Current status,future trends,and issues in human performance technology,part 1: Influential domains,current status,and recognition of HPT

Fifteen human performance technology experts participated in a survey investigating HPT's current status, future trends, and issues. Although HPT is not fully recognized in many organizations, such strengths as systems thinking and multidisciplinary approaches to performance problems are valued. Weaknesses reported are the rare use of HPT in small organizations, falling for quick fixes, and shortcomings in evaluation. HPT professionals need to do better at clarifying HPT principles, communicating HPT values, and demonstrating HPT's organizational impact.     

Current status of learner support in distance education: emerging issues and directions for future research

This study examines the literature on learner support with the aim of helping institutions of higher education plan and implement support services for distance learners. The following issues emerged as areas of particular importance to future research in distance learner support: 1) the lack of research on cost-effectiveness; 2) the lack of empirical research; and 3) the need for a learner-centered approach in designing and implementing learner support. These issues are discussed in detail to enhance our understanding the role of learner support in post-secondary level distance education programs. It is further argued that future research should focus more on developing and refining methods for cost-benefit analysis of learner support, developing a general framework of the learner support model in dual-mode institutions, and developing systematic methods to identify, analyze, synthesize, and assess the needs of distance learners.     

Current educational technology research trends in Japan

To examine trends in educational practice research, this article conducted a survey and analysis of factors affecting the review of research papers in the field of the educational technology in Japan. Two factors, namely, practical orientation and theoretical orientation, were extracted from 63 survey responses, and scores from members of a Japanese academic society were compared with the scores of its editorial board. Results show that the two factor scores were not correlated to each other, and they are independent measures for any evaluation or review of research articles. Also, there was no significant difference between society members and editorial board members, i.e., their preferences when reviewing research papers were identical. For the second part of this study, a group composed of anonymous members of an editorial board conducted a paper review of 12 published “practical papers” and 11 published “general papers.” Results indicated that there was no significant difference between the two categories. The final rating scores of these 23 papers were analyzed using a decision-tree rating model. Results also indicated that for publication, papers need to contribute to theoretical research, in addition to contributing to basic educational practice research in educational technology.     

以太网技术的现状及发展综述

概述了以太网技术的现状及优越性，对其在用户管理和可靠性方面存在的问题进行了探讨，指出了光以太网、无线以太网技术将成为今后网络的发展方向。     

Research on technology and teacher education: Current status and future directions

Within the context of a brief history of information technology in teacher education (ITTE), current research on ITTE is reviewed. It is argued that ITTE research can be categorized into three paradigms: empirical, critical, and interpretive. The need for a clear, multi-paradigmatic approach for future work is emphasized. Examples of exemplary work are cited. Conclusions suggest needs for more sharing of information of “islands of excellence” in work on technology in teacher education, more case studies on diffusion of innovation, more emphasis on bias-related findings from critical theory, and more development and dissemination of resources and tools for using technology effectively in teacher education. Recommendations for further work in the area also include emphasizing instructional design (ID) work to create innovations and recognizing the need for grounded, reflective papers on innovative approaches that have been implemented and studied over several years.     

European research on media and technology in education: current status and future directions

This chapter surveys a number of developments in media and mass communication research and presents results that are important for educational research on teaching and learning. In many European countries, disparate research areas have investigated questions which focus on learning from both mass media and ‘instructional’ media use in schools and in the community. Our emphasis in this chapter will be on current examples drawn primarily from the German context but which we feel are typical of general European perspectives on media research which is oriented toward the new ‘cognitive’ psychology of learning. After an overview that describes many directions and theories, a specific example of studies from our own laboratory will be presented.     

Education and national development in Asia: trends and issues

This chapter examines how the convergence of four trends that have dominated the education landscape over the last three decades is giving rise to six issues that will largely define the educational landscape of the next. Reconciling the simultaneous but conflicting pressures to contain costs, raise school quality, further decentralize management, and incorporate technology represents the central challenge.     

汽车驾驶员疲劳监测技术研究现状及发展趋势

对驾驶员疲劳监测方法进行了归类分析,并综述了国内外相关研究成果.在此基础上,指出驾驶员疲劳监测技术将向非接触、多传感器监测、消除个体差异和环境影响以及提高监测的准确性等方向发展.     

Primary sources of cognate research in human performance technology

This article is third in a series written to address questions regarding the need for more empirical research in the field of human performance technology (HPT) and the need to determine the future direction of HPT research. The call for more empirical research has been published in journals such as Performance Improvement Quarterly and Performance Improvement (formerly Performance and Instruction) for nearly 20 years.     

