The future of communication and learning research: Challenges, opportunities, and predictions

Based on past research and cognizant of present-day findings, each of the contributing authors of this Handbook have made predictions concerning the future of research in the various areas that impinge on communication and learning. To synthesize these broad conclusions, the Editor offers clear and specific research agendas for future scholars in each of four areas: technology, culture, contexts, and methodology. The chapter includes hypotheses and research questions that are yet unexplored, as well as a call for rigorous adherence to the highest standards of scholarly inquiry. The Editor is then joined by a panel of five international scholars who, each in turn, offer their vision for the next generation of communication and learning research. They articulate the challenges faced by future scholars, offer suggestions and guidelines for further inquiry, and provide a number of research questions to guide new investigations of communication and learning in the 21st century.