The History of the iPad

The purpose of this paper is to review the history of the iPad and its influence over contemporary computing. Although the iPad is relatively new, the tablet computer is having a long and lasting affect on how we communicate. With this essay, I attempt to review the technologies that emerged and converged to create the tablet computer. Of course, Apple and its iPad are at the center of this new computing movement

Irish pre-service teachers’ expectations for teaching as a career: a snapshot at a time of transition

Recent graduates of teacher education programmes in Ireland are entering their careers at a time characterized by an erosion of teacher autonomy, increased bureaucratic demands, and narrower curriculum specifications. These changes are typical features of what Sahlberg (2011) has termed the global educational reform movement (GERM), and evidence suggests that they can have a negative impact on teacher morale, and on how teaching as a career is perceived. This, in turn, can have detrimental effects on teacher recruitment and retention. This study examined the career expectations of two cohorts of Irish pre-service teachers (n=491) at the point of transition between college and work. The data gathered were also used to investigate if recent changes to the B.Ed. programme are associated with any changes in career expectations. Overall, teachers indicated strong expectations on issues such as doing a worthwhile job, feeling satisfied with pupil achievement and fulfilling personal needs, however, expectations with regard to the adequacy of salaries were low, and appear to have diminished further throughout the period 2014 to 2016

Practice tests: do they work? Can they work better?

Within the diverse field of certification and licensure, millions of tests are administered each year by non-governmental bodies and state agencies. A perusal of relevant websites suggests that most of the major certification and licensure tests have associated sample items, practice tests and/or preparatory tests (prep tests) either in hard copy or online available to potential candidates. All three are described in the standards of the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA, 2016). Sample items are offered simply to give potential test candidates an idea of what items on the test may look like. Practice tests are made up of numerous sample items and may, in some instances, be constructed to match a test plan. Prep tests can be distinguished from practices tests on the basis that they are always constructed to match test specifications closely, and are used to provide candidates with a predicted score for the real test. While sample items are usually provided at no cost and prep tests have to be purchased, practice tests can either be offered for free (often by the organisation responsible for setting or administering the test1 ) or charged for by the entities that developed them (the certification/licencing authority2 or other organisations3). These distinctions are worth noting; however, for simplicity, the general term ‘practice tests’ is used in this paper to refer to various types of practice and preparation materials

The learning portfolio in higher education: an integrative review

The learning portfolio is often lauded as a powerful pedagogical tool, and consequently, is rapidly becoming a central feature of contemporary education. This paper synthesizes and critically reviews the literature pertaining to its use in higher education contexts specifically. Three key themes are identified and discussed. First, although the theory underlying the use of learning portfolios is promising, robust empirical evidence supporting their effectiveness remains sparse. Second, the tool is rooted in a complex pedagogy, and its potential can only be realized if the processes underlying this pedagogy are properly understood by advocates and executed by users. Third, there is a recurring tension between the developmental (process) and evaluative (product) conceptualizations of the learning portfolio. On the basis of these findings, some recommendations for future research and practice in this area are identified

Edward Kennedy: the Reporter at War

ASSOCIATED PRESS WAR CORRESPONDENT Edward Kennedy (1905–1963) was among the 17 journalists chosen to witness Germany’s surrender, ending Allied combat operations in Europe during World War II (Knightley, 2002). While en route to the early morning meeting, all members of the press corps were warned that the story was under embargo until Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (or SHAEF) issued its official release. After the event, the armed services placed a 36- hour embargo on the story; when Edward Kennedy broke that embargo, he told the world that the war with Germany was over – and paid dearly for his actions. In the weeks and months following his news scoop, Kennedy had his press credentials pulled, and the Associated Press began pressuring him to resign. When he did so, his career disintegrated and his life unraveled. In 1963, as he walked home from work, he was mowed down by a young driver in California (Kennedy, 2012). In May 2012, after nearly seven decades, the Associated Press finally issued an apology to Edward Kennedy and his family; and while the family may welcome this exoneration, the ethical implications of his story and the relationship war correspondents (both present and past) share with the US military continue to bear review

Quantum noise in optical interferometers

We study the photon counting noise in optical interferometers used for gravitational wave detection. In order to reduce quantum noise a squeezed vacuum is injected into the usually unused input port. It is investigated under which conditions the gravitational wave signal may be amplified without increasing counting noise concurrently. Such a possibility was suggested as a consequence of the entanglement of the two output ports of a beam splitter. We find that amplification without concurrent increase of noise is not possible for reasonable squeezing parameters. Photon distributions for various beam splitter angles and squeezing parameters are calculated.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure

