Changing the rules: from textbooks to PLEs / Cambiando las reglas de juego: de los libros de texto al PLE

Abstract

This article is a pedagogical contribution to the debate about the meaning, usefulness and possible integration of PLEs into formalized education. We assume that PLEs represent a change in the rules of traditional teaching taking place in formal educational contexts. We use the comparison of a solid knowledge taught in textbooks compared PLEs in the context of the liquid culture of cyberspace as a metaphor for learning. The article provides an overview of the features and elements of a PLE in formal education and suggests that the educational objective of PLEs is the formation of digital citizenship. This concept implies that learners must become aware of their digital identity and develop competence in five dimensions for an intelligent use of digital technology and culture. We conclude by referring to PLEs as an educational ideology and its potential evolution from the deschooling theses and educational reform in schools.     

Serial Narrative,Intertextuality, and the Role of Audiences in the Creation of a Franchise: An Analysis of the Indiana Jones Saga from a Cross-Media Perspective

Rather than the simple adaptation of a story across different media, cross-media narrative should be defined as that which is transformed by virtue of use a medium and its different languages (film, comics, video games, etc.). This article extends and updates the dimensions of previous cross-media analysis models by underlining narrative aspects of the different products discussed and examining the influence of generic conventions along the way. To test this methodology, the article focuses on a product from the “adventure” genre— the Indiana Jones franchise—which it argues should be seen as a benchmark in the history of this kind of narrative. Special attention is given to the treatment of the character of Indiana Jones, who is the true focal point of the narrative, and to other underlying thematic features.     

Foreign and International Communications

Final Report of the Royal Commission on the Press (London: HMSO Cmnd Paper No. 6810, 1977—E4.25 or about $8.50, paper)

Jonathan Hill's The Cat's Lihisker: 50 Years of Wireless Design (London: Oresko Books, 1977—E8.95/4.95 or about $18.00/10.00)

Manuel Alvarado and Edward Buscombe's Hazell: The Making of a TV Series (London: British Film Institute and Latimer New Dimensions Ltd., 1978— E6.95/2.95 or about $l4.00/6.00)

Steve Chibnall's Law-and-Order-News: An Aspect of Crime Reporting in the British Press (London: Tavistock House, 1977— E3.50 or about $7.25, paper with hardback also available)

Robert Collins' A Voice from Afar: The History of Telecommunications in Canada (Scarborough, Ontario: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1977—$14.95)

Godwin C. Chu's Radical Change Through Communication in Mao's China (Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii, 1977—$14.00)     

Filling in the gaps: European governance,the open method of coordination and the European Commission

The article addresses the way in which EU policy‐making operates, explains the relevance of ‘lifelong learning’ for the European Commission and analyses the mechanisms by which the Commission has advanced policy‐making in education and training since the Lisbon Summit. The article reviews in particular the alleged lack of effectiveness of the Open Method of Coordination in education and, second, the notion that the EU advances ‘slowly and persistently’ in its acquisition of competences in this area.     

Education,meritocracy and redistribution

This paper analyses the relationship between education, meritocracy and redistribution. It first questions the meritocratic ideal highlighting how it relates to normative expectations that do not hold fully neither in their logic nor in practice. It then complements the literature on persistent inequalities by focusing on the opportunities for change created by current trends in the economy and in social aspirations. As the meritocratic argument that education is strongly linked to certain rewards in the labour market comes under pressure, increasing social dissatisfaction with education and skills wastage could be expected, as already noted in part of the political economy literature. This literature, however, has tended to conclude from such observations that educational expansion cannot deliver equality. The paper contributes to the debate by focusing on the opportunities created by current trends for the reorganisation of the relationship between education, the economy and society.     

La intervención metacognitiva sobre la lectura y la importancia de las estrategias de apoyo

En esta investigación se analizan dos procesos de metacomprensión: el primero se refiere a las estructuras conceptuales en sí; el segundo, a las propias competencias y aprendizaje. Ambos parecen influir en el proceso del conocimiento y el aprendizaje y parece resultar necesario un buen análisis en cada caso de los mecanismos de mediación y ayuda que permiten que el alumno logre ambos tipos de metacomprensión.     

Online disclosure of university social responsibility: a comparative study of public and private US universities

Public and private universities tasked with incorporating principles of social responsibility (SR) into their activities face the multiple challenges of addressing expectations of diverse stakeholders, establishing mechanisms for dialogue, and achieving greater information transparency. This article has two goals: first, to analyze whether SR has become an essential element in activities associated with university accountability, information transparency, and the use of the Internet; second, to analyze whether SR is used by universities as a differentiating factor in relation to their status. A comparative study of public and private US universities shows that neither is strongly committed to the online disclosure of SR information, including in relation to sustainability-related activities. Moreover, there is a uniformity in the accountability activities of both university types, suggesting that the challenges are not being faced, and SR is not being used as a differentiating factor in the pursuit of positional or competitive advantage.     

Discrimination between Demodex folliculorum (Acari: Demodicidae) isolates from China and Spain based on mitochondrial cox1 sequences

For a long time, classification of Demodex mites has been based mainly on their hosts and phenotypic characteristics. A new subspecies of Demodex folliculorum has been proposed, but not confirmed. Here, cox1 partial sequences of nine isolates of three Demodex species from two geographical sources (China and Spain) were studied to conduct molecular identification of D. folliculorum. Sequencing showed that the mitochondrial cox1 fragments of five D. folliculorum isolates from the facial skin of Chinese individuals were 429 bp long and that their sequence identity was 97.4%. The average sequence divergence was 1.24% among the five Chinese isolates, 0.94% between the two geographical isolate groups (China (5) and Spain (1)), and 2.15% between the two facial tissue sources (facial skin (6) and eyelids (1)). The genetic distance and rate of third-position nucleotide transition/transversion were 0.0125, 2.7 (3/1) among the five Chinese isolates, 0.0094, 3.1 (3/1) between the two geographical isolate groups, and 0.0217, 4.4 (3/1) between the two facial tissue sources. Phylogenetic trees showed that D. folliculorum from the two geographical isolate groups did not form sister clades, while those from different facial tissue sources did. According to the molecular characteristics, it appears that subspecies differentiation might not have occurred and that D. folliculorum isolates from the two geographical sources are of the same population. However, population differentiation might be occurring between isolates from facial skin and eyelids.     

Exploring the Role of Family Support and Ethnic Pride in Cultivating the Academic and Career Resourcefulness of Underserved Youth in an Afterschool Program

The Urban Review - The purpose of this study was to identify the internal and external factors that support the academic and career resourcefulness of adolescents from underserved backgrounds. This...