Exposing athletes to playing form activity: outcomes of a randomised control trial among community netball teams using a game-centred approach

This study evaluated whether exposing junior netball players to greater amounts of competition relevant activity (playing form activity) had an effect on game play outcomes and session involvement. A group-randomised controlled trial in one junior netball club in the Hunter Region, NSW, Australia. Ninety female athletes (mean age = 9.04 years, SD 1.53) were randomised by team (n = 11) into the intervention (n = 41) or 9-week wait-list control (n = 49) condition. The Professional Learning for Understanding Games Education into Sport (PLUNGE into Sport) programme was undertaken in the first half of nine training sessions (9 × 30 min). The intervention exposed athletes to playing form activity through a coach development programme within training sessions. Athletes’ decision-making, support and skill outcomes during a small-sided invasion game, and session involvement (pedometer step/min), were measured at baseline and 9-week follow-up. Linear mixed models revealed significant group-by-time intervention effects (P < 0.05) for decision-making (d = 0.4) and support (d = 0.5) during game play, and in-session activity (d = 1.2). An intervention exposing athletes to greater levels of playing form activity, delivered via a coach education programme, was efficacious in improving athlete decision-making and support skills in game play and increasing athlete involvement during sessions.     

Hokanson,Brad & Gibbons,Andrew ed (2013) Design in educational technology Springer (Berlin) isbn 978‐3‐319‐00926‐1 283 pp £90 http://www.springer.com/education+%26+language/learning+%26+instruction/book/978‐3‐319‐00926‐1

Here is a well written and well edited book with focus on the concept of design in modern educational technology practice. It is for both new and experienced designers; those new to the field might find opportunities to expand their practice, while experienced designers will find affirmation of many past practices and the opportunity to explore new ideas for future projects. If you think this book is likely to be of value to you, I suggest you buy your own copy Diane P Janes     

Untangling the effects of shared book reading: Multiple factors and their associations with preschool literacy outcomes

Evidence strongly suggests that shared book reading at home and in preschool is important for young children's development of the foundational skills required for the eventual mastery of decoding and comprehension. Yet the nuances of how learning from book reading might vary across these contexts and with children's skills are not well understood. One hundred and thirty children participating in a longitudinal investigation of literacy development were videotaped reading a storybook with a parent. Children were also videotaped in their 33 preschool classrooms during the instructional book-reading portion of the day. Readings were coded for adult and child contextualized and decontextualized language relating to both decoding and meaning-making skills, and relations between this talk and emergent literacy outcomes were analyzed. Results demonstrate that parents and teachers overwhelmingly focus their book-related talk on meaning-related rather than code-related information, and that the relations between outcomes and talk depend in part on children's initial levels of vocabulary skills. Implications for practice and research are discussed.     

Media Production

Barrie Redfern's Local Radio (London and New York: Focal Press, 1978—$8.95, paper)

Norman Crowhurst's How to Select and Install Your Own Speakers (Blue Ridge Summit, Pa.: TAB Books, 1979—49.95, and also in paperback)

Hindman, Janes, Larry Kirkman, and Elizabeth Monk. TV Acting: A Manual for Camera Performance (1979—$15.50/7.95 , 191 pp.)

Williamson, Daniel R. Newsqathering. (1979—$13.50/7.50 , 250 pp.)

Stonecipher, Harry W. Editorial and Persuasive Writing: Opinion Functions of the News Media (1979—$13.95/7.95, 256 pp.)

Richard Robinson's The Video Primer: Equipment, Production, and Concepts (New York: Quick Fox, 1979—$14.95/6.95)

Marshall Lee's Bookmaking: The Illustrated euide to Design/production/editing (New York: R.R. Bowker, 1979—$25.00)

Lenny Lipton's Lipton on Filmmaking (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1979—$7.95, paper, with a hardback also available)

Philip C. Geraci's Photojournalism: Making Pictures for Publication (Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing, 1978—$12.95, paper)     

The Big Three's Prime-Time Decline: A Technological and Social Context

This paper is an analysis of factors associated with the 25-year decline in the prime-time shares of the top 3 television networks. Time series analysis revealed a stronger serial correlation between network decline and social indicators than between network decline and technological factors. Network shares were negatively correlated with indicators of social differentiation, and were also negatively correlated with the penetration of cable and other multiple video programming distribution sources (MVPD) into the nation's households (the technological context). Findings were discussed in terms of the impact of social change on both the audiences and organizations of broadcasting.     

The contributions of parental management language to executive function in preschool children

This study investigated relations between preschoolers’ emergent executive function skills and their interactions with parents, with particular focus on the verbal utterances parents use to guide children's behavior (i.e., management language). Parent–child dyads (n = 127) were videotaped during a structured play task and the frequency of two types of management language, Direction (high control) and Suggestion (low control), was observed. Children's executive function was assessed using the Head–Toes–Knees–Shoulders (HTKS) task. Latent growth modeling was used to investigate relations between management language and the development of children's executive function. Direction language (i.e., commands) was negatively associated with children's age three executive function but not significantly related to the rate of executive function development over time. Conversely, Suggestion language (i.e., questions and statements that offer children some degree of choice) was positively related to executive function at age three but negatively related to growth. The potential importance of management language as a parenting behavior that contributes to various aspects of children's self-regulation during preschool and kindergarten is discussed.     

FROM SPLINTERED LIVES TO WHOLE PERSONS: FACILITATING SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT IN COLLEGE STUDENTS

College provides students opportunities to examine and rethink spirituality, values, and faith. Spirituality is defined as a dynamic expression of who we are, truly. Students' spiritual development can be assisted as faculty and staff acknowledge what is personally sacred and valuable; institutions commit to assisting in such development; communities strive for consistency in mission, goals, and actions; time and space are provided for reflection and growth; genuine care is expressed; service opportunities are offered; living models and images of the spirited life are shared; and faculty and staff attend to their own spiritual development through living together as a spirited community.     

Museums,Corporatism and the Civil Society

Abstract The prevailing worldview in North America is grounded in the belief that continuous economic growth is essential to individual and societal well‐being. One result of the dominance of this worldview is the rise of museum corporatism, characterized by the primacy of economic interests in institutional decision making. This paper provides a critical overview of the growing dominance of marketplace thinking in museum affairs, and argues that this market‐oriented viewpoint is enfeebling or diverting otherwise competent museums from realizing their unique strengths and opportunities as social institutions in civil society. The meaning and implications of the “civil society” are discussed with particular reference to museums, along with several examples of museums and galleries that are currently playing key roles as agents of the civil society. This paper contends that departing from the status quo of marketplace imperatives opens the door to more creative definitions of museums as social institutions. Rather than becoming more like businesses, museums must exploit their uniqueness, resisting the domination of marketplace thinking, and testing alternative means of achieving meaning and sustainability within their communities.