The Internet Defends Itself: The Network Neutrality Debate on the Web

This study examines the network neutrality debate, as represented online. The research begins by conducting network analysis to identify key websites, followed by retrieving the relevant documents and using content analysis. Results demonstrate that the online version of the debate skews heavily toward the pro-network neutrality side. The web debate also includes much higher proportions of voices from nonprofit sectors, especially nongovernmental organizations. Telecommunications companies and trade groups, which anchor the anti-network neutrality coalition, are relatively quiet online. These findings show groups that are less powerful making heavy use of online communication and, in light of the political history of the issue, they also suggest online mobilizing may help reshape the dynamics of issue advocacy.     

Joining up the DOTs: authentic teaching and learning in Design and Technology education

This paper reports on an innovative approach for teaching creativity in Design and Technology education based on the notions of authentic learning. Working with secondary schools in England and Ireland, the research team has been developing an intervention known as ‘Designing Our Tomorrow’ (DOT) which introduced students to the important principles of Inclusive Design (also known as Universal Design). Through interview and survey data, the team gained insights into students’ responses to the DOT intervention and they found that students’ creativity and empathy were enhanced following their engagement with the intervention materials.     

Scaling Up Innovative Technology-Based Mathematics

We report on the initial attempts at evaluating at scale a particular technological/curricular innovation that enables more students to develop deeper knowledge. The methods, issues, and findings of the current pilot experiment speak not only to the success of SimCalc MathWorlds, the focus of our research program, but also to the evaluation at scale of a broad class of representationally innovative technologies and to the merit of long-term investment in design-based research. In particular, we present conditions and findings from a completed pilot experiment involving 21 seventh-grade mathematics teachers from Texas. Pilot outcomes suggest that (a) innovative representational technologies can have an important impact on student learning, (b) considerable impact can be found across a wide range of teachers and conditions, and (c) these gains can be detected even in the absence of other desirable conditions. In particular, detection of student gains does not, in our case, depend on having a long-term context of learning, long-term teacher professional development, or a shift to learner-centered constructivist pedagogy. The full experiment will replicate and extend our experimental design with a wider range of teachers and schools, model the factors that contribute to classroom success with such technology, and explore what happens as research support fades away.     

Stress and performance: An application of Gray's three‐factor arousal theory to basketball free‐throw shooting

The suitability of Gray's (1975) three‐factor arousal theory as a model of human performance under stress was investigated in a study of basketball free‐throw shooting. Free‐throw attempts, made by members of an NCAA Division I men's varsity team, were videotaped during one full season. On the basis of Gray's theory, we predicted that increased stress (assumed to be present in games as opposed to practices) would be associated with longer pre‐shot preparations and a greater incidence of overthrow shots. The prediction was confirmed by the results. Moreover, we found that free‐throws were more frequently overthrown when attempted during crucial rather than non‐crucial game situations. Further tests of the utility of Gray's theory are suggested.     

Pedagogies and Literacies,Disentangling the Historical Threads: An Interview with Bill Cope and Mary Kalantzis

ABSTRACT

In this discussion with educational researchers and New London Group conveners, Bill Cope and Mary Kalantzis, we discuss the origins, life, and future of the New London Group‘s multiliteracies framework. We reflect on the initial goals the group had over 20 years ago for more equitable schooling opportunities, and what is yet to be done to reach these ideals. We consider how Cope and Kalantzis‘ work in schools since that time, and in the literacy field more generally, has been informed by multiliteracies, specifically how issues of equity, consequences of traditional views of language and literacy, and advancing technologies continue to necessitate shifts in educational policy and practice that will allow for teachers to engage in flexible, responsive, and transformative teaching.