Perceived benefits and barriers to the use of high-speed broadband in Ireland's second-level schools

As part of Ireland's National Digital Strategy, high-speed broadband is being rolled out to all second-level schools to support greater use of information and communication technology (ICT) in education. This programme signals a move from slow and unreliable broadband connections for many schools to a guaranteed high-speed connection with technical support. Theoretically, this should allow for behaviours and pedagogies to adapt, incorporating ICT into education. Research shows that integrating ICT into teaching and learning is a gradual process for most teachers and is influenced by a complex mix of socio-technical factors. Our data set consists of survey data from teachers and principals from a sample of second-level schools. The survey collected factual and attitudinal variables including attitudes towards ICT integration, current availability of infrastructure and barriers to ICT use, before schools received high-speed broadband connectivity. We examine the factors influencing teachers’ attitudes to ICT and their perceived barriers in adopting new technologies in their day-to-day teaching. Analysis of this baseline period is essential in an iterative digital strategy, informing future strategies, targeting policy most effectively and achieving policy objectives. While attitudes towards the potential of high-speed broadband and use of ICT are consistently positive across sub groups of schools and teachers, perceived barriers to ICT usage differ.     

The Comparability of Scores from Different Digital Devices: A Literature Review and Synthesis with Recommendations for Practice

Evidence of comparability is generally needed whenever there are variations in the conditions of an assessment administration, including variations introduced by the administration of an assessment on multiple digital devices (e.g., tablet, laptop, desktop). This article is meant to provide a comprehensive examination of issues relevant to the comparability of scores across devices, and as such provide a starting point in designing and implementing a research agenda to support the comparability of any assessment program. This work starts with a conceptual framework rooted in the idea of a comparability claim—a conceptual statement about how each student is expected to perform on each of the devices in question. Then a review of the available literature is provided, focusing on how aspects of the devices (touch screens, keyboards, screen size, and displayed content) and aspects of the assessments (content area and item type) relate to student performance and preference. Building on this literature, recommendations to minimize threats to comparability are then provided. The article concludes with ways to gather evidence to support claims of comparability.     

The effect of short-term educational travel programs on environmental citizenship

Short-term study abroad is the fastest growing area of international education and there is increasing interest in the role of modified applications of this form (e.g. faculty-led, field/environmental, and/or educational travel) in influencing global citizenship. Using an empirical database of over 650 students registered for a study abroad course in sustainable development offered in Australia and New Zealand, we explore the effect of short-term educational travel programs on environmental citizenship. We also identify differences among key student characteristics (past study abroad experience, gender, and program destination) in influencing citizenry. Results show that participation in the educational travel program significantly moderates (decreases) the difference in environmental citizenship scores for first-timers (vs. those with past experience in study abroad) and program destination, but increases the difference in environmental citizenship for males vs. females. Implications for destination image and national brand marketing of environmental-oriented educational travel programs are discussed.     

The ethics of randomized controlled trials in social settings: can social trials be scientifically promising and must there be equipoise?

In a randomized controlled trial (RCT), treatments are assigned randomly and treatments are withheld from participants. Is it ethically permissible to conduct an RCT in a social setting? This paper addresses two conditions for justifying RCTs: that there should be a state of equipoise and that the trial should be scientifically promising. Illustrated with a discussion of the RCT evaluation of the Wizards of Words reading programme, this paper argues that, first, the two conditions can give rise to genuine moral conflicts, and second, efforts can be made to ensure RCTs in social settings are scientifically promising. The argument of this paper therefore is a departure from the current debate on RCTs, where it is assumed these two justifying conditions should not come into conflict, either because research ethics is derived from the professional's duty of care, or because there is a strong distinction between the ethics of research and the duty of care. This paper also addresses critics who argue that in social settings RCTs cannot be scientifically promising and for that reason they are ethically impermissible.     

The Influence of Student Development Level on Improving Counselor Student Empathy

This cross‐sectional study explored the influence of student development and year‐in‐program on the improvement of affective/trait‐based empathy and cognitive/skill‐based empathy. Two 2 × 2 analyses of variance between 1st‐ and 2nd‐year counseling students revealed mixed findings on the relationship between cognitive development and empathy levels. Results demonstrated clearly, however, that students' affective and cognitive empathy increased from their 1st to 2nd year in a counseling program.     

Partisan Media and Discussion as Enhancers of the Belief Gap

This study examines the roles of partisanship, partisan media use, and political discussion in the development of belief gaps. Using national survey data, we construct models of political identity, media use, and discussion factors predicting beliefs on five contested political issues and find that ideology and partisanship are generally stronger predictors of beliefs than is education. Notably, each has independent effects on belief outcomes. Contrary to some concerns that the Internet especially promotes partisan clustering, use of partisan traditional media—television and radio—is by far the strongest information-related predictor of belief outcomes, whereas partisan social media use and partisan discussion are relatively weak and inconsistent. These findings suggest that political elites continue to exert significant influence over the perceptions of rank and file partisans.     

Evaluate to Improve Learning: Reflecting on the role of teaching and learning models

Focusing attention on models of teaching and learning during design and development phases can become the key to integrating evaluation in a teaching development project. This article reflects on an experience in planning and conducting an evaluation of a prototype of a new technology-based teaching initiative. The learning experiences designed as part of the prototype were explicitly built on a model of teaching and learning. This had implications for evaluation not recognised in many evaluation manuals. Aligning evaluation to a model of teaching and learning is revealed to be complex in the sense that an initial model needs to be interpreted and extended to include reference to underlying epistemological assumptions. Yet aligning evaluation with an extended model of teaching and learning simplifies and assists the process of evaluation including the choice of methods, analysis of the data and determining improvements. It directly links evaluation to design and development.