Looking for Shadows: The Cultural Myths of the Computer in the Classroom

This paper will draw its findings from a recent study (Lloyd, 2003) which sought to identify the cultural myths of the computer in the classroom through a case study of computer education in Queensland state schools from 1983 to 1997. This was a period marked by its consecutive, discrete, high-profile and politically-motivated projects to put computers in classrooms. The emergent myths were categorised within their source metanarratives and were also positioned within a critical cultural framework. The term "computer education" is given to mean any curricular or classroom-based use of computers. This study addressed a hitherto neglected area of educational research by looking beyond the rhetoric and highlighting where policy decisions have been made on the basis of mythic assumptions. The identification of the cultural myth(s) in this study was essentially a process of looking for shadows. Finding the twenty-seven pervasive myths which initiated and sustained the systemic policies, infrastructure programs and curricular decisions of the period under review involved rigorous processes of deconstruction, reconstruction, analysis and synthesis. The data sources were contemporary policy documents, Hansard entries, press releases and media statements, correspondence and interviews with stakeholders while the methodology employed was an adaptation of Descriptive Interpretational Analysis (Tesch, 1990)

Myths and Realities about Online Forums in Open Source Software Development: An Empirical Study

The use of free and open source software (OSS) is gaining momentum due to the ever increasing availability and use of the Internet. Organizations are also now adopting open source software, despite some reservations, in particular regarding the provision and availability of support. Some of the biggest concerns about free and open source software are post release software defects and their rectification, management of dynamic requirements and support to the users. A common belief is that there is no appropriate support available for this class of software. A contradictory argument is that due to the active involvement of Internet users in online forums, there is in fact a large resource available that communicates and manages the provision of support. The research model of this empirical investigation examines the evidence available to assess whether this commonly held belief is based on facts given the current developments in OSS or simply a myth, which has developed around OSS development. We analyzed a dataset consisting of 1880 open source software projects covering a broad range of categories in this investigation. The results show that online forums play a significant role in managing software defects, implementation of new requirements and providing support to the users in open source software and have become a major source of assistance in maintenance of the open source projects

Characterizing Service Level Objectives for Cloud Services: Motivation of Short-Term Cache Allocation Performance Modeling

Service level objectives (SLOs) stipulate performance goals for cloud applications, microservices, and infrastructure. SLOs are widely used, in part, because system managers can tailor goals to their products, companies, and workloads. Systems research intended to support strong SLOs should target realistic performance goals used by system managers in the field. Evaluations conducted with uncommon SLO goals may not translate to real systems. Some textbooks discuss the structure of SLOs but (1) they only sketch SLO goals and (2) they use outdated examples. We mined real SLOs published on the web, extracted their goals and characterized them. Many web documents discuss SLOs loosely but few provide details and reflect real settings. Systematic literature review (SLR) prunes results and reduces bias by (1) modeling expected SLO structure and (2) detecting and removing outliers. We collected 75 SLOs where response time, query percentile and reporting period were specified. We used these SLOs to confirm and refute common perceptions. For example, we found few SLOs with response time guarantees below 10 ms for 90% or more queries. This reality bolsters perceptions that single digit SLOs face fundamental research challenges.This work was funded by NSF Grants 1749501 and 1350941.No embargoAcademic Major: Computer Science and EngineeringAcademic Major: Financ

Dispelling the myths of online education: learning via the information superhighway

There continues to be a perception that online education is inferior to traditional education. In the U.S. online learning is more developed than in the U.K. This paper provides insights into a U.S. provision and takes a close look at what are perceived as weaknesses of on line learning and argues that these are not necessarily inherent weaknesses of this form of educational delivery. Then, results of two major studies, undertaken in the U.S. are provided comparing the effectiveness of online education to traditional education as perceived by current MBA students and past graduates. Results of these studies suggest that students of MBA modules and MBA graduates perceive the quality and effectiveness of online education to be similar to, if not higher than, the quality and effectiveness of traditional modules and programmes

The Evolution of Wikipedia's Norm Network

Social norms have traditionally been difficult to quantify. In any particular society, their sheer number and complex interdependencies often limit a system-level analysis. One exception is that of the network of norms that sustain the online Wikipedia community. We study the fifteen-year evolution of this network using the interconnected set of pages that establish, describe, and interpret the community's norms. Despite Wikipedia's reputation for \textit{ad hoc} governance, we find that its normative evolution is highly conservative. The earliest users create norms that both dominate the network and persist over time. These core norms govern both content and interpersonal interactions using abstract principles such as neutrality, verifiability, and assume good faith. As the network grows, norm neighborhoods decouple topologically from each other, while increasing in semantic coherence. Taken together, these results suggest that the evolution of Wikipedia's norm network is akin to bureaucratic systems that predate the information age.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures. Matches published version. Data available at http://bit.ly/wiki_nor

