Continuing Change in a Virtual World: Training and Recruiting Instructors

The process of teacher identification, selection, initial training, and on-going professional development that has developed at the Illinois Virtual High School (IVHS) over the past seven years is described and discussed in this article. Validation was based upon existing practices and research. To provide background the creation and initial development of the IVHS is described. Some of the issues within the hiring process and professional development that the IVHS continues to struggle are examined including teacher certification and the changing nature of technology. The paper concludes with a recommendation that teacher education programs assist in addressing these challenges to support IVHS and other virtual schools

NFAT promotes carcinoma invasive migration through glypican-6

Invasive migration of carcinoma cells is a prerequisite for the metastatic dissemination of solid tumours. Numerous mechanisms control the ability of cancer cells to acquire a motile and invasive phenotype, and subsequently degrade and invade the basement membrane. Several genes that are up-regulated in breast carcinoma are responsible for mediating the metastatic cascade. Recent studies have revealed that the NFAT (nuclear factor of activated T-cells) is a transcription factor that is highly expressed in aggressive breast cancer cells and tissues, and mediates invasion through transcriptional induction of pro-invasion and migration genes. In the present paper we demonstrate that NFAT promotes breast carcinoma invasion through induction of GPC (glypican) 6, a cell-surface glycoprotein. NFAT transcriptionally regulates GPC6 induction in breast cancer cells and binds to three regulatory elements in the GPC6 proximal promoter. Expression of GPC6 in response to NFAT signalling promotes invasive migration, whereas GPC6 silencing with shRNA (small-hairpin RNA) potently blocks this phenotype. The mechanism by which GPC6 promotes invasive migration involves inhibition of canonical β-catenin and Wnt signalling, and up-regulation of non-canonical Wnt5A signalling leading to the activation of JNK (c-Jun N-terminal kinase) and p38 MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase). Thus GPC6 is a novel NFAT target gene in breast cancer cells that promotes invasive migration through Wnt5A signalling

Career Planning with Careerforward: Exploring Student Perceptions and Experiences in an Online Career Preparation Course

In April 2006, the Michigan State Board of Education and Michigan Legislatures adopted a rigorous package of high school graduation requirements, one of which made Michigan the first state that incorporated an online learning graduation requirement into the K‐12 curriculum. All Michigan\u27s students entering high school during 2008‐2009 school year were required to complete online learning during their course of high school studies in order to graduate. Michigan Virtual School helped the schools in Michigan to fulfill this requirement by developing a 20‐hour online learning course called “Career Forward”. In December 2008, the Michigan Virtual University provided the National Repository of Online Courses access to the CareerForward course content, allowing students from anywhere in the United States, the ability to access CareerForward free of charge. This evaluation study was conducted to provide Michigan Virtual School with information to improve the design and delivery of the Career Forward course, in order to improve the learning experiences of the future student and to improve the overall efficiency of the course. Analysis of data from this research indicated that, CareerForward in its current format had very little impact on student attitude towards career planning. Recommendations for changes in design and delivery options of the course for future offerings are suggested in order to make the course more effective and to meet its objectives

Seeing the world through non rose-colored glasses: anxiety and the amygdala response to blended expressions

Anxious individuals have a greater tendency to categorize faces with ambiguous emotional expressions as fearful (Richards et al., 2002). These behavioral findings might reflect anxiety-related biases in stimulus representation within the human amygdala. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) together with a continuous adaptation design to investigate the representation of faces from three expression continua (surprise-fear, sadness-fear, and surprise-sadness) within the amygdala and other brain regions implicated in face processing. Fifty-four healthy adult participants completed a face expression categorization task. Nineteen of these participants also viewed the same expressions presented using type 1 index 1 sequences while fMRI data were acquired. Behavioral analyses revealed an anxiety-related categorization bias in the surprise-fear continuum alone. Here, elevated anxiety was associated with a more rapid transition from surprise to fear responses as a function of percentage fear in the face presented, leading to increased fear categorizations for faces with a mid-way blend of surprise and fear. fMRI analyses revealed that high trait anxious participants also showed greater representational similarity, as indexed by greater adaptation of the Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent (BOLD) signal, between 50/50 surprise/fear expression blends and faces from the fear end of the surprise-fear continuum in both the right amygdala and right fusiform face area (FFA). No equivalent biases were observed for the other expression continua. These findings suggest that anxiety-related biases in the processing of expressions intermediate between surprise and fear may be linked to differential representation of these stimuli in the amygdala and FFA. The absence of anxiety-related biases for the sad-fear continuum might reflect intermediate expressions from the surprise-fear continuum being most ambiguous in threat-relevance

