Mentoring in the virtual organization: keys to building successful schools and businesses

Mentoring can take on a whole new perspective when people have a common goal but are in different physical locations. The benefits of virtual mentoring, in other words, mentoring when the mentor and mentee are not geographically co‐located, and which occurs mainly by electronic communication, can be substantial. They include lowered costs, increased access to mentors, and no limitations on space, time, and location. There are also disadvantages to virtual mentoring. Notable among these is the lack of face‐to‐face communication, something that adds another dimension to understanding the tone and attitude of messages between mentors and mentees. This article not only defines and analyzes the concept of mentoring as performed in the virtual organization but also deals with phases of mentoring and types of mentors used in this relatively new work environment. The synthesis of the literature and the authors’ experience results in a list of keys to successful mentoring in the virtual organization. These are: trust, self‐motivation, flexibility, communication skills, and technological skills. In addition, implications for worldwide mentoring are discussed.     

Connecting to the Good Life through outdoor adventure leadership experiences designed for Indigenous youth

Indigenous voices are largely silent in the outdoor education and adventure therapy literature. The purpose of this research collaboration was to understand how a 10-day outdoor adventure leadership experience (OALE) may promote resilience and well-being for Indigenous youth through their participation in the program. The process was examined through a community-based participatory research project that sought insight from the perspectives of one First Nations community in Canada. The OALE was implemented with six different groups for a total of 43 youth participants (ages 11.9–18.7 years) from Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve in northeastern Ontario. Field data were collected from multiple sources including participant interviews, journals, focus groups, and talking circles. Using a critical ethnographic lens, we analyzed the data inductively to understand how the OALE promoted resilience and well-being. We listened to Indigenous voices, adhered to principles of Indigenous coding for thematic content and respected Indigenous ways of knowing for interpreting results. The process of connecting to the Good Life (Anishinaabe Bimaadziwin) or waking up (nsidwaaswok) to the Good Life emerged as the dominant theme. Connecting to the Good Life may offer a simple yet compelling way to understand the net impact of the OALE.     

The impact of organizational learning capacity from the socio-cognitive perspective on organizational commitment

This study is to examine the impact of organizational learning on affective commitment in Korea. In particular, this study addressed the importance of organizational learning as an HRD strategy from the socio-cognitive perspective. Data were collected from four large companies located in the area of Seoul, South Korea. There were 233 usable questionnaires yielding a response rate of 61 %. Multiple regression analysis and principal factor analyses were applied to conduct a data analysis. The results showed that a linear relationship existed between the organizational learning capacity and affective commitment (R ² = .495). Four dimensions were statistically significant with the exception of “feedback.” Participative decision-making is the most important factor. Finally, the study discussed some implications for HRD theory and practice.     

The application of cognitive learning theory to criminal justice education

Most criminal justice programs began as extensions of vocational technical training courses, but within the last decade they have begun to parallel the liberal arts programs originally proposed. As a result of this reorientation, criminal justice instructors lack many of the instructional methods used by colleagues in other fields. In addition, the dual nature of criminal justice instruction, requiring both experience and theory, places demands on criminal justice instructors that their colleagues may not experience. The field needs an instructional approach that blends the best of the vocational aspects and the theoretical underpinnings. This paper reviews cognitive learning theory, specifically Kolb's experiential learning model. Recommendations are offered for the application of this model to instruction in criminal justice courses.     

Examining the Validity of Standards-Based Assessments for Initially Fluent Students and Former English Language Learners

To date, assessment validity research on non-native English speaking students in the United States has focused exclusively on those who are presently English language learners (ELLs). However, little, if any, research has been conducted on two other sizable groups of language minority students: (a) bilingual or multilingual students who were already English proficient when they entered the school system (IFEPs), and (b) former English language learners, those students who were once classified as ELLs but are now reclassified as being English proficient (RFEPs). This study investigated the validity of several standards-based assessments in mathematics and science for these two student groups and found a very high degree of score comparability, when compared with native English speakers, for the IFEPs, whereas a moderate to high degree of score comparability was observed for the RFEPs. Thus, test scores for these two groups on the assessments we studied appear to be valid indicators of their content knowledge, to a degree similar to that of native English speakers.     

FROM PERSUASION TO ACCOMMODATION IN PUBLIC TWO-YEAR COLLEGE DEVELOPMENT

This was the first of a series of papers presented February 20, 2001 at a national conference sponsored by North Texas State University held in the Omni Hotel Dallas, TX. The author relates the 1950 status of two-year college development, numbers and locations of university professors specializing in the field, and the need to persuade citizens they should have a public two-year college in their midst. Events are traced which led up to the overwhelming demand by the public in the late 1960s and early 1970s to have their own two-year college. This condition precipitated the untiring work of university faculty specialized in this field to accommodate the need for assistance at both the state level planning and for local college establishment. The citizens participatory comprehensive study involvement developed initially as a way of overcoming resistance and persuading citizens they needed a college is a viable approach today for periodically evaluating and future planning to meet changing societal manpower needs. The author urges continued use of action research tools to accommodate evolving local area educational needs.     

Teaching abjection: A response to the war on terror

In this paper, the author discusses pedagogy and strategy within the current climate set by the “War on Terror”. Deploying Lacanian psychoanalysis in a critique of standardized knowledge, the author develops a theory of “abject pedagogy” that seeks to subvert the current “regimes of truth” while providing educators with a viable pedagogy during this “state of emergency”.     

The current state of human performance technology: A citation network analysis of Performance Improvement Quarterly, 1988–2010

This study conducted a citation network analysis (CNA) of human performance technology (HPT) to examine its current state of the field. Previous reviews of the field have used traditional research methods, such as content analysis, survey, Delphi, and citation analysis. The distinctive features of CNA come from using a social network analysis approach to see relational and network patterns in the citation data. This CNA found that the Performance Improvement Quarterly network showed more widely but loosely connected and less centralized structural attributes than the human resource development network; the 10 most influential articles in the field were identified; frequently co‐cited articles were recognized as having a strong relationship by subsequent researchers; and five cohesive subgroups showed key topics in the field (performance, instructional design, performance support, organization/workplace, and transfer of training). Implications from the results of the CNA were elaborated on for future research in HPT.     

SVC bitstream adaptation in MPEG-21 multimedia framework

INTRODUCTION Scalable video coding (SVC) (Schwarz et al., 2004) is the most promising video format for appli- cations of collaborative communication. First, SVC format, which is extended from the latest advanced video coding (AVC), is appropriate for creating a wide variety of bitrates with high compression effi- ciency. Second, an original SVC bitstream can be easily truncated in different ways to meet various characteristics and variations of devices and connec- tions. The scalabil…     

Living in space: A preschool aerospace curriculum

Outer space is a topic that is relevant to our future, promotes a universal sense of wonder and reinforces the idea that we all share one planet. Early childhood teachers, parents, grandparents and children all find the subject of outer space exploration fascinating. Space exploration weaves together all aspects of our experience and generates an enthusiasm to learn more. Space adventure also creates a new hero system for our children. Achievements and success are based on knowledge, skill and dedication to a common cause: the betterment of life for all people.