola activity in low temperatures. Overall, our study extends our knowledge of symbiotic relationships between winter-adapted animals and their microbiota.

Plateau zokor disturbance enhances soil bacterial diversity and reduces network complexity

Rodent disturbances are considered as the key factors that affect grassland ecological restoration worldwide. Although the impact of rodent disturbances on plant diversity and ecosystem functions has been extensively studied, our understanding of how such activities shape soil bacterial community networks and their functional roles remains limited. In this study, we employed 16S rRNA sequencing to investigate soil bacterial communities between undisturbed alpine meadow and zokor mounds at different successional stages. Additionally, we analyzed the co-occurrence networks and potential functions within the alpine meadow ecosystem. The results revealed that (1) the disturbance by plateau zokors altered the soil bacterial community structure, increased bacterial diversity and reduced network complexity. Also, there were synergistic interactions among key species in the soil bacterial co-occurrence network; (2) soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) were identified as the key environmental variables that shape soil bacterial communities; (3) functional predictions based on FAPROTAX indicated that the disturbance by plateau zokors significantly affected the functional groups involved in carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling. Overall, these findings significantly enhance our understanding of how small mammal activities influence the soil nutrient cycling and bacterial community in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) alpine meadow.

Multiple anthropogenic environmental stressors structure soil bacterial diversity and community network

Microbial communities in many ecosystems are suffering a wide range of environmental stressors induced by anthropogenic perturbations. While the impacts of a single stressor have been extensively estimated in numerous studies, the responses of microbial communities to multiple environmental stressors simultaneously are still poorly understood. In the current study, we investigated the taxonomic diversity, community resistance, and co-occurrence interaction of soil bacterial communities treated with different numbers of environmental stressors by conducting 136 microcosms. We found that the richness and Shannon diversity of the soil community decreased significantly from 1430 to 6.54 in the mono-factor treatments to 920 and 5.77 in the hepta-factor treatments. The counts of nodes and edges of the soil microbial networks decreased with the increasing stressor number, potentially indicating that multiple stressors can reduce the network size. Multiple stressors increased the community resistance potential to environmental disturbance. Additionally, the network cohesion suggested that the cooperative and competitive behaviors between microorganisms were induced by multiple stressors. The observation could be potentially due to the enrichment of the generalists by multiple environmental stressors. Although only a handful of stressors were included, our study still indicated that multiple environmental stressors would lead to diversity loss via deterministic processes.

The “Cycle” of HIV: Limits of Personal Responsibility in HIV Vulnerability Among Transgender Adolescents and Young Women in Lima, Peru

Globally, transgender women (TW) face a high burden of the HIV epidemic. In Peru, HIV prevalence among TW rises at age 25, indicating a need to understand HIV vulnerability as adolescents reach adulthood. The life course of TW is often marked by abuse, discrimination and poverty fueled by transphobic stigma. Approaches to the HIV epidemic among TW and adolescents emphasize problem behaviors such as unprotected sex and substance. However, there has been a call for HIV research and interventions to understand and leverage community strengths. This qualitative study utilized a transgender-oriented, strength-based, intersectional and feminist approach to understand the strengths and protective health behaviors among 17 transgender adolescents and young women (TAYW) age 16–24 in Lima, Peru. Most participants re-located to Lima from the Amazon due to familial rejection, and engaged in obligatory sex work. TAYW demonstrated self-knowledge, motivation for education, efforts to secure employment, strong community networks, legal advocacy, avoiding problem substance use, HIV knowledge and condom use. However, strengths were impeded by multi-level barriers such as familial physical abuse, educational discrimination, and sexual assault which led to increased HIV vulnerability. We created a conceptual model of the “cycle” of HIV to describe the limits of personal responsibility within a vulnerable community denied access to family, education, employment and human rights. We recommend researchers, clinicians and public health workers follow the lead of TAYW at the frontlines of the HIV epidemic, and support beloved communities and enabling environments which may permit protective behaviors to mitigate HIV vulnerability.

Attitudes towards advance care planning amongst community-based older people in England.

