Computing as Educational Innovation: a model of distributed expertise

ABSTRACT

The introduction of innovation to a school doesn't just happen. Often it is the work of an interested and dedicated teacher. Such teachers are often frustrated in their efforts to change the curriculum because they lack both the leadership skills necessary for substantial change and an understanding of how innovation effects and spreads in an organization. School principals, in their position as curriculum leaders, should play a crucial role in bringing innovation to the classroom. Many, however, play an encouraging but less active role, supporting teachers’ efforts to change the curriculum. While this type of leadership has been sufficient in the past, the introduction of computer technology as an integral part of the instructional program requires active leadership because of its multifaceted nature and intense budgetary requirements. This paper suggests a model of school administration wherein already overburdened school administrators can share leadership in a meaningful way with interested teachers. It also presents a model for the diffusion of innovation by such leadership teams. The paper argues that innovation does not just happen; meaningful change requires both strong leadership and deep understanding of the politics of innovation. This is particularly true for the introduction of computers to schools because of the magnitude of the change required.     

Media Preferences and Democracy: Refining the “Relative Entertainment Preference” Hypothesis

This article extends the work of research connecting media choice and relative preferences for entertainment to voter turnout. Markus Prior found that individuals who both preferred entertaining content to news and had either cable or Internet access were less likely to vote than were other citizens. As an update to his work, this article uses more recent Pew Research Center for the People and the Press surveys to test alternative measures of entertainment preferences and to update the Internet access findings for the broadband age. As a theoretical extension, this article looks at turnout differences among those with even finer content preferences. Specifically, people who prefer hard news are compared to those choosing societal welfare news (e.g., crime, community, health). The results indicate that there is value in considering Relative Societal Welfare News Preference in addition to—or even instead of—entertainment preferences alone.     

Stories and statistics from library‐led publishing

Library‐led publishing is one of the new approaches to journal publishing and open access that has grown tremendously in the last few years. A 2010 IMLS‐funded survey found that 55% of respondents – from US academic libraries of all different types and sizes – were already implementing or developing a publishing program. Library‐led publishing has garnered such momentum because, by offering low‐ or no‐cost publishing to university scholars, it addresses needs that traditional publishing has not been able to meet. This article presents a series of small case studies to illustrate different journals that have benefited from the library‐publishing model: (i) a journal that struggled to find an affordable publisher in its emerging field; (ii) a small society journal that could no longer afford to support itself in print; (iii) society publications that go beyond the traditional journal format; and (iv) a student journal with a revolving editorial board.     

Identifying Characteristics of Dissemination Success Using an Expert Panel

Although considerable work has been done to develop new educational innovations, few have found widespread acceptance in the classroom. To improve the likelihood of adoption of educational innovations, researchers need to understand why some innovations are adopted and routinely used, while others are not. An initial aspect of the diffusion of innovations, as defined in the classical sociological literature, involves the communication of ideas and concepts related to innovations between individuals. This article presents an expert panel's answer to the following question: “What are the most important characteristics that relate to the dissemination of educational innovations?” As dissemination is a critical facet of the diffusion of an innovation, 45 researchers who received technology and engineering grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) participated in a Delphi study designed to address this research question. In three rounds, the experts identified and ranked 11 characteristics of educational innovations, 6 characteristics of students, 13 characteristics of faculty members, and 5 characteristics of administrators that can relate to the successful dissemination of educational innovations. The results of this study led to the formation of a Characteristics of Dissemination Success (CODS) framework. This framework offers useful guidance for educational innovators seeking a better understanding of the influences on the dissemination of educational innovations.     

(Re)beginning and becoming: antiracism and professional development with white practicing teachers

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on an educational foundations-based professional development (PD) curriculum of antiracist conscientization we as two teacher educators designed and implemented with eight white practicing teachers in the Midwestern United States. We first articulate our conception of educational foundations and curriculum theory as a framework for our PD. We briefly review literature on other PD on race in the United States, outline our data sources, and describe the pedagogy and curriculum of RaceWork’s Tripartite Model of race-visible and antiracist praxis. We then highlight, through interview data, the significance of group (relational) accountability and collaborative relationships that supported these teachers’ self-designed antiracist interventions in their own unique school contexts during the 2-year PD experience. An ongoing, relationship-based PD model leading to material antiracist changes and practices points to a need for a broader, more holistic, and contextualized conception of antiracist interventions in U.S. public P12 school contexts, but also one grounded in the notion that in a white supremacist society, we (as race-visible white educators) are always becoming antiracist.     

Early Indications of Resilience and Their Relation to Experiences in the Home Environments of Low Birthweight, Premature Children Living in Poverty

The caregiving environment experienced by 243 premature, low birthweight (LBW) children living in poverty was examined to determine whether the quality of care such children receive affords them some measure of protection from the generally deleterious consequences of poverty and prematurity. Only 26 children were identified as functioning in the normal range for cognitive, social/adaptive, health, and growth parameters at age 3. These children, who showed early signs of resiliency, differed from nonresilient children in that they were receiving more responsive, accepting, stimulating, and organized care. They were also living in safer, less crowded homes. 6 "protective" aspects of caregiving were identified and used as part of a cumulative protection index. Children with less than 3 protective aspects of caregiving present at age 1 had only a 2% probability of being resilient, and only a 6% probability if fewer than 3 were present at age 3. Overall, premature LBW children born into conditions of poverty have a very poor prognosis of functioning within normal ranges across all the dimensions of health and development assessed. However, those raised in a setting with 3 or more protective factors were more likely to show early signs of resiliency.