Teacher perspectives on standardized testing of achievement in Ireland

In the years since 2007 the role of standardized testing in Irish primary (elementary schools has become increasingly prominent. All schools are now required to administer tests in English reading and mathematics in 2nd, 4th and 6th grades, and to report aggregated results to their Boards of Management and the Department of Education and Skills (DES). Schools are also required to share the results with parents/guardians at the three mandatory testing points and to do this in written format using end-of-year school reports DES, 2011. As of September 2017, the results are used at national level as part of the process involved in determining the allocation of special educational teaching resources to schools DES, 2017. The research described in this paper represents a collaboration between the Centre for Assessment Research, Policy and Practice in Education (CARPE) based at Dublin City University and the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) - the largest teachers' trade union in Ireland representing 95%+ of all teachers at the elementary level. In examining elementary teachers use of and attitudes to standardized tests at a time when the stakes associated with this form of assessment are growing, the research exemplifies the AERA 2020 conference theme: “The Power and Possibilities for the Public Good When Researchers and Organizational Stakeholders Collaborate.

Geology and petrochemistry of the Mount Chase massive sulfide prospect, Penobscot County, Maine

The Mount Chase massive sulfide prospect of northern Penobscot County, Maine was discovered in 1979 by Getty Mining Company. The deposit occurs within a sequence of lower paleozoic metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks. The footwall units consist of rhyolitic flows, quartz-feldspar crystal tuff, and altered tuffaceous volcanic breccias. These rocks lie unconformably upon intensely folded sediments which are tentatively correlated with the Grand Pitch Formation of probable Cambrian age. The footwall volcanoclastic rocks exhibit a narrow zone of intense chloritic alteration immediately below the massive sulfide horizon, and a broader zone of sericitic alteration below that. A zone of stringer mineralization is associated with the footwall alteration beneath the western side of the deposit. The massive sulfide occurs in two adjacent main lenses occurring approximately within the same stratigraphic horizon. On a microscopic scale, the sulfide minerals exhibit metamorphic recrystallization with porphyroblastic and poikilobastic textures common. The Mount Chase hanging wall units consist of a sequence of relatively unaltered crystal-lithic tuffs, greenstone, and shale. The entire Mount Chase footwall and hanging wall sequence is tentatively correlated with the early to middle Ordovician Shin Brook Formation. Representative drill core samples were analyzed by x-ray fluorescence for SiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3, MgO, Na2O, K2O, TiO2, P2O5, MnO, FeS2, Ba, Cu, Zn, Rb, and Sr. The chemical systems of Bastin and Ossan indicate a combination of metasedimentary and metavolcanic lithologies for the Mount Chase rocks. These results agreed well with mineralogical and textural interpretations. Harker-type variation diagrams indicate depleted levels of CaO, and somewhat elevated levels of Na2O. K2O is generally depleted in the hanging wall rocks and elevated in the footwall rocks. These observations are interpreted to be the result of alkali metasomatism in the hanging wall rocks and a combination of alkali metasomatism and hydrothermal alteration in the footwall rocks. TAS and AFM plots of the Mount Chase igneous rocks indicate subalkalic calc-alkaline affinities though the most mafic rocks plot as tholeiites --Abstract, pages ii-iii

The effect of a self-monitoring program on perceptually impaired students\u27 compliance to class rules

The objective of this study was to examine the effects of a self-monitoring procedure that was designed to increase compliance to classroom rules in a middle school setting. Four male seventh grade students classified as Perceptually Impaired with histories of discipline and academic difficulties served as subjects for this investigation. After a baseline period in which a rating scale was used to evaluate their behavior, the subjects were taught to use the same scale and were required to rate their compliance to a predetermined set of rules. Points to be used for participation in a reinforcement activity could be earned if their ratings corresponded with the teacher\u27s. The results of the intervention indicated that the self-monitoring program improved the ability of all the subjects to follow the prescribed rules of the class. Data showed that the positive results continued during a subsequent maintenance period

Nanomechanical Quantum Memory for Superconducting Qubits

Many protocols for quantum computation require a quantum memory element to store qubits. We discuss the accuracy with which quantum states prepared in a Josephson junction qubit can be stored in a nanoelectromechanical resonator and then transfered back to the junction. We find that the fidelity of the memory operation depends on both the junction-resonator coupling strength and the location of the state on the Bloch sphere. Although we specifically focus on a large-area, current-biased Josesphson junction phase qubit coupled to the dilatational mode of a piezoelectric nanoelectromechanical disk resonator, many our results will apply to other qubit-oscillator models.Comment: 4 pages, Revte