South Korean Perspective on Learning Disabilities

In the context of the educational system and the nature of special education in South Korea, I describe policy, practice, and research about children with learning disabilities (LD). Recently, the study of LD has attracted professionals from multiple disciplines including general and special education, medicine, psychology, and social work. In Korea, the field of LD has developed rapidly over a brief period, but there are many problems to be solved in the near future. In particular, the field of LD in Korea lacks: (a) consensus about a conceptual definition, (b) a clear set of criteria for identifying students with LD, (c) lack of assessment instruments for identifying LD, and (d) general low understanding or misunderstanding of students with LD among teachers and parents.     

Exploring the forward citation patterns of patents based on the evolution of technology fields

Forward citations of patents have been used extensively to capture the impact of technological knowledge. However, our understanding of the factors shaping patent citation patterns remains limited. One of the main limitations is the lack of scholarly attention paid to the dynamic influences arising from the evolution of technology fields. From an evolutionary perspective, technological impact is not simply determined by the static attributes of a technology itself; it is also dynamically affected by changes in the external conditions. Drawing on this viewpoint, this study suggests a model for understanding patent citation patterns by reflecting the evolution of the technology fields to which each patent belongs. Four such factors are explored: technology cycle time, potential of technological convergence, popularity of the technology field, and technological novelty. Based on the proposed model, we show how expected citation patterns can change as a result of different scenarios for technology field evolution. We conduct a case study of patents in the information technology and healthcare industries to show citation patterns of patents across heterogeneous industries as well as those within an industry. Contributions to the innovation literature and research investment decisions are discussed.     

Why Should I Use University Library Website Resources? Discipline Differences

Users across academic disciplines utilize different information sources based on the resource's usefulness and relevance. This study's findings show that users from arts and sciences disciplines are much more likely to utilize university library website resources and printed materials than business users who heavily rely on commercial websites.     

Adolescent Decision-Making Processes Regarding University Entry: A model incorporating cultural orientation,motivation and occupational variables

This study attempts to provide a new perspective on current shifts in knowledge production through analysing the relationship between research and education. The study, based on interviews and questionnaires, focuses on the interaction within applied research centres with a close industry cooperation. The results suggest that the interaction between research and education benefits from a collaborative environment, since researchers hold positive attitudes towards integrating research, education and collaboration, and students are given the opportunity to work within applied research projects. The findings are discussed in terms of researchers’ ability to handle their scholarly tasks of research, teaching, and collaboration, and the importance for acknowledging research collaborations from both research and teaching perspectives.     

Growth of Cognitive Skills in Preschoolers: Impact of Sleep Habits and Learning-Related Behaviors

Research Findings: The present study used a longitudinal design to identify how sleep habits and learning-related behaviors impact the development of cognitive skills in preschoolers (ages 3–5). Sixty- seven children with parental report and cognitive skill assessment data were included. Scores on the Differential Ability Scales (C. Elliott, 1990 Elliott, C. 1990. Differential Ability Scales: Introductory and technical handbook. New York: Psychological Corporation..  [Google Scholar]) were obtained at ages 3, 4, and 5. A Sleep Questionnaire (D. Gozal, 1998 Gozal, D. 1998. Sleep disordered breathing and school performance in children.. Pediatrics, 192: 616–620.  [Google Scholar]) with 12 items from the Child Behavior Checklist (T. M. Achenbach &; L. A. Rescorla, 2000 Achenbach, T. M. and Rescorla, L. A. 2000. Manual for ASEBA preschool forms &; profiles. Burlington: University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth, &; Families..  [Google Scholar]) related to children's attention and activity levels was administered at age 3. Growth curve changes in cognitive scores were estimated using hierarchical linear modeling. Parental reports of nighttime sleep duration predicted level of cognitive skills at 3 years. The effect of sleep duration on cognitive scores was constant across age. Practice or Policy: Sleep and learning-related behaviors distinguish the cognitive skills children bring to preschool programs and impact gains made in skills while in preschool.     

Scaffolding Infants’ Play Through Empowering and Individualizing Teaching Practices

Research Findings: Using a qualitative research approach, this article explores teachers’ roles as scaffolders of infants’ play and the changing nature of their individualized support for infants’ learning and development through play in an infant group care setting. Three infant teachers in a child care center were followed over 3 months. Observations, interviews, ongoing conversations, e-mails, and reflective notes were used as data sources. Findings revealed that the teachers thought deeply about their roles as supporters of infants’ play, and they made intentional choices in scaffolding infants’ play. Each teacher's ways of empowering infants in play were grounded in her views of infants as learners and were individualized to accommodate children's unique learning styles and personalities. Practice or Policy: This study provides a window into the ways in which teachers working with the youngest children can set the stage for later learning.     

Platform War vs. Platform Synergy? A Longitudinal Analysis of Media Substitution between Personal Computers and Mobile Devices

ABSTRACT

Research on media substitution theory has examined substitutional and/or complementary relationships between new and existing media. This study focuses on the growth of mobile platforms and investigates the relationship between mobile devices and personal computers. Using Nielsen’s panel data that provide electronically recorded media usage (N = 2,396), this study analyzes yearly changes in time allocation to mobile devices and PCs at total and content-specific usage levels during mobile 4G transition. Results suggest a complementarity dynamic between mobile devices and PCs; however, the patterns were more nuanced in light of the role of individual and structural factors when determining media choice.     

The tortoise and the hare enigma in e-transformation in Japanese and Korean higher education

Japan and Korea have highly developed information and communications technology infrastructures and have recently reformed their higher education systems and encouraged e-transformation. However, Japanese universities have not embraced e-learning as wholeheartedly as their Korean counterparts. The paper concludes that this is due to governmental and institutional failure to develop a cogent vision and strategic plan for e-learning, to recognise the need for fundamental shifts in organisational cultures and structures and pedagogy and to provide training, funding, recognition and reward for such development. It attributes this to differences in the cultural perspectives, values and customs of the two countries' policy makers, managers and faculty members. The findings are seen to hold important lessons for other countries embarking on e-transformation.     

Revisiting disposition assessment in teacher education: broadening the focus

Today's teacher education programmes across the world strive to equip future teachers with the high‐quality knowledge, skills and dispositions necessary to teach students. The assessment of teacher dispositions has thus become essential to cultivate those qualities. However, the current approach to disposition assessment in the United States focuses on personal characteristics and character‐related dispositions and is frequently used as a sorting device to identify those who appear to be inadequately disposed to teaching. Expanding on earlier work by the author and colleagues, this paper examines the issue of whether more efforts should be made to incorporate elements to assess competence‐related dispositions in conjunction with the character‐related dispositions across assessment tools and, if so, how this could be accomplished. In addition, this paper will clarify some dispositional concepts and terms used interchangeably that actually differ from one another and can confuse the consistency of disposition assessment. Finally, a framework for assessing technology disposition as an example of competence‐related disposition and for broadening the focus of disposition assessment is suggested.