Secular trends in human growth, maturation, and development

Rates of growth during childhood have increased considerably during the past 50-100 years. Because they are associated with increased rates of maturation, these size increases are maximal at ages when recently measured groups are pubescent but those measured in the past had not reached pubescence. Large secular increases in rates of growth and maturation have occurred in all developed countries but not in many other countries. There have been secular increases in recumbent length at birth in Italy and France but little change in the United States. The secular increase in childhood stature is much more obvious, being about 1.5 cm/decade for 12-year-old children, although for young adults the secular increase in stature has been about 0.4 cm/decade in most developed countries. In the United States these trends have been similar for blacks and whites during childhood but greater for black men than white men. Similarly, secular trends in birth weights have been small, but there have been large trends for children (about 1.5 kg/decade for 12-year-olds). These secular changes in size have been associated with an acceleration of maturation that is most evident in the 0.3 years/decade advancement in age at menarche. This advancement has now ceased in Norway and England. The changes in body proportions during recent decades are less marked than those in body size. Leg length, particularly the length of the thigh, seems to have increased more than stature in men but not women; chest circumference has increased more rapidly than stature in each sex. The relationships between stature and weight have changed in different ways in various national groups. Similarly, the relative changes in head length and head breadth vary with the groups studied. Few sets of data allow conclusions about possible secular trends in body composition, but subcutaneous fat thicknesses have increased, especially at the upper percentiles. Also strength, which reflects muscle mass, has increased absolutely, although it has decreased relative to stature.Undoubtedly the secular trend is due to various factors; the identification of causes is necessarily speculative. Changes in nutrition alone could not account for the trends which exceed the original socioeconomic differentials. In the United States, there have been per capita increases in the intake of protein and fat from animal sources, decreases in carbohydrates and fat from vegetable sources, and little change in caloric intake. It is not clear that these changes constitute better nutrition. The secular trends could reflect environmental improvements, specifically changes in health practices and living conditions leading to improvements in mortality rates and life expectancy. These factors are interrelated with those concerning family size. Also genetic factors, especially heterosis, may have played a small role in causing the secular trends...     

Designing for performance,part 2: Selecting your performance technologies

Strategic plans and performance objectives define the results to be accomplished, but selecting a suitable set of performance technologies for your organizations requires more than just knowing the intended benefits. The systematic procedures described in the article will guide you through practical processes and valuable tools for identifying potential performance technologies, evaluating alternatives, and developing a system of performance‐focused activities that accomplish desired results.     

Teaching,research and scholarship in different disciplines

Teaching and research are the primary functions of academics in all academic disciplines in all Australian universities. Scholarship is expected of all academics whether in the university or college sector. Under a new policy Australian higher education institutions have to develop educational profiles that will describe their strengths in teaching and research. The federal government, and indeed, institutions, are developing and using performance indicators to distribute resources. Some of these, e.g. number of publications, number of research grants, and number of Ph.D. graduates are disadvantaging the Humanities. This paper addresses differences in four disciplines, Chemistry, Engineering, English and Law as they are described by other researchers and emerge from a questionnaire study at an Australian university.     

Theory development and convergence of human resource fields: Implications for human performance technology

This study examines major theory developments in human resource (HR) fields and discusses implications for human performance technology (HPT). Differentiated HR fields are converging to improve organizational performance through knowledge‐based innovations. Ruona and Gibson (2004) made a similar observation and analyzed the historical evolution and convergence of three HR‐related fields: human resource management (HRM), human resource development (HRD), and organization development (OD). A field left out in their analysis is HPT. Many learning professionals recognize HPT as a more comprehensive approach to improving organizational performance issues (Molenda & Pershing, 2008; Pershing, 2006). However, little research has been done to advance the theory development of HPT and discuss its relationships within HR fields. This study adds a new perspective to that of Ruona and Gibson's historical analysis of HR fields by examining convergence issues from a theory development perspective.     

Lifelong education for older adults in Malta: Current trends and future visions

With European demographic developments causing a decline of the available workforce in the foreseeable future and the unsustainability of dominant pay-as-you-go pension systems (where contributions from the current workforce sustain pensioners), governments need to come up with strategies to deal with this upcoming challenge and to adjust their policies. Based on a study carried out between September 2009 and May 2010, this article evaluates the policies guiding late-life education in Malta, as well as the local plethora of learning opportunities for older adult education, and participation rates. The Maltese government is committed to supporting the inclusion of older persons (aged 60+) in lifelong education policies and programmes, to the extent that local studies have uncovered a recent rise in the overall participation of older adults in formal, non-formal and informal areas of learning. While the present and future prospects for late-life education in Malta seem promising, a critical scrutiny of present ideologies and trends finds the field to be no more than seductive rhetoric. Though the coordination of late-life education in Malta does result in various social benefits to older learners and Maltese society in general, it also occurs within five intersecting lines of inequality ?C namely an economic rationale, elitism, gender bias, the urban-rural divide and third ageism. This article ends by proposing policy recommendations for the future of late-life education.