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Considerable published research explores drivers of parent choice for in-person schools, but few studies have addressed reasons for attending full-time cyber schools, and how student characteristics affect those reasons; hence, this study's unique contribution. Here we use a large national dataset (n= 95,259) to test whether students with disabilities differ in stated reasons for attending a multistate cyber charter school network. Using linear probability models, we find that parents of children with disabilities are relatively more likely than others to cite academic, bullying, and health concerns as driving their choice of schools. Interestingly, parents of children with disabilities offered more reasons for leaving their prior schools than reasons that attracted them to the online school. Also, students with disabilities whose parents cited academic reasons for enrollment in the cyber school were less likely to persist in the school the next year. Implications are discussed, including the relevance of accessibility challenges for online students with disabilities attempting to access online tools and instructional materials. Future research suggestions focus on the importance of collaboration for all stakeholders of online students with disabilities.

Virtual schooling in America is a complex notion, one riddled with simultaneous claims of provenance coupled with poor achievement results when compared to other forms of schooling. Recruitment practices for virtual schools, specifically available television-length advertisements from a national list of fully online schools, comprised a data set around which this study revolved. We examined how virtual school television-length advertisements represented or misrepresented their approach to schooling by utilizing a cultural studies technique of performing preferred, negotiated, and oppositional readings. Qualitative analysis--including an independent interrater process--led to findings that often directly contradicted the messages present in the television-length advertisements, as well as currently available research on the performance and practices of virtual schools. Thus, virtual schools should consider the manner in which race, student performance, and teacher quality are portrayed in the teaching, learning, and collaboration of their television-length advertisement recruitment efforts.

Research indicates that traditional public schools are less effective in serving Latino students. Yet Latino students, but not their parents, exhibit greater school satisfaction than do their counterparts. The purpose of this study was to examine Latino student and parent satisfaction with their cyber school and prior traditional public school using results from surveys of students (53.7% response; n = 269) and parents (n = 232; response = 48.7%). ANOVA indicate that Latino parents rated their cyber school and prior traditional public schools more positively than other parents. Latino students rated the cyber school but not their prior traditional public schools more positively. We discuss implications and directions for further research.

Cyber-schooling offers potentially greater benefits for rural than urban students, by providing a broader range of courses, ending long commutes, and offering more developed special education services than typically found in rural public schools. We survey students (n=269, 53.7% response rate) and parents (232, 48.7%) at a cyber-charter school dubbed SunTech, to test whether rural subjects choose cyber schooling for distinct reasons. Factor analyses and OLS regressions indicate that rural parents are more apt to choose SunTech for structural reasons such as its broader range of classes and to avoid long commutes to school. In contrast, students were more likely to rank curricular reasons as driving their decision to choose SunTech. Rural status did not affect how either students or parents graded the school (A-F).

This paper evaluates an online charter school that serves children in grades K-8 in a southern state in the United States. We compare growth in math and literacy learning on state standardized assessments between students enrolled in this school and "matched twin" students enrolled in traditional public school students statewide each year from 2010 to 2012. We also examine the impact of the school subgroups that include minorities, students with special needs, and students in the bottom and top quartiles within their schools. We then use propensity score matching to match students who enrolled in the online school at least three consecutive years with an individually matched comparison group of public school students and estimate the differential value-added in math and literacy between the two groups. We find evidence of negative transition effects in the first year for students who enroll in the online school. These effects, however, dissipate after the first year and, in some instances, turn positive.

It is vital for online educators to know whether the strategies they use help students gain twenty-first-century skills like creativity. Unfortunately, very little research exists on this topic. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine whether participation in online courses can help students develop creativity using asynchronous online discussions, textbooks, and teacher developed materials. A case-study approach was used and one professor, recognized by her peers for her expertise in online education, and three of her students were interviewed. Asynchronous online discussions (29) were also collected and analyzed using a sequential process of building an explanation, checking the explanation against the data, and repeating the process. Key results from the study indicated that project-based prompts, problem-based prompts, and heuristics used in asynchronous online discussions can help promote creativity. Future research should explore a more diverse group of participants and academic subject areas.

There is evidence that video games can promote an inquiry-based and dynamic form of lifelong learning. For example, video games have been shown to support problem-solving processes, developing critical thinking skills, and foster the communication skills necessary for civic engagement. This study examined how scholarship is informed through problem based learning (PBL) and game play of an alternate reality game (AltRG). We examined instructor practices in an undergraduate course as a means of identifying those elements of the learning environment that inform the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Qualitative results are discussed in light of how large enrollment undergraduate courses can be designed to better promote cognitive engagement with academic literacy.

Although lecture and lab courses are commonly used in higher education, there are potential problems with this format. However, technology is presenting new opportunities for teaching such a type of a course. This study explores the changes in the role of the instructors when a lecture and lab course evolved into a hybrid course, with the lecture portion of a course online and the labs kept face-to-face. As revealed through the use of discourse analysis, the roles of the instructors were transformed from teacher-centered to student-centered, low-interactor to high-interactor, and low-initiator to high-initiator. There was also an obvious merging or synthesis of the roles of the lecture and lab instructors, particularly in the areas of course administration, subject matter expertise, and face of the course.

