Handwriting with Adult with Developmental Delays

This paper provides an assessment of the author\u27s experience working with an adult male with Downs Syndrome to improve his cursive handwriting skills

The economic response to covid-19 and the Conservative party’s failure to depart from Thatcherite orthodoxy

Tom Hoctor writes that, despite much talk around ‘levelling up’, the government’s response to the pandemic points towards an inability to resolve a long-standing Conservative Party dispute: that between Thatcherism and the more interventive, investment-led approach to the economy which the country needs

Investigating Professional Development in Technology for Literacy Teachers

Citrus Heights (a pseudonym) School District is an award-winning exemplar of technology integration. This small urban district has focused its resources on the re-design of its K-8 classrooms and curriculum to support educational reform through the use of technology, including hardware, software, and teacher professional development. Current best practices suggest that while staff development may begin with conventional in-service training, it should move quickly beyond to efforts that support teachers’ development as professionals involved in decision-making, inquiry, and leadership in their classroom teaching. In order to develop as professionals, teachers specifically need help and support in integrating new knowledge and skills into their classroom practice. The case data offer valuable support for theorizing about teachers’ professional development in technology that characterizes the professional literature. Another important aspect for this study is that teachers’ professional development in technology may well serve to further larger goals of school reform. This is addressed in a discussion of what was observed to be the infrastructure that was created to support teachers’ continuing development in technology within the district studied. Attention must be paid to this infrastructure both to understand and to affect the kind of change necessary for school reform. This case study investigates the efficacy of the technology educational reform movement in this district. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, the researcher collected data focusing on the factors in professional development that support or impede 3rd - 6th grade classroom teachers’ meaningful integration of technology and literacy. Five broad themes emerged from the data - multi-layered, adaptive, progressive, responsive, and collaborative. This study offers a preliminary analysis of professional development structures and may be used as a guide by administrators and teacher educators

Marine Ecotourism: A Marketing Initiative in West Clare

Many definitions of ecotourism exist, but there is an emerging consensus that it is a subset of nature-based tourism and of sustainable tourism. Ecotourism is reputed to be the fastest-growing sector of the world tourism industry, with estimates of its rate of growth ranging anywhere between 10% and 30% per annum. It is reputed to attract high spending tourists, and estimates suggest it to be ‘worth’ between $10 and$17.5 billion worldwide (Fennell, 1999). Recognising its global importance, the United Nations General Assembly has declared the year 2002 as the International Year of Ecotourism and Responsible Tourism. The focus of this document is on a particular form of ecotourism known as marine ecotourism, i.e. ecotourism activities that take place in the coastal zone, in the marine environment, or in both. While ecotourism is based on enabling people to experience the natural environment in a manner that is consistent with the principles of sustainable development, marine ecotourism is about attempting to establish and maintain a symbiotic relationship between tourism and the natural marine environment. Marine ecotourism activities may be water-based, land-based, or both. They may be formally organised or undertaken independently. They may form the basis of a specialist holiday or simply be an element of a conventional holiday. Examples of activities that could be marine ecotourism include: watching whales, dolphins, sharks, seals and other marine animals, seabird ornithology, diving and snorkelling, nature-based sightseeing trips by surface boat or submarine, rock-pooling, coastal footpath and beach walking and visiting seashore and sea life centres.Funder: Marine Institut