The impact of national culture on e‐learning implementation: a comparative study of an Argentinean and a Swedish university

This paper analyses and suggests possible technological innovation strategies in higher educational institutions in Africa. The paper describes management issues in the implementation of eLearning with particular reference to its usage in higher education abroad and in Africa, and also suggests appropriate approaches for technological innovation of higher education in Africa. The major findings of the paper, which are based on three case studies, suggest that eLearning needs to be implemented within a strategically developed framework based on a clear and unified vision and a central educational rationale. The findings further highlight the importance of using a combination of strategies – top–down, bottom–up and inside–out – during the diffusion process to attain coherence, collegiality and ownership. The process of technological transformation is not a smooth translation process but one of dislocations, dilemmas and uncertainties and it is an art to effect change and sustainable technological transformation since people are central to this transformation process.

L'innovation technologique et les stratégies de management pour l'enseignement supérieur en Afrique: L'Harmonisation du réalisme et du l'idéalisme

Cet article analyse et suggére des stratégies d'innovation dans des établissements d'enseignement supérieur en Afrique. Il décrit les problèmes de management qui pose l'introduction du e‐Learning avec une référence particulière pour son usage dans l'enseignement supérieur à l'étranger et en Afrique et suggére les approches appropriées pour l'innovation technologique dans l'enseignement supérieur en Afrique. Les résultats principaux exposés dans cet article qui sont fondés sur trois études de cas suggérent que le e‐Learning doit être introduit dans un cadre stratégique fondé sur une vision clariment unifiée et une rationalisation centrale de l'éducation. De plus ces résultats mettent en évidence l'importance de l'utilisation combinée de plusieurs stratégies : stratégies autant en bas, de bas en haut, d'intérieur et d'extérieur pendant le processus de diffusion afin d'aboutir à la cohérence, la collégialité et la possession. Le processus de transformation technologique n'est pas un processus de translation sans à compris mais un de dislocation, de dilemmes, d'incertitudes et c'est un art de procéder au changement et à une transformation technologique soutenue puisque les hommes sont au c?ur de ce processus de transformation.

Technologische Innovations‐ und Umsetzungsstrategien für höhere Bildung in Afrika: Realität und Idealismus aufeinander abstimmen

Dieser Beitrag analysiert technologische Innovationstrategien und stellt Vorschläge für deren Einführung in höhereren Bildungsinstitutionen in Afrika zur Diskussion. Das Papier beschreibt Managementangelegenheiten bei der Umsetzung von eLearning unter besonderer Berücksichtigung seiner Anwendung in der höheren Bildung im Ausland und in Afrika und schlägt auch entsprechende Ansätze für die technologische Innovation im Bereich der höheren Bildung in Afrika vor. Das wesentliche Ergebmiss dieser Arbeit, die auf drei Fallstudien beruht, ist, dass eLearning innerhalb eines strategisch entwickelten Rahmens, basierend auf einer klaren und einheitlichen Sichtweise und einer zentralen bildungslogischen Grundlage eingeführt werden muß. Die Befunde heben weiter die Wichtigkeit hervor, eine Kombination von Strategien zu verwenden: Top‐Down, Bottom‐Up und Inside‐Out Strategien während des Ausbreitungsprozesses, um Kohärenz, Kollegialität und Eigentumsrechte zu erlangen. Der Prozeß technologischer Transformation ist nicht etwa eine sanfte Überleitung, sondern von Verfremdung, Dilemmata und Unsicherheit begleitet. Es ist eine Kunst, Änderung und nachhaltige technologische Transformation zu bewirken, da ja die Menschen das zentrale Element dieses Transformation-sprozesses sind.     

Seasonal variations in physical fitness among elementary school children

Abstract

There is empirical evidence that children’s physical activity is dependent on climatic conditions. In addition, a correlation between physical activity level and physical fitness has been identified. In this longitudinal study, we investigate whether seasons have an influence on physical fitness. A total of 145 German elementary school children were tested every six months over a two-year period. We used the German Motor Test 6–18 to assess physical fitness. Performance in the 6-min endurance run (P < 0.001), bidirectional jumping (P < 0.001), the standing long jump (P = 0.026), the 20 m sprint (P = 0.006) and the stand-and-reach task (P = 0.017) was significantly better in summer than in winter. There were no differences in the ability to balance backwards (P = 0.120); in the winter, the results for push-ups (P < 0.001) and sit-ups (P < 0.001) were better than those in the summer. We have shown that physical fitness is significantly influenced by the season. Consequently, when children’s fitness tests are used (e.g. as the basis for intervention programs, for classifying health-risk groups or for recognising talent), the season in which testing occurred should be reported and accounted for in future studies.     

