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For the forty-third time, the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented online during the annual AECT Convention. Volume 1 contains 37 papers dealing primarily with research and development topics. Papers dealing with the practice of instructional technology including instruction and training issues are contained in Volume 2. [For Volume 2, see ED617422.]

What do citizens of the United States and Germany think about their schools and school policies? This paper offers the first broad comparison of public thinking on education in the two countries. We carried out opinion surveys of representative samples of the German and American adult populations in 2014 that included experiments in which we provided additional information to randomly selected subgroups. The paper first describes key characteristics of the U.S. and German education systems and then analyzes how information and institutional context affect public beliefs in the two countries. Results indicate both similarities and differences in the structure of American and German public opinion on schools and school policies. Contains a Methodological Appendix. [Paper prepared for the conference on Public Opinion and the Political Economy of Education, Munich, May 9, 2015. Financial support was provided by the Leibniz Association.]

A novel course concept to enable master's degree students to acquire research skills is described as an experience report. A hybrid, inquiry-based format was developed to simulate each phase of writing and presenting a research paper at a scientific conference. Students self-organized into groups to conduct each phase of the research process to conduct a research project for a scientific topic, bionic computation. Weekly group meetings with the instructor were conducted via video conference. Students learned to formulate research questions, write abstracts, acquire experimental data and evaluate open-source libraries and tools to build their own experimental models. An in-house, mini-conference was held in person, in which each group held a presentation of their work. At the end of the semester, a retrospective was held to reflect on students' experiences and summarize the lessons they have learned. After the course, slight majority of the students stated that they could imagine writing a paper about their master's theses and taking part in a real conference. [For the full proceedings, see ED636095.]

These 12 papers represent different perspectives concerning internationalization of vocational education and training (VET) in Europe. The papers are: (1) "Internationalisation of Vocational Training in Europe" (Margrethe Vestager); (2) "International Employees Plead for Education and Assistance in Adjusting to Living in Foreign Cultures" (Jean R. McFarland); (3) "Globalisation and Internationalisation: Two Conflicting Discourses? Towards a Multilingual, Ethically Reflective Intercultural Competence" (Karen Risager); (4) "Trends in the Internationalisation of Qualifications" (Tim Oates); (5) "Internationalisation--What Are the Possibilities?" (Jorn Sogaard); (6) "Education and Training in Times of Globalization" (Michael Brater); (7) "The International Challenge for VET" (Kim Moller); (8) "Qualification Development of Internationally Active Skilled Workers--From Mobility of Labour to 'Virtual Mobility'" (Peter Wordelmann); (9) "Trainer Exchanges: A Staff Development Opportunity" (Marilyn Young); (10) "Internationalisation as a Challenge for Vocational Colleges in Europe" (Ronald Monch); (11) "The Internationalisation of VET: The Australian Experience" (Tony Crooks); and (12) "All of Us Must Have a Dream..." (Riccardo Petrella, interviewed by Norbert Wollschlaeger). Each paper contains references. (YLB)

This discussion paper is from the Adult Learners Week National Seminar on Lifelong Learning Policy (Canberra, Australia, September 1999) that identified a number of ideas about how to foster national policy development on lifelong learning. It consists of three sections. Part 1 contains "A National Lifelong Learning Policy for Australia?" (Tony Brown), an introduction to lifelong learning policy with a list of questions to focus future discussion; two discussion starters, "Is Lifelong Learning Critical, Desirable, or Just a Good Idea?" (Philip C. Candy) and "A Vision for the Future of Australian Education and Training" (Moira Scollay), each with a list of questions to focus future discussions; and "Discussion and Recommendations of the Seminar Working Groups." Part 2 provides these examples of statements on lifelong learning from Australia and around the world: "Key Issues and Characteristics of Lifelong Learning" (National Board of Employment, Education, and Training, Australia); "Five Key Dimensions of Lifelong Learning in a Learning Society" (Peter Kearns); "Why We Need Lifelong Learning" (Australian National Training Authority [ANTA]); "The Attributes of a Lifelong Learning Policy Framework" (ANTA); "Lifelong Learning for All" (Donald J. Johnston); "Aims and Ambitions for Lifelong Learning" (G8 Summit Koln Charter, Germany); "The Learning Age: Towards a Europe of Knowledge" (Paul Belanger); "Learning to Succeed: A New Framework for Post-16 Learning" (United Kingdom policy document summary); "Lifelong Learning Summit" (Al Gore); and "Launch of Manpower 21 Plan" (Singapore government policy document). Part 3 has these appendixes: seminar program, seminar participants, and references. (Contains 31 references.) (YLB)

This document consists of the 24 papers delivered at a conference that had five workshops examining various dimensions of the social and occupational transition of young people. The papers are arranged by workshop/session. A summary report precedes the other papers presented during a session. The papers in the session on perspectives on systems, institutions, and change are as follows: "Summary Report" (Karl Ulrich Mayer); "Understanding Change in Youth Labour Markets" (David Ashton); "Different Systems of Vocational Training and Transition from School to Career" (Hans-Peter Blossfeld); "Tracks and Pathways" (David Raffe); "On the Interest of Longitudinal Approaches in the Analysis of Vocational Transitions" (Jose Rose); and "Education and Training in Transition" (Karen Schober). Session 2 on labor market itineraries of secondary school leavers contains the following: "Summary Report" (Jose Rose); "Entry into Employment of Young People Who Have Successfully Completed Their Secondary Technical and Vocational Education in French-Speaking Brabant and Charleroi" (Simon Cabitsis, Adinda Vanheerswynghels); "Explaining the Differences in the Occupational Insertion of Educationally Lesser Qualified Young People" (Didier Demaziere, Brigitte Monfroy); "Transition to the Labour Market of Vocational and Technical Secondary School Leavers" (Jan Denys); "Complex Training Routes and the Results of Insertion among Young People" (Jordi Planas); "Time Spent in Education and Lack of Job Security" (Simon Cabitsis, Nouria Ouali, Andrea Rea); and "Analysis of the Use of Government Integration Measures Made by Young People Leaving Secondary Education" (Thomas Couppie, Patrick Werquin). The session on transitions in youth--social and household dimensions--includes these papers: "Summary Report" (Alessandro Cavalli); "Transition Behaviour and Career Outcomes in England and Germany" (Walter R. Heinz); "French Women Entering the Labour Process and Setting Up Households in the 1980's" (Annick Kieffer, Catherine Marry); "From Youth to Adulthood Project" (Matti Vesa Volanen); and "Main Features of the Structure of the Working Population" (Luis M. Larringa, Ascen M. F. de Landa). Session 4 on the process and consequences of education differentiation contains the following: "Summary Report" (Walter Mueller); "Transition from Education to the Labour Market for Young People in Sweden" (Karin Arvemo-Notstrand, Ingegerd Berggren); "Secondary Technical Education Qualifications" (Marcelo Ossandon, Pol Dupont); "Transition from School to Work" (Wim Groot, Hans Rutjes); "Returns to Education" (Richard Breen, Damian F. Hannan); and "Competition on the Labour Market" (Rolf van der Velden, Lex Borghans). Session 5 on labor market itineraries of higher education graduates consists of the following: "Summary Report" (Francois Pottier); "'How Does a Changing Labour Market Affect the Transition from Higher Education to Work?'" (Clara Aase Arnesen, Jane Baekken, Terje Naess); "Training and Employment in Hospitals" (Mateo Alaluf, Adinda Vanheerswynghels); "Family Social Status and Paths of Youths in the Systems of Education and on the Labour Market" (Lea Battistoni); and"Training and Occupational Routes of New University Graduates in Catalonia" (Josep M. Masjuan, Helena Troiano, Jesus Vivas, Miguel Zaldivar). (YLB)

