Digital Divide 2.0: “Generation M” and Online Social Networking Sites in the Composition Classroom

The digital divide has been largely theorized as a problem of access. Compositionists have attempted to move beyond a binary view of technology access in examining the digital divide and in doing so have raised important questions about the larger societal issues connected to issues of technological literacy and access. While much attention has been paid to students at risk of growing up without access to, and experience with, computers, attention also needs to be paid to students’ critical digital literacies. Additionally, we now face a new instantiation of the digital divide where students are often more technologically adept than their instructors. The problem is not so much providing access for Generation M students surrounded by technology but rather to effectively integrate technological literacy instruction into the composition classroom in meaningful ways. Compositionists should focus on incorporating into their pedagogy technologies that students are familiar with but do not think critically about: online social networking sites, podcasts, audio mash-ups, blogs, and wikis. To do so, however, instructors first need to familiarize themselves with these technologies. In essence, compositionists must catch up with the Generation M students who have left them behind.     

‘B Seeing U’ in unfamiliar places: ESL writers, email epistolaries, and critical computer literacy

This article poses a rich, to date unexplored, resource for facilitating students’ development of critical technological literacy: the email epistolary novel. With reference to a developmental writing class populated primarily by international English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students, the article describes how the study of an email epistolary helped students to examine technology critically and made students’ technological literacies a course emphasis. This approach to writing pedagogy, the article argues, illustrates how ESL students negotiate their technological literacies in the context of their assimilation into American undergraduate communities. The article concludes by suggesting that email epistolaries can guide students at all levels toward more nuanced understandings of how technological literacy emerges in dialogue with other literacy practices.     

Advances in Control Technologies for Wastewater Treatment Processes:Status,Challenges, and Perspectives

This paper presents a thorough review of control technologies that have been applied to wastewater treatment processes in the environmental engineering regime in the past four decades. It aims to provide a comprehensive technological review for both water engineering professionals and control specialists, giving rise to a suite of up-to-date pathways to impact this field in light of the classified technology hubs. The assessment was conducted with respect to linear control, linearizing control, nonlinear control, and artificial intelligence-based control. The application domain of each technology hub was summarized into a set of comparative tables for a holistic assessment. Challenges and perspectives were offered to these field engineers to help orient their future endeavor.      

Exploring the role of content knowledge in teacher design conversations

This study investigated the role of content knowledge in conversations of kindergarten teachers during collaborative curriculum design of learning material for technology‐enhanced learning. Two teams of teachers received support from an early literacy expert during these design activities. Resulting conversations were analyzed on technological pedagogical content knowledge, explicated reasoning, and the contributions of expert support. This study found that in explicating content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge, teachers set goals and deliberated on strategies and activities that would be most appropriate for their students. Technological content knowledge and technological pedagogical content knowledge were explicated most during deliberations on practical concerns; these mainly revolved around optimizing the affordances of technology. This study contributes to understanding and supporting the pedagogical design capacity of teachers.     

Young students using iPads: App design and content influences on their learning pathways

The past few years have seen an array of new technological gadgets arrive on the education scene, perhaps the best known of these being Apple's i-Device range, particularly the iPad. Such devices have been described by some as ‘game changers’, and promoted as a key component to stimulating much-needed educational reform. However, history suggests the hype and rhetoric surrounding these technological innovations has failed to match the reality of their performance, in action. Some have attributed this failure to a lack of alignment by teachers of pedagogical models with the potential of technologies, while others argue that claims made are simply unrealistic sales hype. Regardless, schools continue to be seduced by these new technologies, purchasing ever increasing amounts based on the alleged learning promises they offer their students.This study presents an innovative approach to exploring student interaction with iPad apps, and is an attempt to begin to unpack factors that affect their learning pathways, in an effort to improve the educational potential of these popular devices. It focuses specifically on design and content features of apps selected by an experienced teacher to enhance literacy, numeracy and problem-solving capabilities of her 5 year old students. Findings reveal a complex matrix of influencing factors. These include the effect of embedded pedagogical scaffolds (eg., modelling, reflection time), corrective and formative feedback, text-to-speech functionality, imposed interaction parameters, impediments (eg., web links, advertisements, buying content) and the entertainment/education balance. Arguments are made for researchers, teachers and developers to work together and adopt methodologies such as that introduced in this article, to gather data to radically improve the design of apps used by young students for learning.     

