A RECONCEPTUALIZATION OF WEBSITE ACCESSIBILITY UNDER THE ADA: RESOLVING THE INTER-CIRCUIT CONFLICT POST-PANDEMIC

The federal circuit courts of appeals are in conflict over whether Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act requires public accommodations’ websites to be accessible to people with disabilities. Some courts consider websites themselves to be a covered “place of public accommodation.” Others conclude that websites are not covered at all. The predominant view is that a website must be accessible if it has a “nexus” to a physical public location. However, the “nexus” requirement has been problematic from the start and its weaknesses have been particularly exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic exposes a deep mismatch between the “nexus” requirement and how businesses approach their work. In this article, we present a novel reconceptualization of the website accessibility question which resolves the inter-circuit conflict and allows abandonment of the already unworkable nexus requirement

THE QUEST FOR I-LITERACY: IDENTIFYING AND ADDRESSING GAPS IN INFORMATION LITERACY EDUCATION IN INFORMATION SCIENCE UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS

Information scholars, educators and librarians have grappled with defining the concept of information literacy for decades – at least as far back as the 1970’s – with the most prominent common thread being as a set of skills. In pedagogy and practice, what higher education currently calls information literacy is delivered more akin to research skills or the ability to effectively conduct and share research in its myriad forms. It is problematic that for so long the emphasis on research and academic skills has wholly devalued those sources deemed non-traditional by academic measures, including popular sources, pop-culture entertainment, and the power of observation. Ironically this emphasis on academic research skills diminishes the extreme societal impact non-traditional sources and stories have had throughout the information age in which we currently find ourselves. In this dissertation, I provide a curriculum map for the required courses in five Undergraduate Information Science Programs, with the dual purpose of aligning instruction practices and gaps with the aforementioned impacts as they determine what information literacy should mean, and encouraging iSchools to adopt and promote a socially constructed model of information literacy, which I am terming i-Literacy. This study demonstrates how iSchool undergraduate programs emphasize understanding that different information mediums are required based on audience, user needs, and the information problem, but may not highlight social and civic responsibility with information use and sharing. The map also shows a strong alignment between the seemingly antiquated ‘Bibliographic Instruction’ practices from the 1980’s and 90’s, and the current pedagogy based on the ACRL Framework

Ecologies of the Imagination: Italo Calvino’s Six ‘Memes’ for the Digital World

In 1984 Italo Calvino was officially invited by the Harvard University to deliver the celebrated Charles Eliot Norton Poetry Lectures. That invitation gave Calvino an opportunity to define six proposals, or six memos, as indicated in the original manuscript's subtitle, illustrated as six qualities, or specificities, six values to be passed on to the new millennium that was about to start. He only managed to write five out of the six lectures before death surprised him prematurely.The spirit of the Six Memos, their rich interweaving of references, speculations and quotations, the fascinating rhetorical insights they offer, are nothing but the evocation of characters and assonances that clearly express, with a clear-headed and mature awareness, the sense of the challenge declared by Postmodernism, which is clearly recognizable in the features of the so-called digital world.Indeed, these six 'memes', and the brilliant insights they offer, are surprising as they seem to anticipate the current scene of the media ecology, precisely defined by the characters of Lightness, Exactitude, Quickness, Visibility, Multiplicity, and Consistency.Nel 1984 Italo Calvino fu invitato dalla Harvard University a tenere le famose Charles Eliot Norton Poetry Lectures. Questo invito diede a Calvino l'ooportunità per definire sei proposte, o six memos come nel sottotitolo del manoscritto originale, esposte come sei qualità, o caratteristiche, sei valori da trasmettere al nuovo millennio in arrivo. Egli riuscì a scrivere solo cinque delle sei lezioni prima che la morte lo cogliesse prematuramente.Lo spirito delle Six Memos, il loro modo di intrecciare proficuamente riferimenti, riflessioni e citazioni, l'affascinante prospettiva retorica che offrono, non è altro che l'evocazione di personaggi e assonanze che esprimono chiaramente, con una consapevolezza lucida e matura, il senso della sfida dichiarata dal postmodernismo, che è ben riconoscibile nelle caratteristiche di quello che chiamiamo mondo digitale. Infatti, queste sei proposte e le brillanti intuizioni da loro offerte anticipano in modo sorprendente l'attuale scenario dell'ecologia dei media, definita in modo preciso da Leggerezza, Esattezza, Rapidità, Visibilità, Molteplicità e Coerenza

