Parents,ICTs, and Children's Prospects for Success: Interviews along the Digital “Access Rainbow”

Interviews with 52 parents of varying income levels and positions on the digital “access rainbow” are used to explore how parents discuss the widespread belief that ICT (information and communication technologies) access affects their children's prospects for success. While all parents agreed that ICT competence is important, differences emerged along socioeconomic lines regarding how parents conceptualized the computer/success relationship. While upper-income parents demonstrated greater ICT proficiency and access and assumed that their children needed ICT proficiency for success, parents in the lower-income groups saw the need for ICT proficiency as more context-dependent and adopted broader definitions of success. All parents expressed concerns about the negative attributes of ICTs as entertainment rather than educational media; for lower- and middle-income families, however, this objection justified limits on use or access among children.     

Spoken organizational lecture cues and student notetaking as facilitators of student learning

Previous research has shown that providing written organizational lecture cues boosts notetaking and that boosting notetaking raises achievement. Lecture learning literature, however, is silent on whether spoken organizational lecture cues boost notetaking and achievement. To find out, participants listened to a lecture that contained or did not contain spoken organizational lecture cues. Participants either recorded lecture notes or refrained from notetaking while listening to the cued or uncued lecture. Results showed that spoken organizational lecture cues boosted the number of noted organizational points and details by 39 and 35%, respectively. Results also confirmed that lecture cues and notetaking work to raise achievement. Notetaking resulted in about 13% higher test achievement than not taking notes. Cueing raised test achievement 15–45% versus noncueing. Educators are encouraged to use spoken organizational cues while presenting lectures.     

Homophobia,Sexism, and Early Childhood Education: A Review of the Literature

We reviewed 31 articles that explored issues related to gender and sexuality in early childhood education (ECE) settings. This body of literature suggests that ECE programs and elementary schools often reinforce the homophobia, heterosexism, and sexism that characterize contemporary U.S. society. A number of the articles described strategies that the teachers of young children can use to promote gender equality, respect for sexual diversity, and healthy sexual development. We concluded our review with a discussion of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and the important role that community college and university-based teacher education programs can play in helping the teachers of young children actively challenge systems of privilege and oppression based on gender and sexuality.     

Private Investigation Programs as an Emerging Trend in Criminal Justice Education? A Case Study of Texas

In the post 9/11 era, the field of private security has experienced major growth. This is particularly notable for the subfield of private investigations. Indeed, private investigators, often portrayed as less professional than other participants in the investigative process, are taking on a more prominent role in traditional criminal justice functions and services. As the field of private investigations has grown in size, function, and complexity, the need for increased and specialized education is a logical consequence. Although in its infancy, the trend toward this type of education appears to be primarily directed at colleges and universities. To further explore this trend, this research surveyed a random sample of licensed private investigation agency owners (N?=?91) in Texas on their viewpoints concerning the education of private investigators at the college and university levels. Among other areas, investigative company owners were asked their opinions on the need for enhanced education to better prepare private investigators for the changing demands of the profession. Results indicate that private investigation agency owners believe that four-year colleges and universities should begin to develop and teach classes to better prepare their students for careers that reflect the changing nature of private investigations work. Implications for research and practice are explored.     

Sophistic ethics in the technical writing classroom: Teaching nomos,deliberation, and action

Drawing on arguments by Carolyn Miller, Steven Katz, and others, this essay claims that teaching ethics is particularly important to technical writing. Next, the essay outlines a classical, sophistic approach to ethics based on the theories and pedagogies of Protagoras, Gorgias, and Isocrates. This sophistic approach emphasizes the Greek concept of nomos, internal and external deliberation, and responsible action or articulation. The final section of the essay discusses possible problems and pedagogical applications of sophistic ethics in the contemporary technical writing classroom.     

The Practice of Usability: Teaching User Engagement Through Service-Learning

Pedagogical and scholarly discussions of the process of usability tend to focus more on methods than on practices, or specific, tactical performances of and adjustments to these methods. Yet such practices shape students' learning and determine the success of their usability efforts. A teacher research study tracking students' understanding and enactment of usability and user-centered design over the course of a service-learning project illustrates the importance of practice-level struggles—and the thoughtful preparation for and facilitation of these struggles—to the development of students' flexible intelligence (metis) and rhetorical translation skills.     

Internships: Theory and Practice. Charles H. Sides and Ann Mrvica. Amityville,NY: Baywood, 2007. 166 pp

Designing desktop publishing courses around a model of service familiar In the U.S.—the pro bono publico tradition of professional gratis service—would broaden students’ professional horizons in addition to meeting growing demands for service learning. Such courses would mate volunteerism with the democratic spirit of desktop publishing, a technological platform that provides a means for unrepresented voices to be heard and read. One community project is outlined.     

“The crux and the magic”: The Political History of Boston Magnet Schools, 1968–1989 1

This study analyzes public perceptions of Boston's magnet school program. Typically evaluated in terms of their impact on racial integration, magnet schools also were designed to improve the tarnished image of the Boston school system. While promoting voluntary integration at a handful of schools, the magnet program struggled to change the reputation of public education in the city. Boston's magnet schools found themselves perched precariously between conflicting and equally-problematic perceptions. To the extent that they were perceived to be elite enclaves, Boston magnet schools became potent symbols of inequality. To the extent that magnet schools were not perceived to be academically superior, they could never encourage integration nor become symbols of the potential of Boston public schools. Illustrating the dilemma presented by these contradictory perceptions, the history of Boston magnet schools suggests that efforts towards racial integration must be intertwined with campaigns for increasing educational achievement citywide.