Technology in elt to improve learners’ communicative competence

The topic of technology has become very popular in ELT, especially with the transition to online education in the COVID pandemic times. There are a multitude of benefits of using technology for students (and teachers). However, teachers often believe that they are not tech-savvy and avoid using technology. This article will prepare educators to implement various tools to raise their self-confidence in terms of technology use. The article includes the latest research on the topic of technology in teaching languages, and offers practical applications and authentic tasks to raise teachers’ tech awareness and readiness. Enhancing teachers’ technological skills can help design curriculum and lesson plans more efficiently. By doing so, teachers can keep students engaged and motivated through digitally generated activities. The article will offer ideas for a fun schema activating task, a theoretical discussion, and practical applications of the suggested digital tools. The key takeaway from this article is that tea

Visual perception and processing of radial motion

As we navigate the environment, images flow over our retinae and produce complex moving patterns including contraction and expansion. These in turn serve to inform us about our movement in the world, as well as about the positions and relative motions of the objects around us. The processes underlying the perception of radial motion were explored using psychophysics, eye tracking and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The initial experiments studied how adaptation to radial motion affects discrimination using partially-coherent dot stimuli. Adaptation increased absolute detection thresholds in the adapted direction, but had no effect on the discrimination of higher pedestals. The change in sensitivity is consistent with a divisive inhibition mechanism, as well as with one based on proportion estimates. An orientation discrimination experiment adds support for the latter. Directed attention to one component of a motion-balanced transparently-moving stimulus impairs sensitivity to a level comparable to that following adaptation, although there were large inter-subject differences. A novel approach using relative velocity adjustments of transparently-moving dot fields was used to investigate the reference frame of motion adaptation, which is shown to be mainly retinotopic and diminished by gaze modulations. Finally, fMRI was used to probe the neural substrates of radial motion perception, including retinotopic mapping, localisation of MT/MST, and selectivity for contraction and expansion within the MT+ complex

SYSTEM-LEVEL HYBRID FAULT DIAGNOSABILITY WITH GENERAL TEST INVALIDATION

On the basis of a self-checking system model with general test invalidation the problem of diagnosability in the case of permanent and intermittent faults known as hybrid fault situation is discussed. Two hybrid fault models have been introduced that take into consideration the behaviour of the faulty tester. On the basis of the relationship that exists between the permanent and hybrid fault models, given the number of all units in a system, the upper bound of the number of diagnosable faulty units is defined without restriction on the test connection assignment

Influence and power dynamics in client-consultant teams

© 2009, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Purpose – The aim of this paper is to provide a clearer picture of the nature of power imbalance in client-consultant teams, which has negative consequences for the development and implementation of consultants' recommendations, and to outline ways how to avoid such an imbalance in the first instance. Design/methodology/approach – This is an empirical paper based on in-depth semi-structured interviews with clients and consultants from the strategic consulting sector in Australia. Findings – Taking a differentiated look at the roles and responsibilities of members of client-consultant teams, the authors propose that power within client-consultant teams is multidimensional and the outcome of the interplay of its different forms is not predictable. It is further argued that a power balance is crucial for achieving better results from consulting projects. Research limitations/implications – The findings are not generalizable, due to the small sample and the focus on strategic consulting. The results encourage further research in different types of consulting projects as well as studies based on observation of client-consultant interactions. Practical implications – The paper highlights the main points of concern for managers and consultants and provides some suggestions on how to achieve a balanced relationship. Originality/value – This paper's major contribution is in providing deeper insight into a hitherto underexplored issue of client-consultant interactions: the contested nature of power in client-consultant teams and the reasons and outcomes of power imbalance

Knowledge production in consulting teams

The central thesis of this paper is that the production of knowledge in consulting teams can neither be understood as the result of an internal interaction between clients and consultants decoupled from the wider socio-political environment nor as externally determined by socially constructed industry recipes or management fashions detached from the cognitive uniqueness of the client-consultant team. Instead, we argue that knowledge production in consulting teams is intrinsically linked to the institutional environment that not only provides resources such as funding, manpower, or legitimacy but also offers cognitive feedback through which knowledge production is influenced. By applying the theory of self-organization to the knowledge production in consulting teams, we explain how consulting teams are structured by the socio-cultural environment and are structuring this environment to continue their work. The consulting team's knowledge is shaped and influenced by cognitive feedback loops that involve external collective actors such as the client organization, practice groups of consulting firms, the academic/professional community, and the general public who essentially become co-producers of consulting knowledge. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd

Creating Shared Value Through Service-Learning in Management Education

© 2017, © The Author(s) 2017. Service-learning has gained strong interest among educators as a model of experiential education through community engagement. Its potential to contribute to multiple stakeholders, including students, community partners, faculty, and university, is well recognized. While research has focused on elements of this teaching model that contribute to the realization of student-related benefits, there has been less emphasis on what aspects enable the creation of shared value to other stakeholders. We describe a postgraduate, elective management consulting course based on service-learning pedagogy, which has been running for 10 years at the University of Technology Sydney Business School leading to the completion of 75 community projects to date, and evaluate how it creates shared value to multiple stakeholders. We identify four main elements of the course that enable it to deliver value to multiple stakeholders: a dedicated role of client engagement coordinator, a coaching program involving industry experts, student autonomy, and authentic assessments. The main challenges in continuously providing value to all involved parties are developing focused and realistic project briefs, managing students’ commitment and differences in students’ skills, and recruiting industry coaches

Insect assemblages and their preference for Lupinus albus and L. luteus

peer-reviewedWhile lupin has undergone extensive research to ascertain its suitability for growth as forage or grain legume crop, the present trend is for research to be centered on its applicability in the seed protein and oil industry. Study of the literature showed that no intensive study of the lupin insect fauna had been carried out in Bulgaria. The purpose of this study was to identify the insect assemblages associated with Lupinus albus and L. luteus, as well as the insect preference for them. Thrips sampling was made by the tapping-method, aphids were directly counted on the plants and the composition and population density of other species were recorded by sweepings. Insect fauna was studied for the first time in Bulgaria. The fauna was represented on L. albus by 64 species, belonging to eight orders, 28 families and 57 genera, including 23 beetles, 25 hemipteras, five thrips, three butterflies, three bees, one leaf aphid, two grasshoppers, one leafminer and one green lacewing. L. luteus had similar species composition but was less preferred by insects. The use of lupin cultivars with shorter and intense reproductive periods, with a lower content of crude protein and phosphorus, would give an environmentally friendly protection against insect pests, which would be suitable for an organic production system