Bodies, building and bricks: Women architects and builders in eight eco-communities in Argentina, Britain, Spain, Thailand and USA

Eco-building is a male domain where men are presumed to be better builders and designers, more men than women build and women find their design ideas and contributions to eco-building are belittled. This article suggests that a focus on bodies, embodiment and the ‘doing’ of building is a potentially productive way to move beyond current gender discrimination. This article makes three key interventions using empirical material from eight case studies of eco-communities in Britain, Thailand, Spain, the USA and Argentina. First, it uses a focus on eco-communities to illustrate the enduring persistence of gender divisions in architecture and building. Second, by using multi-site examples of eco-communities from diverse countries this article finds more commonalities than differences in gender discrimination across cultures and nationalities. Third, it outlines three spaces of opportunity through which more gender-neutral approaches are being developed in eco-building: (1) in challenging the need for ‘strong’ bodies, (2) by practising more embodied ways of building and (3) by making visible women's bodies in building. The ‘doing’ and manual aspect of eco-building is unfamiliar for many (not just women) and interviewees commented on the need to (re)learn how to be practical and to understand the physical possibilities (and limitations) of their bodies

Design And Implementation Of A Java Based Distributed Control System Over The Internet: A Tele-Laboratory System

In this paper, design and implementation of a Java based distributed control system over the Internet, is discussed. The main goal of the project is the development of a tele-laboratory system, which enables one to do experiments on equipments located at remote sites, by using the Internet. The main motivation for this project is the success of the well-known Australian tele-robot system. Following their success, many researchers tried to build web based laboratory systems. Being able to do a laboratory experiment over the Internet is a great convenience, leads to higher collaboration between researchers, and enables students to use the laboratory equipment whenever and wherever they want, as long as a computer with Internet connection is available. Despite these advantages, doing a laboratory experiment over the Internet is not as simple as doing it on site, and involves many new challenges. First of all, during the experiment one should be able to change laboratory equipment parameters, controller parameters, and system inputs remotely. Furthermore, there should be a high-speed data collection system, which can send the collected data to the remote computer for, graphical display. The most important requirement. is the need for a high-speed control loop executed with strict real-time requirements. Finally, a live video connection is necessary so that one can also watch the laboratory equipment and its response as live video. In this paper, we will discuss how we address these challenges, and in which aspects the proposed structure is an improvement of the existing tele laboratory implementations around the world

Design And Implementation Of A Java Based Distributed Control System Over The Internet: A Tele-Laboratory System

In this paper, design and implementation of a Java based distributed control system over the Internet, is discussed. The main goal of the project is the development of a tele-laboratory system, which enables one to do experiments on equipments located at remote sites, by using the Internet. The main motivation for this project is the success of the well-known Australian tele-robot system. Following their success, many researchers tried to build web based laboratory systems. Being able to do a laboratory experiment over the Internet is a great convenience, leads to higher collaboration between researchers, and enables students to use the laboratory equipment whenever and wherever they want, as long as a computer with Internet connection is available. Despite these advantages, doing a laboratory experiment over the Internet is not as simple as doing it on site, and involves many new challenges. First of all, during the experiment one should be able to change laboratory equipment parameters, controller parameters, and system inputs remotely. Furthermore, there should be a high-speed data collection system, which can send the collected data to the remote computer for, graphical display. The most important requirement. is the need for a high-speed control loop executed with strict real-time requirements. Finally, a live video connection is necessary so that one can also watch the laboratory equipment and its response as live video. In this paper, we will discuss how we address these challenges, and in which aspects the proposed structure is an improvement of the existing tele laboratory implementations around the world