Prairie Grasslands: An Undervalued Resource \u3cbr\u3e Grass, Cows and Environmental Management on the Canadian Prairies

Grasslands are integral to the economic health of Canada\u27s rural prairies, making up 30% of the agricultural land base in Canada\u27s three prairie provinces. These grasslands support agriculture, through grazing of livestock, and recreation, such as hunting and ecotourism. These grasslands are also environmentally significant, providing habitat for native plants and animals. The economic and environmental significance of these grasslands should not be undervalued. Economic opportunities and environmental policies and regulations affect the management of these lands. Current issues that may affect how the prairie is used include the: potential species-at-risk legislation, other initiatives for biodiversity enhancement, greenhouse gas regulations or incentives, carbon sequestration opportunities, and economic diversification to support economic growth. Decisions on these issues will affect the way prairie grasslands contribute to the region\u27s economic and environmental sustainability

Using an Extended Technology Acceptance Model to Uncover Variables Influencing Physicians’ Use Of EHR in Jordan: Insights from Alberta, Canada

Adoption rates for electronic health records (EHR) remain low in developing nations, even though health information technologies undoubtedly enhance the quality of service delivery and healthcare institutions’ overall efficiency. In this research, researchers employed a technology acceptance integrated model to analyze what factors are most important in encouraging physicians in Jordan to adopt EHR. This framework was created after a thorough review of the relevant literature and with input from physicians in Alberta, Canada, a province with an openly disclosed high rate of electronic health record adoption. To achieve its aim, the present study used a quantitative correlational research strategy. Data were acquired from a convenient sample size of 413 web-based survey participants recruited from the target population of physicians practicing in the public and private healthcare sectors in Jordan. The study’s hypotheses were tested with structural equation modeling. Physicians’ behavioral intentions were shown to be strongly predicted by factors including perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived ’privacy and security,’ financial incentives, and self-efficacy, which collectively accounted for 57.8% of the total variance in behavioral intention. Perceived usefulness had the highest influence on intentions, followed by self-efficacy, perceived ”privacy and security,” and perceived ease of use, with financial incentives having the smallest impact on intentions. Accordingly, healthcare practitioners must consider these variables while developing and validating interpretations about HER adoption. This study concludes with several implications for healthcare directors, policymakers, and providers of health information systems, in addition to suggestions for future research areas

Perceptions on the Ground: Principals’ Perception of Government Interventions in High-Speed Educational Networking

The Alberta SuperNet was built to bring broadband connectivity to every school, hospital, library and provincial government office in Alberta (a large province in Canada with an area of 255,285 square miles). The supposed benefits of high-speed access have led to calls for strategic public investment on both the supply and demand sides. The provincial government, through Alberta Education, initiated a number of interventions to help make broadband technology more useful and accessible to Alberta schools and to promote use of the new technology. To investigate the perceived efficacy and awareness of these initiatives, a survey of school officials was conducted in the spring of 2005. The survey was designed to assess the interest, awareness and planned use of high-speed networking initiatives by school officials. The results of the survey show that principals place relatively high levels of importance upon these initiatives but their level of awareness of, and especially their utilization of the initiatives was much lower. There were small but significant differences among principals from large versus small schools and between principals from rural versus urban school. The paper concludes with recommendations for policy makers and administrators challenged with creating effective interventions using broadband networking