Comparisons of the ski turn techniques of experienced and intermediate skiers

We compared selected kinematic variables for four different ski turn techniques performed by five experienced and five intermediate male skiers. The four ski turn techniques were the upstem turn, the downstem turn, the parallel turn and the parallel step turn. Each turn was divided into the initiation phase and the first and second steering phases. Most of the statistically significant differences (P < 0.05) between the two groups were found for the initiation phases of the four turns. Both the hip axis-hand axis angle and the edging angle of the uphill ski were significantly different between the two groups for the upstem turn at the beginning of the initiation phase. For the downstem turn, significant differences between the groups were found at the start of the initiation phase for the hip axis-hand axis angle, the shoulder axis-fall line angle, and the edging angle of the uphill ski. The standard deviation of the distance between the tips of the two skis over the second steering phase also differed significantly between the two groups. For the parallel step turn, significant differences were found at the start of the initiation phase for the edging angle of the downhill ski and the downhill ski to movement direction angle. Significant differences were also found for the edging angle of the downhill ski in the middle of the second steering phase and the shoulder axis to movement direction angle at the end of this phase. For the initiation phase of the parallel turn, significant differences were found for the timing of setting the ski pole, the uphill knee angle at the start of this phase and the range of the knee angle of the uphill leg from the start to the end of this phase. For this turn, significant differences between the two groups were also found for the edging angle of the downhill ski in the middle of the second steering phase and the shoulder axis to movement direction angle at the end of this phase. One of the reasons it was possible to identify a few significant differences only for the turns analysed, was the variability within the intermediate group: for most of the variables analysed, the standard deviation was much higher for the intermediate than for the experienced group.     

Scientific Research Identity Development Need Not Wait Until College: Examining the Motivational Impact of a Pre-college Authentic Research Experience

Research in Science Education - The current study used self-determination theory to examine the efficacy of an established and rigorous STEM enrichment program, the Summer Science Program, in...     

Keepers of Ghosts: old signs,new media and the age of archival flux

The Keepers of Ghosts project began when 10,000 records from a former sign-painting company were rescued from a demolition site in Melbourne’s west. Beginning with the creation of an online archive, the project has since developed into an experimental research program of community outreach involving sign writers, shopkeepers, local history aficionados and people interested in ‘ghost signs’, or the remains of painted advertising signs. Here we discuss the project’s investigation of the use of digital media to informally document and share otherwise-forgotten aspects of urban memory, and the proposition that the interplay between digital and physical archival activities can be harnessed to involve and connect diverse groups with shared interests, both at local and global levels.     

Bewegungstherapie in der Kinder- und Jugendlichenrehabilitation

Although recommended in most treatment guidelines for child/adolescent rehabilitation, there is a lack of standards regarding the amount of exercise therapy that children and adolescents should receive during rehabilitation to ensure effective treatment. First, existing treatment guidelines were examined with regard to data on the frequency, duration, content, and modes of procedure of exercise therapy in the treatment of children and adolescents with asthma, obesity, and atopic dermatitis. Moreover, the actual implementation of exercise therapy in child/adolescent rehabilitative care was analyzed by using standardized data on the classification of therapeutic measures of the years 2007/2008 and comparing different rehabilitation centers. In the context of a nationwide survey, experts and clinicians were asked to describe and define how exercise therapy can be adopted in rehabilitative practice. On this basis, an expert workshop was conducted during which a pilot version of treatment guidelines for child/adolescent rehabilitation was developed and compared with actual medical care practice. Obese children/adolescents receive the highest amount of exercise therapy (4.7 h/week). However, children suffering from atopic dermatitis engage just as long in therapeutic exercises (1.9 h/week) as do children with asthma (1.9 h/week). Exercise therapy modules vary significantly between rehabilitation centers in terms of average frequency and duration. When comparing treatment guidelines and actual medical practice, it becomes apparent that only children up to the age of 7 with atopic dermatitis or asthma are provided to some degree adequately with exercise therapeutic treatment, whereas children aged 8 or older with asthma and/or obesity receive too little exercise therapy. Potential reasons for large variations between rehabilitation centers regarding the use of exercise therapy as well as possible factors that influence discrepancies between actual rehabilitative care practice and therapeutic guidelines are discussed.     

On the evaluation of curriculum reforms

The paper considers the current international trend towards standards-based evaluation in a historical and comparative perspective. Based on a systematization of evaluation perspectives and tools, two basic patterns of curriculum control are discussed: process evaluation, and product evaluation. Whereas the first type has dominated the Continental European context for two centuries or more, and the latter type the English-speaking world for most of the 20th century, the last two decades have brought about a situation in which both types are more and more intertwined. The paper discusses thehistorical preconditions, empirical findings, and possible prospects around this development.