Relations Between Dialect Variation, Grammar, and Early Spelling Skills

Relationships among African American English (AAE), linguistic knowledge, and spelling skills were examined in a sample of 92 children in grades one through three whose speech varied in the frequency of morphosyntactic AAE features. Children were separated into groups of high (AAE speakers) and low (standard American English, SAE, speakers) use of AAE features in speech, and asked to produce, recognize, and spell four inflected grammatical morphemes because variable omission of these endings in speech is a morphosyntactic characteristic of AAE. The groups differed in their spelling and elicited spoken production of inflections, but not recognition of these forms. AAE speakers omitted the inflections more often at each grade. Density of morphosyntactic AAE features in speech was related directly to spelling inflections, but this effect was mediated by children’s understanding of standard grammatical forms.     

Faculty and Technology: Implications for Faculty Training and Technology Leadership

The purpose of this study was to explore the factors affecting ICT adoption process and the implications for faculty training and technology leadership. Respondents represented a wide range of academic and professional positions. They identified themselves as Assistant, Associate, and Professor as well as Instructional Designer, Director of Technology, Information Manager, eLearning Manager, Assistant Department Chair, Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs and Consultant. The respondents identified Organizational Support, Leadership, Training and Development, and Resources as the predominate themes affecting Information and Communication Technology (ICT) adoption process in higher education. Evidence from this study offers insights on how higher education administrators and technology leaders could help their faculty and staff to implement appropriate ICT tools and practices to improve student learning.     

Adolescent adjustment, social systems and parental separation

The changing positions of different members of adolescent support networks are examined with respect to adolescent age (11–15) and sex, and, in particular, with respect to changes following parental separation. Older children’s reports of less parental support are consistent with expectations of diminishing attachment. However, the relative importance of same sex friends for provision of support for girls, in comparison to boys, suggests more flexibility in the sense of their being less tied to parents for support. The comparison between children from different family types revealed no differences in respect of relations with same sex or opposite sex friends. Hence, no compensation or spill over from parental separation was evident. However, there was a clear system effect in that children from divorcing families that lived with their mother provided relatively more support for mother, and also reported less acceptance from their fathers in comparison to those children where no parental separation had taken place. Their adjustment will depend, at least in part, on the functioning of their broader social networks.     

Scientific conviction amidst scientific controversy in the transatlantic livestock and meat trade

A century before the outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), Great Britain and North America grappled with pleuro-pneumonia - a disease in cattle that had equally maddening consequences. Towards the end of the 19th century, this condition was at the heart of a transatlantic trade dispute that lasted for decades and attracted the attention of livestock farmers, diplomats, shipping moguls, veterinarians, public health regulators and journalists the world over. Scientific controversy aggravated the situation when there were doubts about the scientific judgment of Privy Council veterinary officials, who were simultaneously conducting disease-diagnosis activities and pushing for tighter regulations at British ports. At this point, William Williams, principal of the New Veterinary College in Edinburgh, waded into this troubled arena. His strong convictions spawned a long-running disagreement with the British Government over the diagnoses of pleuro-pneumonia in cattle imported from the USA and Canada.     

Screening for hearing loss in early childhood programs

This study assessed the feasibility of doing hearing screening in Migrant, American Indian and Early Head Start programs using otoacoustic emissions (OAE) technology. Staff members were trained to screen 0–3-year-old children for hearing loss using hand-held OAE equipment and a multi-step screening and referral protocol. Of the 3486 children screened as a part of the study, 77% passed an OAE screening at the first step, 18% more passed an OAE screening at the second step, and 5% were ultimately referred for medical or audiological follow-up. Eighty children were identified as having a hearing loss or disorder of the outer, middle or inner ear requiring treatment. Of these 80, six had permanent bilateral or unilateral hearing loss. Although the protocol suggested that the multi-step screening procedure should be completed within a 4-week time period or less, analysis of the data showed that for children requiring more than an initial OAE screening, the length of time over which the screening was completed ranged from 7 to 12 weeks. The median time required to complete a single OAE screening session was 4 minutes per child. The results demonstrate that OAE screening of young children using this protocol is practical and effective. The implications for conducting periodic hearing screening throughout early childhood are discussed.     

Enhancing learning with ICT at primary level

This study looks at three primary schools which have been successful in integrating ICT into the teaching and learning process. It confirms that a range of organisational features are correlated with successful implementation (eg, a sound learning environment, headteacher commitment, good forward planning etc) and goes on to argue that staff commitment plays a pivotal role in the process. This commitment can, however, be compromised by technological change (in this case from CD-ROM and LAN-based learning to WAN and Web-based learning) if the process is not properly managed.     

多媒体在远程教育中的运用

远程开放教育的实施离不开现代教育技术的应用。其中,教学媒体的选用起着重要的作用。一些当前在我国被人小看的教学媒体,如文字教材、录音带、录像带,在西方发达国家却大行其道,究其原因,无论多么高科技的教学媒体,如果没有跟与之掌握的技能相吻合,没有人享用,它的价值都必然大打折扣。