(2009). Linking Rights with Lives: The Micropolitics of Educational Decision Making in Urban Mexico. Comparative Education Review, v53 n1 p41-61 Feb. This article uses life course theory and family bargaining theory to explore how decisions over schooling are negotiated in poorer Mexican families for whom compulsory basic education is a luxury. It explores educational decision making by conceptualizing education in terms of the way it meshes with other social relations and institutions across the life span. This article is based on a case study of a public "secundaria" (lower secondary school) located in a marginal area on the outskirts of Guadalajara, in the state of Jalisco, Mexico. Although the data were collected from one school, the theoretical framework proposed is intended to be informative for schools and populations sharing similar conditions, namely, economic insecurity that makes it hard for parents to plan ahead to support their children's schooling or to invest in their own futures, lack of integrated social security mechanisms that facilitate school attendance and support households across the life span,… [Direct]
(2012). The Effects of Online Professional Development in Technology with Virtual Communities of Practice on Teachers' Attitudes and Content Integration. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Western Connecticut State University. This quasi-experimental study examined the effects of online professional development in technology with Virtual Communities of Practice (VCoP) on teachers' attitudes and content integration. This research study took place completely online. Over a period of nine months three cohorts of educators from diverse backgrounds and geographical locations took part in a six week course of online professional development using resources designed by the researcher. The comparison group in each of the three cohorts accessed content via a course website and corresponded with the researcher only. The treatment group in each of the three cohorts accessed content via a course wiki and corresponded with the researcher and with each other as members of a VCoP. Both groups received the same professional development content. Three instruments were used for data collection online: A researcher designed demographic Survey, the Teachers' Attitudes Toward Computers (TAC) and the Levels of Teaching… [Direct]
(2012). The Use of Virtual Classrooms in E-Learning: A Case Study in King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia. E-Learning and Digital Media, v9 n2 p211-222. The phenomenal growth and subsequent increasing use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) innovations has led to an increase in their use in higher education over the past decade. Past research has criticised e-learning (compared to traditional face-to-face lecturing) for its failure to engage students in their learning. However, King Abdulaziz University (KAU) has only limited seats available for its traditional face-to-face programmes and therefore was determined to provide a viable alternative in the form of an e-learning programme, the first in Saudi Arabia. One of the requirements of this programme was that it should fit current sociocultural customs, enabling students from the K-12 Saudi educational system who are not skilled in independent learning or discovery to construct their own knowledge. The university created a programme that underwent rigorous course development and quality control to engage students more actively through asynchronous technologies–virtual… [Direct]
(2009). Some Ideas from England: A Practitioner's Perspective. National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) Australia's vocational education and training (VET) system is well regarded internationally, in particular for its competency-based training and flexible delivery. Yet we can also learn from the experiences in other countries. In March 2009, NCVER invited Robin Shreeve, Principal and Chief Executive of City of Westminster College in the United Kingdom (UK), to present at a seminar on developments in vocational education and training in the UK, where VET is known as the skills or further education (FE) sector. This paper provides Shreeve's views on the UK system and his insights into lessons for Australia. Key messages include: (1) The English and Australian systems, while sharing some similarities, have distinct differences socially, economically and politically; (2) One of the biggest differences between Australian technical and further education (TAFE) institutes and English FE colleges is the student profile. In the UK over 40% of students use FE colleges as the primary pathway… [PDF]
(2006). Sharing the \Current Events\ in Children's Lives. Social Studies and the Young Learner, v19 n1 p4-7 Sep-Oct. In this article, the author talks about two elementary classroom activities used as teaching tools, namely \Show and Tell\ and \Sharing Time.\ As a teaching tool, Sharing Time has several advantages over Show and Tell. It avoids children bringing valuable items to school, reduces emphasis on materialism, allows opportunities for extended oral expression, and, as the author explains, links to the social studies curriculum, including the study of current events. Sharing Time is more than an opportunity for student self-expression and teachers to catchup on youth culture. The author discusses Sharing Time in relation to economics, civics and government, geography, culture, sociology, history, and supervision. Among other things, he emphasizes that the best guidance for conducting Sharing Time is to keep in mind its utility as a teaching tool, to remind everyone of its purpose. (Contains 4 notes.)… [Direct]