The Expression of Alternative Nationalism in China’s Weibo

This thesis discusses the enabling functions of Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter, and its role as a platform to build community, form identities, and share views of alternative nationalism. Due to China’s strict censorship, it is necessary that such a space exist to allow individuals the opportunity to discuss communal concerns across China’s vast expanse. Unfortunately, this virtual sphere cannot be used by all because of the economic inequality and the essential use of technology to gain access to this sphere. During the most recent period of protests concerning the Diaoyu Islands Dispute, this gap became increasingly large; both dialogues occurred in separate spheres without much overlap. This difference can be seen through the expression of polarized types of nationalism in online and offline China. Divergent from the state-sponsored patriotism omnipresent in the mainstream media in China, alternative nationalism involves critically thinking through one’s opinions of, and participation in, an event involving domestic issues. The Diaoyu Islands Dispute allows for an interesting and informative glance into the effects social media has on various dialogues and stereotypes, particularly those circulated in certain social classes. In this thesis, I argue that Weibo promotes alternative nationalism while simultaneously furthering the information stratification within Chinese society

Data Science: A Study from the Scientometric, Curricular, and Altmetric Perspectives

This research explores the emerging field of data science from the scientometric, curricular, and altmetric perspectives and addresses the following six research questions: 1. What are the scientometric features of the data science field? 2. What are the contributing fields to the establishment of data science? 3. What are the major research areas of the data science discipline? 4. What are the salient topics taught in the data science curriculum? 5. What topics appear in the Twitter-sphere regarding data science? 6. What can be learned about data science from the scientometric, curricular, and altmetric analyses of the data collected? Using bibliometric data from the Scopus database for 1983 – 2021, the current study addresses the first three research questions. The fourth research question is answered with curricular data collected from U.S. educational institutions that offer data science programs. Altmetric data was gathered from Twitter for over 20 days to answer the fifth research question. All three sets of data are analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The scientometric portion of this study revealed a growing field, expanding beyond the borders of the United States and the United Kingdom into a more global undertaking. Computer Science and Statistics are foundational contributing fields with a host of additional fields contributing data sets for new data scientists to act, including, for example, the Biomedical and Information Science fields. When it comes to the question of salient topics across all three aspects of this research, it was revealed that a large degree of coherence between the three resulted in highlighting thirteen core topics of data science. However, it can be noted that Artificial Intelligence stood out among all the other groups with leading topics such as Machine Learning, Neural Networks, and Natural Language Processing. The findings of this study not only identify the major parameters of the data science field (e.g., leading researchers, the composition of the discipline) but also reveal its underlying intellectual structure and research fronts. They can help researchers to ascertain emerging topics and research fronts in the field. Educational programs in data science can learn from this study about how to update their curriculums and better prepare students for the rapidly growing field. Practitioners and other stakeholders of data science can also benefit from the present research to stay tuned and current in the field. Furthermore, the triple-pronged approach of this research provides a panoramic view of the data science field that no prior study has ever examined and will have a lasting impact on related investigations of an emerging discipline

“Envisioning Digital Sanctuaries”: An Exploration of Virtual Collectives for Nurturing Professional Development of Women in Technical Domains

