Search results

1 – 10 of over 49000
Book part
Publication date: 21 November 2005

Gloria J. Leckie and Lisa M. Given

The history of the public library is long and rich, and continues to reflect this institution's initial mission: to respond to the needs of an evolving democratic society. From…

Abstract

The history of the public library is long and rich, and continues to reflect this institution's initial mission: to respond to the needs of an evolving democratic society. From its early days as a subscription service for the middle-class, through its evolution to become an educational site for the lower-classes and new immigrants, the public library has served as a touch-stone for urban industrial society in North America (Lerner, 1998, p. 138; Shera, 1974). Over the past century, public libraries have evolved to respond to the growing needs of the communities they serve and continue to do so with recent advances in technologies (such as DVDs, electronic books, the Internet, etc.), and with a more global outlook on the ways that people seek and share information. Indeed, the public library's constituents today are exceedingly diverse, including children and adults from a broad range of socio-economic, cultural, and educational backgrounds, all of whom seek information for a variety of personal and work-related purposes. The fact that public libraries have been fulfilling patrons' information needs for well over a century is a testament to their enduring success and versatility as information providers, and also points to the overall effectiveness of public librarians as intermediaries in the provision process.

Details

Advances in Librarianship
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-12024-629-8

Article
Publication date: 15 June 2020

Michael D. Ekstrand, Katherine Landau Wright and Maria Soledad Pera

This paper investigates how school teachers look for informational texts for their classrooms. Access to current, varied and authentic informational texts improves learning…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper investigates how school teachers look for informational texts for their classrooms. Access to current, varied and authentic informational texts improves learning outcomes for K-12 students, but many teachers lack resources to expand and update readings. The Web offers freely available resources, but finding suitable ones is time-consuming. This research lays the groundwork for building tools to ease that burden.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper reports qualitative findings from a study in two stages: (1) a set of semistructured interviews, based on the critical incident technique, eliciting teachers' information-seeking practices and challenges; and (2) observations of teachers using a prototype teaching-oriented news search tool under a think-aloud protocol.

Findings

Teachers articulated different objectives and ways of using readings in their classrooms, goals and self-reported practices varied by experience level. Teachers struggled to formulate queries that are likely to return readings on specific course topics, instead searching directly for abstract topics. Experience differences did not translate into observable differences in search skill or success in the lab study.

Originality/value

There is limited work on teachers' information-seeking practices, particularly on how teachers look for texts for classroom use. This paper describes how teachers look for information in this context, setting the stage for future development and research on how to support this use case. Understanding and supporting teachers looking for information is a rich area for future research, due to the complexity of the information need and the fact that teachers are not looking for information for themselves.

Details

Aslib Journal of Information Management, vol. 72 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-3806

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2001

Paul Sandford, Aida Slavic and Andrew Cox

This paper starts with an overview of why and how online learning material is being reused. This sets the context for a detailed description of EASEL (Educator Access to Services…

Abstract

This paper starts with an overview of why and how online learning material is being reused. This sets the context for a detailed description of EASEL (Educator Access to Services in the Electronic Landscape, http://www.fdgroup.com/easel). This European project is directed towards technological solutions for the reuse and sharing of teaching and learning materials available online. In doing so EASEL deploys emerging open international standards for educational metadata and develops some original approaches to ‘content packaging), course construction tools and cross metadata searching through a Z39.50 and an XML/RDF search gateway.

Details

VINE, vol. 31 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0305-5728

Article
Publication date: 6 September 2016

Evgenia Vassilakaki, Valentini Moniarou-Papaconstantinou and Emmanouel Garoufallou

Mobile technology has redefined the way people communicate and interact. In education, the number of academic institutions developing and offering mobile information services is…

1515

Abstract

Purpose

Mobile technology has redefined the way people communicate and interact. In education, the number of academic institutions developing and offering mobile information services is growing steadily. The purpose of this paper is to identify the use of mobile technology by the Library Science and Information Systems undergraduate students in Greece.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire was developed drawing from the relevant literature and sent to undergraduate students studying Library and Information Science during the 2014-2015 academic year.

Findings

It was found that students employed mobile phones for entertainment purposes whereas laptops and desktop computers for performing education-related tasks. Laptops and desktop computers were again mostly used to access library services, namely the OPAC, reference books, journals.

Research limitations/implications

Academic institutions need to offer services and adopt online learning platforms supported in mobile devices. Students from other disciplines and their acceptance of mobile technology should be explored.

Originality/value

This study identifies the specific mobile devices that students use to perform a variety of activities, educational and social, as well as the reasons for doing so.

