Editor's Note:

Introduction to
The Living Article

Linda C. Greene
North Carolina State University

A Living Article, as we hope to implement it, begins with the presentation of a strong and possibly controversial article related to the field of technology and adolescent education. The readers of the article are then asked to respond to what they have read in the manner of an open forum, using the resources of the Internet to collaborate with other readers. Our concept of a Living Article has evolved over the course of several years and through discussions with a rotating group of Meridian's Review Board members. The underlying goal of this project is to grow beyond using the Internet merely to disseminate knowledge. Rather, we hope to use this as a forum to engage in the process of creating knowledge. We want to expand the possibilities of academic collaboration to include the entire audience of Meridian. In so doing, we hope to create a new forum for academic discourse.

This Living Article is an experiment. As with any experiment, there are sure to be some glitches as we go along. There are bound to be some unforeseen problems. As we discover these problems, some of the information surrounding the Living Article may change. If you discover any such problems, we hope that you will make us aware of your discoveries and offer some potential solutions. Our hope is that this collaboration will inform not only the content of the article but the process of creating it as well.

The co-authors of this article are doctoral students in Counselor Education at NC State University who are also members of Meridian's Review Board. Since this project has been up for discussion for some time among the Meridian Board, we were unable to put this article through the same blind review process that is our usual policy for all Meridian articles. However, we have solicited feedback from our board members and faculty advisors prior to publication and we plan to document the process that we implement throughout the life of this project. We hope to make this documentation available to Meridian readers in a future issue.

The content of our first Living Article focuses on the use of technology as a tool for promoting healthy adolescent development. We have used examples of school violence (particularly the incident at Columbine High School) to highlight the need for promoting healthy development among students. We have then used the literature on adolescent development to outline the age-appropriate developmental tasks for middle school students. The major question posed by this article is "How can we use technology as a tool to promote the successful resolution of these adolescent developmental tasks?"

In answer to this question, we hope to receive responses in the form of anecdotal evidence, relevant research in this area, and commentary on the topic from various points of view. As we begin to compile these responses, they initially will be reviewed (to ensure that they are indeed responses to the article) and then posted intact in a manner similar to bulletin board type postings. They will later be edited into the article and cited using links to the entire response. In this way, the article will evolve. We plan to maintain all versions of the article in an archive (linked from the most current version of the article) so that the process itself can be examined.

We hope that you will find the information presented both useful and thought provoking. We also hope that you will share the thoughts that the article has provoked with us. We look forward to the collaboration.