Contested knowledge: Technological literacies and the power of unacknowledged disciplinary investments

This article examines how teachers’ and students’ unacknowledged disciplinary and professional investments shape power dynamics in the classroom. We ground our inquiry in a situated study of two undergraduate web authoring courses. We first describe how participants struggled to make their definitions of technological literacy—as seen in the people and practices valued in these definitions—the privileged definitions of the classroom. We then argue that these definitions were informed by participants’ unacknowledged disciplinary investments. Finally, we raise questions about the potential implications of these investments for our discipline.     

Hidden in plain sight: low-literacy adults in a developed country overcoming social and educational challenges through mobile learning support tools

Illiteracy is often associated with people in developing countries. However, an estimated 50 % of adults in a developed country such as Canada lack the literacy skills required to cope with the challenges of today’s society; for them, tasks such as reading, understanding, basic arithmetic, and using everyday items are a challenge. Many community-based organizations offer resources and support for these adults, yet overall functional literacy rates are not improving. This is due to a wide range of factors, such as poor retention of adult learners in literacy programs, obstacles in transferring the acquired skills from the classroom to the real life, personal attitudes toward learning, and the stigma of functional illiteracy. In our research we examined the opportunities afforded by personal mobile devices in providing learning and functional support to low-literacy adults. We present the findings of an exploratory study aimed at investigating the reception and adoption of a technological solution for adult learners. ALEX^© is a mobile application designed for use both in the classroom and in daily life in order to help low-literacy adults become increasingly literate and independent. Such a solution complements literacy programs by increasing users’ motivation and interest in learning, and raising their confidence levels both in their education pursuits and in facing the challenges of their daily lives. We also reflect on the challenges we faced in designing and conducting our research with two user groups (adults enrolled in literacy classes and in an essential skills program) and contrast the educational impact and attitudes toward such technology between these. Our conclusions present the lessons learned from our evaluations and the impact of the studies’ specific challenges on the outcome and uptake of such mobile assistive technologies in providing practical support to low-literacy adults in conjunction with literacy and essential skills training.     

Little experience with ICT: Are they really the Net Generation student-teachers?

The aim of this study is to investigate the complexity of past experiences with ICT, pedagogical beliefs, and attitude toward ICT in education that the Net Generation student teachers have about their intention to teach and learn with technology. This study has a particular focus on their lived experiences as school students where ICT related policies were actively enacted in Korea and Singapore for the past decade. To unpack the profile of the Net Generation student teachers, we selected six factors (i.e., past ICT experiences, personal computer use, constructivist belief, computer efficacy, attitude toward computer in education, and prospective computer use) related to ICT use and examined them empirically with 225 first- or second-year student teachers in Korea and Singapore. Overall, our findings indicate that student teachers in both countries tend to hold fairly constructivist beliefs and positive computer efficacy and attitude; attributes that teacher educators can tap on. Student teachers' perceptions about their use of computers for personal purposes and their past experiences with ICT were not relatively high compared to the other variables examined. This study also provides empirical evidence that students teachers who hold constructivist beliefs, have strong computer efficacy, and show positive attitudes toward computers in education are more interested in using computers in future teaching practices. As a conclusion, we argue that the profile of the Net Generation student teachers shows a more heterogeneous composition than we initially expected, and that teacher educators need to be cautious about making generational assumptions solely based on the structural and technological changes.     

Rendering technology visible: The technological literacy narrative

This article describes the process of inviting students into discussions of new literacies and writing and technology through technological literacy narratives. The narratives offer benefits for students, classrooms, scholars, and teachers. The narratives encourage students to explore the often unexamined technologies that influence their writing processes, rendering technology visible in students’ life stories. Furthermore, the narratives initiate dialogue about contexts of literacy within the classroom, invite discourse between teachers and students, provide useful data for researchers in the field, and offer important information for teachers of writing, rendering an additional perspective on our students’ writing practices with new technologies in and beyond classroom walls.     

Exploring the Digital Divide on the U.S.-Mexico Border Through Literacy Narratives

Building upon the work of Scenters-Zapico's (2010) Generaciones, this article examines the digital literacy development and practices of two students passing through three different educational institutions on the U.S.-Mexico border. The author makes the argument that literacy narratives such as the ones shared here are vital for complementing the work done by broader quantitative studies on the digital divide, as they document differences that may be otherwise overlooked. In exploring the very different narratives of two students transitioning through high school and into a two-year college or four-year university, this article complicates understandings of the digital divide by exploring technological divides between educational institutions and the role that gateways, external sponsors, and self-sponsorship play in students’ technological literacy development, especially when confronted with limitations on access. The discussion and findings have implications for writing program administrators as well as composition teachers and researchers, including those teaching in online environments.     