(2017). International Psychological Applications Conference and Trends (InPACT) 2017 (Budapest, Hungary, April 29-May 1, 2017). Online Submission We are delighted to welcome you to the International Psychological Applications Conference and Trends (InPACT) 2017, taking place in Budapest, Hungary, from 29 of April to 1 of May, 2017. Modern psychology offers a large range of scientific fields where it can be applied. The goal of understanding individuals and groups (mental functions and behavioral standpoints), from this academic and practical scientific discipline, aims ultimately to benefit society. This International Conference seeks to provide some answers and explore the several areas within the Psychology field, new developments in studies and proposals for future scientific projects. The goal is to offer a worldwide connection between psychologists, researchers and lecturers, from a wide range of academic fields, interested in exploring and giving their contribution in psychological issues. The conference is a forum that connects and brings together academics, scholars, practitioners and others interested in a field that… [PDF]
(2010). Globally Sustainable Management: A Dynamic Model of IHRM Learning and Control. Learning Organization, v17 n2 p133-148. Purpose: After a thorough literature review on multinational learning, it is apparent organizations \learn\ when they capitalize on expatriate management, a \learning strategy\ (international work teams, employee involvement and other human resource policies), technology transfer and political environment and cross-cultural adaptation. This suggests learning is possible when control mechanisms are relaxed or reduced, resulting in an ambiguous relationship between multinational learning and control. There has been no research on the relationship between learning and control largely due to this assumption of ambiguity and this paper attempts to overcome this gap by presenting a holistic approach to multinational learning and control. This paper posits that focusing on optimizing learning and control through flexible IHRM policies is a globally sustainable approach to MNE management. The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual framework designed to address two major issues in… [Direct]
(2012). Spatial and Social Diffusion of Information and Influence: Models and Algorithms. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Georgia Institute of Technology. In this dissertation research, we argue that spatial alarms and activity-based social networks are two fundamentally new types of information and influence diffusion channels. Such new channels have the potential of enriching our professional experiences and our personal life quality in many unprecedented ways. First, we develop an activity driven and self-configurable social influence model and a suite of computational algorithms to compute and rank social network nodes in terms of activity-based influence diffusion over social network topologies. By activity driven we mean that the real impact of social influence and the speed of such influence propagation should be computed based on the type, the amount and the time window of the activities performed by a social network node in addition to its social connectivity (social network topology). By self-configurable we mean that the diffusion efficiency and effectiveness are dynamically adapted based on the settings and tunings of… [Direct]
(2010). Tramping Trail with Elroy in the Early Years of CELP. Pathways: The Ontario Journal of Outdoor Education, v22 n3 p34-35 Spr. The author is sipping tea on the eve of a week-long winter trip–over a decade since she first tramped trail with Mike Elrick into the winter wilderness. This evening holds for her the same electricity that it did in 1997–anxiety and excitement–when Elroy guided a motley crew of teens (his gang) into the woods and frozen waters of Algonquin Park. With his wealth of wisdom, Mike carefully crafted those frozen days of prospector tents, baking bannock, singing, solos, star gazing and frozen-fingered guitar groove into the first few steps of a semester-long journey. Their journey meandered through winter, spring and summer, and explored a rich geography of life that failed to penetrate their school walls. They were intrepid, exploring the confluence of community, environment and leadership, and gaining invaluable life skills to meet the challenge of any life expedition. This journey was the Community Environmental Leadership Program (CELP). This semester-long program wasn't just a… [PDF]
(2010). Women in Academia: What Can Be Done to Help Women Achieve Tenure?. Forum on Public Policy Online, v2010 n5. Women are not tenured at the same rate they are receiving PhDs, and less likely to be tenured when compared to their male counterparts. Reasons women have difficulty achieving tenure include not discussing important information about an academic appointment with colleagues, working part time or as adjunct faculty, being involved in \pastoral or administrative\ work, not having a realistic understanding of how important research is when untenured, and experiencing non academic issues. Interventions to alleviate this situation include departmental/campus policies before/during/after the woman is hired. Before being hired it is important to provide female faculty mentors to bright/capable women doctoral students and help them prepare for the academy by prioritizing scholarship over teaching and encouraging publications. During the hiring process it is useful to target women through advertising/recruiting at conferences, consider hiring current female doctoral students after completion… [PDF] [Direct]