The Challenge of an Intelligent Collective Transportation Mode

In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Engineering and Urban Sustainability Beyond 2000. Budapest, Hungary, October 2-4, 1995. Federal Chamber of Technical and Scientific Societies MTESZ. World Federation of Engineering Organisations WFE

Mitos e imaginarios migratorios en la recepción de la televisión en Marruecos

The analysis of the discourses of Moroccan candidates to migrate regarding the images offered by Western television shows a mythical imaginary of life opportunities in the North. Fieldwork1 done in Morocco during two years tried to gather varied information from 204 informers from cities as well as rural areas. The results were analyzed with the help of Atlas.ti, a qualitative software which allows for the creation of mental maps of the opinions and discourses of interviewees. In the process preceding the decision to migrate, candidates try to confirm the images seen on TV through social conversations and the experience of others, in a climate of collective euphoria. Moroccan migrants then move towards an imaginary and idealized place. The idea of mobility is systematically linked to the Western world and to quality of life, social capital and consumption all of which become mythical elements in a reaction to what are seen as poor expectations offered by life in Morocco.El análisis de los discursos de los candidatos a la migración de Marruecos en relación a las imágenes ofrecidas por las televisiones occidentales muestra un imaginario mítico de las posibilidades de vida en los países del Norte. El trabajo de campo, realizado en Marruecos durante dos años, trató de recoger la información más variada, reuniendo un total de 204 informantes tanto en ciudades como en zonas rurales del país. Los resultados se analizaron con el apoyo del software cualitativo Atlas.ti, que permite trazar mapas mentales de las opiniones y discursos de los entrevistados. En el proceso previo a la decisión de migrar, los candidatos tratan de confirmar las imágenes vistas en las televisiones a través de las conversaciones sociales y de la experiencia de otros, en un clima de euforia colectiva. Los migrantes marroquíes se dirigen a un lugar imaginario e idealizado. La idea de movilidad se relaciona sistemáticamente con Occidente, y está asociada a la calidad de vida, el capital social y al consumo, cuestiones que se mitifican ante las reducidas expectativas que entienden que les ofrece la vida en Marruecos.175-19

Watershed development: A solution to water shortages in semi-arid India or part of the problem?

There have been dramatic changes in the hydrology of many of the dry areas of South India in recent years as a result of increased groundwater-based irrigation, watershed development and land use change. Although intensive development of water resources has brought about huge benefits, its very success has thrown up new challenges. Demand and competition for water has increased to the extent that — in some areas — current levels of annual water use are so high that, in all but the wettest years, annual water use approximates towards annual replenishment of surface and ground water resources. In these areas, it is clear that the emphasis should switch from development to the management of water resources to ensure that water is allocated to activities with the highest economic and social value. Although current watershed development programmes bring a range of benefits, they may also change the temporal and spatial pattern of water availability and use. This can result in significant negative trade-offs such as more unreliable domestic water supplies in ‘downstream’ areas, particularly during low rainfall or drought years. As part of the Karnataka Watershed Development Project (KAWAD), a water resource audit assessed the status of water resources in the project watersheds and identified resource management practices that should be promoted by the project. This paper summarises the audit’s findings and recommendations, the main lessons learned and progress to date in implementing recommendations. For comparison, findings and recommendations from a water audit in southern Andhra Pradesh are also summarised.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Cooperation in R&D as a leading indicator of innovative activity growth

Purpose: The article is focused on new trends in cooperation activity in research and development in the manufacturing industries of Russia. Various types of cooperation are considered, special attention is paid to research organizations and universities. Design/Methodology/Approach: In the context of this issue, it seems necessary to consider the conceptual framework and information basis for the analysis of scientific activity, to study the problems of scientific and technical cooperation, based on the works of foreign and domestic scientists and to develop indicators of cooperative activities. Finding: Authors proposed to rank the regions of Russia by the level of cooperation activity based on a specially developed hidden indicator. Comparison of the results obtained with regional layers of the costs of R&D suggests that joint research and development activities are typical for those regions that pay considerable attention to development of science. Ranking regions of Russia in terms of cooperative activity allowed identifying the leaders and outsiders of this process. Practical implications: The results of the study can be used in the development of measures of regional development of the country in the implementation of R&D. Originality/Value: To study the impact of the resource base on the cooperative activities of the organization, the authors proposed a composite indicator that includes a wide range of indicators that consider various aspects of cooperative activity.This work was supported by a grant of Russian Foundation for Basic Research №18-010-00564 Modern Tendencies and Social and Economic Consequences of Digital Technologies Development in Russia.peer-reviewe