Proposal for a cross layer scheme for real-time wireless video

INTRODUCTION Increase in wireless system capacity through 3G services and innovative low bit rate video coding techniques have made it possible to have mobile multimedia services on hand-held systems. High quality real-time multimedia services are slowly be- ing deployed on hand-held systems. However large scale deployment at low cost is still to be realized due to technological challenges such as stringent power control under severely fading environments and the susceptibility of high qu…     

Developing inclusive practices through collaborative action research

This paper highlights the framework and discusses the results of an action research network which aimed to promote academic access in two general educational settings within which a pupil with blindness and a deaf pupil were educated respectively. The persons involved in this collaborative scheme were general teachers, a school counsellor, academic staff and student teachers. The findings of the study indicate that the implementation of the action research network resulted in the development of inclusive and collaborative thinking and the adoption of relevant teaching practices which promoted the children's access to the curriculum and supported the teachers' and student teachers' professional development. The outcomes of this action research network raise concerns about the access and the status of membership of children with special needs in general educational classroom and provide insights for the pivotal role of action research in understanding educational contexts and situations from a number of different perspectives.     

Interplay of Biological and Social‐Environmental Factors in the Developmental Outcome of Prematurely Born Children From Infancy To Seven Years

THE DEVELOPMENT of 58 preterm infants classified as low‐risk was compared over their first 7 years with a control group of 100 full‐term healthy infants. One major conclusion from this ongoing study is the critical need to take account of age when outcomes for prematurely born children are compared with full‐term children. As well as finding “catch up” phenomena at certain ages, the study also found periods during which there were reverses of this favourable tendency. Further, the study provided evidence that perinatal risk conditions may have a differential impact on mental development, depending on social‐environmental factors. It was suggested that advantaged family circumstances may reduce or even fully compensate for the adverse effects of preterm birth whereas a disadvantaged environment may amplify them.     

A cross‐cultural examination of typically developing children's attitudes toward individuals with special needs

This study explores children's attitudes toward individuals with special needs in Greece and in the United States. A total of 196 kindergarten‐age children participated in the study. Children's attitudes were examined using the Acceptance Scale for Kindergartners‐Revised (ASK‐R) and were further explored with the use of an open‐ended interview. In addition, the Inventory of Disability Representation (IDR) was used to collect information about how individuals with special needs are represented in school and classroom environments through books, displays, materials and curriculum. The results indicated that children in Greece and the United States were accepting of individuals with special needs. Also, children attending inclusive kindergartens held more positive attitudes when compared with children attending non‐inclusive kindergartens. Results from the interviews provided further information that contributes to the understanding of children's perceptions of people with special needs and the reasons why children become more or less favourably disposed towards individuals with special needs. Finally, IDR results indicated that the classrooms in Greece had low representations of individuals with special needs compared with US classrooms, which had moderate and high representations of individuals with disabilities in the classroom and school environments.     

Deaf and hearing individuals' beliefs about the capabilities of deaf people

The study explored the beliefs of 100 residents of Greece about the capabilities of deaf people living in that country. Participants included deaf adults who communicated in Greek Sign Language (GSL), deaf adults who communicated orally, hearing adults who attended GSL courses, and hearing adults who did not attend such courses. Beliefs were explored through the ODP (Opinions About Deaf People) scale (Berkay, Gardner, & Smith, 1995) and an open-ended interview. All participant groups viewed deaf people's capabilities positively, but Deaf users of GSL expressed the most positive beliefs. The findings suggest that less positive beliefs reflect diverse ideological views toward GSL and Deaf culture or an awareness of the obstacles preventing deaf people from developing their potential. The Deaf community's role in empowering deaf people and the role of GSL courses in promoting awareness regarding deaf people are also discussed.     

Introducing a scalable peer feedback system for learning teams

In the current research, we report on a peer feedback system for supporting student teamwork skill development during post-secondary education. The peer feedback system is part of a larger suite of assessments at ITPmetrics.com. This is a free assessment-based system that allows team members to provide round-robin ratings of each member’s effectiveness in the team on five dimensions (communication; commitment; foundation of knowledge, skills and abilities; emphasising high standards; and focus), as well as provide anonymous written feedback to supplement the numeric scores. Team members have access to a dashboard where they can complete the assessment and store assessment reports generated from their peers’ ratings. We summarise data from student learning teams suggesting that peer ratings are reliable (internally consistent, unidimensional and inter-rater correlated; n?>?85,000). Recommendations for implementation are provided with respect to pre-briefing, debriefing, and assessment schedules.