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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)

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 11th International Conference on Educational Data Mining (EDM 2018) is held under the auspices of the International Educational Data Mining Society at the Templeton Landing in Buffalo, New York. This year's EDM conference was highly competitive, with 145 long and short paper submissions. Of these, 23 were accepted as full papers and 37 accepted as short papers. This year's conference features three invited talks: Tiffany Barnes, Professor at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina; Jodi Forlizzi, Geschke Director of the HCI Institute and Professor at Carnegie Mellon University; and Jim Larimore, Chief Officer of Center for Equity in Learning at ACT, Inc. Together with the "Journal of Educational Data Mining" ("JEDM"), the EDM 2018 conference supports a "JEDM" Track that provides researchers a venue to deliver more substantial mature work than is possible in a conference proceeding and to present their work to a live audience. Three such papers are featured this year. The papers submitted to this track followed the "JEDM" peer review process. The main conference invited contributions to an Industry Track in addition to the main track. The EDM 2018 Industry Track received ten submissions of which six were accepted, a tangible improvement over last year, with only four submissions total, all of which were accepted. This expansion of the industry track represents an intentional goal to better connect industry researchers with the academic research community. The EDM conference continues its tradition of providing opportunities for young researchers to present their work and receive feedback from their peers and senior researchers. The doctoral consortium this year features 14 such presentations, more than double compared to the prior year. In addition to the main program, there are four workshops: (1) Educational Data Mining in Computer Science Education (CSEDM); (2) Proposal Policy & EDM: Norms, Risks, and Safeguards; (3) replicate.education: A Workshop on Large Scale Education Replication; and (4) Scientific Findings from the ASSISTments Longitudinal Data.

This publication documents the presentations, papers, and discussions of two workshops. On theme 4, "Adult Learning, Gender Equality and Equity and the Empowerment of Women," of the Fifth International Conference on Adult Education: "Women's Education: The Contending Discourses and Possibilities for Change" and "Raising Gender Issues in Different Educational Settings." An introduction is followed by "By Way of Introduction to Workshop 1" (Nelly Stromquist) that discusses what gender means. "Two Different Voices on Education for Women's Empowerment" (Sara Hlupekile Longwe) reflects on the two contending discourses on women's education and empowerment. "Learning Literacy Strategies from Indian Women" (Malini Ghose) describes innovative strategies that evolved with women in literacy classes. "Incorporating Women's Experiences of Violence in Literacy Work" (Jennifer Horsman) expounds on the importance of addressing the issue of violence against women. "Women's Education in the Caribbean: Issues and Possibilities" (Anne Marie Smith) maintains that access to education equals access to the labor market by showing a picture of the Caribbean situation. "Discussion of Workshop 1" explores numerous topics raised by the papers. Workshop 2 is composed of six papers. Two papers, "Some Reflections on the UNESCO PROAP [Principal Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific] and ASPBAE [Asia South Pacific Bureau of Adult Education] Research on Girls' and Women's Education" and "Bridging the Gap between the Intention and Action: An Overview of Girls' and Women's Access to Basic Education in South Asia" (Vimla Ramachandran) share results of a four-country research project that indicates many excellent policy documents have been developed but not implemented. "Engendering African Education: Some Reflections" (Essi Sutherland-Addy) highlights the Forum of African Women Educationalists and gives the author's thoughts on African education. "Engendering African Education: A Concept Paper" (Sheila Parvyn Wamahiu) underscores the importance of including gender in the development of education. "Addressing Emotional Subordination in Our Education Work" (Lean Chan Heng) points out the importance of empowering women workers. "Enabling Women's Leadership in Chile" (Alejandra Valdez) shares experiences in conducting women's leadership training, raising the importance of addressing identity and individuation issues. "Discussion of Workshop 2" concludes the publication. (YLB)

Fourteen papers are provided from a symposium to provide general input into the 1990 Unesco International Literacy Year by reviewing and documenting existing knowledge and current issues in the field of women and literacy with special emphasis on developing countries. Specific topics are as follows: the definition of literacy; review of methods; acquisition and retention of literacy among women; impact of literacy on individuals, family, and society; post-literacy follow-up strategies and methods; and future perspectives and scenarios. These topics are dealt with in the time perspectives of the past, present, and future. The three regions of Africa, Asia, and Europe are covered. The opening address is "International Literacy Year: What Is Its Significance for Women?" (Chlebowska). An introduction (Lofstedt) summarizes the papers both by author and by topic. The 12 chapters contain the following papers: "Literacy: Towards a Theoretical Framework" (Lofstedt); "Literacy: A Tool for the Empowerment of Women? Women's Participation in Literacy Programs of the Third World" (Lind); "Women's Literacy for Development" (Caillods); "Women and the Tradition of Reading around 1700: Examples from Sweden and Germany" (Johannson); "Literacy as a Catalyst for Development with Special Reference to Women in Zimbabwe" (Mupawaenda); "Post Literacy: An Equalizing Tool. The Case of Tanzania" (Sjostrom); "Women in Literacy Programs and Underdevelopment: The Case of Tanzania" (Kweka); "The National Literacy Programme and Gender Issues: The Case of Botswana" (Gaborone); "Women and Literacy: The Sri Lanka Experience" (Jayaweera); "Education for Women's Equality: A Pipe Dream? A Case from India" (Dighe); "The Future of Nonformal Education for Women in India" (Ekstrand); and "Challenges to the Attainment of Women's Literacy" (Stromquist). A participant list is appended. (YLB)