The papers in these proceedings include a number of themes such as enduring and progressive social change, good practice and positive outcomes, and strategies of survival, resistance and subversion. They are: "Achievement, Personal Development, and Positive Outcomes" (Viv Anderson); "Raising Standards" (Paul Armstrong); "Multicultural Education for Adults" (Burjor Avari); " Four Congratulations and a Caveat" (Roseanne Benn); "Issues in the Supervision of Dissertation Research Conducted by Continuing Education and Training Professionals in South East Asia towards a Masters Degree of the University of Sheffield" (Geoff Chivers); "Continuing Education and the Public Understanding of Science" (Martin Counihan); "Silver Lining" (Eileen Daggett); "Conversing Internationally" (Chris Duke); "A Study of the Competence Levels of the Heads of Adult Education in Turkey" (Ahmet Duman); "Vision, Provision, and Television" (Darrel Dymock); "Women's Studies and Adult Education" (Jane Elliott); "Living with Competence" (Paul Garland); "Where Has Schon Led Us?" (Mary Gobbi); "Using a Self-Selected Support Group as a Strategy for Survival" (Christine Hibbert, Antoinette Middling, Frances Scourfield); "Journey through the Looking Glass" (Cheryl Hunt); "Multiplying Visions and Using Similitudes'" (Christine Jarvis); "Experimental Archaeology in Education" (David Johnston); "We're Still Here" (Rennie Johnston); "Holding Up the Mirror" (William Jones); "Participative Environmental Research and the Role of Continuing Education" (David Knight); "Making a Mark" (Carol Lee-Mak, Janice Malcolm); "The Creative Management of Biography" (Danny Mashengele); "From Distance Learning to Computer Supported Cooperative Learning" (David McConnell); "Autobiography in an Academic Context" (Margaret Millar et al.); "Exchanging Places, Trading Learning" (Nod Miller, Miriam Zukas); "Fiftysomething" (Penny Muter, Peter Watson); "Happiness Is a Thing Called Subversion" (Kirit Patel); "Vision, Policy, or Accident?" (Keith Percy); "Discourse and Culture" (Julia Preece); "Democracy and Personal Empowerment" (Ian Roffe, Carolyn Inglis); "German Adult Education in East Germany after Unification" (Marion Sporing); "Starting with Self" (Alistair Thomson); "Telling the Story of the Self/Deconstructing the Self of the Story" (Robin Usher); "Two Cheers for Special Needs Provision in Adult Education" (Peter Watson); "Re-Visioning the Self" (Linden West); "Using Vocational Competences To Develop an Alternative Framework for Modern Language Teaching" (John Wilson, A. Ibarz); "NVQs [National Vocational Qualifications] and Individuals" (Jonathan Winterton, Ruth Winterton); and "Coming of Age" (Alexandra Withnall). (YLB)

This report focuses on social protections of teachers in Europe, synthesizes responses to a questionnaire by 18 European members of the World Confederation of Organizations of the Teaching Profession (WCOTP), and provides an overview of a variety of situations in European countries. The report includes a list of organizations/countries which replied to the questionnaire and information provided by each country. Eight topics are examined as follows: (1) health insurance contributions, reimbursement, sick leave, and legislation; (2) maternity insurance, leave, adoption, paternity, and work conditions; (3) family allowances and what assistance is for; (4) handicapped in the profession; (5) pensions; (6) unemployment protection; (7) death rights and benefits to beneficiaries; and (8) the position of trade union policy in relation to existing social systems, and persons in charge of social protection. Also included are: a draft recommendation on the social protection of teachers; reports on "The Social Protection Role and Economy" in Denmark, France, and Hungary; "Social Protection from a State Perspective" (Norway); "The Right of Teachers" (Poland); and reports on "The Social Protection of Teachers" in Russia, Sweden, and Turkey. (LL)

This paper recounts the legal, political, and educational changes in former East Germany as the nation has become reunified, and considers the implications of reunification for institutional research at East German universities. After a brief sketch of legal, geographic, and demographic highlights, the decrepit conditions of East German university buildings are noted. The paper then offers observations of East Germans streaming across the border when it was first opened in November 1989. The educational experience of a typical East German student is reviewed, noting that a file was kept documenting the student's political attitudes to ensure the power of the Communist Party bureaucracy in determining the student's access to higher education. Problems that institutions of higher education now face are noted, including identifying whom to fire, what to do with educators trained to teach Marxism-Leninism and the Communist infused humanities, social sciences, and especially, economics and jurisprudence. Efforts by the West to help East German universities are mentioned. (DB)

The two volumes of these working papers include articles by linguists from Scandinavia and other parts of the world. Under the heading, "The Use of IT in Grammatical Analysis/Parsing" are five articles: "Creating Inflecting Electronic Thesauri"; "Tagging Speech Data--Constraint Grammar Analysis of Spoken Portuguese"; "A Constraint-Based Tagger for Norwegian"; "Swedish Constraint Grammar"; and "Two Two-Level Models of Norwegian." Under the heading "Functional/Cognitive Linguistics" are 12 articles: "The Subject is Nominative! On Obsolete Axioms and Their Deep Rootedness"; "Negation: A Cognitive Hurdle in Interpreting"; "Inflection Classes, Norwegian Verbs, and Cognitive Grammar"; "Conditionals in Institutional Settings"; "Different Competencies? A Comparison of the Productive and Receptive Languages of a Danish Agrammatic Patient"; "Some Reflections on Syntactic Structure and the Acquisition Process"; "Placement and Scope of Mainland Scandinavian Modal Adverbs"; "On Grammaticalization of Body-Part Nouns: 'Hand' in Finnish and Estonian"; "Some Pragmatic Properties of French Cleft Constructions"; "The Construal of the Scene: Selected Existential Constructions"; and one article each in German and Danish. Under the heading "Language in Interaction" are eight articles: "Overlap Management and Interactional Competence"; "Stereotypes in Action"; "Danish in Greenland -- a new Dialect? Preliminary Results From a Pilot Project"; "Meanings of the Word 'Work' in a Danish Unemployment Office"; "Codeswitching between Persian and Swedish"; and three articles in Danish. Under the heading "Endangered languages" are four articles: "How Fast Will a Language Die When It Is Officially No Longer Spoken?"; "Komi, an Endangered Language?"; "Phonetic Salience and Language Change: Verb Paradigms in Inari Sami"; and "Linguistic and Political Aspects of Alphabet-Making for a Threatened Language." All articles include a brief abstract in English. References appear throughout the articles. (KFT)

These conference papers report on interim outcomes of investigations conducted at the German Institute for International Educational Research. An opening address, "Education, Democracy and Development in a Period of Revolutionary Change" (Wolfgang Mitter), is followed by four sets of papers. The first set, "European Community," includes "European Dimension, Multiculturalism, and Teacher Training--Experience in a Network of Training Institutions" (Christoph Kodron) and "Democratic Legitimation and the Educational Policy of the European Community" (Ulrich Schaffer). Next, "Post-Communist Societies" presents "School Development in the East German Federal States and the European Context" (Hans Dobert); "Upheavals in Hungarian Education" (Martas Gutsche); "First Projects of Functional Literacy in the New Federal States of Germany" (Gerhard Huck); "Comparative Education between Ideology and Science on the Self-Concept and the Evolution of the Discipline in the GDR" (Bernd John); and "Global Changes and the Context of Education, Democracy and Development in Eastern Europe" (Botho von Kopp). The third section, "Asia and Africa," offers "Inspiring Achievements and Hard Tasks Ahead: A Study on the Recent Development of Literacy Education in the People's Republic of China" (Fu Li); "UNESCO's Environmental Education Efforts in the Tanzanian Context" (Gerhard Huck); and "The Japanese University in a Changing Context: More Market or More Regulation?" (Botho von Kopp). Finally, "Research Projects in Progress" contains the papers: "School as a Place of Socialization and Learning--an International Comparison on School Reality: Description of the Project" (Peter Dobrich); "Intra-national Comparson of Instructional Time, Time in School, and School-related Time in Bavaria, Hamburg and Hesse" (Wolfgang Huck); "Time for School--Initial Results from an International Comparison" (Wolfgang Huck); "Immigrant Children and Special Education: The Situation in Germany" (Andrea Mertens, Dirk Randoll); "Effects of Mainstreaming in Schools: Results from Empirical Studies in Two European Countries" (Dirk Randoll); and "Recent Trends in All-day Schooling and Child Care in Some European Countries" (Gerlind Schmidt). (LL)

Distance higher education for adults, media selection, and country profiles are considered in conference papers. Titles and authors are as follows: "Distance Education, Trends Worldwide" (Lord Perry of Walton); "Adults in Higher Education: Lowering the Barriers by Teaching and Learning at a Distance" (Hans G. Schutze); "Distance Education for Adults: Old and New Barriers for Participation" (Kjell Rubenson); "Distance Education for Adult Students: From Old to New Barriers for Participation?" (Ger van Enckevort); "Distance Education in OECD Member Countries"; "The Open University of the Netherlands"; "Background and Objectives" (Pierre Morin); "Basic Concepts" (Henk de Wolf); "The First Students" (G. van Enckevort); "The Open University of the United Kingdom" (Keith Harry); "The German Distance University: Its Main Features and Functions" (Jorn Bartels, Otto Peters); "The Instituto Portugues de Ensino a Distancia, Portugal" (Armando Rocha Trindade); "The Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia, Spain" (Doina Popa-Lisseanu); "Distance Education in Yugoslavia" (Ana Kranjc); "Towards a Contextual Rationale in Distance Higher Education: The Small Scale Cases of Australia and Sweden" (Urban Dahllof); "Adult Learning and the Consequences for the Selection of Media: The Japanese Approach" (Yoshiya Abe); "Technology-Based Distance Education for Adults in the United States of America" (Marilyn Kressel); "Distance Education, a Critical View from Canada" (Ian Morrison); "The Impact on Higher Education of New Information and Telecommunication Technologies" (Pamela Christoffel); "Selection of Media at the Dutch Open University" (G. van Enckevort, Freek Gastkemper)"; "Development of Computer-Based Learning Materials" (Jef Moonen); and "Computer Communication: A New Tool for Distance Education" (Norman D. Kurland). (SW)