As cyberschooling options expand, it is vital that we understand the nuances of these particular learning opportunities. Because little research exists on leaders of K-12 cyberschools, this exploratory case study had two purposes. We first examined how 18 cyberschool leaders in the United States obtained their position. Second, we explored the perceptions of cyberschool leaders regarding the differences between their job and that of a traditional brick-and-mortar school leader. We found that cyberschool leaders tend to be predominantly new, technology savvy administrators who have some background in online learning. Main differences between cyberschool leadership and brick-and-mortar school leadership included interactions with students, teacher supervision, provision of professional development, and management of the day-to-day operations.

One of the most pressing issues for many land grant institutions is the ever increasing cost to build and operate wet chemistry laboratories. A partial solution is to develop computer-based teaching modules that take advantage of animation, web-based or off-campus learning experiences directed at engaging students' creative experiences. We used the learning objectives of one of the most difficult topics in food chemistry, enzyme kinetics, to test this concept. Students are apprehensive of this subject and often criticize the staid instructional methods typically used in teaching this material. As a result, students do not acquire a useful background in this important subject. To rectify these issues, we developed an interactive augmented reality application to teach the basic concepts of enzyme kinetics in the context of an interactive search that took students to several locations on campus where they were able to gather raw materials and view videos that taught the basics of enzyme kinetics as applied to the production of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). The students needed this background to prepare for a mock interview with an HFCS manufacturer. Students and instructors alike found the game to be preferable to sitting in a classroom listening to, or giving, a PowerPoint presentation. We feel that this use of gaming technology to teach difficult, abstract concepts may be a breakthrough in food science education and help alleviate the drain on administrative budgets from multiple wet labs.

Communicating complex scientific and technical information presents a challenge for food science educators. The most efficient learning occurs when all senses are engaged, one reason that many educators believe that scientific principles are best taught with hands-on laboratory experiences. Today there are many challenges to the continuation of these "wet labs" including the cost of building the labs as well as equipment, materials, and personnel to run them. Many current e-learning technologies are based on 2-dimensional delivery systems, and are often inadequate to provide a substitute for a laboratory exercise. However, recent advances in technology have evolved to more closely reflect the kinds of learning experiences that students typically have in a laboratory class. This review describes the role of these emerging technologies as teaching tools for educators, with the clear understanding that similar concepts can be utilized by management of technical teams in the work place.

Objective: This study aimed to measure the association between the efficacy/efficiency of digital information retrieval among community family physicians at the point of care and information and computer literacy. Methods: This study is a part of a cross-sectional anonymous online survey-based study among community family physicians who reported no affiliation with an academic institution in eight Arab countries. Results: A total of 72 physicians were included. The mean total score for the information literacy scale was 59.8 out of 91 (SD = 11.4). The mean score was 29.3 (SD = 5.6) out of 55 on the computer literacy scale. A one-way ANOVA revealed a statistically significant association between information literacy and information retrieval efficacy (F (2,69) = 4.466, p = 0.015) and efficiency of information retrieval (F (2.69) = 4.563, p = 0.014). Computer literacy was not associated with information retrieval efficacy or efficiency. Conclusion: The information and computer literacy scores of community family physicians in eight Arab countries are average. Information literacy, rather than computer literacy, is positively associated with the efficacy and efficiency of information retrieval at the point of care. There is room for improvement in evidence-based medicine curricula and continuous professional development to improve information literacy for better information retrieval and patient care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Authors illustrate the 'Monte Abatone Project', focusing on the important necropolis South of the ancient city of Caere. The area in its archaeological and topographical features was not further studied since the geophysical campaigns (1957-1961) by the Lerici Foundation. The main focus is the large area around the Campana Tumulus, previously left unexplored in the large plan by the Lerici Foundation. Excavations in 2018-2021 on the South side of this area led, conversely, to discover a possible 'family' cluster of tombs, dating to at least between the early Orientalizing and the early/middle Archaic period: these tombs were of fossa, semi-constructed, single-chamber and C2 types. Also, further unknown sectors of the necropolis were found not far from this cluster, with a concentration of tombs of the early semi-constructed type (first half of VII cent. BCE), provided with small tumuli, ordered in two approximatively parallel rows and all oriented North-West. This suggests the existence of a planning by some form of 'urban' authority, at a time - beginning with the Early Orientalizing period - that marked a considerable acceleration in the economic growth of the city and its civil-political structure. The area West and North of the Campana Tumulus was also investigated, including surveying the edges of the plateau that led to the identification of tombs (VI-III cent. BCE) excavated in the past and partially backfilled, and terraces for funerary rites which are oriented, like the Tumulus, toward the city plateau. Extensive use of laser scanning and photogrammetry allowed to produce a model of the Monte Abatone plateau, a 3D model of both the Campana Tumulus, never surveyed since the first half of the nineteenth century, and other excavated tombs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article announces the gold medal winners during the 2007 Prague Quadrennial (PQ) held in Prague, Czech Republic which include Mexico for Best Theatre Costume, Germany for Best Realization of a production and Taiwan for Best Use of Technology.

Discusses the theater company Divadlo Husa na provazku in the Czech Republic. Company's escape from political notice during its formation; Development of irregular dramaturgy; Self-censorship; Professional status of the company; Production of previously forbidden plays in 1989; Disappearance of the sense of community after June 1990 elections.