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The role and potential impact of digital screen technology in the lives of children is heavily debated. Current evidence is limited by the weakness of measures typically used to characterise screen use, predominantly proxy- or self-reports with known inaccuracy and bias. However, robust and detailed evidence is needed to provide practical trustworthy guidance to families and professionals working with families. The purpose of this paper is to support researchers to select measurement method(s) that will provide robust and detailed evidence. The paper outlines the challenges in measuring contemporary screen use by children, using a child-technology interaction model to organise considerations. A range of different methods used to measure digital screen technology use in children and adolescents (i.e., questionnaires, diaries, electronically prompted sampling, direct observation, fixed room cameras, wearable/portable cameras, audio recorders, screen-device onboard logging, remote digital trace logging and proximity logging) are described along with examples of their use and constructs typically measured as well as a summary of the advantages and disadvantages of each method. A checklist and worked examples are provided to support researchers determining the best methods or combination of methods for a research project.

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) bring together a global crowd of thousands of learners for several weeks or months. In theory, the openness and scale of MOOCs can promote iterative dialogue that facilitates group cognition and knowledge construction. Using data from two successive instances of a popular business strategy MOOC, we filter observed communication patterns to arrive at the "significant" interaction networks between learners and use complex network analysis to explore the vulnerability and information diffusion potential of the discussion forums. We find that different discussion topics and pedagogical practices promote varying levels of 1) "significant" peer-to-peer engagement, 2) participant inclusiveness in dialogue, and ultimately, 3) modularity, which impacts information diffusion to prevent a truly "global" exchange of knowledge and learning. These results indicate the structural limitations of large-scale crowd-based learning and highlight the different ways that learners in MOOCs leverage, and learn within, social contexts. We conclude by exploring how these insights may inspire new developments in online education.

This paper considers how educational interventions should be evaluated for their effectiveness. Five levels of effectiveness are clarified and illustrated: outcomes, behaviour, learning, reaction and participation. These levels are then discussed, within the context of research evidence for education within the medical profession. Methodological and practical research conclusions are then drawn. From an analysis of over 300 abstracts the evidence shows that only limited research on healthcare outcomes has been undertaken, and there is considerable ambiguity over what constitutes an effectiveness measure. The benefits of a consistent set of terms are then considered. Finally, five key messages are distilled from the discussion and summarized.

This study investigated the socio-economic status of the parents of Ontario swimmers and parental expenditures, in terms of time and money, in support of competitive swimming. Questionnaires were mailed to a sample of 400 families of Ontario competitive swimmers. Spearman rho analyses were used to determine the relationships of membership fee, total cost and total time spent by the parents to the ability and age of the swimmer and the number of hours of practice and swim meets. Parents of Ontario competitive swimmers are upper middle class and devote a great deal of their time (X = 433 hours) and money (X = $744.00) annually to competitive swimming. Total expenditures and time spend by the parents were greater for those children were young and also for those whose children demonstrated greater ability (i.e., closer to Ontario record). Spearman rho analyses suggested that membership fees are not determined on the basis of age, number of practice hours or number of swim meets.

Seventeen female volunteers (x age = 23.9 yr) participated in a 6 week investigation of the effect of high intensity interval training on anaerobic fitness. The subjects were randomly assigned to a treatment (exercise n = 9) or a control (no exercise n = 8) group. The training program consisted of 10 one minute work periods on the bicycle ergometer separated by one minute rest periods. This was done 3 days per week. The training intensity progressed from 110% of the experimental group's initial mean maximal oxygen intake (VO2 max) at week 1 to 15% of same group's initial mean VO2 max week 6. Improvements in the exercise group were significantly in VO2 max (+7.7%), peak post exercise blood lactate (-62.0%), maximum oxygen debt (+19.8%), and time of bicycle ride to exhaustion (+47.5%). The control group did not change significantly on any of the selected parameters. After 2 weeks of detraining oxygen debt decreased significantly to its pretraining value. The retention of increases in post exercise peak blood lactate and time of bicycle ride to exhaustion was 40% and 38% respectively. Twenty-four % of the increase in VO2 max induced by the training regime was retained.