What comes next in the field of academic e-learning? Which e-learning trends will dominate the discourse at universities? Answering such questions is the basis for the adaptation of service strategies and IT-infrastructures within institutions of Higher Education. The present paper therefore introduces methodology and findings of a trend study in the field of e-teaching. The overall interest of the study was the analysis of life stages and future potentials of e-learning innovations. A content analysis has been conducted based on 427 scientific articles of leading German-speaking e-learning conferences. Thus, e-learning trends and hypes in academic teaching have been identified and characterised. The following paper focusses on two things: on the one hand, existing academic concepts of trend research in the field of elearning will be discussed, and on the other hand, the above-mentioned study will be introduced. [For full proceedings, see ED557189.]

These proceedings contain the following 12 papers on comparative adult education: "Adult Education as Concept and Structure: An Agenda for Research" (Colin Titmus); "Report on the Context and State of Comparative Adult Education and on Four Publications" (Alexander N. Charters); "Comparative Adult Education Research: Methods and Materials" (Dilnawaz A. Siddiqui); "Adult Education and Social Change: A Comparison of Canada and Sweden" (Kjell Rubenson); "Comparative Study of Adult Education Institutions and Organizations between the United States and Japan by the Use of Characteristics Mirroring Analyses" (Alexander N. Charters and Seiichiro Miura); "Andragogy and China: Cross-Cultural Considerations" (Daniel D. Pratt); "Participatory Research: Are Adult Education Graduate Programs Ready for It?" (Beverly Benner Cassara); "A Comparative Analysis of Recent North American Research on Women and Minorities" (Jovita Martin Ross); "Agricultural Extension Worldwide: Socio-Political, Organizational and Programmatic Characteristics" (William M. Rivera); "A Comparative Study of Andragogy (Adult Education) as a Field of Academic Study in the World" (Claude Touchette); "The Adult Education Center in Germany as a Case of Social Change and Cross-Cultural Comparison" (Klaus Harney); and "Adult Education World-Wide--Revisited" (Jost Reischmann). (KC)

These proceedings contain the papers of the International Conference e-Learning 2016, which was organised by the International Association for Development of the Information Society, 1-3 July, 2016. This conference is part of the Multi Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems 2016, 1-4 July. The e-Learning (EL) 2016 conference aims to address the main issues of concern within e-Learning. This conference covers both technical as well as the non-technical aspects of e-Learning. These proceedings contain keynote lecture, "Twenty-First Century Skills, Technology and Open Learning: Re-Designing Teaching for the Digital Age" (Tony Bates) [abstract only] and workshop, "Making Sustainable Online Learning a Reality Informed by the Community of Inquiry Framework" (Susi Peacock and Lindesay Irvine). Full papers in these proceedings include: (1) Determining Factors of Students' Perceived Usefulness of e-Learning in Higher Education (Aleksander Aristovnik, Damijana Keržic, Nina Tomaževic and Lan Umek); (2) EvalCOMIX®: A Web-Based Programme to Support Collaboration in Assessment (María Soledad Ibarra-Sáiz and Gregorio Rodríguez-Gómez); (3) A Holistic Approach to Scoring in Complex Mobile Learning Scenarios (Marcel Gebbe, Matthias Teine and Marc Beutner); (4) Content Development for 72,000 Learners: An Online Learning Environment for General Practitioners. A Case Study (Dirk Pilat); (5) First Stages of Adult Students' Relationship to Scientific Knowing and Research in the Open University's Web-Based Methodology Course (Leena Isosomppi and Minna Maunula); (6) A Quantitative Analysis of the Role of Social Networks in Educational Contexts (Azam Shokri and Georgios Dafoulas); (7) Care Management: On Line-Based Approaches to Nurse Education in Ultrasound Imaging (Elena Taina Avramescu, Mitrache Marius and Adrian Camen); (8) Can e-Learning Change Work Practices? (Signe Schack Noesgaard); (9) A Practice of Mobile Learning Bases on Cloud Computing (Heng Wu and Zhong Dong); (10) Guidelines for Conducting a Post-Graduate Module within a Blended Synchonous Learning Environment, Facilitator and Student Perspectives (Christopher Upfold); (11) IT Tools in Initial Teacher Training (Dorin Herlo); (12) Application of a Reference Framework for Integration of Web Resources in DOLTRN--Case Study of Physics--Topic: Waves (Fabinton Sotelo Gomez and Armando Ordóñez); (13) Creating Micro-Videos to Demonstrate Technology Learning (Mark Frydenberg and Diana Andone); (14) An Analysis of Students Enrolled to an Undergraduate University Course Offered Also Online (Nello Scarabottolo); (15) How Do We Know What is Happening Online: A Triangulated Approach to Data Analysis (Marina Charalampidi and Michael Hammond); (16) Analysis of 3D Modeling Software Usage Patterns for K-12 Students (Yi-Chieh Wu, Wen-Hung Liao, Ming-Te Chi and Tsai-Yen Li); and (17) A Distributed Intelligent e-Learning System (Terje Kristensen). Short papers in these proceedings include: (1) Using Cognitive Maps to Promote Self-Managed Learning in Online Communities of Inquiry (Susi Peacock and John Cowan); (2) Automation in Distance Learning: An Empirical Study of Unlearning and Academic Identity Change Linked to Automation of Student Messaging within Distance Learning (Hilary Collins, Hayley Glover, Fran Myers and Mor Watson); (3) Developing the 1st MOOC of University of Porto: Challenges and Strategies (Isabel Martins, Nuno Regadas and Margarida Amaral); (4) Informal Language Learning in Authentic Setting, Using Mobile Devices and SNS (Ruthi Aladjem and Bibiana Jou); (5) Enhancing Third-Year Medical Clerkships: Using Mobile Technology for Teaching and Learning (Janette R. Hill, Michelle A. Nuss, Ronald M. Cervero, Julie K. Gaines and Bruce Middendorf); (6) Statistical Measures of Integrity in Online Testing: Empirical Study (Tom Wielicki); (7) The Complexities of Digital Storytelling: Factors Affecting Performance, Production, and Project Completion (Peter Gobel and Makimi Kano); (8) Collegewide Promotion on e-Learning/Active Learning and Faculty Development (Nobuyuki Ogawa and Akira Shimizu); (9) Training Portuguese Teachers Using Blended Learning--A Different Approach (Bertil P. Marques and Paula Escudeiro); (10) Gamify and Recognize Prior Learning: How to Succeed in Educators' Further Professional Training with Open Badges (Esko Lius); (11) How Do K-12 Students' Manage Applications on Their Mobile Devices? (Ruthi Aladjem and Sharon Hardof); (12) Digital Storytelling for Inclusive Education: An Experience in Initial Teacher Training (Marco Lazzari); and (13) Learning Factory--Assembling Learning Content with a Framework (Peter Steininger). Reflection papers in these proceedings include: (1) Equalizing Educational Opportunities by ICT (Ana María Delgado García and Blanca Torrubia Chalmeta); (2) The Acceptability of MOOC Certificates in the Workplace (Christina Banks and Edward Meinert); (3) Orchestration of Social Modes in e-Learning (Armin Weinberger and Pantelis M. Papadopoulos); (4) Information Competencies and Their Implementation in the Educational Process of Polish Universities. Exploratory Studies (Anna Tonakiewicz-Kolosowska, Iwona Socik and Monika Gajewska); (5) Virtual & Real Face to Face Teaching (Romeo Teneqexhi and Loreta Kuneshka); and (6) Virtual Scaffolding--Constructivism in Online Learning (Lachlan MacKinnon and Liz Bacon). The following poster is included: Active Learning Methods in Programming for Non-IT Students (Olga Mironova, Irina Amitan, Jüri Vilipõld and Merike Saar). An author index is included. Individual papers contain references.