(2010). The Good Business of Transfer: Why Improving College Transfer Pathways Makes Good Sense for New England. New England Journal of Higher Education, v24 n3 p18-19 Win. It's rare for policymakers to think of higher education pathways beyond their own experiences as traditional students. Many went to college directly after high school, stayed in dorms and graduated ready for careers. But the world today must depend upon learners (young and older) who may not be able to choose this path to career success. Today's learners often do not have the luxury of focusing 100% of their efforts on college as their top priority. Many are working. Many are parents. Many simply cannot afford to think of anything beyond meeting today's challenges. This article discusses why improving college transfer pathways makes good sense for New England. Credits earned "in and out" of college, "in and out" of the military, and over time can be lost if adult students are discouraged from re-entering college to pull it all together in completing a degree that is the magic ticket to retaining a job or qualifying for a new one. Just like in Pennsylvania where… [Direct]
(2010). Cautionary Tales. Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, v27 n23 p10-13 Dec. When Kemba Smith Pradia spoke this fall to a gathering of students at South Carolina State University, her candid talk about violence against women and the campus "hype" over drugs, sex, and money resonated with students and faculty alike. Ten years ago, Kemba Smith was wasting away in a federal prison as prisoner No. 26370-083. Used by others as a "drug mule," Kemba Smith had pleaded guilty to her low-level involvement in a violent cocaine drug ring. She was serving a mandatory federal prison term of 24 1/2 years with no chance for parole. Smith's "nightmare" was a case of a promising college student who became a poster child for the failures of a hastily written federal mandatory minimum drug sentencing law. In December 2000, during his final days in office, President Bill Clinton commuted Smith's prison sentence to the 6 1/2 years she had served. With her new lease on life, Kemba Smith Pradia has worked to get her life on track, advocate for drug… [Direct]
(2011). Incentive Mechanisms for Peer-to-Peer Streaming. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, State University of New York at Stony Brook. The increasing popularity of high-bandwidth Internet connections has enabled new applications like the online delivery of high-quality audio and video content. Conventional server-client approaches place the entire burden of delivery on the content provider's server, making these services expensive to provide. A peer-to-peer approach allows end users to reduce the burden on the service provider by contributing bandwidth by uploading data they have downloaded to other clients. However, the success of a peer-to-peer system hinges on resources contributed by participants. Unfortunately, studies have shown that end users are often reluctant to contribute resources to the system without a concrete incentive to do so. Our thesis is that a robust incentive mechanism is necessary to encourage nodes to contribute resources to the system, and a receiver-driven architecture with a pairwise incentive mechanism allows for great flexibility, simplicity, robustness, and performance. The popular… [Direct]
(2008). Building a Better Podcast. T.H.E. Journal, v35 n1 p31-33, 36-37 Jan. When Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the company's iPod in October 2001, it was the first portable media player of its kind, and he predicted the technology would change the educational landscape forever. Today, more than six years later, a growing number of educators are using the iPod and a bevy of other tools to supplement lessons with that digital file-sharing activity, podcasting. Still, while anyone can podcast, creating podcasts with true academic value can be tough. How can K-12 educators make the content unique, and relevant to teaching and learning? Technology coordinators from districts all over the country say there are nuances to making worthwhile podcasts, and simple tools that can empower teachers to turn run-of-the-mill podcasts into compelling educational exercises…. [Direct]
(2009). A Case Study of Learning Architecture and Reciprocity. International Journal of Early Childhood, v41 n1 p33-49. This ethnographic case study follows the trajectory of one child's learning disposition, reciprocity, and its relationship to the \learning architecture\ of her early childhood and primary school learning environments, over eighteen months. Learning dispositions are coping strategies or habits of mind, and tendencies to respond to and select from situations in specific ways. Learning architecture encompasses opportunities for mutual engagement, power-sharing, positioning and making connections. I followed Lisa, as she simultaneously attended two early childhood centres during Phase one of the study (at four years); in an early childhood centre which she attended at Phase two (at nearly five years); and after she had started school at Phase three (at five years and four months). The paper examines the kind of self, which was being created for Lisa, within the discourses and practices of the different settings. Her learning disposition towards reciprocity was both supported and… [Direct]