Towards an Integrated Perspective of Teachers’ Technology Integration: A Preliminary Model and Future Research Directions

Technology integration is regarded as a crucial and complex endeavour to enhance students’ learning and prepare them to participate in a digital society. Although the research landscape on teachers’ technology integration is vivid and stimulating, an analytical model which synthesises different strands of research to model antecedents (i.e., teachers’ professional competences), processes and outcomes of technology integration in an integrated manner is missing. That said, previous research was often rather product-oriented and ignored potential effects on students’ learning processes and their achievement. To fill this gap, in this paper, we outline a preliminary model, the TPTI-model (teachers’ professional competence for technology integration), in which we deliberately link different research perspectives on teachers’ professional competences, professional vision and students’ learning (processes) to model technology integration during teaching. Based on the preliminary TPTI-model, we propose future research directions, which may allow to gain a better understanding of the teacher- and student-related conditions as well as processes of technology integration and their effects on students’ learning

Dynamics of insurgent innovation : how Hezbollah and other non-state actors develop new capabilities

Few issues are more important to security-studies scholars than understanding how violent non-state groups innovate. To shed new light on this subject, we examine Hezbollah’s innovations and the underlying processes that produced them. Based on this case, the most successful violent non-state groups are arguably those that systematically pursue incremental innovation. Although less dramatic than their discontinuous counterparts, a commitment to steadily improve an organizations' tactics and techniques can have dramatic effects. Indeed, even Hezbollah’s remarkable performance during the 2006 Lebanon War is attributable to the perfection of techniques utilized since the organization's inception. While innovations were incremental in character, a bottom-up process of learning and experimentation by field commanders was critical to generating most of these innovations. If generalizable to other violent non-state actors, these findings suggest that the most formidable insurgent and terrorist groups will actually be those that relentlessly pursue incremental innovations in a bottom-up fashion.PostprintPeer reviewe

Technology-related teaching skills and attitudes: Validation of a scenario-based self-assessment instrument for teachers

Instruments that assess teachers' skills and attitudes on the basis of a broad range of specific standards and demands for teaching with digital technologies are lacking to date. Based on the K19 framework, we validated the scenario-based instrument IN.K19 that simultaneously assesses technology-related teaching skills and attitudes via self-assessment. In our study with N = 90 teachers and student teachers with teaching experience, we demonstrate that the instrument has satisfactory factorial validity in our confirmatory factor analyses. To investigate its predictive validity, we examined the instruments' relationships with teachers' frequency of technology use in class and teachers' initiation of different types of student learning activities involving technology. Results from structural equation modelling show relationships between self-assessed skills in different phases of teaching with technology and the self-reported initiation of student learning activities involving overt actions (active, constructive, and interactive learning activities), supporting the predictive validity of our instrument. Positive attitudes towards technology-related teaching also exhibit positive relationships with the initiation of learning activities involving digital technologies, but more specifically learning activities that do not include observable actions by learners (passive learning activities). Thus, teachers' self-assessed technology-related skills rather than attitudes might contribute to facilitating learning activities crucial for students’ learning

On giant shoulders: How a seamount affects the microbial community composition of seawater and sponges