These proceedings contain the papers of the 12th International Conference on Mobile Learning 2016, which was organized by the International Association for Development of the Information Society, in Vilamoura, Algarve, Portugal, April 9-11, 2016. The Mobile Learning 2016 Conference seeks to provide a forum for the presentation and discussion of mobile learning research which illustrate developments in the field. Full papers presented in these proceedings include: (1) Mobile Devices and Spatial Enactments of Learning: iPads in Lower Secondary Schools (Bente Meyer); (2) NetEnquiry--A Competitive Mobile Learning Approach for the Banking Sector (Marc Beutner, Matthias Teine, Marcel Gebbe and Lara Melissa Fortmann); (3) M-Learning Challenges in Teaching Crosscutting Themes in the Education of Young People and Adults (Marcos Andrei Ota and Carlos Fernando de Araujo Jr); (4) Mobile Learning: Pedagogical Strategies for Using Applications in the Classroom (Anna Helena Silveira Sonego, Leticia Rocha Machado, Cristina Alba Wildt Torrezzan and Patricia Alejandra Behar); (5) Experiencing a Mobile Game and its Impact on Teachers' Attitudes towards Mobile Learning (Hagit Meishar-Tal and Miky Ronen); (6) Exploring Mobile Affordances in the Digital Classroom (David Parsons, Herbert Thomas and Jocelyn Wishart); (7) Design, Development and Evaluation of a Field Learning Video Blog (Otto Petrovic); (8) Development and Evaluation of a Classroom Interaction System (Bingyi Cao, Margarita Esponda-Argüero and Raúl Rojas); (9) Visual Environment for Designing Interactive Learning Scenarios with Augmented Reality (José Miguel Mota, Iván Ruiz-Rube, Juan Manuel Dodero and Mauro Figueiredo); and (10) The Development of an Interactive Mathematics App for Mobile Learning (Mauro Figueiredo, Beata Godejord and José Rodrigues). Short papers presented include: (1) Conceptualizing an M-Learning System for Seniors (Matthias Teine and Marc Beutner); (2) Sensimotor Distractions when Learning with Mobile Phones on-the Move (Soledad Castellano and Inmaculada Arnedillo-Sánchez); (3) Personal Biometric Information from Wearable Technology Tracked and Followed Using an Eportfolio: A Case Study of eHealth literacy Development with Emerging Technology in Hong King Higher Education (Michele Notari, Tanja Sobko and Daniel Churchill); (4) An Initial Evaluation of Tablet Devices & What Are the Next Steps? (Tracey McKillen); (5) Information Literacy on the Go! Adding Mobile to an Age Old Challenge (Alice Schmidt Hanbidge, Nicole Sanderson and Tony Tin); (6) The Use of Digital Tools by Independent Music Teachers (Rena Upitis, Philip C. Abrami and Karen Boese); (7) Development of a Math Input Interface with Flick Operation for Mobile Devices (Yasuyuki Nakamura and Takahiro Nakahara); (8) Smartwatches as a Learning Tool: A Survey of Student Attitudes (Neil Davie and Tobias Hilber); and (9) The Adoption of Mobile Learning in a Traditional Training Environment: The C95-Challenge Project Experience (Nadia Catenazzi, Lorenzo Sommaruga, Kylene De Angelis and Giulio Gabbianelli). Reflection papers include the following; (1) Leadership for Nursing Work-Based Mobile Learning (Dorothy Fahlman); (2) Reflections on Ways forward for Addressing Ethical Concerns in Mobile Learning Research (Jocelyn Wishart); and (3) Mobile Learning: Extreme Outcomes of Everywhere, Anytime (Giuseppe Cosimo De Simone). Posters include: (1) Student Response Behavior to Six Types of Caller/Sender When Smartphones Receive a Call or Text Message during University Lectures (Kunihiro Chida, Yuuki Kato and Shogo Kato); and (2) Understanding the Use of Mobile Resources to Enhance Paralympic Boccia Teaching and Learning for Students with Cerebral Palsy (Fabiana Zioti, Giordano Clemente, Raphael de Paiva Gonçalves, Matheus Souza, Aracele Fassbinder and Ieda Mayumi Kawashita). Doctoral Consortium papers include: (1) Forms of the Materials Shared between a Teacher and a Pupil (Libor Klubal and Katerina Kostolányová); and (2) Mobile Touch Screen Devices as Compensation for the Teaching Materials at a Special Primary School (Vojtech Gybas and Katerina Kostolányová). Individual papers provide references, and an Author Index is provided.

The 22nd EUROCALL conference was held at the University of Padova from the 26th to the 29th of August 2015, the first time that EUROCALL has been held in Italy. The event was organized in collaboration with the University Language Centre and the support of the Department of Political Science, Law and International Studies. Over 300 delegates travelled from over 37 different countries to attend. The theme of the conference this year was Critical CALL, drawing inspiration from the work carried out in the broader field of Critical Applied Linguistics. The term "critical" has many possible interpretations, and as Pennycook (2001) outlines, has many concerns. It was from these that the conference theme was decided, in particular the notion that assumptions that lie at the basis of a field's praxis should be questioned, ideas that have become "naturalized" and are not called into question. Another concern of Critical Applied Linguistics is the relationship between the macro and the micro, an engagement with issues of power and inequality and an understanding of how classrooms and conversations are related to broader social, cultural and political relations. Over 200 presentations were delivered in 68 different sessions, both in English and Italian, on topics related specifically to the theme and also more general CALL topics. 94 of these were submitted as extended papers and appear in this volume of proceedings. An author index is included. (Individual papers contain references.)