Work and learning are essential facets of our existence, yet sociocultural barriers have historically limited access and opportunity for women in multiple contexts, including their professional pursuits. Such sociocultural barriers are particularly pronounced in technical domains and have relegated minoritized voices to the margins. As a result of these barriers, those affected have suffered strife, turmoil, and subjugation. Hence, it is important to investigate how women can subvert such structural limitations and find channels through which they can seek support and guidance to navigate their careers. With the proliferation of modern communication infrastructure, virtual forums of conversation such as Reddit have emerged as key spaces that allow knowledge-sharing, provide opportunities for mobilizing collective action, and constitute sanctuaries of support and companionship. Yet, recent scholarship points to the negative ramifications of such channels in perpetuating social prejudice, directed particularly at members from historically underrepresented communities. Using a novel comparative muti-method, multi-level empirical approach comprising content analysis, social network analysis, and psycholinguistic analysis, I explore the way in which virtual forums engender community and foster avenues for everyday resilience and collective care through the analysis of 400,267 conversational traces collected from three subreddits (r/cscareerquestions, r/girlsgonewired & r/careerwoman). Blending the empirical analysis with a novel theoretical apparatus that integrates insights from social constructivist frameworks, feminist data studies, computer-supported collaborative work, and computer-mediated communication, I highlight how gender, care, and community building intertwine and collectively impact the emergent conversational habits of these online enclaves. Key results indicate six content themes ranging from discussions on knowledge advancement to scintillating ethical probes regarding disparities manifesting in the technical workplace. Further, psycholinguistic and network insights reveal four pivotal roles that support and enrich the communities in different ways. Taken together, these insights help to postulate an emergent spectrum of relationality ranging from a more agentic to a more communal pattern of affinity building. Network insights also yield valuable inferences regarding the role of automated agents in community dynamics across the forums. A discussion is presented regarding the emergent routines of care, collective empowerment, empathy-building tactics, community sustenance initiatives, and ethical perspectives in relation to the involvement of automated agents. This dissertation contributes to the theory and practice of how virtual collectives can be designed and sustained to offer spaces for enrichment, empowerment, and advocacy, focusing on the professional development of historically underrepresented voices such as women

Emerging technologies for teaching and learning: An investigation into the use and role of iPads in grade six English second language in three primary schools in Northern Zambia

Magister Educationis - MEdThe current study framed as, ‘Emerging Technologies for Teaching and Learning: An Investigation into the Role and Use Of iPads In English Second Language in Three Primary Schools in Northern Zambia,’ is situated in Northern Zambia in the Mungwi District. The study set out to investigate the role and use of emerging technology/-ies that is iPads, for literacy development in Grade six English Second Language schools. The purpose was to gain insight into the role emerging technologies play in fostering English Second Language (ESL) and literacy development in the era of new multimodal texts. This entailed acquiring an understanding of how highly ZeduPad tablets might facilitate meaning-making in the process of developing literacy skills

Teaching the Voices of History Through Primary Sources and Historical Fiction: A Case Study of Teacher and Librarian Roles

The ability to analyze alternative points of view and to empathize (understand the beliefs, attitudes and actions of another from the other\u27s perspective rather than from one\u27s own) are essential building blocks for learning in the 21st century. Empathy for the human participants of historical times has been deemed by a number of educators as important for the development of historical understanding. The classroom teacher and the school librarian both have a prominent stake in creating educational experiences that foster the development of perspective, empathy, and understanding. This case study was designed to investigate the idea that teaching with primary sources and historical novels during historical inquiry enhances students\u27 development of cognitive and emotive empathy. The study was framed around two research questions: How do classroom teachers and school librarians design and teach historical inquiry using historical novels and primary sources? What is the impact of teaching with historical novels and primary sources on the development of historical empathy? The case study was conducted in an English/history humanities block and the school library in a New York City secondary school. Data were collected through classroom observations, interviews with the classroom teachers and librarian, and samples of student work. On the use of primary sources and historical novels, the study found that primary sources must be surrounded by context to be useful to students in their learning, that secondary sources were necessary for providing that context, and that historical fiction provides social context, but its use must be scaffolded to help students distinguish fiction from fact. In addition, the study found that unless library linkages to primary sources are embedded in classroom instruction, they are not used by students or teachers. In answer to the second research question, the study found that primary sources have a strong impact on the development of historical empathy if their use is mediated by a teacher or librarian and that cognitive empathy must be developed before emotive empathy. Finally, this case study showed that a school librarian\u27s effectiveness is diminished by fulfilling a resource-provider role with no integration into classroom instruction

The Advocate, February 28, 1979

https://scholarship.law.gwu.edu/the_advocate_1979/1002/thumbnail.jp