Study-Abroad Programs as Information Producers: An Expanding Role for Support of Our Students Studying Abroad

ABSTRACT

Though increasing numbers of students spend time studying abroad, there has been little discussion regarding the needs of study-abroad students as a distinct user group. The little research that has been done in this area focuses on support for study-abroad students as information users. This article expands the conversation to consider the librarian's role in supporting study-abroad students as producers of valuable information, particularly as study-abroad programs expand to nontraditional locations and focus on project-based and service-learning activities of direct benefit to their host communities. A model for creating digital libraries that supports the work of study-abroad programs in Monteverde, Costa Rica, is presented. Through multi-institutional collaboration, use of graduate student interns, and digital library technology, information produced by study-abroad programs of relevance to both local communities and future researchers is now accessible. Options for wider future support for study-abroad students as information producers are considered.     

University-School Connection: A Reading Circle for Teachers

Educators are encouraged to integrate technology into their classrooms because today's student is exposed to all sorts of digital devices in their daily life. Classroom blogging is an excellent way to use the internet for more than just research. Blogging capitalizes on student interest in the internet. When done properly, a blog can serve as an online portfolio to showcase student work. Blogging can give the “silent student” a voice by allowing them the opportunity to write on topics of interest. Finally, blogging provides immediate, “click-to-publish” results. Student work is available immediately for peers to review or for others on the world wide web to comment and post feedback. All of these factors can be motivating for students to learn.     

Knowing your students in large diverse classes: a phenomenographic case study

The problem which this paper addresses is the difficulty of knowing students in large diverse classes in pedagogically useful ways. The paper discusses how the phenomenographic methodology can be employed to address this problem. It describes how phenomenographic studies and their results can enable teachers to ‘know their students’ at a collective level in terms of a set of qualitatively distinct idealised types rather than at a personal level of individuals with their particular characteristics, and demonstrates the pedagogical utility of this kind of knowing. The means used to describe the approach and to demonstrate its utility when teaching large classes is to present, as a case study, a phenomenographic investigation into the learning practices among students in a large, diverse cohort of entrants to an engineering programme in South Africa. General principles are drawn from the case study and are discussed as they apply to the teaching of large classes.     

Cognitive Profile of Neurofibromatosis Type 1: Rethinking Nonverbal Learning Disabilities

The cognitive profiles of children with Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF‐1) have many similarities to those observed in learning disabilities in the general school population, as well as some distinct features. Approximately 30–65 percent of children with NF‐1 have learning disabilities; most commonly, they have language and reading disabilities, along with motor, visuomotor, and visuospatial deficits. Similar to learning disabilities in the general population, approximately 50 percent of children with NF‐1 have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In this article, the genetic and physical characteristics, the diagnostic criteria of NF‐1, and the cognitive profile of children with NF‐1 (including relationships between neurological abnormalities and cognition) are reviewed. Additionally, the types of educational interventions that would be indicated for children with NF‐1 are discussed.     

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.