These proceedings contain the papers of the International Conference e-Learning 2014, which was organised by the International Association for Development of the Information Society and is part of the Multi Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems (Lisbon, Portugal July 15-19, 2014). The e-Learning 2014 conference aims to address the main issues of concern within e-Learning. This conference covered technical as well as the non-technical aspects of e-Learning under seven main areas: Organisational Strategy and Management Issues; Technological Issues; e-Learning Curriculum Development Issues; Instructional Design Issues; e-Learning Delivery Issues; e-Learning Research Methods and Approaches; e-Skills and Information Literacy for Learning. The conference included the Keynote Lecture: "Moving Higher Education Forward in the Digital Age: Realising a Digital Strategy," by Neil Morris, Professor of Educational Technology, Innovation and Change and Director of Digital Learning, University of Leeds, UK. Papers in these proceedings include: (1) Culture, Gender and Technology-Enhanced Learning: Female and Male Students' Perceptions Across Three Continents, Thomas Richter and Asta Zelenkauskaite; (2) IPads In Learning: The Web of Change Bente Meyer; (3) A Blended Approach to Canadian First Nations Education, Martin Sacher, Mavis Sacher and Norman Vaughan; (4) A Storytelling Learning Model For Legal Education, Nicola Capuano, Carmen De Maio, Angelo Gaeta, Giuseppina Rita Mangione, Saverio Salerno and Eleonora Fratesi; (5) Acceptance and Success Factors for M-Learning of ERP Systems Curricula, Brenda Scholtz and Mando Kapeso; (6) Self-Regulation Competence in Music Education, Luca Andrea Ludovico and Giuseppina Rita Mangione; (7) Time-Decayed User Profile for Second Language Vocabulary Learning System, Li Li and Xiao Wei; (8) E-Learning Trends and Hypes in Academic Teaching: Methodology and Findings of a Trend Study, Helge Fischer, Linda Heise, Matthias Heinz, Kathrin Moebius and Thomas Koehler; (9) Proof of Economic Viability of Blended Learning Business Models, Carsten Druhmann and Gregor Hohenberg; (10) Does Satellite Television Program Satisfy Ethiopian Secondary School Students? Sung-Wan Kim and Gebeyehu Bogale; (11) Organisation and Management of a Complete Bachelor Degree Offered Online at the University of Milan for Ten Years, Manuela Milani, Sabrina Papini, Daniela Scaccia and Nello Scarabottolo; (12) Structural Relationships between Variables of Elementary School Students' Intention of Accepting Digital Textbooks, Young Ju Joo, Sunyoung Joung, Se-Bin Choi, Eugene Lim and Kyung Yi Go; (13) Dynamic Fuzzy Logic-Based Quality of Interaction within Blended-Learning: The Rare and Contemporary Dance Cases, Sofia B. Dias, José A. Diniz and Leontios J. Hadjileontiadis; (14) Do English Listening Outcome and Cognitive Load Change for Different Media Delivery Modes in U-Learning?, Chi-Cheng Chang, Hao Lei and Ju-Shih Tseng; (15) The Use of ELGG Social Networking Tool for Students' Project Peer-Review Activity, Ana Coric Samardzija and Goran Bubas; (16) Educational Multimedia Profiling Recommendations for Device-Aware Adaptive Mobile Learning, Arghir-Nicolae Moldovan, Ioana Ghergulescu and Cristina Hava Muntean; (17) Inside, Outside, Upside Down: New Directions in Online Teaching and Learning, Lena Paulo Kushnir and Kenneth C. Berry; (18) A Study on the Methods of Assessment and Strategy of Knowledge Sharing in Computer Course, Pat P. W. Chan; (19) Using Agent-Based Technologies to Enhance Learning in Educational Games, Ogar Ofut Tumenayu, Olga Shabalina, Valeriy Kamaev and Alexander Davtyan; (20) Designing a Culturally Sensitive Wiki Space for Developing Chinese Students' Media Literacy, Daria Mezentceva; (21) Shared Cognition Facilitated by Teacher Use of Interactive Whiteboard Technologies, Christine Redman and John Vincent; (22) Modeling Pedagogy for Teachers Transitioning to the Virtual Classroom, Michael J. Canuel and Beverley J. White; (23) The Effectiveness of SDMS in the Development of E-Learning Systems in South Africa, Kobus van Aswegen, Magda Huisman and Estelle Taylor; (24) Online Learning Behaviors for Radiology Interns Based on Association Rules and Clustering Technique, Hsing-Shun Chen and Chuen-He Liou; (25) The Use of SDMS in Developing E-Learning Systems in South Africa, Estelle Taylor, Kobus van Aswegen and Magda Huisman; (26) Assessment of the Use of Online Comunities to Integrate Educational Processes Development Teams: An Experience in Popular Health Education in Brazil, Elomar Castilho Barilli, Stenio de Freitas Barretto, Carla Moura Lima and Marco Antonio Menezes; (27) Stereo Orthogonal Axonometric Perspective for the Teaching of Descriptive Geometry, José Geraldo Franco Méxas, Karla Bastos Guedes and Ronaldo da Silva Tavares; (28) Delivery of E-Learning through Social Learning Networks, Georgios A. Dafoulas and Azam Shokri; (29) The Implementation of Web 2.0 Technology for Information Literacy Instruction in Thai University Libraries, Oranuch Sawetrattanasatian; (30) Designing Educational Social Machines for Effective Feedback, Matthew Yee-King, Maria Krivenski, Harry Brenton, Andreu Grimalt-Reynes and Mark d'Inverno; (31) A Support System for Error Correction Questions in Programming Education, Yoshinari Hachisu and Atsushi Yoshida; (32) A Platform for Learning Internet of Things, Zorica Bogdanovic, Konstantin Simic, Miloš Milutinovic, Božidar Radenkovic and Marijana Despotovic-Zrakic, (33) Dealing with Malfunction: Locus of Control in Web-Conferencing, Michael Klebl; (34) Copyright and Creative Commons License: Can Educators Gain Benefits in the Digital Age? (Wariya Lamlert); (35) The Curriculum Design and Development in MOOCs Environment (Fei Li, Jing Du and Bin Li); (36) Stakeholders Influence in Maltese Tourism Higher Education Curriculum Development (Simon Caruana and Lydia Lau); (37) Online Social Networks and Computer Skills of University Students (Maria Potes Barbas, Gabriel Valerio, María Del Carmen Rodríguez-Martínez, Dagoberto José Herrera-Murillo and Ana María Belmonte-Jiménez); (38) Implementation of Artificial Intelligence Assessment in Engineering Laboratory Education (Maria Samarakou, Emmanouil D. Fylladitakis, Pantelis Prentakis and Spyros Athineos); (39) An Exploration of the Attitude and Learning Effectiveness of Business College Students towards Game Based Learning (Chiung-Sui Chang, Ya-Ping Huang and Fei-Ling Chien); (40) Application of E-Learning Technologies to Study a School Subject (Nadia Herbst and Elias Oupa Mashile); (41) Possibilities of Implementation of Small Business Check-Up Methodology in Comparative Analysis of Secondary Schools and Universities in Slovakia (Katarína Štofková, Ivan Strícek and Jana Štofková); (42) Digging the Virtual Past (Panagiota Polymeropoulou); (43) Technology Acceptance of E-Learning within a Blended Vocational Course in West Africa (Ashwin Mehta); (44) Development of an E-Learning Platform for Vocational Education Systems in Germany (Andreas Schober, Frederik Müller, Sabine Linden, Martha Klois and Bernd Künne); (45) Facebook Mediated Interaction and learning in Distance Learning at Makerere University (Godfrey Mayende, Paul Birevu Muyinda, Ghislain Maurice Norbert Isabwe, Michael Walimbwa and Samuel Ndeda Siminyu); (46) Assessing the Purpose and Importance University Students Attribute to Current ICT Applications (Maurice Digiuseppe and Elita Partosoedarso); (47) E-Learning System for Design and Construction of Amplifier Using Transistors (Atsushi Takemura); (48) Technology, Gender Attitude, and Software, among Middle School Math Instructors (Godwin N. Okeke); (49) Structuring Long-Term Faculty Training According to Needs Exhibited by Students' Written Comments in Course Evaluations (Robert Fulkerth); (50) Integration of PBL Methodologies into Online Learning Courses and Programs (Roland Van Oostveen, Elizabeth Childs, Kathleen Flynn and Jessica Clarkson); (51) Improving Teacher-Student Contact in a Campus Through a Location-Based Mobile Application (Vítor Manuel Ferreira and Fernando Ramos); (52) Incorporating Collaborative, Interactive Experiences into a Technology-Facilitated Professional Learning Network for Pre-Service Science Teachers (Seamus Delaney and Christine Redman); (53) The Efficiency of E-Learning Activities in Training Mentor Teachers (Laura Serbanescu and Sorina Chircu); (54) Development of an IOS App Using Situated Learning, Communities of Practice, and Augmented Reality for Autism Spectrum Disorder (Jessica Clarkson); (55) Using Case-Based Reasoning to Improve the Quality of Feedback Provided by Automated Grading Systems (Angelo Kyrilov and David C. Noelle); (56) International Multidisciplinary Learning: An Account of a Collaborative Effort among Three Higher Education Institutions (Paul S. H. Poh, Robby Soetanto, Stephen Austin and Zulkifar A. Adamu); (57) Interactive Learning to Stimulate the Brain's Visual Center and to Enhance Memory Retention (Yang H. Yun, Philip A. Allen, Kritsakorn Chaumpanich and Yingcai Xiao); (58) How Digital Technologies, Blended Learning and MOOCs Will Impact the Future of Higher Education (Neil P. Morris); (59) Factors Influencing the Acceptance of E-Learning Adoption in Libya's Higher Education Institutions (Mahfoud Benghet and Markus Helfert); (60) Motivation as a Method of Controlling the Social Subject Self-Learning (Andrey V. Isaev, Alla G. Kravets and Ludmila A. Isaeva); (61) Designing Environment for Teaching Internet of Things (Konstantin Simic, Vladimir Vujin, Aleksandra Labus, Ðorde Stepanic and Mladen Stevanovic); (62) Fostering Critical Thinking Skills in Students with Learning Disabilities through Online Problem-Based Learning (Kathleen Flynn); and (63) A System for the Automatic Assembly of Test Questions Using a NO-SQL Database (Sanggyu Shin and Hiroshi Hashimoto). Luís Rodrigues is an associate editor of the proceedings. Individual papers contain references. An author index is included.

