Psychological assessment and dyslexia: parents’ perspectives

The purpose of this paper is to explore parents’ perceptions of the process of having their child assessed for dyslexia by an independent Educational Psychologist and the affective impact on the child or young person. The research was carried out as part of an evaluation of the services offered by the Northern Ireland Dyslexia Centre (NIDC). The methodology involved the use of a postal survey questionnaire with both qualitative and quantitative outcomes. Findings are discussed in the context of strategies for promoting partnerships with parents and affective-academic pathways for learners with dyslexia.     

Conceptualizing the use of online technologies for gifted secondary students

In an era where technology is advancing at a rapid pace, and where information is readily accessible on the World Wide Web, educators should be capitalizing on these resources for gifted students. This paper proposes a conceptual framework to support individualized and independent learning within a network of peers that will provide challenging interactions through extensive use of online learning. Online resources and technologies promote the exploration of new concepts and sharing of new learning with a group of motivated and “like‐minded” peers.     

Reflections on Plowden

ICT can make a useful contribution to the development of early literacy but exploiting this potential in developmentally appropriate ways requires early years educators to meet the challenge of outlining the ways and means this process requires. As early years professionals we need to think not only about the ways in which ICT can help to enhance our current practices in literacy but also about how our concept of literacy itself might need to change. Clarifying our view of our role and responsibilities in relation to technological change and young children's literacy experiences in a rapidly changing world of communication could be one way of ensuring that at least some of these changes meet our needs and those of the children we work with.     

Re-reading the reading lesson: episodes in the history of reading pedagogy

Reading pedagogy is constantly an object of discussion and debate in contemporary policy and practice but is rarely a matter for historical inquiry. This paper reports from a recent study of the history of reading pedagogy in Australia and beyond. It focuses on a recurring figure in the historical record—the ‘reading lesson’. Presented as a distinctive trope, the reading lesson is traced in its regularity in and through the discourse of reading pedagogy, starting in 1930s Australia and moving back into 19th-century Europe, and with specific reference to the UK and the USA. Teaching reading is expressly identified as a moral project—something that, it can be argued, clearly continues into the present.     

Selecting Software with Caution: An Empirical Evaluation of Popular Beginning Reading Software for Children with Early Literacy Difficulties

It seems appropriate, if not necessary, to use empirically supported criteria to evaluate reading software applications. This study's purpose was to develop a research-based evaluation framework and review selected beginning reading software that might be used with struggling beginning readers. Thirty-one products were reviewed according to criteria that addressed interface design, instructional design, and beginning reading content. Findings suggested that the software sample generally did not meet the evaluation standards. Results also indicated that software rating highly on interface design tended to rate lower on beginning reading content. Based on these results, implications for practice and next steps for research are also discussed.     

YouTube: Educational Potentials and Pitfalls

No abstract available for this article.     

HyperStudio for Grade-One Students

Summary

With current advancements in hypermedia, innovative software is being developed with educators in mind. A prime example is HyperStudio, where the user has the ability to manipulate and control the union of sounds, graphics, and automation. In this article, we describe the interactions of a grade-one HyperStudio expert teaching a novice HyperStudio classmate how to use the program as a means to publish her story.

Data were collected through videotaping, QuickTime movies, and observations. The data were analyzed to discover emerging patterns between the two students, the researcher, and the computer. The two students evolved from an unequal power structure of peer tutoring to a more collaborative structure, where the once novice became an equal partner in the publishing process.     

The Effects of Concurrent Classroom and Home Instructional Video-Game Use on Student Achievement

ABSTRACT

This study focused on whether Internet use improves skills for practical use of information, which is termed information literacy in Japan. Data from Japanese elementary school children (n = 702) were analyzed in a two-wave panel study in order to estimate the causal relationship between Internet use and information literacy. Structural equation modeling was the specific technique applied in a cross-lagged effect model. Results of the analysis indicated that greater use of the Internet led to higher information literacy in the whole-scale measure of practical use of information, as well as in the subskill areas of collecting, judging, and expressing information.     

Self-Efficacy Expectations as a Predictor of Computer Use:

No abstract available for this article.     

南北呼应 志向高远——由两首《沁园春》解析毛泽东的心路历程

毛泽东波澜壮阔的一生创作出许多瑰丽的诗篇,其中<沁园春·长沙>和<沁园春·雪>是其思想发展、艺术创作、高远志向的突出代表,反映出毛泽东不仅在思想上不断走向成熟,而且在艺术上达到巅峰,更是其心路历程的真实记录.他心路历程上的变化,既反映出毛泽东的宏大高远志向和其思想日趋成熟,也证明了中国革命的历史发展过程,对后人有深刻的教育和启发意义.