Facebook use in the learning environment: do students want this?

The Net Generation (those born in or after 1980) rely heavily on ICTs for social and professional interactions, and it has been suggested that they have the expectation that technology will be an integral part of their education. At the same time, it is argued that Facebook has educational potential, and that today's learners should be encouraged and supported to use Web 2.0 technologies for learning in formal education. However, there is growing evidence that the value of Facebook in the educational context does not relate to formal learning at all, but to the ‘social networking’ elements of the site. This Viewpoint article discusses the results of a study to explore students' views towards the use of Facebook in the university setting, especially with regard to learning and integration into university life. The findings suggest support for informal rather than formal learning use of Facebook within the university setting.     

Obesity‐Related Hormones in Low‐Income Preschool‐Age Children: Implications for School Readiness

Mechanisms underlying socioeconomic disparities in school readiness and health outcomes, particularly obesity, among preschool‐aged children are complex and poorly understood. Obesity can induce changes in proteins in the circulation that contribute to the negative impact of obesity on health; such changes may relate to cognitive and emotion regulation skills important for school readiness. We investigated obesity‐related hormones, body mass index (BMI), and school readiness in a pilot study of low‐income preschoolers attending Head Start (participating in a larger parent study). We found that the adipokine leptin was related to preschoolers' BMI z‐score, the appetite‐regulating hormones ghrelin and glucagon‐like peptide 1 (GLP‐1), and pro‐inflammatory cytokines typically associated with early life stress; and that some of these obesity‐related biomarkers were in turn related to emotion regulation. Future work should evaluate how obesity may affect multiple domains of development, and consider modeling common physiological pathways related to stress, health, and school readiness.     

Do Off-Campus Students Still Use Document Delivery? Current Trends

ABSTRACT

The tremendous increase in the availability of full text electronic resources has been particularly beneficial to distance education students who do not have easy access to print collections. However, Western Michigan University (WMU) has been experiencing a decrease in requests for traditional document delivery of print based materials. This article presents a case study of WMU document delivery services for the distance education community. A survey was also conducted of libraries serving distance education programs to determine whether other institutions are also experiencing a decrease in usage of document delivery. Survey results show a more universal trend toward decreasing requests for delivery of print based articles; book requests are also decreasing but not at the same rate. The article concludes with some possible reasons for the decrease in usage of document delivery for distance education.     

An assessment of methodological options for investigating the development of persuasive skills across childhood

This study compared two fundamentally different approaches to assessing the development of persuasive skills in children: asking them to generate messages versus having them select from preformulated messages or strategies. Also investigated was the approach of asking children to indicate their rationale for choosing a particular message. Using criteria of showing a developmental progression with age and positive correlation with social cognitive measures presumed to be relevant to persuasive skills, the present study suggests more success with message generation than with selection of preformulated messages. Elicitation of the rationale may prove a useful supplement to either of the former approaches.     

The Cynefin framework: A tool for analyzing qualitative data in information science?

Interpreting qualitative research data and presenting it in ways that enable potential beneficiaries of the research to use it readily and appropriately is increasingly important in the context of the research impact agenda. One way of doing uses the Cynefin framework. Cynefin, which is rooted in knowledge management and complexity science, has been used in a range of contexts to support decision-making and strategy development in dynamic and challenging situations. However, it has not been widely used as a data analysis technique or in the information science discipline. An exploratory evaluation uses it to interpret the rich, nuanced qualitative data from a three-year research project that engaged people worldwide to explore issues and practical strategies for managing electronic records, a significant information management challenge. The evaluation demonstrates that the Cynefin framework provides a strategic lens through which to view electronic records management (ERM). Cynefin prompts new questions to be asked, leading to new insights and a deeper understanding of the ERM challenge. Most significantly, it provides a new construct for re-perceiving the challenge in a holistic way and offers a strategic approach to taking action for change. This evaluation suggests that it is an appropriate and effective framework for use in qualitative research on challenging information management problems, with the potential to support the transfer of research into practice.     

Self-Mediation. New Media,Citizenship and Civil Selves

This study examines the attitudes and the selection criteria of U.S. television journalists toward international news. Q factor analysis of 3I journalists from major national networks and local television stations reveals that journalists select international news based on market demands and local relevance. The findings strikingly delineate along the line between network versus local television. Network journalists manifest a global view, selecting international news with diverse themes, while local television journalists adopt a more pragmatic stance due to business pressures and audience demands, choosing international news with a local angle. All, however, emphasize timeliness and U.S. involvement in news selection.     

Popular Music

John Brown's Rhythm and Blues in New Orleans (Gretna, La.: Pelican, 1978— $12.50)

Elizabeth Schlappi's Roy Acuff: The Smoky Mountain Boy (Gretna, La.: Pelican, 1978—$12.50)

Ray Charles and David Ritz' Brother Ray: Ray Charles' Own Story (New York: Dial Press, 1978 —$9.95)

Nicholas Schaffner's The Beatles Forever (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1978—$8.95, paper)

Julie Coryell and Laura Friedman's Jasz-Rock Fusion: The People, The Music (New York: Dell Delta Books, 1978—$9.95, paper)     

Does Student Philanthropy Work? A Study of Long-term Effects of the “Learning by Giving” Approach

Student philanthropy is a teaching strategy designed to engage students actively in the curriculum, increase awareness of social needs and nonprofit organizations, and teach grant-writing and grant-making skills. This is the first study to examine long-term effects of student philanthropy by surveying alumni years after their experience with this teaching strategy. A majority of respondents indicated that student philanthropy had a positive effect on their awareness, learning, beliefs, and intentions. Further, 86% of student philanthropy alumni had recently made charitable contributions, 71% reported volunteering, and 15% served on nonprofit boards – all of which are much higher than the national averages for these behaviors.     

The Role of Struggle in Pre-Service Elementary Teachers’ Experiences as Students and Approaches to Facilitating Science Learning

Science education researchers are concerned with preparing pre-service elementary teachers (PSETs) to teach in ways that support students to learn science in a meaningful way. Preparing elementary teachers to teach science is complicated given that they tend to be generalists and may not have the same experience with science as secondary teachers. During an elementary science methods course, we explored PSETs?? perspectives on the teaching and learning of science via a case study that included four PSETs. Using Frykholm??s (Journal of Curriculum and Supervision 19:125?C149, 2004) framework of ??educative?? and ??debilitating?? discomfort, we examined PSETs?? approaches to their own science learning and their approaches to science teaching. A theme apparent in PSETs?? perspectives was struggle. We described ways in which struggle was either educative or debilitating for PSETs, both in terms of their own learning and the ways in which they approached teaching. Some PSETs who struggled in their own learning developed learning experiences to engage their students in reform-based science teaching, while some PSETs developed learning experiences that prevented their students from experiencing any sort of struggle in their learning process. The ways in which these students dealt with their own learning struggles mirrored the ways in which they dealt with their struggles to become teachers of reform-based science instruction. Helping PSETs to deal with their feelings of discomfort with science content or ideas about the nature of science learning and teaching promoted by reform documents may be a key issue in developing their willingness to become facilitators of meaningful science learning.