Changes in the Multi‐Level Effects of Socio‐Economic Status on Reading Achievement in Sweden in 1991 and 2001

This study examines the changes in educational inequality at the school‐ and individual‐levels in 1991 and 2001. Comparisons are made between the IEA Reading Literacy Study 1991 and the so called 10‐Year Trend Study in PIRLS 2001. The between‐school differences in reading achievement variance and the size of the relationship between SES and reading achievement at school‐level are the two main focuses. Applying a two‐level structural equation modeling technique, it was found that the between‐school differences in reading achievement were greater in RLS 2001 than in RLS 1991, and the school SES effect has been strengthened over time. These changes indicate that educational inequality in Sweden has increased over time. Some possible explanations to these changes are discussed with reference to school reforms and demographic changes.     

An International Orientation on Institutional Strategies and Governmental Policies for the Use of ICT in Higher Education

This article provides an international comparative overview of institutional strategies, collaboration patterns and governmental policies related to the use of ICT in higher education. It has been produced as part of an international comparative study on the use of ICT in higher education. A study commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and published as: “The Use of Information and Communication Technology in Higher Education: An International Orientation on Trends and Issues”, B. Collis and M. van der Wende (Eds). University of Twente, CHEPS, 1999. It covers the following range of countries: Belgium, Finland, the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States of America. Additionally some main initiatives at the European level have been taken into account. On the basis of this international comparison, the following main conclusions were drawn. Due in part to the fact that in many cases institutional strategies for ICT are still lacking, interesting experimentation does not generally lead to successful dissemination and adoption on a wider scale. In many cases, the push for a substantial use of ICT in distance learning programs has come from new educati onal markets, life-long learning and international education in particular. The response of higher education to these markets is leading in many countries to a convergence of distance and traditional (on-campus) education. Inter-institutional and inter-sectoral collaboration between universities and companies are characteristics of many successful ICT initiatives, although they do not generally continue into sustainable implementation in the individual institutions. Governments facilitate the use of ICT through the establishment of infrastructure, networks and inter-institutional and public–private partnerships, and try to create the right regulatory environment. Further deregulation will enable institutions to respond to new market demands and will inspire the necessary organizational change in higher education institutions.     

Appendix: Gender articles in History of Education since 1976

This appendix accompanies Ruth Watts' presidential address for the History of Education Society (UK), published in History of Education, May, 2005, vol.34, no.3, pages 225–241 under the title of ‘Gendering the story: change in the history of education’. The article in vol.34, no.3, looks over the history of women's and gender studies in the history of education from 1976 to the end of 2004 and examines the changes and effects of these studies in order to ask what historians of education can learn from this and where they should go next. The focus of the article is not just the presence of women or papers on them in history of education but whether the greater presence has changed both understanding of gender issues themselves and whether it has affected the whole field and if so, how? The article begins with a brief historiographical review of the field; second, it draws out key issues which represent the present state of affairs; and third, it provides a comparison of what is happening in gender history in a related field, science. It ends with suggestions for future research. The appendix printed below lists the articles published in History of Education from 1976 that formed the basis of the survey on which ‘Gendering the story: change in the history of education’ was based.     

PRESERVICE TEACHERS’ THOUGHTS AND FEARS ABOUT DISCIPLINING CHILDREN

The purposes of this study were threefold: (1) to determine if fears and concerns about guiding children's behavior and misbehavior is a generalized feeling, or more related to specific circumstances and scenarios; (2) to determine which situations may give students the greatest and least amounts of anxiety; and (3) to explore the relationship between students’ beliefs about the causes of children's misbehavior and their anxiety about specific discipline situations.

After completing a questionnaire, preservice teachers in this study rated children's challenges to their authority as the most difficult. Discipline situations involving conflicts between children (e.g., refusing to share, not joining in activities) were rated as the least difficult to handle. Most of the preservice teachers believed children misbehaved because of a lack of social skills and developmental sophistication rather than because of bad parenting, inherent personality characteristics, or too many adult restrictions. Preservice teachers rated the difficulty of the discipline issues similarly regardless of their beliefs concerning the causes of misbehavior. Implications of this study are discussed.     

Is systematic synthetic phonics enough? Examining the benefit of intensive teaching of high frequency words (HFW) in a year one class

A comparative analysis of systematic synthetic phonics (SSP) and the intensive teaching of high frequency words (HFW) revealed the latter had greater impact on pupils’ reading attainment and fluency. Data were collected using multiple methods, including miscue analysis, Salford Reading Test, a phoneme skills test and HFW audits.     

MAGIS: mobile augmented-reality games for instructional support

ABSTRACT

We present Mobile Augmented-Reality Games for Instructional Support (MAGIS), a framework for the development of mobile augmented-reality (AR) games for education. The framework supports off-the-shelf, state-of-the-art technologies that enable AR tracking and rendering on consumer-level mobile devices, and integrates these technologies with content-generation tools that simplify the development of educational AR games, especially those that extensively use narrative-based game design and player-location tracking such as location-based historical or museum adventure games. We use Igpaw: Intramuros, a proof-of-concept game developed using MAGIS, to help describe the current state of the framework and to show its efficacy for implementing outdoor location-based educational games, and we briefly outline future development plans to improve MAGIS’ AR support (especially those involving indoor scenarios) as well as to improve the instructional design and authoring phases of AR applications written using this framework.     

Comparative investigation of education: An evolutionary process

co-founder of the journal Comparative Educationand editor and chairman of its Board since 1978. Chairman (until 1989) of the Research Committee of the World Council of Comparative Education Societies. His numerous publications include: Other Schools and Ours, Comparative Studies and Educational Decision, Education and Development in Western Europeand Technological/Occupational Challenge, Social Transformation and Educational Response.     

User community vs. producer innovation development efficiency: A first empirical study

In this paper we report upon a first empirical exploration of the relative efficiency of innovation development by product users vs. product producers. In a study of over 50 years of product innovation in the whitewater kayaking field, we find users in aggregate were approximately 3× more efficient at developing important kayaking product innovations than were producers in aggregate. We speculate that this result is driven by what we term “efficiencies of scope” in problem-solving. These can favor an aggregation of many user innovators, each spending a little, over fewer producer innovators benefitting from higher economies of scale in product development. We also note that the present study explores only one initial point on what is likely to be a complex efficiency landscape.