Seamounts represent ideal systems to study the influence and interdependency of environmental gradients at a single geographic location. These topographic features represent a prominent habitat for various forms of life, including microbiota and macrobiota, spanning benthic as well as pelagic organisms. While it is known that seamounts are globally abundant structures, it still remains unclear how and to which extent the complexity of the sea floor is intertwined with the local oceanographic mosaic, biogeochemistry, and microbiology of a seamount ecosystem. Along these lines, the present study aimed to explore whether and to what extent seamounts can have an imprint on the microbial community composition of seawater and of sessile benthic invertebrates, sponges. For our high-resolution sampling approach of microbial diversity (16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing) along with measurements of inorganic nutrients and other biogeochemical parameters, we focused on the Schulz Bank seamount ecosystem, a sponge ground ecosystem which is located on the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge. Seawater samples were collected at two sampling depths (mid-water, MW, and near-bed water, BW) from a total of 19 sampling sites. With a clustering approach we defined microbial microhabitats within the pelagic realm at Schulz Bank, which were mapped onto the seamount's topography and related to various environmental parameters (such as suspended particulate matter, SPM; dissolved inorganic carbon, DIC; silicate, SiO−4; phosphate, PO3−4; ammonia, NH+4; nitrate, NO2−3; nitrite, NO−2; depth; and dissolved oxygen, O2). The results of our study reveal a “seamount effect” (sensu stricto) on the microbial mid-water pelagic community at least 200 m above the sea floor. Further, we observed a strong spatial heterogeneity in the pelagic microbial landscape across the seamount, with planktonic microbial communities reflecting oscillatory and circulatory water movements, as well as processes of bentho-pelagic coupling. Depth, NO2−3, SiO−4, and O2 concentrations differed significantly between the determined pelagic microbial clusters close to the sea floor (BW), suggesting that these parameters were presumably linked to changes in microbial community structures. Secondly, we assessed the associated microbial community compositions of three sponge species along a depth gradient of the seamount. While sponge-associated microbial communities were found to be mainly species-specific, we also detected significant intra-specific differences between individuals, depending on the pelagic near-bed cluster they originated from. The variable microbial phyla (i.e. phyla which showed significant differences across varying depth, NO2−3, SiO−4, O2 concentrations, and different from local seawater communities) were distinct for every sponge species when considering average abundances per species. Variable microbial phyla included representatives of both those taxa traditionally counted for the variable community fraction and taxa counted traditionally for the core community fraction. Microbial co-occurrence patterns for the three examined sponge species Geodia hentscheli, Lissodendoryx complicata, and Schaudinnia rosea were distinct from each other. Over all, this study shows that topographic structures such as the Schulz Bank seamount can have an imprint (seamount effect sensu lato) on both the microbial community composition of seawater and sessile benthic invertebrates such as sponges by an interplay between the geology, physical oceanography, biogeochemistry, and microbiology of seamounts

On giant shoulders: How a seamount affects the microbial community composition of seawater and sponges

Seamounts represent ideal systems to study the influence and interdependency of environmental gradients at a single geographic location. These topographic features represent a prominent habitat for various forms of life, including microbiota and macrobiota, spanning benthic as well as pelagic organisms. While it is known that seamounts are globally abundant structures, it still remains unclear how and to which extent the complexity of the sea floor is intertwined with the local oceanographic mosaic, biogeochemistry, and microbiology of a seamount ecosystem. Along these lines, the present study aimed to explore whether and to what extent seamounts can have an imprint on the microbial community composition of seawater and of sessile benthic invertebrates, sponges. For our high-resolution sampling approach of microbial diversity (16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing) along with measurements of inorganic nutrients and other biogeochemical parameters, we focused on the Schulz Bank seamount ecosystem, a sponge ground ecosystem which is located on the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge. Seawater samples were collected at two sampling depths (mid-water, MW, and near-bed water, BW) from a total of 19 sampling sites. With a clustering approach we defined microbial microhabitats within the pelagic realm at Schulz Bank, which were mapped onto the seamount's topography and related to various environmental parameters (such as suspended particulate matter, SPM; dissolved inorganic carbon, DIC; silicate, SiO−4; phosphate, PO3−4; ammonia, NH+4; nitrate, NO2−3; nitrite, NO−2; depth; and dissolved oxygen, O2). The results of our study reveal a “seamount effect” (sensu stricto) on the microbial mid-water pelagic community at least 200 m above the sea floor. Further, we observed a strong spatial heterogeneity in the pelagic microbial landscape across the seamount, with planktonic microbial communities reflecting oscillatory and circulatory water movements, as well as processes of bentho-pelagic coupling. Depth, NO2−3, SiO−4, and O2 concentrations differed significantly between the determined pelagic microbial clusters close to the sea floor (BW), suggesting that these parameters were presumably linked to changes in microbial community structures. Secondly, we assessed the associated microbial community compositions of three sponge species along a depth gradient of the seamount. While sponge-associated microbial communities were found to be mainly species-specific, we also detected significant intra-specific differences between individuals, depending on the pelagic near-bed cluster they originated from. The variable microbial phyla (i.e. phyla which showed significant differences across varying depth, NO2−3, SiO−4, O2 concentrations, and different from local seawater communities) were distinct for every sponge species when considering average abundances per species. Variable microbial phyla included representatives of both those taxa traditionally counted for the variable community fraction and taxa counted traditionally for the core community fraction. Microbial co-occurrence patterns for the three examined sponge species Geodia hentscheli, Lissodendoryx complicata, and Schaudinnia rosea were distinct from each other. Over all, this study shows that topographic structures such as the Schulz Bank seamount can have an imprint (seamount effect sensu lato) on both the microbial community composition of seawater and sessile benthic invertebrates such as sponges by an interplay between the geology, physical oceanography, biogeochemistry, and microbiology of seamounts

