Perceptions of Technology Use in Rural and Urban Pennsylvania High Schools

Purpose Policy makers are implementing standards and developing guidelines for integrating technology into K-12 schools. With this in mind, the integration of technology into curriculum is an ever-growing point of discussion among high-school education professionals. Technology uses in teaching and learning present significant issues in educational reform literature. Rather than trying to describe the impact of all technologies as if they were the same, this study focuses on the differences in the ways technologies are being used in the classroom as well as the role technology played in instruction. There is also a need to investigate whether or not student outcomes can vary significantly depending on the location of each identified school district. Rural areas tend to be sparsely settled. But does that remoteness mean less availability of educational resources? This qualitative case study attempted to answer the following research questions: (a) What are the differences that exist in the way technology is acquired and used in rural and urban Pennsylvania high schools? (b) What are the benefits of understanding the impact technology has on rural vs. urban high schools in Pennsylvania? and (c) Why do teachers use technology? Method This study analyzed the differences that exist in the way technology is being used and funded in rural and urban Pennsylvania high schools. The participants consist of eight core-subject high-school teachers, two administrators, two technology coordinators, and one curriculum coordinator from a rural and an urban Pennsylvania high school. Classifications were determined by county population in order to select one rural and one urban high school. Purposive sampling was conducted to determine which teachers were chosen for the case study. Three different instruments were used to measure attributes of technology integration. Survey questionnaires, face-to-face interviews, and observation were used to collect data during site visitations conducted by the researcher. Exploration of Jerome Bruner’s Discovery Learning Theory and M. J. Carroll’s Minimalist Theory provided the theoretical framework for the study. Results The cross-case analysis of this study projected three distinct conclusions: (a) There is a belief that exists, in both the rural Pennsylvania high school and the urban Pennsylvania high school, that technology is a necessary and critical component for educating students in today’s world, (b) technology use differs in the rural Pennsylvania high school from the urban Pennsylvania high school, and (c) demographics play a role in funding sources needed to acquire and sustain technology in the educational classroom. The analysis clearly confirmed the belief that technology is a necessary and critical component for educating students in today’s world. Teacher interviews revealed an overall belief where technology prepares students for the future by meeting goals better and improving student interest. Data also indicated that technology was used very differently in the urban high school than its counterpart rural high school. Automative techniques were used for technology integration in the rural high school, whereas the urban high school displayed innovative techniques for technology use in the classroom. In addition, analysis of the data indicated that demographics play a role in funding. Population helps increase the local tax base. The greater the county population, the more tax revenue is generated for education. The urban high school reflected a larger population than the rural high school, yielding greater funding sources. Technology resources were abundant in the urban high school. In contrast, the lack of funding sources in the rural high school hindered technology resources available for teacher and student use in the rural high school. Conclusions One benefit of this case study is the idea that the integration of educational technologies affords teachers the capability to effect change at a curricular or programmatic level. Through the use of sharing content and learning activities, teachers created classroom environments where they were able to facilitate the development of more effective learning experiences across the curriculum. In addition, the use of thematic team teaching allowed students to shape their own learning outcomes. A study of how technology is acquired and used in rural and urban high schools in the state of Pennsylvania is important for several reasons.The outcomes of this research are useful to different groups in education: (a) those in leadership positions such as administrators and school board members who make informed decisions on technology use in schools and seek funding sources that are available for technology acquisition, (b) individual classroom teachers who are interested in integrating technology in the classroom setting, (c) individuals who are interested in conducting research on educational technology, (d) curriculum coordinators and technology directors who collaborate on ways to integrate technology into curriculum and provide technological professional development opportunities, and (e) students who are interested in the ways technology benefits their educational experiences.

Using Multi-Modal Bio-Digital Technologies to Support the Assessment of Cognitive Abilities of Children with Physical and Neurological Impairments

Current studies done using a learning test for children have problems as they only make evaluations of Physically and Neurologically Impaired (PNI) children who can succeed in the test and can be considered as a PASS/FAIL test. This pilot study takes a holistic view of cognitive testing of PNI children using a user-test-device triad model and provides a framework using non-PNI children and adults as controls. Comparisons using adapted off-the-shelf novel interfaces to the computer, in particular, an Electroencephalograph (EEG) head-set, an eye-tracker and a head-tracker and a common mouse were carried out. In addition, two novel multi-modal technologies were developed based on the use of brain-waves and eye-tracking as well as head-tracking technologies to support the study. The devices were used on three tests with increasing cognitive complexity. A self-developed measure based on success streaks (consecutive outcomes) was introduced to improve evaluations of PNI children. A theoretical model regarding a fit of ability to devices was initially setup and finally modified to fit the view of the empirical model that emerged from the outcomes of the study. Results suggest that while multi-modal technologies can address weaknesses of the individual component modes, a compromise is made between the user’s ability for multi-tasking between the modes and the benefits of a multi-modal device but the sample size is very small. Results also show children failing a test with a mouse but passing it subsequently when direct communication is used suggesting that a device can affect a test for children who are of a developing age. This study provides a framework for a more meaningful conversation between educational psychologists as well as other professionals and PNI parents because it provides more discrimination of outcomes in cognitive tests for PNI children. The framework provides a vehicle that addresses scientifically the concerns of parents and schools.EPSR