Developing classroom‐focused research in technology education

Abstract

During the last 10 years, curriculum documents in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Hong Kong, and New Zealand have emphasized the importance of students’ developing technological literacy. In utilizing research findings to consider future curriculum needs, there is the danger that the field may come to be understood in light of the research undertaken, not in light of what needs to be done. Past research has tended to focus on curriculum issues and the defining of the subject. If technology education is to advance as a curriculum area of worth and as a focus of research, then much more of our research effort must be on student and teacher learning in technology. This paper argues that classroom‐based research must become the focus of research over the next 10 years. While there is published research on what students do when involved in technological activities, we still lack significant research on students’ learning in technology and on ways in which this learning can be enhanced. Teacher and student conceptualization of technology is a complex issue and requires an understanding of the many factors that influence it. Classroom culture and student expectations appear to influence strongly the way in which students carry out their technological activities. Student learning in technology can be enhanced by effective formative interactions occurring between teacher and student and between student and student. Part of technology assessment should provide evidence of progression in learning, about which we currently know very little. This paper describes some fruitful areas of classroom‐based research that could inform technology curriculum development.     

Information technology transfer: Indicators and issues

Abstract

Information technology (IT) stimulates social and economic change, which in turn spur technological development. The management of technological change is seen as pivotal in this era of new information technologies. The development and impact of IT in four countries—the USA, Japan, UK and India, are reflected via quantitative indicators: the IT (Development) Level Index and the IT Penetration Level Index, over the years of 1970–81. Gaps in their (nation's) relative information technology levels are exemplified via the potential technological distance parameter, D, which is also utilised in a model for information technology transfer so as to assess potential for transfer between countries. Some channels for technology transfer are given. A logistic curve for the rate of technological progress in IT shows the spectrum for introduction, growth and maturity of IT; a nation's IT Level Index value gives it a placing on the curve to show its stage of development. Some inferences of the trends for IT development and impact in the four countries are given. The uses of these Indices, and for whom, are also mentioned.     

Tools for the job: a report of two surveys of information and communications technology training and use for literacy in primary schools in the West of England

Substantial investment has been made in improving computer hardware and raising the profile of information and communications technology (ICT) in English primary schools in recent years, in line with the belief that skills in ICT are essential for our future workforce ( DfEE/QCA 2000 ). This study compares practising teachers' responses in 1998 and 2001 to a questionnaire about the aims and uses of ICT in primary schools for literacy activities. It discusses the changes in what teachers want and their understanding of the task the government has given them to do. A commonly cited problem is finding time to absorb the new technology to maximise its pedagogic potential.     

Word processing and the teaching of writing

The teaching of writing has never been more important than in this “age of information.” Teachers of composition realize this and have begun to avail themselves of technological innovations to facilitate the writing process and prepare their students to be effective communicators. One of these innovations is the word processor. This article describes a representative sample of recent research on the uses of word processing in composition instruction and discusses some of the issues surrounding its adoption as a writing tool. Questions for future research developed from the analysis of prior studies are also discussed.     

下一代海洋机器人——写在人类创造下潜深度世界记录10912 米50 周年之际

人类探索、认识和利用海洋的活动历史很漫长，最近50 年，各种海洋机器人及相关装备的助推，使这 种活动达到了前所未有的高峰阶段，未来社会进步的需求和科学技术发展的牵引将会使这种活动达到新的高度．本 文简要回顾了世界和我国海洋机器人的发展历史，分析了各种类型海洋机器人的现状，并对其未来作了展望．     

Against BibliOblivion: How modern scribes digitized an old book

In investigating how to best support the learning of digital competences at school, it is paramount to take into account the concrete reality (cultural, technological, and institutional) that teachers face in their daily struggle to prepare students for the information society. Hence case studies are needed to inform us on the complex relationship between educational aims, technological tools and contextual features in fostering digital literacy. This contribution describes a project ran in a class of an Italian lower secondary school during a course on digital literacy. The project, realized in collaboration with the local children’s library, consisted in the digitization of a text written in late XIX century. The results highlight various educational outcome of the activity. These include both technological progresses, such as improvement of students’ digital competences and refinement of their skills in the use of a word processor, but also cultural and civic benefits, related to opportunities for reflection on the evolution of language and culture, and the sharing of the final product with a large community. The roots of this success are analyzed, in order to suggest general criteria for using digitization activities as an effective method in digital literacy education.     