We are delighted to welcome you to the International Conference on Education and New Developments 2013, taking place in Lisbon, Portugal, from 1 to 3 of June. Education, in a global sense, is a right since we are born. Every experience has a formative effect on the constitution of the human being, in the way one thinks, feels and acts. One of the most important contributions resides in what and how we learn through the improvement of educational processes, both in formal and informal settings. Our International Conference seeks to provide some answers and explore the processes, actions, challenges and outcomes of learning, teaching and human development. Our goal is to offer a worldwide connection between teachers, students, researchers and lecturers, from a wide range of academic fields, interested in exploring and giving their contribution in educational issues We take pride in having been able to connect and bring together academics, scholars, practitioners and others interested in a field that is fertile in new perspectives, ideas and knowledge. We counted on an extensive variety of contributors and presenters, which can supplement our view of the human essence and behavior, showing the impact of their different personal, academic and cultural experiences. This is, certainly, one of the reasons we have many nationalities and cultures represented, inspiring multi-disciplinary collaborative links, fomenting intellectual encounter and development. END 2013 received over more 267 submissions, from 35 different countries, reviewed by a double-blind process. Submissions were prepared to take form of Oral Presentations, Posters, Virtual Presentations, Workshops and Round Table. The conference also includes a keynote presentation from an internationally distinguished researcher Professor Peter Jarvis Emeritus Professor at the University of Surrey, UK, to whom we express our most gratitude. This volume is composed by the proceedings of the International Conference on Education and New Developments (END 2013), organized by the World Institute for Advanced Research and Science (W.I.A.R.S.) and co-sponsored by the respected partners we reference in the dedicated page. This conference addressed different categories inside the Education area and papers are expected to fit broadly into one of the named themes and sub-themes. To develop the conference program we have chosen four main broad-ranging categories, which also covers different interest areas: (1) In TEACHERS AND STUDENTS: Teachers and Staff training and education; Educational quality and standards; Curriculum and Pedagogy; Vocational education and Counseling; Ubiquitous and lifelong learning; Training programs and professional guidance; Teaching and learning relationship; Student affairs (learning, experiences and diversity; Extra-curricular activities; Assessment and measurements in Education. (2) In PROJECTS AND TRENDS: Pedagogic innovations; Challenges and transformations in Education; Technology in teaching and learning; Distance Education and eLearning; Global and sustainable developments for Education; New learning and teaching models; Multicultural and (inter)cultural communications; Inclusive and Special Education; Rural and indigenous Education; Educational projects. (3) In TEACHING AND LEARNING: Educational foundations; Research and development methodologies; Early childhood and Primary Education; Secondary Education; Higher Education; Science and technology Education; Literacy, languages and Linguistics (TESL/TEFL); Health Education; Religious Education; Sports Education. (4) In ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES: Educational policy and leadership; Human Resources development; Educational environment; Business, Administration, and Management in Education; Economics in Education; Institutional accreditations and rankings; International Education and Exchange programs; Equity, social justice and social change; Ethics and values; Organizational learning and change. The proceedings contain the results of the research and developments conducted by authors who focused on what they are passionate about: to promote growth in research methods intimately related to teaching, learning and applications in Education nowadays. It includes an extensive variety of contributors and presenters, who will extend our view in exploring and giving their contribution in educational issues, by sharing with us their different personal, academic and cultural experiences. (Individual papers contain references.)

This document contains seven papers about and from an international meeting on promoting linkage between technical and vocational education and the world of work. The first paper, a Final Report on the "International Expert Meeting on the Promotion of Linkage between Technical/Vocational Education and the World of Work (Tokyo, Japan, 3-6 February 1997)," examines the following: the meeting's purpose; main points raised in the keynote and country papers and multimedia presentations; major issues (major implications of multimedia and networks and their use to develop competencies through self-learning; financing of the development of multimedia approaches; evaluation of student achievements through multimedia methods; and new roles of teachers); field visits connected with the meeting; and recommendations to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) member states. The following six papers constitute the remainder of the document: "International Trends and Developments in Technical and Vocational Education" (Gregor Ramsey); "Technical Education and the World of Work: The Brazilian Context" (Ana Maria Lakomy); "Current Trends of TVET [Technical and Vocational Education and Training] in Germany" (Antonius Lipsmeier); "Linkage between Technical and Vocational Education and the World of Work in Indonesia" (Rina Arlianti); "Technical and Vocational Education in Japan" (Haruo Nishinosono); and "The Promotion of Linkage between Technical/Vocational Education and the World of Work in Korea" (Tae-Hwa Jung). (MN)

Although technology is not the answer to all educational problems, it is proving to be a useful tool in improving the quality and efficiency of literacy provision in the formal, nonformal, and informal education sectors. Adopting technology demands a selection process for determining which technology is appropriate, by and for whom it will be used, and for what kind of communication and content. It is important to view technology in the wider political, social, and economic context rather than merely in terms of hardware and software packages. Principles in planning the integration of technology into literacy programs include the following: depart from existing strategies and structures; focus on affordability of initial investments in setting up systems; include a training program on using technology; and be flexible about time schedules. Television, radio, computers, and the Internet can all be important tools for facilitating lifelong and lifewide learning. Technology often raises the fear of inequality. Analysis of experiences with educational technology appears to indicate that, although it may initially widen the gap between those with and without access, it holds great potential for making adult and literacy education more affordable and accessible to broader audiences. (MN)

This booklet, which was produced as a follow-up to the Fifth International Conference on Adult Education, examines literacy and learning strategies. After a brief overview of the workshop from which the booklet emerged, the new convivial approaches to literacy that are being developed through experimentation in many developing countries are described. The learner- and community-based approaches fuse literacy and empowering processes through a single, well-structured participatory methodology. Presented next is a discussion of the importance of basic needs and productive work support that advocates the following: (1) developing activities that respect local knowledge, promote on-the-job training, and relate to people's contexts and cultures; (2) developing an understanding of the pedagogy of the informal sector; and (3) using an integrated approach linking competencies for economic survival with the social equipment for greater effectiveness at the local level. Concluding the booklet are the following four steps toward putting participatory ideology into action: (1) decentralize the creation of books and programs; (2) promote basic learning needs through nonformal strategies; (3) recognize that in addition to reading and counting skills, adults also need functional skills to be self-reliant and productive in local economic development; and (4) promote communities' own knowledge and learning traditions. (MN)

Literacy is embedded in social practice and has social meanings. Research and practice in adult literacy are demonstrating that, in order to bring about cultural and social transformation, literacy must be seen as an activity embedded in social and cultural practice. The traditional paradigm, which considers literacy as input for development and tends to see literacy primarily in terms of measurable literacy skills to be attained and the numbers to be made literate, must be replaced by a new paradigm based on the assumption that even small communities can begin their own process of literacy and make it part of the fabric of their own way of life. The notion of societal literacy is central to the new paradigm. The extent to which a community uses literacy as an integral part of life varies greatly, depending on the local, national, and international contexts. In the future, literacy provision must reflect the specific and diverse contexts in which literacy is acquired and used. These contexts include the following: what learners already know, want, and bring to the learning experience; learners' mother tongue; learners' identities in terms of gender, class, religion, and race; and learners' social, economic, and cultural contexts. (MN)

The article offers information on the Information Assurance and Cyber Defence symposium to held in Koblenz, Germany from September 24-25, 2012.

As an adequate response to the new environmental conditions expected to arise due to climate change, our cities must be adapted to continue serving as pleasant and liveable spaces for its inhabitants and visitors. Large parts of our existing building stock remain unprepared/inadequate for the anticipated climatic changes. Adjustments are urgently needed. Within this paper a strategy has been elaborated about how retrofitting can significantly contribute to the climate change adaptation of our urban environments, as will be strongly required in the future. The focus of this study is directed to possible climate change related adaptations of multistorey residential buildings from the 19th and early 20th century in inner city areas of Germany. Building on the general principles of climate responsive and ecological architectural design and construction, it poses the following question: How can our existing buildings be transformed in order to explicitly reduce the impact of climate change on our built environments? Following an evaluation of the new climatic conditions influencing our buildings and looking into current knowledge of sustainable architecture and urban design and construction methods, this paper goes onto propose a set of guidelines for climate change adaptive retrofitting of 19th and 20th century multistorey residential buildings of inner-city areas of Germany. On one hand these optimization proposals are addressed to respond better to longer heat and dry periods in summer and to more extreme rainfall, snowfall and storms in the winter. On the other hand, these adjustments aim to build a criteria that serve to mitigate adverse effects of climate change, like an improvement of the buildings' energy performance and ecological efficiency. The results of this study demonstrate that the buildings focused on are well suited for retrofitting interventions, which would reduce the impact of climate change and which in parallel would constitute effective measures to strongly improve the buildings' ecological performance in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As teaching moves increasingly online, language teachers are faced with the challenge of how to support dyslexic students in an inclusive manner in and out of the classroom. This paper will focus on an innovative educational multi-modal, mobile application -- Comics for Inclusive English Language Learning (CIELL) -- supporting upper-intermediate and advanced English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students with dyslexia when faced with language proficiency tests and academic writing tasks. A cyclical educational design research methodology (McKenney & Reeves, 2019) was used to include three cycles of feedback from stakeholders so that their views and suggestions would inform the development of an alpha, beta, and gamma version of the app, thereby maximising practical relevance. The discussion of the quantitative and qualitative feedback is supported by educational design research. [For the complete volume, "CALL and Professionalisation: Short Papers from EUROCALL 2021 (29th, Online, August 26-27, 2021)," see ED616972.]