Article
Publication date: 26 May 2021

Manjira Sinha and Tirthankar Dasgupta

The Web has become an indispensable medium used by people across the world for education, information, entertainment, social interaction as well as for various daily activities…

Abstract

Purpose

The Web has become an indispensable medium used by people across the world for education, information, entertainment, social interaction as well as for various daily activities involving shopping and employment-related tasks. It is therefore becoming increasingly essential that the Web must be accessible to all people to provide equal access and equal opportunity. This is specifically more important for people with various kind of disabilities. Several initiatives such as development of Web accessibility guidelines, tools and technologies have been undertaken to make the Web usable for people with different disabilities. However, only a handful of them are aimed at people with Severe Speech and Motor Impairment (SSMI). This paper aims to present a Web browsing interface for people with severe speech and motor impairment.

Design/methodology/approach

The browser allows easy dissemination of information through World Wide Web for people with SSMI. The browser is augmented with both automatic as well as manual scanning mechanisms through which a motor disorder person can access the browser graphical user interface (GUI). Further, the browser provides an intelligent content scanning mechanism through which the Web contents can be accessed with less time and cognitive effort. Along with the desktop version, WebSanyog is successfully ported on Android-based tablets to make the system portable.

Findings

The system has been exhaustively field tested by people with SSMI. The browser has been deployed at the Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy (IICP), Kolkata. The performance of the browser has been measured in terms of three parameters: The Task execution time (TET); Error rates analysis (ER); and Overall usability score by the subject. The evaluation results suggests that the proposed Web browsing interface is effective in terms of task execution time, cognitive effort and overall user satisfaction.

Originality/value

The browser GUI is integrated with an automatic scanning mechanism as an alternate way to access and navigate through Web pages, instead of using keyboard and mouse. The browser provides novel content access mechanisms that makes navigating through Web page contents like links, images and embedded videos easier and faster. To facilitate text entry, the browser provides two different options, namely, the predictive virtual scanning keyboard and a novel icon-based query entry scheme that allows generating search queries through the selection of multiple icons.

Article
Publication date: 6 December 2022

Tim Gander and Christopher Dann

This scoping review discusses how bug-in-ear (BIE) technology has been used to coach teachers and pre-service teachers in special education, general education and initial teacher…

Abstract

Purpose

This scoping review discusses how bug-in-ear (BIE) technology has been used to coach teachers and pre-service teachers in special education, general education and initial teacher education (ITE). The purpose of the review is to identify the range of practices in implementing BIE technology and the potential impacts on teachers, learners, coaches and professional learning and development (PLD) providers.

Design/methodology/approach

The PRISMA framework guided the structure of the scoping review. Four leading educational database searches informed initial results. Peer review ensured that inclusion and exclusion requirements were rigorously followed. Two screenings, a hand search and snowballing found 20 relevant studies for review.

Findings

BIE coaching is a cost-effective approach to support the development of teachers and pre-service teachers, with the potential to improve learner outcomes. Delivering coaching remotely yields the widest range of benefits for PLD providers. Technology issues persist; therefore, simple approaches work most effectively. There are opportunities to explore coaching attributes required for BIE coaching and how BIE feedback can differ from in-person feedback.

Practical implications

PLD should be based on available resources; however, it is possible to train participants to use BIE in a short amount of time. Pre-determined prompts should be co-constructed between the coach and the teacher. Prompts should be delivered within 3–5 s of the teaching behaviour and consist of positive, corrective, questioning and goal-orientated statements.

Originality/value

This is the first evidence-based review of BIE coaching that highlights effective practices in special education, general education and ITE. This review also explores how BIE coaching is used with teachers, which has not been covered in detail.

Details

International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, vol. 12 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-6854

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 12 December 2015

Alexander J. A. M. van Deursen and Ellen J. Helsper

Research into the explanations of digital inclusion has moved from investigations of skills and usage to tangible outcomes, what we label here as the third-level digital divide…

Abstract

Purpose

Research into the explanations of digital inclusion has moved from investigations of skills and usage to tangible outcomes, what we label here as the third-level digital divide. There is a lack of theoretical development about which types of people are most likely to benefit. Understanding how achieving outcomes of internet use is linked to other types of (dis)advantage is one of the most complex aspects of digital inclusion research because very few reliable and valid measures have been developed. In the current study we took a first step toward creating an operational framework for measuring tangible outcomes of internet use and linking these to the inequalities identified by digital divide research.

Methodology/approach

After having proposed a classification for internet outcomes, we assessed these outcomes in a representative sample of the Dutch population.

Findings

Our overall conclusion in relation to the more general relationship between offline resources and third-level digital divides is that the internet remains more beneficial for those with higher social status, not in terms of how extensively they use the technology but in what they achieve as a result of this use for several important domains.

Social implications

When information and services are offered online, the number of potential outcomes the internet has to offer increases. If individuals with higher social status are taking greater offline advantage from digital engagement than their lower status counterparts, existing offline inequalities could potentially be acerbated.

