Surveillance in ubiquitous network societies: normative conflicts related to the consumer in-store supermarket experience in the context of the Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) is an emerging global infrastructure that employs wireless sensors to collect, store, and exchange data. Increasingly, applications for marketing and advertising have been articulated as a means to enhance the consumer shopping experience, in addition to improving efficiency. However, privacy advocates have challenged the mass aggregation of personally-identifiable information in databases and geotracking, the use of location-based services to identify one’s precise location over time. This paper employs the framework of contextual integrity related to privacy developed by Nissenbaum (Privacy in context: technology, policy, and the integrity of social life. Stanford University Press, Stanford, 2010) as a tool to understand citizen response to implementation IoT-related technology in the supermarket. The purpose of the study was to identify and understand specific changes in information practices brought about by the IoT that may be perceived as privacy violations. Citizens were interviewed, read a scenario of near-term IoT implementation, and were asked to reflect on changes in the key actors involved, information attributes, and principles of transmission. Areas where new practices may occur with the IoT were then highlighted as potential problems (privacy violations). Issues identified included the mining of medical data, invasive targeted advertising, and loss of autonomy through marketing profiles or personal affect monitoring. While there were numerous aspects deemed desirable by the participants, some developments appeared to tip the balance between consumer benefit and corporate gain. This surveillance power creates an imbalance between the consumer and the corporation that may also impact individual autonomy. The ethical dimensions of this problem are discussed.     

Matjabala Mali’ Buku-Ruŋanmaram: implications for archives and access in Arnhem Land

This article traces the efforts of a research team led by the Yol?u elder and scholar, Neparr?a Gumbula, to investigate his people’s recorded history in the University of Sydney Archives. This research has identified some of the earliest photographic and written records of Yol?u life in Arnhem Land, Australia. Though consultations with the source communities of Mili?inbi (Milingimbi) and Galiwin’ku (Elcho Island), it has also determined appropriate ways of maintaining ongoing local access to these rare archived materials. The article contextualises this research within broader international initiatives to locate and provide access to other early ethnographic records from Arnhem Land. It considers the role of digital technologies in providing remote community access, and how various access protocols can be implemented to ensure appropriate use.     

Motives,barriers, and ways of communicating in mother-daughter sexuality communication: a qualitative study of college women in Tanzania

In Tanzania, young women aged 15–24 are at high risk for HIV and nearly half (45%) of women experience pregnancy or childbirth before age 19. The HIV epidemic has motivated many parents to overcome cultural taboos and talk with their children about sexuality, but few studies in Tanzania have examined how young adults perceive these discussions. In-depth interviews with 31 Tanzanian college women (ages 18–25) reveal how they make sense of sexuality messages from mothers that are sometimes vague, admonishing and fear-based. Participants identified how mothers focused on the health, educational and social consequences of premarital sex and emphasised the avoidance of men as a strategy to maintain virginity. Mothers avoided providing specific information about safer-sex practices, or strategies to negotiate romantic relationships, sexual pressures or sexual desires. Findings offer insight into how relational and cultural contexts influence mothers’ sexual socialisation and can inform education and intervention approaches that consider the changing cultural landscape. Future qualitative research with mothers is recommended to develop programmes that are more responsive to mothers’ and daughters’ needs.     

Using Community-Based Research to Improve BSW Students’ Learning in Community Practice: Bringing the Macro into Focus for Traditional and Distance Learners

This article describes community–university partnership building, course development/management, and evaluation outcomes related to an intensive community-based research project that was integrated in two sections of an undergraduate course on community practice. Pre- and posttest data were collected from 60 BSW students who were enrolled in community practice and who participated in a community-based research project with their state’s fair housing office. The evaluation outcomes focus on changes in professional interest in macro practice, students’ self-efficacy, and differences in students’ learning experiences, based on traditional bricks-and-mortar or distance learning contexts. Results show that students experience increases in self-efficacy related to community assessment and intervention. Qualitative results show that students experienced shifts in their professional goals related to macro practice, increased competence and understanding, and personal transformation. A number of differences emerged between traditional and distance learners. Results are discussed in the context of curriculum development and next steps for institutionalizing CBR in community practice courses.     