Collaborations between market incumbents and start-ups offer great benefits for both parties. However, the partner matching process presents a major challenge due to their asymmetry. Intermediaries can support the initiation of such collaborations by matchmaking events. Addressing the scarce research about matchmaking events between market incumbents and start-ups, this paper examines whether and to what extent both partners can benefit. Based on a matchmaking event in the German manufacturing industry in 2019, the paper applies a mixed-method approach. Market incumbent's perspective was investigated quantitatively via an online survey among 220 firms. The start-up perspective was analysed qualitatively by semi-structured interviews. Results show differences in the perceived benefit. Start-ups perceive their main benefit in the networking opportunity in terms of creating customer-relationships, growing the professional network, and collecting valuable feedback. Incumbents benefit in terms of initiated collaborations, network expansion, and received information about trends and new technologies in the industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The food industry is currently undergoing dynamic changes due to the rising interest in plant-based food. The demand for plant-based meal alternatives is continuously rising. As the sixth most popular country for plant-based meals, Germany is leading this vegan trend, among other western countries. In view of this, this paper aims to contribute to current studies by identifying challenges and drivers which influence the adoption process of plant-based meals in Germany. Through a semi-systematic literature review and based on Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovations Theory, this paper further analyses important connections between the challenges and drivers of the adoption process as well as inter-related impacts within them. The results indicate that both challenges and drivers influence each other and can be employed by companies to accelerate the adoption of plant-based meals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photovoltaics is one of the front-running renewable energy technologies, greatly contributing to the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. With the aim for carbon neutrality ever larger photovoltaics plants are being built worldwide alongside an increasing number of small-scale Agri-Voltaics (APV) systems. Despite this trend, the impact of such systems on the environment remains scarcely studied. By means of lysimeters the effect of shading by solar panels on evapotranspiration (ET) and plant growth has been analyzed at a research station in Germany. During the measurement period which stretched from November 2019 to early April 2020, ET recorded at the area shaded by the panels was with 163 mm almost equal to ET at the reference site with 158 mm. However, percolation was found to be much higher at the reference site with 89.5 mm compared to the area below the panel where no seepage was detected. This difference was investigated by looking more in depth at the temporal evolution of ET, which showed to be season-dependent with lower ET below the panel than at the reference site during the growing season but higher ET below the panel the rest of the year. During the growing season, shading leads to a strong reduction of solar radiation received by the area below the panel resulting in lower soil temperatures and lower evapotranspiration than at the unshaded reference area. During the winter months in turn the panels raise soil temperatures by trapping outgoing radiation which results in higher evapotranspiration below the panels than at the reference area. The described effects of the panels on solar radiation and temperature have been studied at a conventional photovoltaics park and are described alongside the measurements from the lysimeter station within this paper. While at the end of the period of shading the height of rape was found to be on average 20 cm higher below the panel than at the reference site, rape yield in turn was lower assumingly due to a lack of light in the early stages of plant development. This paper presents the measurement results from the lysimeter station and discusses the underlying processes of changes in temperature and global radiation in respect to the soil-water-plant system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a bibliometric analysis of social life cycle assessment (S-LCA), which has gained importance due to the need to know the social impact of business operations on persons. Using the PRISMA methodology, we identified 190 documents regarding SLCA in the SCOPUS database and were analyzed with the VOSviewer software. Specifically, the most cited documents, authors, organizations, and countries are analyzed and the most productive according to the number published. This analysis included the most used keywords are analyzed on the S-LCA topic. Findings indicate that this topic has become relevant since 2007, and currently, the number of scientific publications has an exponential trend. It has been identified that Traverso M. is the author who has 19 products with 603 citations; however, Guyton R.A. is the most cited author with only two papers and 813 citations. The institution that publishes the most on this topic is the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Spain), with three papers and 108 citations. Authors from 46 countries were identified, but the most productive are Italy and Germany, and the most cited are the United States of America and Germany. A total of 1625 keywords were identified, but life cycle assessment, social life cycle assessment, and sustainable development are the most used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article raises the question whether there is in fact a specific field within civil engineering that may be connected to the impact of Covid-19, namely radon exposure in interior spaces in certain parts of the world. Radon exposure is particularly high in regions that have seen high mortality rates related to SARS-CoV-2. Examples of these include the Bergamo region in Italy and the Erz Mountains, the Fichtel Mountains or the Bavarian Forest in south-eastern Germany. But is there actually a correlation, or is this merely a coincidence? Is there in fact a causality? If so, constructional measures to protect against the decay products of radon in interior spaces would gain a new significance that goes beyond the realms of current knowledge. This article cannot provide a definitive answer to these questions due to the current patchiness of data in Germany. Nevertheless, this paper will use the data available to demonstrate that there is evidence of a possible correlation or causality between the two, and that this merits further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

German primary school students' reading skills have declined between 2016 and 2021, with a deficit of up to one third of a school year. The most significant portion of the decline is attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic experiences. These delays are critical because children have to catch up on skills and knowledge they should already have while continuing to acquire new skills and knowledge. Students who are ill prepared in core readiness skills for secondary schools are simultaneously having to cope with the stressful experiences of school transition. Anxiety generally impedes participation in science classes, but the specific concept of science anxiety is less explored. Mindfulness has been successfully implemented in schools to alleviate stress as well as being somewhat effective in positively supporting student anxiety. This paper presents background to a current study that aims to address the significance of the issue of science anxiety amongst German post-transition students, and whether science anxiety can be improved through the implementation of a mindfulness program. [For the full proceedings, see ED652261.]

In this paper we compare the early years mathematics curricula of Germany, South Africa, and Australia in relation to the place value concept. Place value is an important topic as it underpins much of the number work completed by learners in the early years of schooling. We found that there were differences between the three curricula that could be summarised using five themes: namely, number range, place value structure, role of the zero, influence of language, and use of materials. We argue that how the different curricula deal with these five themes influences the quality of learning provided and we highlight key areas of concern. In concluding we identify three important implications for our future research project.

Augmented reality (AR), a cutting-edge technology, has the potential to change the way students learn by superimposing virtual items and information onto the real environment. Through more immersive and interesting interactions with digital content, AR might help students better understand difficult concepts and boost their drive to learn. As a result of its contribution to student learning, AR has become increasingly appealing to educational researchers. This study aimed to descriptively explore the characteristics of AR studies in education and to qualitatively analyze the most influential ones indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) between 2000 and 2022. A scoping review was conducted to determine the sample of the AR studies in education based on the inclusion criteria. Accordingly, descriptive analyses were conducted to identify the characteristics of the AR studies in education between 2000 and 2022 in terms of publication year, country, affiliations, journals, funding agencies, and citation trends. Then, the research methodologies and implications were found among the most influential AR studies in education between 2000 and 2022 by synthesizing qualitatively. The overall results indicated that AR studies in education have been conducted since 2008, with an increasing number of studies over time. Based on the implications of the most influential studies identified in terms of citation numbers, it was detected that AR has the potential to enhance education and training by providing interactive and engaging environments, linking real-world contexts with digital resources, and promoting efficiency and effectiveness in learning. [This paper was published in: "EJER Congress 2023 International Eurasian Educational Research Congress Conference Proceedings," Ani Publishing, 2023, pp. 273-291.]

Due the wideness of the term Physical Computing, there is a need for a better structure of this topic. This paper is about an approach of structuring this field by finding attributes of different physical computing devices which can be used in class. Those attributes are meant to enforce teachers as well as researchers to analyze different devices from a pedagogical perspective in order to use those devices in class and use their full educational potential. [For the full proceedings, see ED636095.]

Applying computing technology during problem solving and the reflection of the appropriateness of this application are crucial skills for modern life. This is especially true while working on interdisciplinary STEM problems. However, up to now, few ready-to-use materials are available to foster such competencies. This paper starts bridging this gap by presenting a workbook for students in higher secondary education (around age 15). The workbook focuses on a complex STEM problem, primarily rooted in mathematics, computing, and technology education: Estimating the time it takes to evacuate a building. In the workbook, students work through five exercises focused on the problem of trying to make a sports hall safer. For three potential changes to the building, they should evaluate whether it increases the safety of the sports hall and whether the measure can reasonably be evaluated with a given simulation. During their work, students become aware of arguments useful for such an critical evaluation. For example, a change can only be evaluated if its magnitude is greater than variation in the (randomized) fleeing algorithm of the software. After development of the workbook, we used a design-based research approach to improve its quality. To do so, we asked eight educators for feedback and piloted it with 20 students from two mathematics classes of different capabilities. The results show that students had fun while working on the exercises and both the students and their tutors evaluated the workbook to be educationally relevant. Several issues, most importantly regarding the wording of several exercises, were identified and improved. Multiple exercises were further sub-divided to better suit learners of the age targeted. [For the full proceedings, see ED636095.]

In Engineering Design education, huge numbers of students are a challenge in university teaching, especially since the students have an initially heterogeneous level of technical knowledge, which influences their acquisition of competences. In frontal classroom lectures, individual deficits can hardly be addressed and in self-study phases, students find it difficult to remedy these independently. Therefore, students with prior technical experience achieve better final module grades. This paper examines the extent to which heterogeneity in prior experience can be compensated by using an adaptive e-learning environment for the self-study time. For this purpose, students are provided with a prototypical implementation of an adaptive e-learning environment for the self-learning phase. The feedback of the users and their examination results are statistically evaluated with respect to the gain of knowledge. [For the full proceedings, see ED636095.]

