The Digital Disconnect: The Widening Gap Between Internet Savvy Students and Their Schools

Presents findings from a survey of public middle and high school students from thirty schools across the U.S. Looks at how students rely on the Internet to help them do their schoolwork, in addition to dozens of other education related tasks

Policy provisions for public access to television : democratic and educational implications in Canada and the United States

This thesis examines broadcast policies and policy documents in Canada and the United States to determine whether and to what degree they make provision for the public's access to television. Government policies and policy documents are examined at the federal and local level, and a case study of two cable systems, one in Vancouver, B.C. the other in Seattle, Washington, supplies empirical data to corroborate how policy provisions for public access to television are interpreted and implemented. A neo-Gramscian concept of ideological hegemony broadly frames this study of the impact of public policy, specifically broadcast policy, on social structure and behaviour. Because a very small portion of the general population have access to television production and programming, they dominate the television discourse. Research that documents television’s pervasive stereotypic and derogatory treatment of women and “racial"/ethnic "minorities" as well as its perceived effect of contributing to the social and economic subordination of these populations in North American society is used as a basis for this study. This thesis argues that broadening the body of people who have access to the television production and programming process might encourage more accurate, positive and/or relevant television images and relations with positive social consequences. On one level, this is a matter of having broadcast policies which ensure such broadened access. Canada and the United States each have policy provisions for the general public's access to television which are based on notions of civic democratic participation in society. Analysis and comparison of these policies results in the conclusion that although both countries provide access to the public through policy, many of these provisions limit access in four areas: access to production, access to distribution, access to input, and access to viewing. Because television access policies limit the public's access increasingly, the broadening of the access base is impeded along with the challenge to the current structure, message and function of television. On this account, traditional agendas and images continue to dominate the airwaves and their educational power. Further study should be undertaken on: 1) the effects of television, 2) the public's use of community television/public access television, 3) the effects of community channels on viewers and whether they are different than the effects of broadcast television and 4) the effects of broadcast policy on the structure and function of television.Education, Faculty ofCurriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department ofGraduat

Gearing Up to GEAR UP: Four Perspectives on Early Implementation Considerations for GEAR UP

GEAR UP, a federally-funded pre-college outreach program, strives to provide academic and other supports to middle and high school students and their families to help them prepare for, and pursue, higher education. GEAR UP was established in 1998 by President Clinton through Title IV of the 1998 Amendments to the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA). This paper utilizes a phenomenological frame to explore certain key considerations involved in the initial implementation phases of a GEAR UP grant. Four distinct qualitative phenomenological perspectives from Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) faculty members involved in a current State of Connecticut GEAR UP grant Alliance are shared. Through these four accounts, qualitative, descriptive information about specific systemic, organizational, content, and procedural factors to consider when beginning implementation and planning for a 6-year university-school district partnership like GEAR UP are considered. The insights are not necessarily limited to GEAR UP, however, and may be applicable to other partnership initiatives and/or other large-scale program implementation efforts

Writing, technology and teens

What, if anything, connects the formal writing teens do and the informal e-communication they exchange on digital screens? A considerable number of educators and children\u27s advocates worry that James Billington, the Librarian of Congress, was right when he recently suggested that young Americans\u27 electronic communication might be damaging "the basic unit of human thought -- the sentence." They are concerned that the quality of writing by young Americans is being degraded by their electronic communication, with its carefree spelling, lax punctuation and grammar, and its acronym shortcuts. Others wonder if this return to text-driven communication is instead inspiring new appreciation for writing among teens. This report looks at teens\u27 basic definition of writing, explores the various kinds of writing they do, seeks their assessment about what impact e-communication has on their writing, and probes for their guidance about how writing instruction might be improved