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This report on technology in learning at the University of Alberta (Canada) presents a vision for the year 2005 and outlines the measures and leadership needed to achieve these goals. In the introductory chapter the report examines the university's current telecommunications infrastructure, looks at the need to integrate technology and teaching, and examines the effectiveness of computer-mediated learning. Next the report tries to predict the impact of new technologies. Another chapter examines the challenges technology poses for postsecondary education and raises issues of access to learning, program quality, cost effectiveness and affordability, competition for students, better client services, and other organizational issues. The final chapter calls for the use of technology to provide alternative methods of delivery; the need for academic vision and strategic planning; more systematic communication and coordination of efforts; and improved campus computing services. It also looks at several issues raised by respondents, such as faculty rewards and incentives, off-campus computing resources, courseware development, alumni allegiance, and social and legal issues. The report recommends creation of an Instructional Innovation Hub on campus and lists the many new opportunities for leadership that will exist. Appendixes list respondents, provide an overview of campus computing and networks, and a list of committees relating to technology and instruction. (Contains approximately 60 references.) (CH)

This document summarizes efforts made during fiscal year (FY) 1994 to implement Ohio's action plan for accelerating the modernization of vocational education, Ohio's Future at Work. First, background information is provided about the plan's formulation in 1990. Listed next are 10 legislative actions that have been identified as necessary to accomplish the action plan's imperatives, goals, and objectives. The remainder of the document summarizes the actions taken during FY94 to meet the specific goals and objectives of each of the following 11 imperatives included in Ohio's Future at Work: broaden the scope of the vocational education experience for each student; improve access to enhanced educational opportunities; emphasize rigorous outcomes for vocational students and programs; focus on lifelong individual needs; provide career-focused education for all students; modify and streamline vocational education standards, guidelines, and policies; assure adequate resources and their efficient utilization; accelerate the professional development of vocational educators; extend and strengthen vocational education's strategic alliances; enhance the public's understanding of, and support for, vocational education; and maintain constant emphasis on improving and renewing the vocational education system. Contains six references. (MN)

This paper discusses the socialization within the family and school in Jamaica and other Caribbean nations. It examines the characteristics of Caribbean families, citing the effects of high levels of poverty and teenage pregnancy on family life. Child rearing practices, especially among the lower-class, emphasize discipline, corporal punishment, and an authoritarian parent-child relationship. Another factor affecting childhood socialization is the practice of having children reside with relatives or other families if the mother is unable or willing to care for the child due to occupational or other reasons. Children learn gender roles through the observation of the traditional male-female roles assumed in Caribbean families. The effects of the day care, preschool, and elementary school environments on childhood socialization are also examined, as well as the effects of economic development and modernization. The paper concludes that the socialization of children in the Caribbean has become a very complex process, with children being exposed to conflicting influences. (Contains 40 references.) (MDM)

This chapter addresses the role of action research in projects that link literacy education and cultural action in peripheral rural areas. These programs aim to improve the living conditions of a population without destroying its cultural heritage or way of life. Action research begins with three broad questions: In what terms do local people pose questions of development, change, preservation, and revitalization of their cultural heritage? By what means other than individuals' linguistic competence or school performance can literacy facts and issues be interpreted? Finally, what plans have local individuals, groups, and communities formulated to resist the destructuring of their community? Variables common to literacy education and the cultural context include the infrastructure of communication, the written culture, and social organization and cultural policies (including education). Literacy education should reflect diversity, complexity, and even conflicting cultural backgrounds and should demonstrate how differing cultures can connect, instead of enforcing linguistic unity as a means of access to "normality." Action research in literacy education centers on the quest for knowledge, action focused on social change, and education focused on the development of new relationships. The process of cultural action research is rooted in the community and is only possible with the participation of persons who have practical knowledge of the local culture. The outcome of this action research is a common cultural capital, a process of collective cultural development measured not by individuals' instrumental abilities but by improvement in local living conditions and cultural preservation. (LP)

Noting that play varies as a function of culture, gender, setting, and parent or teacher valuing, a study examined the play of children in Singapore. Subjects were 56 middle- and working-class preschoolers between the ages of 46 and 72 months who were videotaped at play in their homes and in the child care centers that they attended and rated on the Parten/Piaget and Smilansky play scales. The children's mothers completed a 20-item questionnaire on their attitude towards play and were assessed as to socioeconomic status by the Hollingshead 4-factor index. It was found that parallel play and functional play occurred more at home, whereas associative and cooperative play occurred more in the child care centers. Girls' play scores were higher than boys on the Smilansky but not the Parten/Piaget play scales. The lack of socioeconomic status differences and the relative mildness of sex differences reflects a strong movement toward modernity in Singapore families. (MDM)

