Laptops in the Scottish Primary School: Interim Report

Abstract

The following paper should be seen as an addition to that provided in the Proceedings of the 7th ICTE.’ For reasons of brevity, it does not deal to any large extent with the background to the project, but details the progress of a study into the effects of introducing laptops into primary (elementary) school. The project has provided every pupil in one class with a laptop computer and has tracked the use being made of it as a curriculum tool for writing. The second phase of the project is under way, with a completion date of April 1991.     

Information overload within the health care system: a literature review

There is a widespread view held by health clinicians that their work effectiveness is impaired by 'information overload.' Building upon a previous work by Wilson, a review of the literature was undertaken to look for the evidence of this. It was found that the literature, particularly in the context of the clinical environment, was limited. This review explores the diverse overarching theories of information overload, effects of the phenomenon that are perceived to occur and proposed solutions to this problem. Many of the papers noted an information explosion but only three authors explicitly attempted to measure both the quantity and the complexity of this information. It was also found that the typology of the information studied was severely limited with most studies exploring information such as guidelines, access to journals, research findings and other knowledge intensive areas. Solutions proposed seem to concentrate on technological means rather than exploring the use of humans either in management of information or as a step in the filtering process.     

Creativity and Picture Books

Where authors and illustrators exercise rigorous constraint with their texts, with neither replicating the work that the other can portray more effectively, they are at their most creative and they make picture books to which readers are repeatedly drawn because of the inherent and deeply satisfying challenges offered. Moreover, the allure is not just to children; teachers find that such texts draw from them their most creative ideas for ways of working with children. Three picture books are examined in terms of their strengths and potential activities. Conclusions are drawn which seek to justify the sharing of such picture books in terms of imaginative empowerment and lasting messages about reading.     

A preliminary investigation into the nature of shock absorbency in synthetic sports materials

Tests were conducted on three athletic shoe midsole materials and on three synthetic sports surfaces. All specimens were found to absorb energy when loaded. For a specific maximum load the amount of energy absorbed by each material was found to decrease as the load application rate increased. The materials exhibited different capacities to dissipate energy under the application of the same impulse. This may be a consideration for the injury protection afforded. The development of rheological models from the results of the tests aided an explanation of how force is resisted and energy absorbed by synthetic sports materials. Their shock absorbing properties were associated with the rheological elements of elasticity and viscosity.     

The emergence of a knowledge-based theory of internationalisation

This paper charts the development of the knowledge-based theory of internationalisation, driven particularly by early research at the University of Uppsala, led by Sune Carlson. Information and knowledge, allied with an interest in the associated effect on risk and uncertainty, were components of a process perspective. Its essence was a focus on the restraining effects of a lack of knowledge as decision-makers contemplated international market entry or expansion requiring a commitment of resources in various forms, in different types of foreign operations (such as exporting, licensing and foreign direct investment). Lack of knowledge of a prospective foreign market (of its characteristics, culture, ways of doing business) was seen to create uncertainty so that firm decision-makers would be less prepared to commit resources. This situation was bound to change as a firm conducted operations in the foreign market and acquired experiential knowledge (learning by doing), which made the foreign market less of a mystery, in the process lowering uncertainty. As the learning process unfolded, and expanded opportunities were perceived, at some stage the firm might be prepared to undertake additional commitments to the foreign market. Empirical research at Uppsala, and in Finland, had shown a pattern of gradual expansion of foreign commitments by internationalising firms. In terms of theoretical development, a key step was relaxation of the assumption of perfect knowledge used in economics (not without critique), noted by Don Lamberton in 1974. Following the development of internationalisation theory in the 1970s, there was a range of extensions to the basic theory, such as the role of networks, the nature of inward–outward connections, and the need for knowledge to pass over language hurdles in the process of international transmission – within and outside the firm. In one sense, the internationalisation of companies was a perfect research site for an exploration of the role of information and knowledge in firm behaviour, given the additional exigencies of the diverse and demanding information environment that is the international arena.