Strength properties of rice husk ash concrete under sodium sulphate attack

The use of pozzolanic materials in concrete provides several advantages, such as improved strength and durability. This study investigated the strength properties of rice husk ash (RHA) concrete under severe durability (sodium sulphate attack). Four RHA replacement levels were considered in the study: 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% by weight of cement. The durability performance of the RHA blended cement exposed to sodium sulphate solution was evaluated through compressive strength, reduction in strength, and weight loss. Test results showed that RHA can be satisfactorily used as a cement replacement material in order to increase the durability of concrete. Concrete containing 10% and 20% of RHA replacements showed excellent durability to sulphate attack. The results also indicate that the amount of Ca(OH)2 in the RHA blended cement concrete was lower than that of Portland cement due to the pozzolanic reaction of RH

A pilot program for selecting, editing, and disseminating engineering and scientific educational subject matter from NASA technical reports Quarterly report, 1 Mar. - 31 May 1969

Preparation, dissemination and evaluation of monograph

How an Age Simulation Suit affects Motor and Cognitive Performance and Self-perception in Younger Adults

Background/Study Context We assessed the influence of wearing an Age Simulation Suit (GERT) on gross motor, fine motor and cognitive performance in healthy young adults. Methods In a within-subjects design, we tested 20 young adults (M age = 22.3 years) with and without the Age Simulation Suit. We assessed gross motor (Functional Fitness test) and fine motor (Purdue Pegboard test) functioning, cognitive performance (Digit Symbol Substitution test), and questionnaires on perceived physical state and mood. Gross and fine motor tests provided norms for large samples of older adults. Results Wearing the Age Simulation Suit leads to significant performance reductions in all task dimensions, with large effect sizes. Depending on the subtest, participants’ performances were reduced to the level of mid-50- to 85-years-olds for almost all tests of gross and fine motor performance. Mood and perceived physical state also declined while wearing the suit. Conclusion We argue that the GERT suit offers an attractive possibility to experimentally simulate the effects of aging-related sensory and motor losses and propose future studies with this paradigm, in the context of cognitive-motor dual-tasking or motor learning

Strike a happy medium: the effect of it knowledge on venture capitalists' overconfidence in it investments

In this article, the effect of IT knowledge on the overconfidence of venture capitalists (VCs) in their IT investments is examined. Our findings show that the effect of IT knowledge on overconfidence is nonlinear. VCs with moderate levels of IT knowledge are least overconfident. At the same time, VCs with moderate levels of IT knowledge are most resistant to the biasing effects of past successes. Past failures show a negative association with overconfidence independent of the level of the VC's IT knowledge. Finally, the negative association between stakes and VC overconfidence is stronger with greater levels of IT knowledge. These results shed light on the highly disputed role of IT knowledge in the domain of IT investments.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A human factors systems approach to exploring vehicle rollaway

