Preservice teachers’ blogging: collaboration across universities for meaningful technology integration

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to explore technology integration by preservice teachers (PSTs) through collaborative blogging between two universities. Researchers aimed to learn more about the ways PSTs apply and integrate technology into classrooms. As digital natives, many PSTs assume that because they already know how to use technology personally, they can also teach using technology. However, learning to integrate technology effectively in educational settings is a challenge. This two-phase qualitative study analyzed blogging between PSTs (n = 83) enrolled in elementary teacher education courses in two different regions of the United States. Data sources included anecdotal records, PST blog post and replies, PST and elementary student technology project artifacts, and questionnaires. The data revealed three themes related to technology integration by PSTs: (1) collaborating in an online community expanded professional learning, (2) PSTs demonstrated shifts in purposes, use of digital tools, and self-efficacy when learning to integrate technology, and (3) blogging served as a conduit for meaningful technology use. Findings show that collaboration through blogging with peers outside the walls of a university classroom was a catalyst for meaningful technology integration.     

Faculty Employment Trends in Criminology and Criminal Justice

The academic job search process is perhaps one of the most important and stressful events for scholars hoping to gain full‐time employment in academia. The stress that this process induces is due, at least in part, to the fact that candidates are forced to make important, life‐changing decisions with very little information. The goal of the present study is to provide an update on faculty employment trends in criminology and criminal justice by examining faculty position announcements posted in The Chronicle of Higher Education (CHE) from August 2004 to July 2009. Findings reveal that candidates seeking assistant professor positions will have the most choice, as positions posted at this rank make up the largest category of advertisements. Furthermore, when a specialization was included in the announcement, most departments sought those with a law enforcement focus, followed by generalists.     

Assessing Student Writing on Tablets

There is increasing expectation that schools should be able to use tablets for a range of instructional and assessment purposes. This article considers the comparability of student writing on tablets and laptops to ensure that writing assessment is conducted in a way that is fair to all students. Data were collected from a sample of 826 students from Virginia and South Dakota at 2 grade levels. Each student was provided with a laptop, a tablet, or a tablet with an external keyboard and asked to respond to a grade-level-appropriate essay prompt. Results indicated no difference in the essay score or surface-level essay features across study conditions. However, the relatively short length of essays written, the fact that reference materials were not required to respond to the essay prompts, and the general motivational level of student participants were likely contributing factors to the observed outcomes.     

Caller ID and the meaning of privacy

Caller ID service continues to be a controversial issue in the U.S. because of its privacy implications. State and federal regulators, legislators, scholars, and the courts have examined and responded to the privacy issue from a policy perspective, but perhaps without a complete understanding of the meaning of privacy in the context of the debate. What types of privacy are involved, how significant are these interests, and how might privacy needs compare and be balanced? This article explores privacy in the context of the Caller ID debate from a social science perspective. It examines motives for seeking and preserving privacy and explores the dynamic relationship between the caller and called party positions. It then provides an analysis of current and proposed Caller ID features and policies with a view toward understanding how these proposals balance competing privacy needs. This article establishes an analytic framework and a foundation for further study of caller and called party privacy that should lead to a better understanding of the privacy debate and the privacy implications of Caller ID.     

Acute effects of static stretching on characteristics of the isokinetic angle – torque relationship,surface electromyography,and mechanomyography

Abstract

The aims of this study were to examine the acute effects of static stretching on peak torque, work, the joint angle at peak torque, acceleration time, isokinetic range of motion, mechanomyographic amplitude, and electromyographic amplitude of the rectus femoris during maximal concentric isokinetic leg extensions at 1.04 and 5.23 rad · s^?1 in men and women. Ten women (mean ± s: age 23.0 ± 2.9 years, stature 1.61 ± 0.12 m, mass 63.3 ± 9.9 kg) and eight men (age 21.4 ± 3.0 years, stature 1.83 ± 0.11 m, mass 83.1 ± 15.2 kg) performed maximal voluntary concentric isokinetic leg extensions at 1.04 and 5.23 rad · s^?1. Following the initial isokinetic tests, the dominant leg extensors were stretched using four static stretching exercises. After the stretching, the isokinetic tests were repeated. Peak torque, acceleration time, and electromyographic amplitude decreased (P≤ 0.05) from pre- to post-stretching at 1.04 and 5.23 rad · s^?1; there were no changes (P > 0.05) in work, joint angle at peak torque, isokinetic range of motion, or mechanomyographic amplitude. These findings indicate no stretching-related changes in the area under the angle – torque curve (work), but a significant decrease in peak torque, which suggests that static stretching may cause a “flattening” of the angle – torque curve that reduces peak strength but allows for greater force production at other joint angles. These findings, in conjunction with the increased limb acceleration rates (decreased acceleration time) observed in the present study, provide tentative support for the hypothesis that static stretching alters the angle – torque relationship and/or sarcomere shortening velocity.     

