The Changing World of Home Technology: A Microsoft Case Study

We have entered the “digital decade,” when advances in technology will become deeply woven into home life. But how will technology evolve from an experience that is technologically challenging to an experience that is intuitive and fun? This article reviews new technologies and related possibilities that Microsoft is envisioning in the context of home life. As a specific example of the impact of home technology, we review lessons learned from the adoption and integration of a home Internet device from a user experience perspective. Looking ahead to the next decade, we then take a look at Microsoft's vision for the home of the future, examining new directions.     

Seeing our Way into Learning

Recent developments in physics and neurobiology help explain recursive interactions between peripheral images and higher cortical centres that process symbolic representation. Seeing with focused attention to colour, line, depth and form, for example, gains meaning and understanding through this recursive process. Art as representation of constant, essential features of the external extends functions of the 'visual brain' to centres that bring perception to meaning and understanding that are interdependent with aesthetic sensibilities. Collaborative work through art enables verbal explication and explanation about details, abstractions and process that lead to theory building dependent on propositional, procedural and dispositional knowledge. The swirl of verbal, visual and gestural interactions that proceed out of engagement with multiple modes of representation ensures development of abilities to focus, strategise, discern and explicate components and integrate possibilities through future scenarios. The future curriculum needs to integrate visual, verbal and other representational modes as schools move closer in goals and process to non-school learning communities and organisations. Proposed here are ways to create an infrastructure for just such an ecology of learning environments that will link tightly with the information base of the new economy and the communicational needs of a civil society.     

“Good” organisational reasons for “ineffectual” research: Evaluating summative evaluation of museums and galleries

New displays, galleries and exhibitions in museums and galleries are increasingly subject to summative evaluations, wide-ranging investigations that examine how visitors respond to and engage with particular initiatives. These evaluations provide insights into the behaviour and attitudes of visitors and the ways in which particular exhibitions, exhibits and information resources facilitate engagement, participation and learning. Unfortunately, however, summative evaluation has relatively little impact either on the particular initiative or more generally in contributing to our knowledge of visitor behaviour and understanding of best practice. In this paper, we suggest that the relative lack of impact of summative evaluation is not primarily due to any methodological shortcomings or the idiosyncrasies of some of the approaches that are used. Rather, the organisational and institutional context in which summative evaluation is commissioned, undertaken and received can impose contradictory demands and undermine the opportunity of learning from and applying the findings of evaluation.     

The impact of science content and professional learning communities on science teaching efficacy and standards‐based instruction

This study examines the impact of standards‐based professional development on teacher efficacy and instructional practice of elementary and middle school science teachers. Professional development activities were conducted over a period of 3 years and included content courses as well as teacher involvement in professional learning communities. Teacher efficacy was assessed at five time points using the Science Teacher Efficacy Beliefs Instrument (STEBI), and instructional practice was evaluated at four time points with classroom observations using the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP). Results indicate that there was significant growth in teacher self‐efficacy but not in outcome expectancy. There was also significant growth in the extent to which teachers implemented inquiry‐based instruction in the classroom. Additionally, a positive correlation was observed between changes in self‐efficacy and changes in the use of inquiry‐based instructional practice. These results are discussed in terms of a model of teacher learning wherein changes in teacher beliefs and changes in classroom practice mutually influence each other, and also in terms of the impact of collaboration on teacher efficacy and practice. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., Inc. J Res Sci Teach 48: 534–551, 2011     

AN INQUIRY INTO A UNIVERSITY'S “NOBLE SAVAGE” PROGRAM

You are a newly appointed teacher to 30 newly‐arrived Chinese fourth grade students and you speak no Chinese. You are to teach in English and you are to forbid the children to speak Chinese. This scenario was common in the mid‐60s. It raised many questions from parents and educators alike. If you can't communicate, can you educate? Are the children being treated fairly? How long before boredom sets in for children? How long before frustration overcomes the teacher?

The scene would be somewhat different if you spoke Chinese or if the children knew some English. Perhaps you could team up with a Chinese‐speaking co‐teacher: the co‐teacher could teach the standard fourth grade curriculum and its transferable concepts in Chinese while you worked with some of or all of the class, laying a foundation for English instruction. But obviously all‐day “English only” instruction is not enough to comply with the legal mandates and the students’ inalienable opportunity to be taught by teachers who are communicating intelligibly to them.

Kinney Kinmon Lau, his classmates, and their parents and guardians realized something was wrong with this education. They sued the San Francisco schools, relying on the 1964 civil rights equal education amendments. In 1974, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed with them: “English is not enough” (Lau v. Nichols). The issues related to this decision continue to engage educators across the nation. Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE) has become a compromise for Maintenance Bilingual Education, which is what parents in the 60s were pursuing. Today, some have forgotten that the 1974 landmark decision had been preceded by a dozen years of activism across the country by Latino parents with similar concerns to those of the San Francisco Chinese parents.     

The Use of Equivocal Messages in Responding to Corporate Challenges

A framework is constructed to examine communication professionals’ views regarding the use of equivocal and nonequivocal messages for managing initial statements about corporate challenges. As predicted, equivocal responses were viewed as more appropriate to use and linked to a positive corporate reputation when the crisis situation contained avoidance–avoidance goal conflicts, whereas nonequivocal responses were viewed as more appropriate and linked to a positive corporate reputation when the crisis situation did not contain avoidance–avoidance goal conflicts. Communication professionals also judged nonequivocal and equivocal messages to be appropriate and linked to a positive corporate reputation when they believed the specific message would satisfy the multiple goals of the crisis situation. Implications for public relations practice are discussed.     

In practice—Student as teacher: The insiders' view of peer instruction

Rutgers College, the oldest college of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, relies solely on peer instructors to teach its first‐year seminar course. The authors offer a look inside the selection and training of these peer instructors and share the students' thoughts on their experiences.     

Addressing Self‐Injury on College Campuses: Institutional Recommendations

Nonsuicidal self‐injury is a significant concern on college campuses. Hence, the authors, the International Consortium on Self‐Injury in Educational Settings, offer the current position paper. First, the authors review current research in the field. Next, they discuss considerations for colleges' institutional‐wide response to self‐injury, including the role of and recommendations for relevant stakeholders (students, residence staff, mental health professionals) who directly and indirectly support students who self‐injure. Guidelines for response and suggested resources are also presented.     

The participation of Australian Indigenous students in higher education: a scoping review of empirical research, 2000–2016

While access to higher education has increased for Indigenous Australians, participation and completion rates remain lower than those of non-Indigenous Australians. A sound evidence base is needed to ground equity initiatives if they are to address the specific needs of Indigenous students. This paper presents the results of a scoping review of empirical research focusing on the participation of Indigenous students in higher education. The purpose of the scoping review was to synthesise empirical research on aspirations for, and barriers and enablers to, higher education that were published between 2000 and 2016 (n = 57), and identify areas where further research is needed. Despite a recent increase in research on this topic, relatively little attention has been paid to Indigenous students’ aspirations while they are at school. We argue that future research should take account of school students’ aspirations for higher education, including primary school students; the similitude of barriers and enablers across the student life cycle; differences within Indigenous community and among Indigenous students; and, the insights emerging from Indigenous methodologies and scholarship.