Advance care planning has been advocated as a way for people to have their wishes recorded and respected in relation to types of treatment and place of care. However, uptake in England remains low. To examine the views of older, well, adults towards Advance Care Plans (ACPs) and planning for end-of-life care, in order to inform national policy decisions. A mixed methods approach was adopted, involving individual and mini-group qualitative interviews (n = 76, ages 45-85), followed by a quantitative survey (n = 2294, age 55+). The quantitative sample was based on quotas in age, gender, region, socio-economic grade, and ethnicity, combined with light weighting to ensure the findings were representative of England. Knowledge and understanding of advance care planning was low, with only 1% of survey respondents reporting they had completed an ACP for themselves. Common reasons for not putting wishes into writing were not wanting/needing to think about it now, the unpredictability of the future, trusting family/friends to make decisions, and financial resources limiting real choice. Whilst advance care planning is seen as a good idea in theory by older, well, adults living in the community, there is considerable reticence in practice. This raises questions over the current, national policy position in England, on the importance of written ACPs. We propose that policy should instead focus on encouraging ongoing conversations between individuals and all those (potentially) involved in their care, about what is important to them, and on ensuring there are adequate resources in community networks and health and social care systems, to be responsive to changing needs.

The rules of multiplayer cooperation in networks of communities.

Community organisation permeates both social and biological complex systems. To study its interplay with behaviour emergence, we model mobile structured populations with multiplayer interactions. We derive general analytical methods for evolutionary dynamics under high home fidelity when populations self-organise into networks of asymptotically isolated communities. In this limit, community organisation dominates over the network structure and emerging behaviour is independent of network topology. We obtain the rules of multiplayer cooperation in networks of communities for different types of social dilemmas. The success of cooperation is a result of the benefits shared among communal cooperators outperforming the benefits reaped by defectors in mixed communities. Under weak selection, cooperation can evolve and be stable for any size (Q) and number (M) of communities if the reward-to-cost ratio (V/K) of public goods is higher than a critical value. Community organisation is a solid mechanism for sustaining the evolution of cooperation under public goods dilemmas, particularly when populations are organised into a higher number of smaller communities. Contrary to public goods dilemmas relating to production, the multiplayer Hawk-Dove (HD) dilemma is a commons dilemma focusing on the fair consumption of preexisting resources. This game yields mixed results but tends to favour cooperation under larger communities, highlighting that the two types of social dilemmas might lead to solid differences in the behaviour adopted under community structure.

Microbiota-driven vaccination in soft ticks: Implications for survival, fitness and reproductive capabilities in Ornithodoros moubata.

The Ornithodoros moubata (Om) soft tick, a vector for diseases like tick-borne human relapsing fever and African swine fever, poses challenges to conventional control methods. With diminishing insecticide efficacy, harnessing the tick's microbiota through innovative approaches like microbiota-driven vaccination emerges as a promising strategy for sustainable and targeted disease control. This study investigated the intricate relationship between Pseudomonas, a keystone taxon in the Om microbiome, and its impact on tick fitness, microbiome structure and network dynamics. Utilizing in silico analyses and empirical vaccination experiments, the role of Pseudomonas within microbial networks in the tick midguts (MG) and salivary glands (SG) of Om was studied. Additionally, the consequences of anti-microbiota vaccines targeting Pseudomonas and Lactobacillus on tick fitness, microbiome diversity and community assembly were explored. The result of the study shows that in Om, Pseudomonas plays a central role in microbial networks, influencing keystone species despite being categorized as peripheral (interacting with 47 different taxa, 13 of which are keystone species). Anti-microbiota vaccination targeting Pseudomonas and Lactobacillus yields distinct effects on tick fitness, with Pseudomonas vaccination significantly impacting female tick survival, while Lactobacillus significantly reduced oviposition and fertility. Microbiome changes post-vaccination reveal diversity alterations, emphasizing the impact of vaccine choice. Community assembly dynamics and network robustness analyses highlight Pseudomonas' pivotal role, in influencing topological features and network resilience. The findings of the study provide comprehensive insights into the intricate dynamics of Om microbial networks and the potential of targeted microbiota-driven vaccines for tick control.

The ties that bind us as a community

This manuscript was concerned with the extent to which the definition of the networked learning is manifest in the networked learning research. To this end, it explored how the definition is utilised in the design and application of the research. Technology (mediation and/or facilitation), connections (interactions), and network (community and/or context) were the three categories I explored the networked learning research. While the definition of the networked learning is open-ended in nature, the findings show that the networked learning researchers have enough commonality in their approach to the networked learning.