Bewertung des Reittourismus in Sachsen

Der Freistaat Sachsen engagiert sich seit 1999 im Reittourismus. Schwerpunkte sind die Schaffung eines attraktiven Wegenetzes, die Entwicklung und Qualifizierung reittouristischer Angebote und deren Vermarktung. Die Marke 'Sachsen mit Pferd' ist konsequent weiterentwickelt worden und Bestandteil des Marketings der Landestouristik. Die Zwischenbilanz der Förderung des Reittourismus weist vielfältige Erfolge auf: Die Marke 'Sachsen mit Pferd' wurde entwickelt (Logo, PR, Angebote), rd. 600 Anbieter sind unter dem Produkt 'Sachsen mit Pferd'; zusammengefasst, Leitbild und Marketingstrategie wurden entwickelt, die reittouristischen Angebote wurden in die Marketingkampagne „SACHSENLand erleben“ aufgenommen, ein Zertifizierungssystem für die Reittourismusbetriebe wurde eingerichtet, das Internetportal „Sachsen mit Pferd“ ist seit 2003 online. Etwa 7 000 km Reitwege wurden beschildert. 15 (von 23 geplanten) Reitkarten sind erschienen. Der FN-Wettbewerb 'Pferdefreundliche Gemeinde'; wird auch in Sachsen durchgeführt, der Landes-Wettbewerb 'Pferdefreundliche Gaststätte' findet seit 2003 statt. Weiterbildungsmaßnahmen für Reitbetriebe (und reiterfreundliche Anbieter) wurden entwickelt, 2006 wurde der IHK-Zertifikatskurs 'Fachkraft für Reittourismus' etabliert, im Oktober 2007 gab es die beiden ersten erfolgreichen Absolventinnen. Die Förderung des Reittourismus in Sachsen verfolgt - neben den markenstrategischen und imagebezogenen Zielen - das Ziel der Förderung des ländlichen Raumes und die Unterstützung derlandwirtschaftlichen Betriebe. Stichworte sind u. a. Agrartourismus, Diversifizierung des Angebotes der landwirtschaftlichen Betriebe, Stärkung des Tourismus im ländlichen Raum. Die vorliegende Studie dient als Grundlage, um eine Zwischenbilanz der bisherigen Aktivitäten zu ziehen. Im Mittelpunkt der Überlegungen steht die Weichenstellung für die zukünftige Ausrichtung des Projektes 'Sachsen mit Pferd'

Kernkompetenzen von Lehrkräften für das Unterrichten in einer digitalisierten Welt: Veranschaulichung des Rahmenmodells am Beispiel einer Unterrichtseinheit aus der Biologie

Will man Lehrkräfte systematisch dabei unterstützen, digitale Medien lernförderlich im Unterricht einzusetzen, benötigt man ein Modell medienbezogener Kompetenzen von Lehrkräften. Der vorliegende Beitrag stellt das Rahmenmodell „Kernkompetenzen von Lehrkräften für das Unterrichten in einer digitalisierten Welt“ (DCB, 2017) vor, welches sich im Vergleich zu anderen Ansätzen zur Systematisierung und Operationalisierung medienbezogener Kompetenzen von Lehrkräften dadurch auszeichnet, dass es besonders klar auf die konkreten medienbezogenen Handlungskompetenzen von (angehenden) Lehrkräfte im schulischen Unterricht Bezug nimmt und auf die Anregung von qualitätsvollen schülerseitigen Lernaktivitäten mit digitalen Medien eingeht. Am Beispiel eines konkreten Szenarios aus dem Biologieunterricht zum Thema „Die Honigbiene im Kontext des Klimawandels und der Temperaturregulation“ wird aufgezeigt, wie das Modell der Kernkompetenzen produktiv dazu verwendet werden kann, die für einen erfolgreichen medienbasierten Unterricht erforderlichen Wissensbereiche und Handlungskompetenzen von (angehenden) Lehrkräften zu identifizieren. Damit wird ein Beitrag geleistet zur systematischen Beschreibung medienbasierter Unterrichtsszenarien unter dem Gesichtspunkt der Qualität des Einsatzes digitaler Medien sowie der hierfür erforderlichen medienbezogenen Wissensarten und Handlungskompetenzen von (angehenden) Lehrkräften