Details

Communication and Information Technologies Annual
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-381-5

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2005

Stephanie C. Haas, Erich Kesse, Mark Sullivan, Randall Renner and Joe Aufmuth

Purpose – To describe an LSTA‐funded project that digitized 88,000 black and white aerial photographs and 2,500 photomosaic indexes created for Florida by the US Department of…

Abstract

Purpose – To describe an LSTA‐funded project that digitized 88,000 black and white aerial photographs and 2,500 photomosaic indexes created for Florida by the US Department of Agriculture between 1938 and 1971. Technical specifications of digital capture, specialized programming, and project value are reviewed. Design/methodology/approach – The 9 × 9 inch aerial tiles were captured on flatbed scanners; the larger photomosaic indexes were captured using a large format camera. Three software tools were designed for the project: the first tracked each tile through the entire in‐house processing including receipt, assignment, scan completion, QC processing, FTPing to server, and archiving of images. The second automated image collection, from disparate scanning stations, performed basic image manipulation for quality control, and stored collected data in a database. The third tool performed routine image corrections, prepared and deployed web format images, and packed archival image formats preparatory to burning CDs. The tile layer of the GIS interface was created by georectifying the composite photomosaic indexes for each Florida county and linking tiles to appropriate points. Findings – Because aerial photographs are inherently spatial, the development team agreed that a GIS interface was the appropriate vehicle for web presentation. While this environment presents no difficulties for more sophisticated users, GIS functionality is not intuitive. A less complex interface is a top priority for future project refinements. Originality/value – The value of this project is documented in terms of site use and solicited user responses.

Details

OCLC Systems & Services: International digital library perspectives, vol. 21 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1065-075X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 January 2020

Oghenemaro Anuyah, Ashlee Milton, Michael Green and Maria Soledad Pera

The purpose of this paper is to examine strengths and limitations that search engines (SEs) exhibit when responding to web search queries associated with the grade school…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine strengths and limitations that search engines (SEs) exhibit when responding to web search queries associated with the grade school curriculum

Design/methodology/approach

The authors employed a simulation-based experimental approach to conduct an in-depth empirical examination of SEs and used web search queries that capture information needs in different search scenarios.

Findings

Outcomes from this study highlight that child-oriented SEs are more effective than traditional ones when filtering inappropriate resources, but often fail to retrieve educational materials. All SEs examined offered resources at reading levels higher than that of the target audience and often prioritized resources with popular top-level domain (e.g. “.com”).

Practical implications

Findings have implications for human intervention, search literacy in schools, and the enhancement of existing SEs. Results shed light on the impact on children’s education that result from introducing misconception about SEs when these tools either retrieve no results or offer irrelevant resources, in response to web search queries pertinent to the grade school curriculum.

Originality/value

The authors examined child-oriented and popular SEs retrieval of resources aligning with task objectives and user capabilities–resources that match user reading skills, do not contain hate-speech and sexually-explicit content, are non-opinionated, and are curriculum-relevant. Findings identified limitations of existing SEs (both directly or indirectly supporting young users) and demonstrate the need to improve SE filtering and ranking algorithms.

Details

Aslib Journal of Information Management, vol. 72 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-3806

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 February 2013

Stefan Dietze, Salvador Sanchez‐Alonso, Hannes Ebner, Hong Qing Yu, Daniela Giordano, Ivana Marenzi and Bernardo Pereira Nunes

Research in the area of technology‐enhanced learning (TEL) throughout the last decade has largely focused on sharing and reusing educational resources and data. This effort has…

1461

Abstract

Purpose

Research in the area of technology‐enhanced learning (TEL) throughout the last decade has largely focused on sharing and reusing educational resources and data. This effort has led to a fragmented landscape of competing metadata schemas, or interface mechanisms. More recently, semantic technologies were taken into account to improve interoperability. The linked data approach has emerged as the de facto standard for sharing data on the web. To this end, it is obvious that the application of linked data principles offers a large potential to solve interoperability issues in the field of TEL. This paper aims to address this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, approaches are surveyed that are aimed towards a vision of linked education, i.e. education which exploits educational web data. It particularly considers the exploitation of the wealth of already existing TEL data on the web by allowing its exposure as linked data and by taking into account automated enrichment and interlinking techniques to provide rich and well‐interlinked data for the educational domain.

Findings

So far web‐scale integration of educational resources is not facilitated, mainly due to the lack of take‐up of shared principles, datasets and schemas. However, linked data principles increasingly are recognized by the TEL community. The paper provides a structured assessment and classification of existing challenges and approaches, serving as potential guideline for researchers and practitioners in the field.

Originality/value

Being one of the first comprehensive surveys on the topic of linked data for education, the paper has the potential to become a widely recognized reference publication in the area.

1 – 10 of over 49000