Virtual exchange projects have become an effective pedagogical method to support students' development of intercultural language competence. High-immersion experiences in Virtual Reality (VR) may offer an environment which is conducive to developing such competence. This paper reports on a pilot study carried out with two groups of university students (N=30) in the Netherlands and Germany. The students, involved in a virtual exchange using VR headsets, completed three tasks collaboratively. The aim of the study was to investigate participants' perception regarding (1) their collaboration with foreign peers within the VR setting and (2) the perceived usefulness of the tool. The researchers employed questionnaires and conducted interviews and focus groups. The audio recording transcripts from the VR encounters and students' reflective journals provide further data to triangulate the results. This pilot study provides first results with regard to virtual exchanges carried out in high-immersion VR. [For the complete volume, "CALL for Widening Participation: Short Papers from EUROCALL 2020 (28th, Online, August 20-21, 2020)," see ED610330.]

Many language learners lack the motivation to read complex texts. Because high-immersion Virtual Reality (VR) is increasingly reported to be highly motivating, the goal of our study was to compare English as a Second Language (ESL) learners' (N=79) motivation while reading a story with subtitles in VR (experimental group) versus reading the same story screencast in two-dimensions (2D -- control group). The Wilcoxon signed-rank test revealed that learners' motivation in VR was significantly higher compared with the control group. Our finding confirmed that VR is highly motivational in the context of reading foreign texts and can be useful for Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) researchers, practitioners, and instructional designers. This analysis is a part of a larger study (Kaplan-Rakowski & Gruber, 2023) on VR facilitating reading tasks. [For the complete volume, "Intelligent CALL, Granular Systems and Learner Data: Short Papers from EUROCALL 2022 (30th, Reykjavik, Iceland, August 17-19, 2022)," see ED624779.]

Foreign language teaching achieves best learning outcomes when individual differences of learners are taken into account. While it is difficult for teachers to support internal differentiation in the classroom, digital tools can adaptively propose individual learning paths through activities so that students can practice with appropriately challenging exercises. But how can sufficiently varied, systematically parametrized exercises be provided to enable a system to match them to individual learner needs? We present an approach for high-variability exercise generation that transforms a single specification into a multitude of exercises varying in complexity. The approach is currently being evaluated in a randomized controlled study in regular German seventh grade English classes, facilitating a systematic empirical exploration of adaptive exercise complexity in relation to learning outcomes. [For the complete volume, "Intelligent CALL, Granular Systems and Learner Data: Short Papers from EUROCALL 2022 (30th, Reykjavik, Iceland, August 17-19, 2022)," see ED624779.]

The present exploratory study investigated the efficacy of secondary face-to-face classroom-based English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instruction digitally supported by the FeedBook, an interactive computer assisted language learning web-based suite of exercises providing item-level scaffolded feedback. Seventy-seven native (L1) German seventh-grade students used the FeedBook during four two-week training periods (cycles, here we analyse Cycle 2 and 3). Classroom and FeedBook practice occurred in parallel, except for grammar constructions for which only FeedBook practice was provided (controls). At the end of Cycle 3, students engaged in a classroom-based communicative task for which the practised constructions were relevant. Custom-designed pre- and post-tests, administered via the FeedBook, assessed language accuracy in each cycle. Mixed-effect models revealed significant pre-/post-test accuracy gains independent of the learners' proficiency in English, but not in controls. Gains from digitally supported instruction were also positively related to accurate use of EFL grammar constructions in the communicative task. Overall, the results indicate learning benefits for face-to-face classroom-based instruction supported by the FeedBook, evidenced both in grammar tests and in communicative activities. [For the complete volume, "Intelligent CALL, Granular Systems and Learner Data: Short Papers from EUROCALL 2022 (30th, Reykjavik, Iceland, August 17-19, 2022)," see ED624779.]

Within the parameters of the new Erasmus programme, this Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) combines virtual exchange with physical mobility. There were three institutions involved in this project: Letterkenny Institute of Technology, Ireland, Hochschule Bremerhaven, Germany, and Malaga Healthcare College, Spain. The virtual exchange ran for five weeks from November to December 2021 and the physical mobility took place in Bremerhaven in the first week of April 2022. Twenty-seven participating students from diverse academic backgrounds engaged in shared tasks during the virtual exchange on a Blackboard platform, hosted by Letterkenny Institute of Technology and were awarded two ECTS credits, which was embedded into their local curricula. Content was delivered using both synchronous and asynchronous tools. The topic was global citizenship and students collaborated in multicultural teams to create presentations on their chosen topics. In addition to this team work, they also shared their individual insights into the course content by posting to a discussion forum in Weeks 1, 3, and 4. [For the complete volume, "Intelligent CALL, Granular Systems and Learner Data: Short Papers from EUROCALL 2022 (30th, Reykjavik, Iceland, August 17-19, 2022)," see ED624779.]

The objective of this research paper is to determine whether storytelling can positively influence public acceptance of digital finance business models – fintechs – in Germany. We conducted seven structured interviews with experts from the finance and branding sectors and quantitative research on a sample of Germans. Our findings provide valuable insight into the status quo of digitalisation in the German finance sector and the importance of storytelling as a marketing tool. They highlight the strong potential of fintechs, showing that storytelling positively influences public acceptance of innovative financial service providers. Notably, however, personal contact with a traditional financial advisor is shown to still be highly important to the German respondents. This study offers valuable information for banks concerning their future positioning in the financial market as well as for fintech companies looking to enter the German financial market or increase their market share. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The media audience becomes more and more interested in participating in the news production process and the evaluation of journalistic work. Thus, participatory journalism fills imortant niches that traditional media cannot fill because of market pressure and profitability issues. Since participatory journalism can be seen as a chance for traditional media, we need to know more about it. Hence, we conducted a standardized quantitative online-survey among participatory journalists in Germany and compared our findings with results from the most recent German journalism study. Our basic research question is: How do participatory journalists differ from professional journalists, regarding their attitude towards journalistic ethics, journalistic quality, concerning motivations, perception of their identity and self-concept etc. Our study has identified significant differences but also similarities between participatory and professional journalists. Results suggest that despite significant differences between participatory and professional journalists it cannot be denied that participatory journalists contribute to public opinion building. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our paper analyses, how the interplay of actors and regulations in Germanys dual system shaped innovation and market processes in the innovation ecosystem of post-consumer plastics recycling. In our paper, we develop a model of the innovation ecosystem based on 20 expert interviews and discuss, how institutional factors influenced the system outcome. Government regulation led to the establishment of a functioning market for recycling products and triggered product and process innovations. Three recycling market segments developed that differ in respect to competition and market behaviour and market outcomes. The new packaging law established in 2019 increases the market volume but does not fully address existing problems in market development. Our results show that policy makers need a long-term approach to overcome temporary problems in establishing an innovation environment. A continuous adaption of the regulatory environment is required to avoid unwanted developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The German government introduced the concept of "Industry 4.0" in 2011 as part of its high-tech policy, aiming to address emerging challenges and sustain the competitiveness of the German manufacturing industry. This paper explores the assessment of a firm's preparedness for Industry 4.0 through readiness modeling. Recognizing the complexity of Industry 4.0 technology adoption, the study proposes a two-phase research approach involving identifying impediments and evaluating readiness based on each company's maturity level. Leadership emerges as a critical factor in determining a company's strategy for implementing Industry 4.0, emphasizing the need for industrial managers to prioritize assessing preparedness levels and overcoming obstacles to change. The study underscores the importance of institutional policies and stakeholder support, calling for further investigation to articulate Industry 4.0 hurdles and identify strategies for mitigation. Success in the next stage of digitization hinges on adopting effective technology and business strategies. Germany and other developed nations enjoy a significant advantage through using smart devices as platforms for innovative services and business concepts. To stay competitive globally, businesses and nations must leverage this advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ever-increasing competitive landscape necessitates manufacturers to seek improvements in operational efficiency constantly. This paper explores the integration of various methodologies to enhance operational efficiency at Shams Cables Factory. The proposed approach combines lean techniques, conceptual modeling, and process visualization tools like facility layout, activity relationship chart (ARC), flow process chart (FPC), and VA/NVA analysis to further refine the process by differentiating between value-adding and non-value-adding activities. As a result, these integrations allow for targeted efforts to eliminate NVA activities, streamline VA activities, and maximize overall efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]