Interactive stratospheric aerosol models' response to different amounts and altitudes of SO2 injection during the 1991 Pinatubo eruption

A previous model intercomparison of the Tambora aerosol cloud has highlighted substantial differences among simulated volcanic aerosol properties in the pre-industrial stratosphere and has led to questions about the applicability of global aerosol models for large-magnitude explosive eruptions prior to the observational period. Here, we compare the evolution of the stratospheric aerosol cloud following the well-observed June 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption simulated with six interactive stratospheric aerosol microphysics models to a range of observational data sets. Our primary focus is on the uncertainties regarding initial SO2 emission following the Pinatubo eruption, as prescribed in the Historical Eruptions SO2 Emission Assessment experiments (HErSEA), in the framework of the Interactive Stratospheric Aerosol Model Intercomparison Project (ISA-MIP). Six global models with interactive aerosol microphysics took part in this study: ECHAM6-SALSA, EMAC, ECHAM5-HAM, SOCOL-AERv2, ULAQ-CCM, and UM-UKCA. Model simulations are performed by varying the SO2 injection amount (ranging between 5 and 10 Tg S) and the altitude of injection (between 18–25 km). The comparisons show that all models consistently demonstrate faster reduction from the peak in sulfate mass burden in the tropical stratosphere. Most models also show a stronger transport towards the extratropics in the Northern Hemisphere, at the expense of the observed tropical confinement, suggesting a much weaker subtropical barrier in all the models, which results in a shorter e-folding time compared to the observations. Furthermore, simulations in which more than 5 Tg S in the form of SO2 is injected show an initial overestimation of the sulfate burden in the tropics and, in some models, in the Northern Hemisphere and a large surface area density a few months after the eruption compared to the values measured in the tropics and the in situ measurements over Laramie. This draws attention to the importance of including processes such as the ash injection for the removal of the initial SO2 and aerosol lofting through local heating.</p

Ambiguous alliance : neutrality, opt-outs, and European defence

• EU member states that are neutral or militarily non-aligned, or that have an opt-out from common defence, are often overlooked in discussions about European defence. • The existence of these special status states not only creates uncertainty about the EU’s ambitions to become a fully fledged defence union but also calls into question the functionality of the mutual defence clause, Article 42.7, in the long run. • The special status states fall into three groups according to the challenges they pose to the EU: the “non-aligned in name only” (Finland and Sweden); the “odd one out” (Denmark); and the “strategic schnorrers” (Austria, Ireland, and Malta). • The EU’s work on its Strategic Compass should include debates on the special status states’ future role in European defence, as well as discussions on the operationalisation of the union’s mutual defence clause.peer-reviewe

Anti-prion drug mPPIg5 inhibits PrP(C) conversion to PrP(Sc).

Prion diseases, also known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, are a group of fatal neurodegenerative diseases that include scrapie in sheep, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans. The 'protein only hypothesis' advocates that PrP(Sc), an abnormal isoform of the cellular protein PrP(C), is the main and possibly sole component of prion infectious agents. Currently, no effective therapy exists for these diseases at the symptomatic phase for either humans or animals, though a number of compounds have demonstrated the ability to eliminate PrPSc in cell culture models. Of particular interest are synthetic polymers known as dendrimers which possess the unique ability to eliminate PrP(Sc) in both an intracellular and in vitro setting. The efficacy and mode of action of the novel anti-prion dendrimer mPPIg5 was investigated through the creation of a number of innovative bio-assays based upon the scrapie cell assay. These assays were used to demonstrate that mPPIg5 is a highly effective anti-prion drug which acts, at least in part, through the inhibition of PrP(C) to PrP(Sc) conversion. Understanding how a drug works is a vital component in maximising its performance. By establishing the efficacy and method of action of mPPIg5, this study will help determine which drugs are most likely to enhance this effect and also aid the design of dendrimers with anti-prion capabilities for the future