Interim Report 1: Learning Communities Project

This is the first comprehensive report of the research conducted in relation to the Learning Communities Project, a collaboration between Athabasca University and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.Executive summary This is the first formal report of the Learning Communities Project (LCP), based on results of the evaluation and research activities conducted to date. The major findings of the project, and observations about processes used, are as follows: 1. The project is focused on the learning needs of adults; therefore, andragogy, the art and science of teaching adults, forms part of the basic philosophy of the project. Similarly, distance education, focusing on any time/anyplace learning, is assumed to be the most appropriate type of delivery for courses included in the project. Other elements of the project deemed to be suitable, even required, for adults include prior learning assessment and recognition (PLAR), a focus on essential skills, and instruction designed to recognize the self-direction and autonomy needs of adults. 2. The above having been stated, the project also recognizes that many adult learners have not experienced self-direction in learning, or do not feel confident exercising full on adult autonomy as students. The LCP therefore seeks to provide support and assistance as individually required, to help students feel comfortable and be successful in any learning projects embarked on within the project. (As part of the concern for individual learning preferences, learning styles and preferences are also focus of research, and are considered in instructional design decisions.) 3. Distance education in this project is defined in the classic sense, as learning in which the learner and the tutor are normally separated, technology is used for interaction, there is institutional support throughout the learning process, and the prospect of two-way communication always exists. 4. Based on research to date, potential LCP participants are usually transitory (only a fraction live in the project’s regions), often from outside of Alberta, frequently subject to long commutes, and fully employed (many routinely work overtime). This is especially true of potential students in the CNQ Horizon site. The implications for learner interest and motivation, programming content, instructional design, course and module delivery, and student support, while it is evident there are implications, are being worked out as a core part of the project. 5. Technology is available in the region, due to the availability of Alberta SuperNet, and the technical resources of CNQ (at the Horizon site) and the post-secondary institutions that are already active in the region. As well, agencies such as eCampusAlberta, Alberta North, and the Canadian Virtual University already provide resources and learning opportunities to potential students. Despite these resources, and access to the Alberta SuperNet for broadband Internet connections, it is still true that rural areas are generally less well served technologically than urban areas (especially true of aboriginal communities); however, it is also true that rural residents are often more open to technology-based learning than those in urban areas. 6. Programming interests among CNQ employees or contractors who have inquired about or registered in courses through the project so far are primarily career-related, including business administration, accounting, project management, engineering, Blue Seal, and health and safety courses. In the communities, pre-employment courses, and technology and trades training (especially if including employment-related hands-on experience), have been identified as major areas of interest. 7. Based on survey and interviews, potential students encounter numerous barriers to participation in education and training programs, beginning with the fatigue they experience at the end of long work days, and extending to a potential lack of familiarity, access to, or comfort with technology, lack of familiarity with the distance education as a learning style, and lack of information about the connection between courses, credits, and career advancement. 8. Tracking registrations that result from project activity remains problematic. The project is studying various ways to identify registrations generated by LCP activities, essential to determining the project’s impact. 9. The research portion of the project has produced and circulated five occasional reports, and this interim report. The purpose of research to date has been formative – intended to be of immediate use to project planners and participants. Feedback from project participants indicates that these reports have had the desired impact on project development. 10. The research team have under development of paper for peer review, addressing the question of the programming that is currently available in the project’s regions, and the rationale for what is currently being offered (or not offered). Additional data are being gathered regarding the uptake and efficacy of programming, including registrations and completions, for a future publication. As well, the research team has plans to present at relevant conferences in the first half of 2008 in Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Alberta.Athabasca University; Canadian Natural Resources Ltd

Laptop Use During Class: A Review Of Canadian Universities

Laptop use in class is a characteristic of universities that is changing rapidly. Although much of the attention and research regarding this issue has focused on the debate of whether to impose mandatory laptop programs, the reality of wireless campuses allows students to use their laptops in class for class related and non-class related activities. Therefore, a new debate has arisen concerning whether students should be allowed to use their laptops in class at all. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of Canadian universities in terms of their conditions, requirements, and policies regarding laptop use in class

Buying With Intent: Public Procurement for Innovation by Provincial and Municipal Governments

Innovation is a key factor for economic growth and wealth accumulation and a constant preoccupation for governments around the world. This study reviews the theoretical foundations and existing evidence for using public procurement to stimulate innovation. The focus is on procurement programs at subnational level, since in Canada almost ninety per cent of procurement is undertaken by subnational governments. I review current public procurement programs in OECD countries and Canada to develop a set of recommendations for increasing the use of public procurement programs to stimulate innovation, particularly in the education sector

Guest Editorial: Science and Technology, Social Cohesion, Human Security, and Disabled People

This editorial highlights the linkage between science and technology advances, social cohesion, human security and disabled people

To teach is to learn twice: The power of a blended peer mentoring approach

Two students at a Canadian university perceived there was a lack of opportunities for peer mentoring support in their teacher education program. They approached a faculty member to co-create and research a blended peer mentoring support program embedded in a first-year education course. This study documents the journey of these two students as co-inquirers in a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) project. Through online surveys and interviews, first-year teacher candidates and faculty involved in the blended peer mentoring program identified four key benefits: new perspectives and expansion of ideas, positive and encouraging reinforcement, supportive connection with second-year students, and probing questions to think more deeply. Conversely, three major challenges were uncovered with the use of digital technologies to support this blended approach to peer mentoring: lack of email notification from the institution’s learning management system (LMS) with regards to the peer mentors’ online contributions, the impersonal nature of online peer mentoring, and the limited number of peer mentors. The major recommendation from this study was to create a blended program assignment to provide all second-year teacher candidates with the opportunity to learn how to serve as peer mentors to students just entering the teacher education program