The History of the iPad

The purpose of this paper is to review the history of the iPad and its influence over contemporary computing. Although the iPad is relatively new, the tablet computer is having a long and lasting affect on how we communicate. With this essay, I attempt to review the technologies that emerged and converged to create the tablet computer. Of course, Apple and its iPad are at the center of this new computing movement

Practice tests: do they work? Can they work better?

Within the diverse field of certification and licensure, millions of tests are administered each year by non-governmental bodies and state agencies. A perusal of relevant websites suggests that most of the major certification and licensure tests have associated sample items, practice tests and/or preparatory tests (prep tests) either in hard copy or online available to potential candidates. All three are described in the standards of the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA, 2016). Sample items are offered simply to give potential test candidates an idea of what items on the test may look like. Practice tests are made up of numerous sample items and may, in some instances, be constructed to match a test plan. Prep tests can be distinguished from practices tests on the basis that they are always constructed to match test specifications closely, and are used to provide candidates with a predicted score for the real test. While sample items are usually provided at no cost and prep tests have to be purchased, practice tests can either be offered for free (often by the organisation responsible for setting or administering the test1 ) or charged for by the entities that developed them (the certification/licencing authority2 or other organisations3). These distinctions are worth noting; however, for simplicity, the general term ‘practice tests’ is used in this paper to refer to various types of practice and preparation materials

Irish pre-service teachers’ expectations for teaching as a career: a snapshot at a time of transition

Recent graduates of teacher education programmes in Ireland are entering their careers at a time characterized by an erosion of teacher autonomy, increased bureaucratic demands, and narrower curriculum specifications. These changes are typical features of what Sahlberg (2011) has termed the global educational reform movement (GERM), and evidence suggests that they can have a negative impact on teacher morale, and on how teaching as a career is perceived. This, in turn, can have detrimental effects on teacher recruitment and retention. This study examined the career expectations of two cohorts of Irish pre-service teachers (n=491) at the point of transition between college and work. The data gathered were also used to investigate if recent changes to the B.Ed. programme are associated with any changes in career expectations. Overall, teachers indicated strong expectations on issues such as doing a worthwhile job, feeling satisfied with pupil achievement and fulfilling personal needs, however, expectations with regard to the adequacy of salaries were low, and appear to have diminished further throughout the period 2014 to 2016

The learning portfolio in higher education: an integrative review

The learning portfolio is often lauded as a powerful pedagogical tool, and consequently, is rapidly becoming a central feature of contemporary education. This paper synthesizes and critically reviews the literature pertaining to its use in higher education contexts specifically. Three key themes are identified and discussed. First, although the theory underlying the use of learning portfolios is promising, robust empirical evidence supporting their effectiveness remains sparse. Second, the tool is rooted in a complex pedagogy, and its potential can only be realized if the processes underlying this pedagogy are properly understood by advocates and executed by users. Third, there is a recurring tension between the developmental (process) and evaluative (product) conceptualizations of the learning portfolio. On the basis of these findings, some recommendations for future research and practice in this area are identified

A cross-cultural study of High School teachers’ tacit knowledge of interpersonal skills

Effective teachers are characterized not only by pedagogical abilities and subject area mastery, but also by interpersonal skills. Using the Tacit Knowledge Inventory for High School Teachers (TKI-HS) – a situational judgement test consisting of 11 challenging interpersonal scenarios – this study compared how experienced teachers in England (n=108), Ireland (n=45) and Russia (n=492) rated seven possible response options for each scenario, to examine the extent to which the concept of “skilled interpersonal behavior” varies across cultures. The results indicate that judgments of “bad” responses are more similar across these three cultures, whereas there seems to be less agreement about what constitutes a “good” response. The importance of teachers’ tacit knowledge and how it varies across cultural contexts are discussed

Teacher perspectives on standardized testing of achievement in Ireland

In the years since 2007 the role of standardized testing in Irish primary (elementary schools has become increasingly prominent. All schools are now required to administer tests in English reading and mathematics in 2nd, 4th and 6th grades, and to report aggregated results to their Boards of Management and the Department of Education and Skills (DES). Schools are also required to share the results with parents/guardians at the three mandatory testing points and to do this in written format using end-of-year school reports DES, 2011. As of September 2017, the results are used at national level as part of the process involved in determining the allocation of special educational teaching resources to schools DES, 2017. The research described in this paper represents a collaboration between the Centre for Assessment Research, Policy and Practice in Education (CARPE) based at Dublin City University and the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) - the largest teachers' trade union in Ireland representing 95%+ of all teachers at the elementary level. In examining elementary teachers use of and attitudes to standardized tests at a time when the stakes associated with this form of assessment are growing, the research exemplifies the AERA 2020 conference theme: “The Power and Possibilities for the Public Good When Researchers and Organizational Stakeholders Collaborate.

Quantum noise in optical interferometers

We study the photon counting noise in optical interferometers used for gravitational wave detection. In order to reduce quantum noise a squeezed vacuum is injected into the usually unused input port. It is investigated under which conditions the gravitational wave signal may be amplified without increasing counting noise concurrently. Such a possibility was suggested as a consequence of the entanglement of the two output ports of a beam splitter. We find that amplification without concurrent increase of noise is not possible for reasonable squeezing parameters. Photon distributions for various beam splitter angles and squeezing parameters are calculated.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure

Nanomechanical Quantum Memory for Superconducting Qubits

Many protocols for quantum computation require a quantum memory element to store qubits. We discuss the accuracy with which quantum states prepared in a Josephson junction qubit can be stored in a nanoelectromechanical resonator and then transfered back to the junction. We find that the fidelity of the memory operation depends on both the junction-resonator coupling strength and the location of the state on the Bloch sphere. Although we specifically focus on a large-area, current-biased Josesphson junction phase qubit coupled to the dilatational mode of a piezoelectric nanoelectromechanical disk resonator, many our results will apply to other qubit-oscillator models.Comment: 4 pages, Revte

The negative Bogoliubov dispersion in exciton-polariton condensates

Bogoliubov's theory states that self-interaction effects in Bose-Einstein condensates produce a characteristic linear dispersion at low momenta. One of the curious features of Bogoliubov's theory is that the new quasiparticles in the system are linear combinations of creation and destruction operators of the bosons. In exciton-polariton condensates, this gives the possibility of directly observing the negative branch of the Bogoliubov dispersion in the photoluminescence (PL) emission. Here we theoretically examine the PL spectra of exciton-polariton condensates taking into account of reservoir effects. At sufficiently high excitation densities, the negative dispersion becomes visible. We also discuss the possibility for relaxation oscillations to occur under conditions of strong reservoir coupling. This is found to give a secondary mechanism for making the negative branch visible

Spectral properties of finite laser-driven lattices of ultracold Rydberg atoms

We investigate the spectral properties of a finite laser-driven lattice of ultracold Rydberg atoms exploiting the dipole blockade effect in the frozen Rydberg gas regime. Uniform one-dimensional lattices as well as lattices with variable spacings are considered. In the case of a weak laser coupling, we find a multitude of many-body Rydberg states with well-defined excitation properties which are adiabatically accessible starting from the ground state. A comprehensive analysis of the degeneracies of the spectrum as well as of the single and pair excitations numbers of the eigenstates is performed. In the strong laser regime, analytical solutions for the pseudo-fermionic eigenmodes are derived. Perturbative energy corrections for this approximative approach are provided.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figure