Brainjacking in deep brain stimulation and autonomy

'Brainjacking’ refers to the exercise of unauthorized control of another’s electronic brain implant. Whilst the possibility of hacking a Brain–Computer Interface (BCI) has already been proven in both experimental and real-life settings, there is reason to believe that it will soon be possible to interfere with the software settings of the Implanted Pulse Generators (IPGs) that play a central role in Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) systems. Whilst brainjacking raises ethical concerns pertaining to privacy and physical or psychological harm, we claim that the possibility of brainjacking DBS raises particularly profound concerns about individual autonomy, since the possibility of hacking such devices raises the prospect of third parties exerting influence over the neural circuits underpinning the subject’s cognitive, emotional and motivational states. However, although it seems natural to assume that brainjacking represents a profound threat to individual autonomy, we suggest that the implications of brainjacking for individual autonomy are complicated by the fact that technologies targeted by brainjacking often serve to enhance certain aspects of the user’s autonomy. The difficulty of ascertaining the implications of brainjacking DBS for individual autonomy is exacerbated by the varied understandings of autonomy in the neuroethical and philosophical literature. In this paper, we seek to bring some conceptual clarity to this area by mapping out some of the prominent views concerning the different dimension of autonomous agency, and the implications of brainjacking DBS for each dimension. Drawing on three hypothetical case studies, we show that there could plausibly be some circumstances in which brainjacking could potentially be carried out in ways that could serve to enhance certain dimensions of the target’s autonomy. Our analysis raises further questions about the power, scope, and necessity of obtaining prior consent in seeking to protect patient autonomy when directly interfering with their neural states, in particular in the context of self-regulating closed-loop stimulation devices.     

Learning Choices,Older Australians and Active Ageing

This paper reports on the findings of qualitative, semistructured interviews conducted with 40 older Australian participants who either did or did not engage in organized learning. Phenomenology was used to guide the interviews and analysis to explore the lived learning experiences and perspectives of these older people. Their experiences of learning can be described in two main categories of pleasure and leisure or purpose and relevance. Almost all the activities described in these categories have the potential to support health and wellbeing. Organizers of activities should take these reasons into account.     

Effect of team rank and player classification on activity profiles of elite wheelchair rugby players

The aim of the current study was to establish which indicators of mobility are associated with successful wheelchair rugby performance and determine whether these indicators differed across classification. Data were collected from 11 international teams during 30 matches (353 match observations) using a radio-frequency-based, indoor tracking system across two tournaments. Players (n = 111) were first grouped by team rank as determined by their International Wheelchair Rugby Federation (IWRF) world ranking (LOW, MID, HIGH) and then into one of four groups based on their IWRF classification: Group I (0.5), Group II (1.0–1.5), Group III (2.0–2.5) and Group IV (3.0–3.5). The volume of activity (relative distance and mean speed), peak speed and time spent within classification-specific arbitrary speed zones were calculated for each individual. Although no differences were identified in the volume of activity, playing time was significantly reduced in LOW (34:51 ± 8:35) compared to MID (48:54 ± 0:51) and HIGH (45:38 ± 9:53), which was further supported by the greater number of substitutions performed by LOW. HIGH achieved greater peak speeds (3.55 ± 0.40 m · sˉ¹) than LOW (3.27 ± 0.42 m · sˉ¹) and MID (3.45 ± 0.41 m · sˉ¹). Peak speed was further shown to be classification-dependent (P ≤ 0.005), whereby HIGH Groups III and IV players achieved greater peak speeds than LOW and MID. The time spent performing high-intensity activities was also greater in HIGH compared to LOW and MID, whilst further influenced by classification (P ≤ 0.0005). To conclude, peak speed and the ability to perform a greater number of high-intensity activities were associated with successful performance in wheelchair rugby.