Educating for citizenship: Reappraising the role of science education

Abstract

New discoveries and technological inventions render the world increasingly complex. Fostering students’ scientific and technological literacy has, therefore, become a primary goal for many science educators. Yet the concept of scientific literacy is itself not at all clear. In this article, we contest the dominant approach, which defines scientific literacy in terms of what scientists produce or do. We argue that a more viable approach begins by framing a more general project of (democratic) citizenship and asks what kind of scientific literacy can contribute to this project. The different parts of our argument are illustrated with data from a three‐year ethnographic study of science in one community. These data feature adult residents who were dealing with the contested issue of whether or not to extend the existing water main in order to supply with water a part of the community that, at the time, had to rely on seasonally contaminated wells. Irrespective of their science background, these citizens engaged scientists. We argue that educating for citizenship presupposes participation in democratic processes, a stance that has considerable implications for science education.     

Yesterday’s tomorrows: notes on ubiquitous computing’s dominant vision

Ubiquitous computing is unusual amongst technological research arenas. Most areas of computer science research, such as programming language implementation, distributed operating system design, or denotational semantics, are defined largely by technical problems, and driven by building upon and elaborating a body of past results. Ubiquitous computing, by contrast, encompasses a wide range of disparate technological areas brought together by a focus upon a common vision. It is driven, then, not so much by the problems of the past but by the possibilities of the future. Ubiquitous computing’s vision, however, is over a decade old at this point, and we now inhabit the future imagined by its pioneers. The future, though, may not have worked out as the field collectively imagined. In this article, we explore the vision that has driven the ubiquitous computing research agenda and the contemporary practice that has emerged. Drawing on cross-cultural investigations of technology adoption, we argue for developing a “ubicomp of the present” which takes the messiness of everyday life as a central theme.     

Challenges and future trends in marine robotics

Spawned by fast paced progress in marine science and technology, the past two decades have witnessed growing interest in ocean exploration and exploitation for scientific and commercial purposes, the development of technological products for the maritime and offshore industries, and a host of other activities in which the marine environment takes center stage. In this context, marine robotics has steadily emerged as a key enabling technology for the execution of increasingly complex and challenging missions at sea. Intensive research and development in this field have led to major advances and shown unequivocally the effectiveness and reliability of marine robotics solutions in several domains. This progress goes hand in hand with the availability of increasingly sophisticated acoustic networks for multiple, cooperative missions involving surface and underwater robots. At the root of this trend is the fruitful dialogue between robotic systems developers and end-users with the capacity to convert general mission objectives into functional and technical specifications that serve as application-driven requirements for engineering development. The result is the tremendous progress observed in the consolidated methodologies and procedures adopted and the consequent impact on science, industry, and the society at large. In spite of the progress in the area, however many challenges must still be faced and novel applications will continue to set further requirements for future generations of marine robots and their enabling systems. The time is therefore appropriate to overview recent trends in the field of marine robotics and assess their impact on several important application domains. With these objectives in mind, in the present paper we highlight key technological achievements in the field, analyze some of the shortcomings encountered, and indicate specific issues that warrant further research and development effort. To this end, we review a number of highly representative projects in the field, with due account for the theoretical frameworks upon which technological developments build upon. Finally, the paper concludes with an outlook on the future of marine robotics, both from a theoretical and practical standpoint, and describes recently initiated projects that hold promise for the development of advanced tools and systems for ocean exploration and exploitation.     

The role of iPads in pre-school children's mark making development

The increased acquisition of touch-screen technologies, such as tablet computers, in both homes and schools raises important questions about their role for very young children's learning and development. Their inherent touch-based interaction offers new opportunities for mark making practices, which are linked to literacy development, through the emergent process of using marks as symbolic representation. This paper reports a comparative study of touch-based interaction using a tablet computer versus traditional physical paint and paper. Children aged 2–3 years engaged in a free finger painting activity and colouring in activity in both paper and digital environments. Video data of their interactions was used to develop a coding scheme for analyzing touch-based interaction, providing insight into how the use of fingers and hands differed in each environment, the different types and qualities of touch that were engendered, and the composition of the final paintings produced. Findings show that while the tablet computer limited the number of fingers used for interaction, its material affordances supported speed and continuity, which led to more mark making, and different ‘scales’ of mark making extending the range of mark making practices. At the same time it limited the sensory experience of physical paint and resulted in more uniform final compositions. The findings are discussed in terms of shaping young children's mark making, the implications of the use of touch screen technologies in literacy development for educational practitioners and technology design, and key future research directions.