The Uncertain Future for Digital Visual Collections in the University

Digital documents in the networked information environment fundamentally change the ways that visual materials can be used in education and scholarly discourse. These new uses raise questions about research library strategies with regard to digitized visual materials as a part of their collections, challenge assumptions underlying intellectual property rights for images and their scope, and offer ways in which visual literacy can become a more integral part of the common educational experience.     

Reproduction and transformation of students’ technology practice: The tale of two distinctive secondary student cases

Disparities in the technology practices, skills and knowledge of school students still exist, despite widespread investment, and use in schools. In order to understand why inequalities remain, we first need a more nuanced understanding of students’ technology practice, including understanding how their backgrounds, circumstances and experiences shape their perceptions of and engagement with technology. This paper proposes that research in the field of educational technology would benefit from a sociological framing in order to highlight how and why students use technology at school and in their everyday lives. The paper reports on a qualitative embedded case study of 13–16-year-old students in two Australian secondary schools. In-depth case studies of two selected students illustrate the complex nature of students’ technology practice. Bourdieu’s concepts of field, habitus and capital are used as a lens through which to view and understand inequalities in students’ technology practice. The findings demonstrate the utility of sociological theory in educational technology research by highlighting systems and structures of reproduction and transformation. Furthermore, the findings can inform an approach to teaching and learning that considers students’ varied experiences, knowledge, perspectives and backgrounds relating to technology.     

In pursuit of becoming a senior coach: the learning culture for Australian Football League coaches

Background and Purpose: Given the turbulent and highly contested environment in which professional coaches work, a prime concern to coach developers is how coaches learn their craft. Understanding the learning and development of senior coaches (SCs) and assistant coaches (ACs) in the Australian Football League (AFL – the peak organisation for Australian Rules Football) is important to better develop the next generation of performance coaches. Hence the focus of this research was to examine the learning of SC and AC in the AFL. Fundamental to this research was an understanding that the AFL and each club within the league be regarded as learning organisations and workplaces with their own learning cultures where learning takes place. The purpose of this paper was to examine the learning culture for AFL coaches.

Method: Five SCs, 6 ACs, and 5 administrators (4 of whom were former coaches) at 11 of the 16 AFL clubs were recruited for the research project. First, demographic data were collected for each participant (e.g. age, playing and coaching experience, development and coach development activities). Second, all participants were involved in one semi-structured interview of between 45 and 90 minutes duration. An interpretative (hierarchical content) analysis of the interview data was conducted to identify key emergent themes.

Results: Learning was central to AFL coaches becoming a SC. Nevertheless, coaches reported a sense of isolation and a lack of support in developing their craft within their particular learning culture. These coaches developed a unique dynamic social network (DSN) that involved episodic contact with a number of respected confidantes often from diverse fields (used here in the Bourdieuian sense) in developing their coaching craft. Although there were some opportunities in their workplace, much of their learning was unmediated by others, underscoring the importance of their agentic engagement in limited workplace affordances.

Conclusion: The variety of people accessed for the purposes of learning (often beyond the immediate workplace) and the long time taken to establish networks of supporters meant that a new way of describing the social networks of AFL coaches was needed; DSN. However, despite the acknowledged utility of learning from others, all coaches reported some sense of isolation in their learning. The sense of isolation brought about by professional volatility in high-performance Australian Football offers an alternative view on Hodkinson, Biesta and James' attempt in overcoming dualisms in learning.     

Positional group significantly influences the offensive and defensive skill involvements of junior representative rugby league players during match play

This study examined the skill involvements of three positional groups across a junior representative rugby league season. Data were collected from 45 rugby league players (mean ± SD; age = 16.5 ± 1.0 years) currently participating in the Harold Matthews and SG Ball Cup. Players were subdivided into hit-up forwards, adjustables and outside backs. The frequency (n · min^?1) of offensive, defensive and overall involvements was coded for each group using a notation system and a practical coach skill analysis tool. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) revealed a significant effect of playing position on skill involvements (F = 9.06; P < 0.001; ES = 0.41). Hit-up forwards performed a significantly greater frequency of offensive (0.31 ± 0.10), defensive (0.42 ± 0.15) and overall involvements (0.74 ± 0.19) when compared to adjustables (0.20 ± 0.08, 0.28 ± 0.08 and 0.52 ± 0.15, respectively) and outside backs (0.20 ± 0.12, 0.11 ± 0.07 and ± 0.31 ± 0.17, respectively). Further, adjustables performed a significantly greater number of defensive (0.28 ± 0.08) and overall involvements (0.52 ± 0.15) when compared to outside backs (0.11 ± 0.07 and 0.31 ± 0.17, respectively). The findings of this study suggest that it is important to consider a junior player’s positional group when analysing their skill involvements. Information gained from this study could assist in the design of specific training methodologies for junior rugby league players in high-level talent development programmes.     

Gentrification,Charter Schools,and Enrollment Patterns in Washington,DC: Shared Growth or New Forms of Educational Inequality?

ABSTRACT

Cities in the United States and across the world have experienced gentrification at the same time as school choice policies have become more popular. This research examines the relationship between gentrification and charter schooling, seeking to understand how together they affect demographic composition of schools across Washington, DC. This study uses geographic information systems (GIS) mapping and statistical techniques to show that gentrified neighborhoods are more likely to have charter schools. Additionally, the demographic compositions of charter schools and traditional public schools differ depending on the gentrification classification of the census tract in which the schools are located. While a handful of diverse charter schools exist in gentrified neighborhoods and some diverse public schools exist in traditionally affluent neighborhoods, schools in Washington, DC remain racially and economically isolated overall.     

International work in early childhood education: a UNESCO perspective

After defining UNESCO's place in the United Nations system, the author outlines the new situation that has arisen in recent years for the world's children. Although infant mortality rates continue to give concern, the major problem that international organisations have now to face is not the question of children's survival but their development. Research shows that the vital age for developmental inputs is early childhood, without which the chances of later learning achievement are severely diminished. The proposed ECD Programming Model attempts to take into account present research on early child development as well as the socio‐economic context of developing countries, where governments are increasingly unable to provide basic services.     

Factors associated with student plagiarism in a post‐1992 university

A model intended to explain the incidence of plagiarism among undergraduates in the Business Studies department of a post‐1992 university was constructed and tested on a sample of 249 students completing Business Studies units at a post‐1992 university in Greater London. It was hypothesised that the occurrence of plagiarism could be predicted via three attitudinal considerations (individual perceptions of the ethicality of the practice, fear of penalties if caught and fear of failing a degree); two personal traits (goal orientation and academic integration), and three situational factors (financial, current grades achieved, and how strictly lecturing staff enforced anti‐plagiarism rules). Proposals concerning possible inter‐relations and interactions among these variables were also formulated and assessed.