Failure of a parked unattended vehicle to remain stationary, otherwise known as vehicle rollaway, can result in property damage, injury or even fatality. Although the incidence of vehicle rollaway may be under reported, around 8% of drivers and 13% of Approved Driving Instructors surveyed indicated they had experienced a vehicle rollaway event. Unlike previous studies which focused only on the mechanical factors that may contribute to this phenomenon, the research presented in this thesis employed a more comprehensive, systems approach to explore additional factors related to the driver s interaction with the parking brake system at various interface levels. A mixed methods strategy collated data through two online surveys and three observational studies to explore the organisational, mechanical and driver related factors identified in a fault tree framework. The results indicated that current driver practice and interaction with the parking brake system may be contrary to legislative requirements and manufacturer s instruction. The findings suggested that a past experience of vehicle rollaway or parking brake system failure, had a statistically significant influence on whether the driver complied with the recommended practice. Driver interaction and the holding capability of the parking brake system were observed in 53 vehicles parked on three test gradients. The observations indicated that drivers were able to apply sufficient force to the parking brake lever to hold the vehicle stationary and that an additional degree of confidence in the system was provided by parking in gear. But, after driving a short commuting route, when the vehicle was parked with the parking brake lever applied to the lowest position to hold the vehicle and a gear was not selected, 63% of vehicles fitted with disc brakes rolled as the temperature returned to ambient. Discussion relates to the organisational, driver related and mechanical components of the parking brake system and in reference to Reason s Swiss Cheese model, considers how latent failures within the defensive layers of the system can contribute to rollaway. The research findings contributed to a change in UK driving standards and since 2015, drivers are recommended to park in gear at all times to reduce the risk of rollaway. This recommendation is likely to require a change in practice for up to 80% of Approved Driving Instructors who would not normally instruct new drivers in this way. Although this research focused on the manually operated parking brake system, the studies have uncovered results that can contribute to knowledge and are applicable to interaction with electronic parking brake systems. As parking brake systems develop, the Human Factors systems approach can be applied retrospectively and proactively to explore that interaction and prevent passenger vehicle rollaway

Management. A continuing bibliography with indexes

This bibliography cites 604 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in 1979 covering the management of research and development, contracts, production, logistics, personnel, safety, reliability and quality control. Program, project, and systems management; management policy, philosophy, tools, and techniques; decision making processes for managers; technology assessment; management of urban problems; and information for managers on Federal resources, expenditures, financing, and budgeting are also covered. Abstracts are provided as well as subject, personal author, and corporate source indexes

Model based 3D vision synthesis and analysis for production audit of installations.

PhDOne of the challenging problems in the aerospace industry is to design an automated 3D vision system that can sense the installation components in an assembly environment and check certain safety constraints are duly respected. This thesis describes a concept application to aid a safety engineer to perform an audit of a production aircraft against safety driven installation requirements such as segregation, proximity, orientation and trajectory. The capability is achieved using the following steps. The initial step is to perform image capture of a product and measurement of distance between datum points within the product with/without reference to a planar surface. This provides the safety engineer a means to perform measurements on a set of captured images of the equipment they are interested in. The next step is to reconstruct the digital model of fabricated product by using multiple captured images to reposition parts according to the actual model. Then, the projection onto the 3D digital reconstruction of the safety related installation constraints, respecting the original intent of the constraints that are defined in the digital mock up is done. The differences between the 3D reconstruction of the actual product and the design time digital mockup of the product are identified. Finally, the differences/non conformances that have a relevance to safety driven installation requirements with reference to the original safety requirement intent are identified. The above steps together give the safety engineer the ability to overlay a digital reconstruction that should be as true to the fabricated product as possible so that they can see how the product conforms or doesn't conform to the safety driven installation requirements. The work has produced a concept demonstrator that will be further developed in future work to address accuracy, work flow and process efficiency. A new depth based segmentation technique GrabcutD which is an improvement to existing Grabcut, a graph cut based segmentation method is proposed. Conventional Grabcut relies only on color information to achieve segmentation. However, in stereo or multiview analysis, there is additional information that could be also used to improve segmentation. Clearly, depth based approaches bear the potential discriminative power of ascertaining whether the object is nearer of farer. We show the usefulness of the approach when stereo information is available and evaluate it using standard datasets against state of the art result

Culturally-relevant augmented user interfaces for illiterate and semi-literate users

This thesis discusses guidelines for developers of Augmented User Interfaces that can be used by illiterate and semi-literate users. To discover how illiterate and semi-literate users intuitively understand interaction with a computer, a series of Wizard of Oz experiments were conducted. In the first Wizard of Oz study, users were presented with a standard desktop computer, fitted with a number of input devices to determine how they assume interaction should occur. This study found that the users preferred the use of speech and gestures which mirrored findings from other researchers. The study also found that users struggled to understand the tab metaphor which is used frequently in applications. From these findings, a localised culturally-relevant tab interface was developed to determine the feasibility of localised Graphical User Interface components. A second study was undertaken to compare the localised tab interface with the traditional tabbed interface. This study collected both quantitative and qualitative data from the participants. It found that users could interact with a localised tabbed interface faster and more accurately than with the traditional counterparts. More importantly, users stated that they intuitively understood the localised interface component, whereas they did not understand the traditional tab metaphor. These user studies have shown that the use of self-explanatory animations, video feedback, localised tabbed interface metaphors and voice output have a positive impact on enabling illiterate and semi-literate users to access information.TeXAdobe Acrobat 9.51 Paper Capture Plug-i