LGBTQ-inclusive curricula: why supportive curricula matter

There is growing attention to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) issues in schools, including efforts to address such issues through the curriculum. This study examines whether students’ perceptions of personal safety and school climate safety are stronger when curricula that include LGBTQ people are present and supportive. LGBTQ and straight middle and high school students from California (1232 students from 154 schools) participated in the 2008 Preventing School Harassment survey. They reported their experience of LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum, its level of supportiveness and perceptions of safety. Multilevel methods allowed for an examination of differences between individuals in the same school while controlling for differences between schools. LGBTQ-inclusive curricula were associated with higher reports of safety at the individual and school levels, and lower levels of bullying at the school level. The amount of support also mattered: supportive curricula were related to feeling safer and awareness of bullying at the individual and school levels. The implications of school- versus student-level results for educational policy and practices are discussed.     

Survey of Developmental Mathematics Courses at Colleges in the United States

Abstract

This study reports the results of a national survey of two and four-year colleges in 21 states in the United States. The study was undertaken at the direction of the Developmental Mathematics Committee of the American Mathematics Association of Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC). The purpose of the study was to establish the state of the art of developmental mathematics. The results indicated that many colleges recognized the problem of underprepared students and had developmental mathematics programs. However, with the exception of a few schools, the colleges reported no formal evaluation of their programs.     

Effects of a Computer-Based Early Reading Program on the Early Reading and Oral Language Skills of At-Risk Preschool Children

This study examined the effects of a computer-based early reading program (Headsprout Early Reading) on the oral language and early reading skills of at-risk preschool children. In a pretest–posttest control group design, 62 children were randomly assigned to receive supplemental instruction with Headsprout Early Reading (experimental group) or Millie's Math House (control group) for 30 min each school day for 8 weeks. Children using Headsprout Early Reading made greater gains in early reading skills as measured by the Test of Early Reading Ability (TERA-3), F(1, 59) = 39.35, p < 0.01, and in oral language skills as measured by the Test of Language Development-Primary (TOLD-P:3), F(1, 59) = 37.03, p < 0.01. Effect sizes were large for the gains in both measures (TERA-3, η² = 0.24; TOLD-P:3, η² = 0.17). Teachers' responses to an open-ended interview indicated that the program was perceived as a desirable instructional aid. Educational considerations for preventing future reading difficulties and issues about implementation integrity are discussed.     

The Impact of an Ongoing Professional Development Program on Prekindergarten Teachers' Mathematics Practices

Mathematics is a natural part of daily life for young children as they explore and investigate the world around them. To build on these experiences, and to begin establishing a mathematical foundation, early childhood educators must not only be knowledgeable about mathematical concepts, they must also be aware of the most developmentally appropriate ways in which to teach these concepts to young children. After participation in an ongoing professional development program, specifically targeting teachers of prekindergarten children in public school, Preschool Programs for Children with Disabilities (PPCD), Head Start, and child care settings, teachers reported positive changes in math practices. Specifically, teachers reported a stronger alignment to national mathematics standards and increased awareness pertaining to developmentally appropriate mathematics practices as they apply to early childhood classrooms. Teachers reported a shift towards more hands-on activities and a shift away from the use of worksheets in their prekindergarten classrooms. Implications from this study suggest that ongoing professional development that is designed to meet the specific needs of early childhood educators can have a positive impact on reported mathematics content knowledge and instructional practices.     

Constitution

An ecological theory of health communication is offered that addresses how communications about health interdependently work together to influence health and/or health‐related behaviors. To explain how a multitude of variables work together in a synergistic manner, the present work borrows heavily from chaos theory. The use of chaos theory concepts represents a significant paradigm shift from previous, more reductionist, health communication perspectives. The present work (a) provides a definition of health communication, (b) offers an overall health communication framework, (c) introduces relevant chaos theory concepts into the health communication literature, and (d) illustrates how chaos theory concepts can be applied to the field of health communication in order to explain health‐related behavior. Specific operationalization procedures are suggested to test the theoretical ideas outlined.