Designing for 21st century learning online: a heuristic method to enable educator learning support roles

With the growing emphasis on developing 21st century skills among today’s youth, there is continued optimism about the possibilities granted by increasing access to networked technologies, particularly for encouraging youth to pursue their interests and take ownership of their learning. Yet, research demonstrates the importance of adult support in realizing the promise of achieving these outcomes. Designers of such systems are thus faced with the need to create youth-centered spaces that also provide adult facilitation of learning. This paper presents an adaptation of the traditional heuristic evaluation method which provides designers of online learning systems with a holistic view of how adult learning support is enabled across the system. We describe how the heuristic evaluation method was adapted, and through a case example analyzing one online social learning system used in a middle school context, we demonstrate how it can be used to help identify areas for improvement and promising areas for further research. We also present a framework of heuristics which reflect specific educator learning support roles that have been found to be important for youth learning, particularly for supporting 21st century skills. This work contributes a novel heuristic evaluation method that can help designers of online learning platforms attend not only the experiences of learners, but also to how educators are enabled to support their learning.     

Computer usage and cognitive capability of older adults: Analysis of data from the Health and Retirement Study

As America’s older population continues to grow, more individuals are experiencing cognitive decline in the United States. At the same time, we live in an age where technology has increasingly become an integral part of our daily lives. Although numerous studies have examined cognitive functions of older adults from a diverse range of perspectives, research on the relationship between the technology adoption and adult cognitive capacity has been limited. Using nationally representative data (n = 5,259) from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), this study analyzed the effect of computer usage on the cognitive capabilities of individuals aged 50 and older in the United States. Findings show that computer use in older adults declines with age but rises for those with higher levels of education. Results also indicate that an increased use of computers is significantly associated with improved cognitive capability, when controlling for age, gender, and years of education. Further research is needed to better understand the patterns of technology adoption among older adults and assess its effects on their cognitive abilities.     

Effects of Different Instructional Approaches on Young Children's Achievement and Motivation

Children in child-centered preschools and kindergartens were compared to children in didactic, highly academic programs in terms of their basic skills achievement and a set of motivation variables. The study included 227 poor, minority, and middle-class children between the ages of 4 and 6 years. Children in didactic programs that stressed basic skills had significantly higher scores on a letters/reading achievement test but not on a numbers achievement test. Being enrolled in a didactic early childhood education program was associated with relatively negative outcomes on most of the motivation measures. Compared to children in child-centered programs, children in didactic programs rated their abilities significantly lower, had lower expectations for success on academic tasks, showed more dependency on adults for permission and approval, evidenced less pride in their accomplishments, and claimed to worry more about school. Program effects were the same for economically disadvantaged and middle-class children, and for preschoolers and kindergartners.     

Banners for Books: “Mighty-Hearted” Kindergartners Take Action through Arts-Based Service Learning

Teaching about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, is one way to support students’ learning about issues of fairness. However, learning about this document is not enough. Students need to have experiences where they explore issues of justice and equity in order to learn about respect and dignity for others. The present study explored an arts-based project in a kindergarten classroom about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 26—The Right to Education. Over the course of several months, nineteen kindergarten students learned about educational inequities around the world and specifically about an under-resourced partner school in El Salvador. Children’s literature about human rights became the catalyst for critical conversations, written responses, and drawings inspiring action. Students worked to address injustice by screen printing images they drew about their beliefs regarding a child’s right to education on fabric banners to raise awareness about school inequity. These banners were then displayed in their school and in the partner school. Overall findings from students’ discussions, writing, illustrations, and interviews indicated that the kindergartners were able to recognize their own rights and educational privilege. Through the project they demonstrated active citizenship centered on care and sought further connections with children at the partner school. In using arts-based service learning, educators involved in the study discovered how art can be used as a creative process and a teaching method to support young learners raising awareness about global inequities.     

