The internet as a celestial TiVo: What can we learn from cable television adoption?

It appears that the Internet is soon going to fulfill its potential to become a giant on-demand repository of television shows (and movies) available asynchronously, greatly increasing the variety of shows available at a moment in time. As companies such as Netflix and Hulu increase their activities in this sphere, there are many unanswered questions about the impacts of this transition. In this paper, we attempt to foretell the impact of Internet-induced increased variety on the amount of time individuals devote to viewing television. We use cable and satellite television’s impact on viewing as a proxy for the likely impact that future Internet transmission of programs will have. Using country-based panel data going back to the mid-1990s, we find that the increased variety brought about by cable and satellite has had virtually no impact on the amount of time devoted to television viewing. We discuss the import of this finding for Internet business models of television transmission.     

NASA-TLX for predictability and measurability of instructional design models: case study in design methods

Educational technology research and development - Innovation projects has established as an emerging field of research, a number of issues have emerged; among the others, measurability and...     

A NATIONAL INVESTIGATION OF SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY TRAINERS’ ATTITUDES AND BELIEFS ABOUT EVIDENCE‐BASED PRACTICES

The present investigation examined 460 school psychology trainers’ attitudes and beliefs about the conditions for the education and training of evidence‐based practices (i.e., assessments and interventions) in training programs in the United States and Canada using an online survey. Trainer attitudes and beliefs about education and training in evidence‐based practices were measured using a 24‐item five‐point Likert scale. Overall, trainers had positive views of evidence‐based practices, as well as program and organizational support for such training. However, trainers rated the education and training of evidence‐based assessments more favorably than evidence‐based interventions. In general, trainer characteristics nor program accreditation status, model, or type of degree offered were found to influence trainers’ perceptions about evidence‐based practices. However, trainers with prior experience teaching evidence‐based intervention courses were found to have more supportive views of evidence‐based assessments and interventions than those without such experience. Implications for future training and school practice are discussed.     

The Effects of Content-Enriched Shared Book Reading Versus Vocabulary-Only Discussions on the Vocabulary Outcomes of Preschool Dual Language Learners

Research Findings: This study compared the effects of content-based shared book-reading instruction versus an explicit vocabulary-only condition on the vocabulary development of preschool dual language learners (DLLs). Using shared book reading as the mode of instruction, we randomly assigned 48 bilingual preschool teachers and 281 Spanish-speaking DLLs from their classrooms at the class level to either a content-enriched interactive book-reading intervention or a thematic content-related vocabulary-only condition. Screened using the preLAS^®, the DLLs were selected for the study based on their scores at the prefunctional and beginning levels of English proficiency. Intervention and comparison bilingual teachers implemented the assigned instructional approach in small groups, for 20 min daily, for 18 weeks. Based on the results of multilevel models, findings indicated pre- to posttest growth on taught words for each instructional condition, with no significant effects on standardized English language measures. Practice or Policy: Results suggest that preschool DLL children benefit from the systematic use of interactive content-enriched shared book-reading vocabulary instruction or direct teaching of content vocabulary when instruction integrates language interaction opportunities with higher cognitive talk and scaffolds. The vocabulary-only routine is a cost-effective approach but may not replace the broader benefits of reading books.     

The Structure of Peers: The Impact of Peer Networks on Academic Achievement

Research in Higher Education - Peer effects are an important contributing factor in the learning process. Most of the prior literature on peer effects focuses on the characteristics of peers rather...     

The politics of educational success: a realist evaluation of early school leaving policies in Catalonia (Spain)

The objective of the article is to examine what is ‘taken for granted’ in the policies designed to combat Early School Leaving (ESL) in Catalonia, identifying their implicit ontologies, causal assumptions and logics of action. In order to do so, the realist evaluation is applied. Specifically, this methodology has been applied to compare the discourses, priorities and policies of two key agents in defining and implementing policies to combat ESL in Catalonia: the Catalan Department for Education (Regional Government body) and the Barcelona Education Consortium (Local Government body). In each case, systematic documentary analysis has been conducted as well as in-depth interviews with educational experts and policymakers. The results of the analysis allows opening up the black box of the political priorities defined by this two political agents, identifying two highly controversial logics to understand educational success and to consequently address ESL     

Psychosocial Aspects of the Development of Gifted Underachievers: Review and Implications

Gifted underachievers are children who display a discrepancy between expected high achievement and actual performance. Focussing on gifted children with a long‐standing pattern of underachievement not explicable in terms of learning disability, this paper adopts a developmental perspective to the problem of gifted underachievement. Literature is reviewed on the affective development of gifted underachievers and the environmental factors which may foster or diminish success in school. It is argued that cognitive and affective variables do not operate independently and should not be considered in isolation from the environmental context of development. Further, gifted underachievers are not a homogeneous group, and some influences on achievement are situation‐specific and highly variable. Finally, implications for intervention are discussed in light of the need to view children's development not as a dichotomy of cognitive and affective change but holistically, as a complex interaction of child and environment.     

Metacognitive regulation contributes to digital text comprehension in E-learning

Metacognition and Learning - This study examined the contribution of self-reported metacognitive regulation of reading to expository digital text comprehension in an e-learning environment,...     

Early Educators’ Collective Workplace Stress as a Predictor of Professional Development’s Impacts on Children’s Development

Although professional development is widely used to improve the impacts of early childhood education, little is known about the conditions under which such interventions promote child outcomes. This study applies newly developed methods for quantifying intervention impact heterogeneity to understand whether educators’ collective workplace stress moderates professional development’s impacts on children’s language and literacy skills, executive functioning, and learning behaviors. Within a sample of 406 children from the National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education Professional Development Study (M_age = 4.17; 50% female; 50% Black, 32% Latinx, 11% White), professional development positively impacted child outcomes in centers where educators collectively reported high workplace stress but negatively impacted child outcomes in centers where educators collectively reported low workplace stress.