Philosophy of Technology Assumptions in Educational Technology Leadership

A qualitative study using grounded theory methods was conducted to (a) examine what philosophy of technology assumptions are present in the thinking of K-12 technology leaders, (b) investigate how the assumptions may influence technology decision making, and (c) explore whether technological determinist assumptions are present. Subjects involved technology directors and instructional technology specialists from school districts, and data collection involved interviews and a written questionnaire. Three broad philosophy of technology views were widely held by participants, including an instrumental view of technology, technological optimism, and a technological determinist perspective that sees technological change as inevitable. Technology leaders were guided by two main approaches to technology decision making in cognitive dissonance with each other, represented by the categories Educational goals and curriculum should drive technology, and Keep up with Technology (or be left behind). The researcher concluded that as leaders deal with their perceived experience of the inevitability of technological change, and their concern for preparing students for a technological future, the core category Keep up with technology (or be left behind) is given the greater weight in technology decision making. A risk is that this can on occasion mean a quickness to adopt technology for the sake of technology, without aligning the technology implementation with educational goals

Examining Philosophy of Technology Using Grounded Theory Methods

A qualitative study was conducted to examine the philosophy of technology of K-12 technology leaders, and explore the influence of their thinking on technology decision making. The research design aligned with CORBIN and STRAUSS grounded theory methods, and I proceeded from a research paradigm of critical realism. The subjects were school technology directors and instructional technology specialists, and data collection consisted of interviews and a written questionnaire. Data analysis involved the use of grounded theory methods including memo writing, open and axial coding, constant comparison, the use of purposive and theoretical sampling, and theoretical saturation of categories. Three broad philosophy of technology views were widely held by participants: an instrumental view of technology, technological optimism, and a technological determinist perspective that saw technological change as inevitable. Technology leaders were guided by two main approaches to technology decision making, represented by the categories Educational goals and curriculum should drive technology, and Keep up with Technology (or be left behind). The core category and central phenomenon that emerged was that technology leaders approached technology leadership by placing greater emphasis on keeping up with technology, being influenced by an ideological orientation to technological change, and being concerned about preparing students for a technological future

Pathways to Development Through Local Faith Communities

Conceding that religious and other forms of fundamentalism can be very destructive, and recognising that the role of religion within development theory and practice remains marginalised, this paper considers the positive changes that are possible at the nexus between ‘religion’ and what can loosely be described as ‘development.’ In this paper original research on gender programming in the Papua New Guinea Church Partnership Program is presented to illustrate the potential for poverty reduction and human development when development processes engage with, rather than avoid, religion. We argue that in PNG attempts to separate ‘religion’ and ‘development’ result in an uncomfortable dichotomy that may impede development goals

Capacity Building with LeGGo: Expanding Participation in Nepal

In 1999 the government of Nepal passed the Local Self-Governance Act (LSGA) to devolve administrative, judicial and fiscal powers to locally elected bodies. In this context, improving the capacities of communities and marginilisaed groups to participate in local governance and development activities remains a key priority for international donors and the Nepalese government. Mindful of Baser and Morgan\u27s (2008) five core capabilities, this paper reviews an ambitious attempt by the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) in Kavre District to enhance local capacity through a two year Leadership and Good Governance Project. The central question explored is whether a combination of government staff training, community mobilisation and active community leadership in 60 micro projects has resulted in increased capacity of CBOs or communities as actors in a participatory development process

Computations in cubic function fields of characteristic three

This paper contains an account of arbitrary cubic function fields of characteristic three.  We define a standard form for an arbitrary cubic curve and consider its function field.  By considering an integral basis for the maximal order of these function fields, we are able to calculate the field discriminant and the genus.  We also give explicit algorithms for ideal arithmetic which for certain cubic function fields give rise to composition and reduction algorithms for computing in the associated ideal class group

Abstract Functional Stochastic Evolution Equations Driven by Fractional Brownian Motion

We investigate a class of abstract functional stochastic evolution equations driven by a fractional Brownianmotion in a real separable Hilbert space.Global existence results concerningmild solutions are formulated under various growth and compactness conditions. Continuous dependence estimates and convergence results are also established. Analysis of three stochastic partial differential equations, including a second-order stochastic evolution equation arising in the modeling of wave phenomena and a nonlinear diffusion equation, is provided to illustrate the applicability of the general theory

Modularity of a Cambrian ptychoparioid trilobite cranidium

Modularity of the cranidium of Crassifimbra? metalaspis , a Cambrian ptychoparioid trilobite, is investigated using landmark-based geometric morphometric methods to gain insight into the integration among morphogenetic processes responsible for shaping the head of an ancient arthropod. Of particular interest is the extent to which the structure of phenotypic integration was governed by direct interactions among developmental pathways, because these interactions may generate long-term constraints on evolutionary innovation. A modified two-way ANOVA decomposes cranidial shape variation into components representing symmetric variation among individuals and fluctuating asymmetry (FA). The structure of integration of each of these components is inferred from correlated deviations in shape among nine partitions of the cranidium. Significant correlation among partitions in FA indicates direct interactions among their respective developmental pathways. An a priori hypothesis that modularity was determined by functional association among partitions is not well supported by the among-partition correlation structure for either component of variation. Instead, exploratory analyses reveal that phenotypic integration was strongly influenced by spatially localized morphogenetic controls. Comparison of the structures of the Individuals and FA components of variation reveals that the two share relatively few commonalities: the structure of phenotypic integration was only weakly influenced by direct interactions. The large contribution of parallel variation to phenotypic integration suggests that modularity was unlikely to have imposed a long-term constraint on evolutionary innovation in these early trilobites.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/79346/1/j.1525-142X.2010.00459.x.pd

Characteristics of the closest relationships between children with developmental disabilities and peers in inclusive settings

Inclusive education has become more common in schools, and children with developmental disabilities have had greater opportunities to interact, and hopefully establish relationships with their typically developing peers. While the quality of friendships between typically developing children has been examined in detail, relatively little comparable data is available on children with developmental disabilities. The current study provided an examination of the characteristics of the closest relationships between children with developmental disabilities and peers in inclusive school settings. Twenty-five children with developmental disabilities aged between approximately 5 and 12 years participated. Using an interview instrument, the relationships of these children with 74 peers were examined across six dimensions. Overall, dyads were found to be high in Validation and Caring as well as Help and Guidance, followed by slightly lower levels of Companionship. Intimate Exchange was reported to be lower. Conflict among dyads was also low, and Conflict Resolution was reported to be high when problems did occur. There was a clear differentiation between the highest- and lowest-ranked dyads for children with a disability. Overall, the features of the relationships between children with disabilities and their highest-ranked peer appeared similar in nature to those previously reported between typically developing peers