E-learning at University of the Arts London

This report is a systematic exploration of staff relationships with e-learning. It presents a renewed evidence base from which e-learning provision and related support can be planned particularly in a rapidly changing HE terrain and an institutional context where e-learning and academic structures are emerging from large change programmes. The research is based on 25 interviews with programme directors (PD) evenly distributed across the 4 colleges, with representatives from all discipline groups, and levels of study. The interviewees provided rich insights into attitudes to, practices in and aspirations for e-learning, but in some instances, were also limited by the newness of the PD role. While some PDs had an intimate understanding of their programme areas, others, understandably, given the newness of posts, were in the process of familiarising themselves with the work of their teams

Harnessing Technology Schools Survey 2009: data report - part 2, data analysis

This document sets out the details of the sampling processes and the methodology of the 2009 Schools Survey and the choices made in organising the analysis

Harnessing Technology Schools Survey 2009: analysis report

The Harnessing Technology schools survey (HTSS) report presents the key survey findings from the academic year 2008-09 set out according to the five system outcomes against which impact of the strategy was measured. The HTSS was an annual national survey of ICT in primary, secondary and special schools. (The data report that accompanied this analysis provides further details of the sample and the characteristics of respondents and is listed separately.

Harnessing Technology Schools Survey 2009: data report – part 1, descriptive analysis

This document, the data report, is a reference document which presents the data in tabular form for anyone who wants to examine the findings of the Harnessing Technology Schools Survey (HTSS) in depth, for example in relation to specific areas of technology or policy, or by school sector. The findings for each question are also set out by school sector by primary, secondary and special school sub-samples

Designing physical-digital artefacts for the public realm

The exploration of new types of everyday interactions enabled by the increasing integration of digital technologies with the physical world is a major research direction for interaction design research (Dourish, 2004), and a focus on materials and materiality is also of growing significance, e.g.: Internet of Things; interactive architecture; the intersection of craft and technology. Increasingly, designer-researchers from a range of material-focused creative design disciplines are starting to address these themes. Previous studies indicate that new approaches, methods and concepts are required to investigate the evolving field of physical-digital synthesis in the built environment. Addressing this, the thesis asks one central question: What resources for design research can help practitioners and researchers from multiple creative design disciplines improve the design of physical-digital artefacts located in the public realm? A detailed Scoping Study explored experimental research methods for this thesis and produced an overview of physical-digital artefacts in outdoor public space. This scoping influenced the subsequent research: an in-depth field study of the design culture and practices of fifty material-focused designer-researchers; four case studies of physical-digital artefacts in outdoor public spaces; a formative creative design workshop with fourteen participants to test the findings from the research. The chief contribution of this thesis to interaction design research is the development of two resources for design research (the Experiential Framework and the Conceptual Materials for Design Research) and the practical application of these new tools as a method for design research in a simulated ‘real-world’ creative workshop setting. Both resources are intended to co-exist and be integrated with established design research methods and emerging approaches. Hence, the outputs from this thesis are intended to support designer-researchers from a range of creative design backgrounds to conceptualise and design physical-digital artefacts for urban outdoor public spaces that provide richer interaction paradigms for future city dwellers

Anti-Doping Policy: The Emperor's New Clothes

A sport or game is defined as a “voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles” with rules developed to define and shape the goal of the game, control the means of obtaining the goal, and ensure or restore fairness. Anti-doping policy establishes the rules surrounding the testing and sanction of athletes and others for actions related to a Prohibited List of substances and methods. Substances appear on the Prohibited List if they meet two of three criteria: (1) harmful or potentially harmful to an athlete’s health; (2) performance-enhancing or potentially performance-enhancing; and (3) in violation of the ‘Spirit of Sport.’ In this thesis I examine the philosophical justifications for anti-doping policy that are connected to these three criteria. While there is a lack of empirical evidence that appropriately used performance-enhancing substances are harmful, there is evidence that the lack of medical supervision and access to safe medications is causing and allowing harm. There is also a lack of evidence that the substances on the Prohibited List enhance performance, yet they are imbued with this property by their presence on the list. Concerns that performance-enhancing substance use by successful athletes is coercive misplace the coercive influence. It may be that the strongest coercive influence comes from the labeling of a substance as performance-enhancing regardless of its biological effects. Modern, elite sport is a massive commercial enterprise that may itself violate the best intentions of an ill-defined ‘Spirit of Sport.’ Anti-doping policy has evolved and narrowed to serve an ideological purpose and in doing so has become a threat to the health and wellbeing of all individuals involved in fitness and sport

Young people today: news media, policy and youth justice

The new sociology of childhood sees children as competent social agents with important contributions to make. And yet the phase of childhood is fraught with tensions and contradictions. Public policies are required, not only to protect children, but also to control them and regulate their behaviour. For children and young people in the UK, youth justice has become increasingly punitive. At the same time, social policies have focused more on children's inclusion and participation. In this interplay of conflict and contradictions, the role the media play is critical in contributing to the moral panic about childhood and youth. In this article, we consider media representations of “antisocial” children and young people and how this belies a moral response to the nature of contemporary childhood. We conclude by considering how a rights-based approach might help redress the moralised politics of childhood representations in the media