Supporting Refugee Distance Education: A Review of the Literature

ABSTRACT

The sudden influx of refugees into countries around the world has caused a complicated, multi-faceted, international refugee crisis. Refugees, whether in camps or urban areas, face a myriad of problems and obstacles, yet one of the most critical issues young refugees face is the lack of educational opportunities and/or resources. United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund warns that this lack of education could potentially create a “lost generation” which may lead to serious implications, not only for these young refugees but also to surrounding, nearby societies. This paper seeks to understand if and how Information and Communication Technology (ICTs) have been reported in the literature as being used in different contexts to connect young refugees with high quality educational opportunities, and whether the urban or camp contexts impact these opportunities. The results of this review of the literature indicate that a number of different ICTs have successfully been used in a variety of different educational settings and for a variety of purposes. Additionally, where a refugee lives could impact the accessibility and nature of the ICT tools available to provide an education.     

REFLECTING ON THE USE OF METAPHOR: TWO PROFESSORS' PROCESSES OF DISCOVERY

This article summarizes the literature concerning the use of visual and textual metaphors and describes outcomes of a project designed to help teacher education candidates begin integrating their personal beliefs about teaching with their growing professional knowledge and emergent practice. By using metaphors, teacher educators have the opportunity to help candidates solidify convictions and meanings and uncover “tacit or unarticulated” beliefs (Clandinin & Connelly, 1995 Clandinin, D. J. and Connelly, F. M. 1995. Teachers' professional knowledge landscapes, New York: Teachers College, Columbia University.  [Google Scholar], p. 6) that can lead to frame conflict (Reddy, 1993 Reddy, M. 1993. “The conduit metaphor: A case of frame conflict in our language about language.”. In Metaphor and thought , 2nd ed., Edited by: Ortony, A. 164–201. Cambridge, , England: Cambridge University Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), that is, dueling metaphors. For example, there is a frame conflict in the conception of student value in the metaphors of teacher-as-police-officer and teacher-as-gardener. In one metaphor, students are perceived as deficit “others” who must be carefully watched by authorities; in the gardening metaphor, student potential is recognized as “more than” what can be seen on the surface. This article demonstrates how one university faculty explores textual and visual metaphor to encourage discourse among the candidates, other peers, and professors in a school of education. This extended dialogue gives candidates the opportunity to “compare their own characterizations to those of their peers, and depending on the responses of others, either maintain their own construals or bring theirs in line with those of the others” (Petrie & Oshlag, 1993 Petrie, H. and Oshlag, R. 1993. “Metaphor and learning.”. In Metaphor and thought , 2nd ed., Edited by: Ortony, A. 579–609. Cambridge, , England: Cambridge University Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], p. 602). This is the educative process of frame restructuring. As an added benefit of this project, the authors have found that using an artistic format combined with a written explanation of their work requires candidates to become more thoughtful, reflective practitioners.     

Borrowing trouble? The impact of a systematic review service on interlibrary loan borrowing in an academic health sciences library

Background:With the mandate to review all available literature in the study''s inclusion parameters, systematic review projects are likely to require full-text access to a significant number of articles that are not available in a library''s collection, thereby necessitating ordering content via interlibrary loan (ILL). The aim of this study is to understand what effect a systematic review service has on the copyright royalty fees accompanying ILL requests at an academic health sciences library.Case Presentation:The library created a custom report using ILLiad data to look specifically at 2018 ILL borrowing requests that were known to be part of systematic reviews. This subset of borrowing activity was then analyzed to determine its impact on the library''s copyright royalty expenditures for the year. In 2018, copyright eligible borrowing requests that were known to be part of systematic reviews represented only approximately 5% of total filled requests that involved copyright eligible borrowing. However, these systematic review requests directly or indirectly caused approximately 10% of all the Spencer S. Eccles Library copyright royalty expenditures for 2018 requests.Conclusion:Based on the sample data set, the library''s copyright royalty expenditures did increase, but the overall financial impact was modest.     

Perceived critical mass and collective intention in social media-supported small group communication

The increasing popularity of Web 2.0 has dramatically changed the way in which people communicate with others in their daily life or work. However, the use of social media is fundamentally different from that of traditional information technologies. Specifically, it requires collective efforts and interdependence between two or more people, and thus the usage behavior is no longer an individual's own decision or plan. Built on critical mass theory and social influence processes, this study tries to make an attempt to understand the determinants of collective intention (we-intention), which represents one's perception of a group of people acting as a unit. Instant messaging, one of the most popular social media platforms, has been chosen for investigation, and findings from a survey showed that perceived critical mass influenced we-intention both directly and indirectly through group norm and social identity. Recognizing the importance and relevance of collective intention will advance current understanding beyond individual intention-based models which are widely adopted in prior IS research. This study may be limited by having not included other alternative social technologies, but we leave this work for future research.     

A survey of U.S. Atlanta and Nagano Olympians: variables perceived to influence performance

The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency and magnitude of specific variables perceived to have affected U.S. Olympic athlete performance. Participants included 296 Atlanta Olympians and 83 Nagano Olympians. Olympians rated how they perceived specific variables influenced their Olympic performance. Results revealed that numerous variables, including performance influences, such as preparation for distractions and loss of composure; team variables, such as strong cohesion and positive coach-athlete relationships; coaching variables, including coach's ability to deal with crises and coaching expectations; family-friend variables, including general social support and getting event tickets for family and friends; and environmental concerns, such as venue transportation difficulties and Olympic village distractions; were perceived to influence performance. Findings verified the results of qualitative interviews conducted with Olympic athletes and coaches.     

Child care quality matters: how conclusions may vary with context

Three studies examined associations between early child care and child outcomes among families different from those in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Early Child Care Research Network study. Results suggest that quality is an important influence on children's development and may be an important moderator of the amount of time in care. Thus, the generalizability of the NICHD findings may hinge on the context in which those results were obtained. These studies, conducted in three national contexts, with different regulatory climates, ranges of child care quality, and a diversity of family characteristics, suggest a need for more complete estimates of how both quality and quantity of child care may influence a range of young children's developmental outcomes.