The relationship between adult health and childhood maltreatment,as moderated by anger and ethnic background

Childhood maltreatment, anger, and racial/ethnic background were examined in relation to physical health, psychological well-being, and blood pressure outcomes. This study used data from a diverse sample of African American, Latino, and Caucasian participants (N = 198). Results from a series of multiple regressions indicated anger and total childhood maltreatment were robust predictors of poorer health. Although correlational analyses found maltreatment from the mother and father were associated with poorer health outcomes, when considered as part of the regression models, only a relationship between maltreatment from the mother and physical health was found. Greater anger scores were linked with lower blood pressure, particularly systolic blood pressure. Generally, more psychological and physical symptom reporting was found with greater anger scores, and higher levels of total maltreatment also predicted physical symptoms. The pattern of interactions indicated anger was more detrimental for African American participant's (and marginally so for Latino participant's) physical health. Interestingly, interactions also indicated total childhood maltreatment was related to fewer symptoms for Latino participants. Although child maltreatment may be viewed as a moral and/or human rights issue, this study provides evidence that it can also be viewed as a public health issue. Our study demonstrated that known health risk factors such as anger and maltreatment may operate in a different pattern dependent on ethnic/cultural background. The findings suggest health and health disparities research would benefit from greater exploration of the differential impact of certain moderating variables based on racial/ethnic background.     

The entrepreneurial subjectivity of successful researchers

This article begins the work of examining what kind of doctoral experiences positively influence researcher development, and what other attributes may contribute to a successful research career. It reports preliminary findings from the analysis of survey responses by a sample of successful mid-career researchers. Positive doctoral experiences and the early establishment of research activity are found to be important to researcher development. Successful researchers were also found to be able to acknowledge the importance of their ‘soft skills’, and to have flexible, responsive and adaptive dispositions. We term this disposition ‘an entrepreneurial subjectivity’ and argue that it is an important and under-examined characteristic of the successful researcher.     

22nd Annual NASIG Conference Registrants NASIG Conference 2007—Registrants by Affiliation

Electronic resources are common in academic libraries. Focus is being placed on ways to provide users with easy access and accomplish tasks at the same time. When e-journals first arrived, libraries created workflows that followed the path of a print journal. These workflows were effective for a while, but are now breaking down. Libraries performed review and analysis to discover problems, and created new workflows. They have learned that workflows need to be constantly reviewed, analyzed, and updated to identify inefficiencies and eliminate them. Libraries must be willing to devote time and energy to maintain effective workflows to prepare for the future. A summary will be provided of one library's transition from a print to an electronic environment and the steps taken to maintain effective workflows through the years. The early days of cloud computing are here and libraries are taking first steps into the cloud. Workflows must be evaluated before moving into the cloud. Migration should be carefully structured for the move. Libraries are witnessing the benefits of the cloud environment. This article will discuss the benefits of maintaining effective workflows in the cloud. Readers will learn about a journey into the cloud with Ex Libris' Alma system.     

“This Is Our Library,and It’s a Pretty Cool Place”: A User-Centered Study of Public Library YA Spaces

This study sought to collect data from teens and librarians about their preferences and recommendations for the effective design of physical library spaces for teens. Librarians and teens at twenty-two U.S. public libraries filmed narrated video tours of their young adult (YA) public library spaces. The researchers used qualitative content analysis techniques to analyze the video data and to develop a framework for guiding the design of effective YA public library spaces. In addition to providing specific recommendations for user-centered YA library space design, this study highlights the need for continued user input into the design and maintenance of YA public library spaces as teens’ needs evolve and vary across time and from community to community.     

Relational Framing Theory: Utterance Form and Relational Context as Antecedents of Frame Salience

Using relational framing theory, this article examines the influence of utterance type and relational context on the salience of relational frames. The authors report the results of two studies that used scenarios to manipulate utterance form and information about the relationship between interactants. Participants rated the relevance of dominance-submissiveness and affiliation-disaffiliation frames to interpreting the hypothetical interactions. Results showed that judgments of dominance-submissiveness frame salience were sensitive to variations in utterance type and relational context, but the results were mixed for the affiliation-disaffiliation frame. The authors discuss the implications for relational framing theory and the possibility of an affiliation bias.