Learning in virtual worlds: Using communities of practice to explain how people learn from play

Although there is interest in the educational potential of online multiplayer games and virtual worlds, there is still little evidence to explain specifically what and how people learn from these environments. This paper addresses this issue by exploring the experiences of couples that play World of Warcraft together. Learning outcomes were identified (involving the management of ludic, social and material resources) along with learning processes, which followed Wenger's model of participation in Communities of Practice. Comparing this with existing literature suggests that productive comparisons can be drawn with the experiences of distance education students and the social pressures that affect their participation.     

Reconceptualizing the paradox of openness: How solvers navigate sharing-protecting tensions in crowdsourcing

The paradox of openness describes the fundamental tension between knowledge sharing and knowledge protection in open innovation. While sharing is vital for value creation, protecting is critical for value appropriation. Prior research has examined this paradox of openness from the perspective of the seeking firm, focusing on the firm-level challenges of inbound open innovation. In this article, we complement that research by illuminating the tensions between sharing and protecting in individual-level outbound open innovation, where we argue that the paradox of openness is most prevalent, yet much less well understood. Drawing on the experience of individual participants, or solvers, in intermediated crowdsourcing contests, we analyze textual data from 2,149 answers to five open-ended narrative questions embedded in a large-scale solver survey, as well as 43 in-depth interviews of solvers. Our findings indicate that individual solvers face fundamental sharing-protecting tensions that carry considerable economic and psychological costs. We also document how solvers attempt to navigate the paradox of openness by employing three formal and four informal value appropriation practices. They build elaborate configurations of these practices, which they tailor to the idiosyncrasies of each contest. They also dynamically adjust these configurations over time, as the contest and the interaction with the seeker unfold. We end by outlining how these findings contribute to a more multifaceted conceptualization and a richer understanding of the paradox of openness.     

Pre-school Education: Parents' preferences,knowledge and expectations Enseignement Prescolaire: Preferences,connaissances et attentes des parent Educacio´n Preescolar: Preferencias,conocimiento y expectativas de los padres

Constructive partnerships between pre-school service providers and parents need to be established on the basis of a clear understanding of what parents want and expect for their children from pre-school provision. A questionnaire survey to 911 parents across Scotland, together with in-depth interviews with 91 parents in the Glasgow area, elicited information concerning preferences, beliefs, knowledge and expectations when choosing suitable provision. Results showed that parents prioritise the safety and care of their children above all else and that, beyond this, selection of type of provision (playgroup, local authority or private nursery) depends upon the relative value they attached to education, setting, convenience and meeting parents' needs. Results are consistent with the theory of planned behaviour that predicting actual choice of provision depends upon parents' knowledge, strength of desire to place their child, social support and perceived control over available options. Des partenariats constructifs entre prestataires de services préscolaires et parents doivent être établis sur la base d'une compréhension claire de ce que les parents veulent et attendent des prestations préscolaires pour leurs enfants. Les réponses à un questionnaire de 911 parents dans toute l'Ecosse, ainsi que des entretiens approfondis avec 91 parents de la région de Glasgow, ont permis de dégager des informations sur les préférences, les croyances, les connaissances et les attentes des parents choisissant une prestation. Les résultats ont montré que les parents donnent la priorité à la sécurité et à l'accueil de leurs enfants par-dessus tout, et que, après cela, la sélection du type de prestation (garderie, crèche municipale ou privée) dépend des valeurs relatives qu'ils attachent à l'éducation, au cadre, au côté pratique et à la capacité de la structure à répondre aux besoins des parents. Les résultats confirment la théorie du comportement basé sur un objectif qui prédit que le choix de prestation dépend des connaissances des parents, de la force de leur désir de placer leur enfant, du soutien social et de leur perception de leur contrôle sur les options disponibles. Las asociaciones constructivas entre los proveedores de servicio preescolar y los padres deben establecerse en base a un entendimiento claro de lo que los padres quieren y esperan de sus hijos y su provisión preescolar. Una encuesta realizada a 911 padres de Escocia, junto con unas entrevistas exhaustivas de 91 padres de la zona de Glasgow, aportó información sobre preferencias, creencias, conocimiento y expectativas cuando se escoge una provisión adecuada. Los resultados demostraron que los padres ponen en primer lugar la seguridad y cuidado de sus niños, por encima de cualquier otra cosa, y que, después, la selección del tipo de provisión (grupo de actividades, autoridades locales o guarderías privadas) dependen del valor relativo que agregan a la educación, posición, conveniencia y a satisfacer las necesidades de los padres. Los resultados son consistentes con la teoría de comportamiento planificado, que dice que pronosticar una selección actual de provisión dependen del conocimiento de los padres, intensidad de deseo de colocar a su hijo, asistencia social y control percibido sobre opciones disponibles.     

Predicting,Explaining, and Preventing Children's Reading Difficulties

Several decades of research have made it clear that by the time children enter school they already vary widely in their reading-related knowledge and skills. How well do these differences predict differences in reading acquisition? What can they tell us about the causes of reading disabilities? How might these research findings be used to reduce the number of children who have difficulty learning to read? Answers to such questions are fundamental for designing early interventions for children at risk. In this paper, we summarize what has been learned so far, and discuss what directions need to be taken in future research so as to provide fuller answers.     

The nature (and nurture) of children's perceptions of family chaos

Chaos in the home is a key environment in cognitive and behavioral development. However, we show that children's experience of home chaos is partly genetically mediated. We assessed children's perceptions of household chaos at ages 9 and 12 in 2337 pairs of twins. Using child-specific reports allowed us to use structural equation modeling to explore the genetic and environmental etiology of children's perceptions of chaos. We found that these perceptions are significantly heritable (22%), with the remainder explained by environmental influences. Finding that genes influence children's experience of chaotic environments has far-reaching implications for how we conceptualize the family home and its impact on cognitive and behavioral development.