"My Own Darling Mother": An Examination of a Mother-Daughter Relationship

Paper presented on May 30, 2007.This paper will examine the relationship between Gladys Arnold and her Mother, Florida Mae Arnold Sutcliffe. It is based on correspondence between Arnold and her mother that spans more than forty years. The paper will explore both the bonds of affection between these two women and the tensions between a mother and her daughter who were separated for much of the period under review. Born in Macoun, Saskatchewan in 1905, the bond between Arnold and her mother deepened following the premature death of Arnold_s father in 1915. In the mid-1930s she left Canada to report on events in Europe. Her mother, meanwhile, had remarried and moved to Victoria, British Columbia. Living in Paris and reporting as the only Canadian Press correspondent in France at the time, Arnold wrote frequently to her mother of conditions leading up to the German invasion and occupation. She also relied on her mother to provide emotional and material support while she attempted to establish her career as a foreign correspondent. The correspondence between Arnold and Sutcliffe sheds light on issues related to the emotional ties between mother and daughter, the importance of family to Arnold_s career as a journalist and war correspondent and during the postwar period. In her struggle to balance the demands of family and her need to earn a living, the correspondence reveals much about the balancing act required of a single, professional woman in the 1930s, 40s and 50sAcademic & Professional Development Fund (A&PDF) [SSHRC Institutional Grant (SIG)

Research and Practice in K-12 Online Learning: A Review of Open Access Literature

The literature related to online learning programs for K-12 students dates to the mid-1990s and builds upon a century of research and practice from K-12 distance education. While K-12 online learning programs have evolved and grown over the past decade, the amount of published research on virtual schooling practice and policy is limited. The current literature includes practitioner reports and experimental and quasi-experimental studies, both published and unpublished. This paper reviews open access literature in K-12 online learning and reports on a structured content analysis of the documents. Themes in the literature include steady growth and a focus on the benefits, challenges, and broad effectiveness of K-12 online learning. In addition, newly developed standards for K-12 online learning are emerging in descriptions of effective practices

Instructional multimedia: An investigation of student and instructor attitudes and student study behavior

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Educators in allied health and medical education programs utilize instructional multimedia to facilitate psychomotor skill acquisition in students. This study examines the effects of instructional multimedia on student and instructor attitudes and student study behavior.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Subjects consisted of 45 student physical therapists from two universities. Two skill sets were taught during the course of the study. Skill set one consisted of knee examination techniques and skill set two consisted of ankle/foot examination techniques. For each skill set, subjects were randomly assigned to either a control group or an experimental group. The control group was taught with live demonstration of the examination skills, while the experimental group was taught using multimedia. A cross-over design was utilized so that subjects in the control group for skill set one served as the experimental group for skill set two, and vice versa. During the last week of the study, students and instructors completed written questionnaires to assess attitude toward teaching methods, and students answered questions regarding study behavior.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There were no differences between the two instructional groups in attitudes, but students in the experimental group for skill set two reported greater study time alone compared to other groups.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Multimedia provides an efficient method to teach psychomotor skills to students entering the health professions. Both students and instructors identified advantages and disadvantages for both instructional techniques. Reponses relative to instructional multimedia emphasized efficiency, processing level, autonomy, and detail of instruction compared to live presentation. Students and instructors identified conflicting views of instructional detail and control of the content.</p

Lessons from K-12 Distance Education in the U.S.A., 1986-2008

&lt;p&gt;Distance education for elementary and secondary school students in North America has grown and evolved over a century from mail-based correspondence courses for small numbers of geographically dispersed learners to the millions of learners now using online courses in virtual schools. This article focuses on effective practices emerging from the modern electronic generation of K-12 distance education programs existing in the United States between 1986 and 2008.&lt;/p&gt;</jats:p

Distance Education Success Factors

While effective distance education has been practiced and studied for centuries, it has been in just the last decade that networked digital technology has been employed. Technologies and teaching techniques continue to evolve, and the options continue to expand, emphasizing the need for information that will assist distance education planners and participants in making decisions that will result in optimal learning experiences. </jats:p

Lecciones de la educación a distancia desde preescolar hasta el grado 12 (K-12)1 en los Estados Unidos, 1986-2008

&lt;p&gt;La Educación a Distancia para estudiantes de primaria y secundaria en Norteamérica ha crecido y evolucionado por más de un siglo, comenzando con los cursos por correspondencia para un número reducido de alumnos dispersos geográficamente hasta llegar a los millones de alumnos que hoy utilizan Internet en las escuelas virtuales. Este artículo centra su interés en las eficaces prácticas que han surgido a partir de la moderna generación electrónica de los programas de Educación a Distancia (desde preescolar hasta el grado 12, equivalente a lúltimo de bachillerato) en los Estados Unidos durante el periodo que va de 1986 a 2008.&lt;/p&gt;</jats:p

Augmented Reality Gaming in Education for Engaged Learning

In augmented reality games, game experiences combining electronic game content take the form of narrative materials and game-play elements exchanged through a wide range of communication media that are used in a related physical setting. Educational game developers design these games to maximize transfer of learning through close approximation of the game-scaffolded skills and the game environment to real skills and contexts. The games immerse players in electronic and actual learning situations using features that make them effective learning experiences for fostering meaningful learning. The situated learning experienced by augmented reality game players transfers to deep learning, often in social contexts. Research into the uses of these games as educational platforms has focused on developing the technologies for the games and on studies of games for learning. Results demonstrate the strengths and areas for continued development in the application of augmented reality games for childhood and adult learning in formal and informal settings. </jats:p

Distance Education Success Factors

While effective distance education has been practiced and studied for centuries, it has been in just the last decade that networked digital technology has been employed. Technologies and teaching techniques continue to evolve, and the options continue to expand, emphasizing the need for information that will assist distance education planners and participants in making decisions that will result in optimal learning experiences. </jats:p

Augmented Reality Gaming in Education for Engaged Learning

In augmented reality games, game experiences combining electronic game content take the form of narrative materials and game-play elements exchanged through a wide range of communication media that are used in a related physical setting. Educational game developers design these games to maximize transfer of learning through close approximation of the game-scaffolded skills and the game environment to real skills and contexts. The games immerse players in electronic and actual learning situations using features that make them effective learning experiences for fostering meaningful learning. The situated learning experienced by augmented reality game players transfers to deep learning, often in social contexts. Research into the uses of these games as educational platforms has focused on developing the technologies for the games and on studies of games for learning. Results demonstrate the strengths and areas for continued development in the application of augmented reality games for childhood and adult learning in formal and informal settings. </jats:p