Search results

In the “What’s Hot in 2019: Expanded and Interconnected Notions of Literacy” survey (Cassidy, Grote-Garcia, & Ortlieb, 2019), Early Literacy was identified as a “very hot” topic. This chapter addresses how literacy practices in homes and in schools contribute to early literacy achievement; neighborhood realities are acknowledged. A brief list of expectations for early literacy learners is discussed, and competencies not always found in standards lists are described. Examples of current community activism efforts are noted, and there is a call for literacy academics to speak out against inequities in literacy learning.

Writing as a hot topic in literacy has recently gained a foothold in terms of importance to academic and career success, finally receiving the attention it warrants and thus, this chapter provides timely information about how to teach writing products and processes in the 21st century.

Through a historical examination of writing instruction, this chapter provides a contextual lens for how writing has not always been a priority in the field of literacy; how writing and reading are interconnected; and how differing theories aim to explain writing development.

Writing has taken on a balanced approach between writing for product and writing as a practice. Teacher pedagogy has been heavily influenced by the advent of high-stakes assessments. Other factors such as maintaining motivation and engagement for writing affect student performance. Writing and reading benefit from an integrated instructional approach.

Elements of writing instruction are deconstructed to provide information for teachers to support students’ confidence in their writing abilities, build their identity as writers, and promote individualization and creativity to flourish through independence.

This light‐hearted piece suggests some new titles which might be found on tomorrow′s bookstalls.

Presence of innumerable sensors, complex deduction of contexts from sensor data, and reusability of contextual information impose the requirement of middleware for context aware computing. Smart applications, hosted in myriad devices (e.g. PDA, mobile, PCs), acquire different contexts from the middleware and act intelligently based on the available contexts in a context‐aware computing environment. As the system grows larger, scalable delivery of contexts from the middleware to numerous context‐aware applications will be inevitable. However, pure unicast based or pure broadcast‐based dissemination cannot provide high scalability as well as low‐average latency. The purpose of this paper is to present a scalable context delivery mechanism for the middlewares to facilitate the development of larger context‐aware computing systems.

The proposed scheme is based on hybrid data dissemination technique where the most frequently requested data (e.g. HOT contexts) are delivered through multicast and the rest (e.g. COLD contexts) are delivered through unicast to reduce network traffic. The paper dynamically prioritizes and classifies the HOT and COLD context data depending on the number of requests and longest waiting time. Moreover, the division of bandwidth between the delivery of HOT and COLD contexts reduces average latency. Polling traffic is decreased by incorporating leasing mechanism. Extensive simulation is conducted to evaluate the proposed scheme.

The mechanism dynamically prioritizes and classifies the hot and cold context data depending on the request rate and longest waiting time. The solution addresses the push popularity problem that occurs in the passive as the passive clients access data without sending explicit requests. The leasing mechanism is incorporated to reduce the periodical requests (polling) for better performance.

The paper is of value in presenting a scalable context delivery mechanism for the middlewares to facilitate the development of larger context‐aware computing systems and also in presenting implementation details of a prototype that is developed using Jini framework and Java reliable multicast service (JRMS) library.

This article explores the challenge of getting people to willingly share knowledge skills and experience, so that their organisations may gain leverage in their collective intelligence. It does so by addressing links between knowledge management and organisational learning to increase the speed and targeting of intelligence across organisations. There is a significant role for training and learning specialists in eroding the practical and political barriers to making knowledge management a reality. A case study, expressed in the form of a mini‐scenario, is used to illustrate how learning is a crucial ingredient that assists people to work smarter. Key principles for breaking down barriers to implementing knowledge management are developed for adaptation to particular organisations.

The purpose of this research is to report the results of research that was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of a number of web sites selling chocolate.

The research was founded on a series of criteria for evaluating such web sites, based upon a review of the literature. A series of criteria were developed and a scoring system associated with them was generated. Following a pilot test, a panel of eight volunteers evaluated ten chocolate‐related web sites which were carefully chosen for their range of characteristics.

Aspects evaluated included presentation, content, accessibility, language, navigation and structure, transaction page, security, privacy and authority, and marketing factors. The resulting scores were then analysed. Using two different methods of analysis, it was found that the best web site was www.danschocolates.com, but that there was significant inter‐scorer discrepancy in some of the scores assigned.

Only a small number of sites were evaluated, using a relatively small number of evaluators.

Conclusions are drawn regarding the most important factors that web designers should take into account when developing a site for selling chocolate or similar products. Comments are also made on the need to involve real users when developing criteria for the evaluation of web sites.

The paper provides a possible general methodology for evaluating web sites.

Purpose – This historical perspective highlights the evolution of reading clinics (also called literacy labs, centers, etc.) from medical-type clinics to instructional powerhouses for struggling readers. Of particular interest, also, is the development of teacher expertise while participating in reading clinics, particularly in the areas of reflection, a critical view of assessments, and using assessment to inform instruction. Furthermore, this chapter traces the history of research that has come out of reading clinics.

Design/Methodology/Approach – A brief history of reading clinics since the 1920s is followed by a deep examination of some of the themes that have shaped more recent reading clinics and research that has emerged from the clinics: assessment, mandates, teacher reflection, and twenty-first Century Literacies.

Practical implications – This chapter offers key information for stakeholders who are designing, establishing, or refining a reading clinic, either university-based or K-12 school-based.

Social implications – Struggling readers and writers deserve and need experiences that help them acquire literacy skills, including reading and writing for twenty-first century purposes. Teachers need support as they navigate mandates from educational policy-makers, enhance their skills as literacy leaders and literacy coaches, and reflect on best practices.

At December's Online Information meeting in London, one session looked at the topic of networked information resources, with speakers from different countries giving their own perspectives. Now that global networks are a reality, the speakers looked at some of the implications of networked information. Subjects covered were the possibility of a global stock exchange; the utility of environmental information on the Internet; the Internet in India; and Internet user types and habits according to a survey conducted in Denmark.