Breaking down borders to multiliteracy: writing in a second language with technology

In his book entitle Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture toTechnology, Postman {1992) raised serious concerns regarding theinvading power of computer technology and rightly argued that weshould seriously consider "what other humans skills and traditionsare being lost by immersion in a computer culture, (122). Here Iwould like to take an opposing point of view and consider the beneficialpower that computers may have in the particular case oflearning to write in a second language. My assumption is based onmy experience as an educator and as a parent, and my simple desireto facilitate learning and cognition without abolishing traditionaleducational methods, such as pen and paper in the case of writing.In this article I will review recent research in CALL technologies forL2 writing and discuss the opportunity of combining them withconcepts of multiliteracy as well as curriculum design

The Fading of the Postmodern: Jean François Lyotard's Moralites postmoderrnes

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Evaluating a Learning Object Repository: A Pilot Study

This article describes a pilot study performed in the Fall of2004in order to evaluate the functional aspect of FLORE, a newlearning object repository for French teaching and learning.The study seeks to elaborate a standard and iterative evaluationprocess in order to better analyse the educational value oflearning object repositories. Developped as a prototype, FLOREis a web portal similar to MERLOT or CAREO that aggregatesa collection of objects and sites for the community of educatorsand learners of the French language. The author here describesits specificities and draws initial conclusions based on theparticipants' evaluations and contributions towards the furtherdevelopment of the repository

Preface

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Post Program Involvement in Community Service and Volunteerism: An Examination of Youth Exchange and Study Program Alumni

This research project is a case study that examines the post program involvement of former Youth Exchange and Study (YES) students that were placed in the United States for an academic year through the American Institute for Foreign Study (AIFS) Foundation high school program, Academic Year in America (AYA). This study explores the perspectives and narratives of former YES students with a specific focus on their involvement in community service and volunteerism since they returned to their home country. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were used to gather data, which included a comprehensive survey, interviews with former students and AYA staff, as well as a review of relevant research and industry perspectives. The findings exposed a strong and diverse presence of community service and volunteerism activity with the group of participating alumni. Involvement included larger scale efforts through the YES Alumni networks to small yet impactful initiatives run by the former students themselves. This case study also revealed larger discussion questions regarding program evaluation, the definition of community service, and exchange student impact. The details of this case study can be used toward the efforts to improve program evaluation methodology, as well discuss the sustainability of the YES program in the future. Key Words: J-1 Secondary Exchange Visitors, Youth Exchange and Study, Youth Development, Community Service, Service Learning, International Student

Vue d'Amérique

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Pre-treatment cerebrospinal fluid bacterial load correlates with inflammatory response and predicts neurological events during tuberculous meningitis treatment.

Background Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) bacillary load in the brain of those with tuberculous meningitis (TBM) may reflect the host ability to control the pathogen and determine disease severity and treatment outcomes. Methods We measured pre-treatment cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Mtb bacterial load by GeneXpert in 692 adults with TBM. We sought to understand the relationship between CSF bacterial load and inflammation, and their respective impact on disease severity and treatment outcomes. Results Ten-fold higher Mtb load was associated with increased disease severity (Odds Ratio=1.59, p=0.001 for grade 1 versus grade 3), and increased CSF neutrophils (r=0.364, p<0.0001) and cytokine concentrations (r=0.438, p<0.0001). High Mtb load predicted new neurological events after starting treatment (Multinomial logistic regression, p=0.005), but not death. Death was previously associated with attenuated inflammatory response at the start of treatment, with reduced cytokine concentrations compared to survivors. In contrast, patients with high pre-treatment CSF bacterial loads, cytokines, and neutrophils were more likely to subsequently suffer neurological events. Conclusions Pre-treatment GeneXpert-derived Mtb load may be a useful predictor of neurological complications occurring during TBM treatment. Therapeutic strategies aimed at reducing neurological complications and deaths from TBM may need reassessment, given the evidence for their divergent pathogenesis

Univers physique, mondes culturels: le meme et les different

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