This paper describes a follow-up study conducted in 1991 to examine how the informal education and representational strategies of the Zinacantecos have been affected by modernization since the original study of their culture was conducted in 1969-70. The follow-up study tracked two generations of mothers and children as the Zinacantecos society moved from a subsistence to an entrepreneurial, cash economy. The paper compares photographic slides of typical daily activities as they were conducted in 1969-70 and in 1991. It focuses on the weaving techniques and pattern designs of the Zinacantecos women, and how these techniques and designs were transmitted from one generation to the next. An analysis of slides and motion pictures taken in 1969-70 and in 1991 showed that while in the earlier period most of the weaving instruction was very structured and systematic, instruction in the latter period was more discovery-oriented, with independent trial-and-error replacing mother-dominated repetitive learning. The study also found that in the earlier period only set patterns and designs were used, whereas constant pattern innovation and new motifs are predominant today. These results suggest that the Zinacantecos' weaving process is following the general evolution of Zinacantecos society toward modernization, innovation, and entrepreneurial attitudes. (MDM)

An international team reviewed the system of vocational education and training (VET) in Poland and analyzed possible alternatives for the future. Some of the main conclusions and recommendations were as follows: (1) the most crucial issue is to change the very "logic" according to which the Polish VET system has been functioning; (2) reforms cannot be implemented overnight; (3) changes in vocational education are intricately interrelated with changes in the employment system; (4) modernization requires experimentation and is a learning process itself; (5) such a learning process will not occur spontaneously and needs to be facilitated by proper interventions and guidance; (6) the biggest challenge for the VET system is to develop among youth and adults an awareness about their new societal and occupational roles and to provide them with the skills to become responsible for their own lives; (7) the modernization of the Polish VET system is a process and not the result of a single policy act; (8) VET can play a very active role in social and economic development by making people capable of taking employment initiatives and by creating demand for qualifications that previously were not available; (9) no ideal system can be designed at this point, but a "bottom-up" structure should be considered; (10) centralized experiments in reform should be tried; (11) regional training centers should be established; (12) a mixture of financial sources for financing the VET system should be sought; (13) the role of teachers should be considered; and (14) regional networks and a national network should be developed. (Appendixes include the following: a summary of the outcome of the discussions with Polish Ministries and foreign donor representatives and proposals for further action; biographies of the report authors; 86 references; and a review of the Polish VET system.) (KC)

This document examines the contribution of education to cultural development and the relationship between the contemporary cultural scene and educational processes. The first of five sections discusses the existing tensions between the role of the school culture and contemporary culture. The second section describes the demands of tradition and modernity of cultures. The third section presents culture as an element in democratization. The fourth section considers the question of linguistics by educational authorities. The final section suggests the ambiguous roles of multicultural societies and intercultural education. A 22-item bibliography is included. (CK)

The objective of the African Capacity Building Initiative is to build and strengthen local capabilities for policy analysis and development management in Sub-Saharan Africa. This report examines the nature and magnitude of the problem, which basically consists of a shortage of development management skills combined with weakness in the area of policy formation in Sub-Saharan Africa. The report describes the African Capacity Building Initiative and presents an action program designed to meet its goals. The management and operational structure of this program, whose ultimate objective is substantially improved indigenous analysis and management of Africa's economic and development processes, is outlined. (DB)

This report attempts to show how government and markets can interact most effectively to promote rapid economic development and benefit all people. The world economy is reviewed and an assessment is made of the impact of external factors on development. Alternative scenarios, optimistic and pessimistic, for the 1990s are considered. Four strategies for successful development are identified as crucial: (1) Investment in people is both a worthwhile goal in itself and an essential means of development. (2) Competition is essential to encourage innovation, entrepreneurship, and the growth of enterprises. (3) Openness to trade and integration into the global economy are necessary to spur growth, foster technology, and encourage capital flow. (4) Building a macroeconomic foundation that is both flexible and sustainable is necessary to support long-term economic growth. An overall argument is made that, in order for countries to develop, governments must complement markets. They should create institutions that enable the private sector to flourish in producing and marketing goods and services. Governments also should step in efficiently when markets prove inadequate or fail altogether. The report elaborates on these strategies in a detailed discussion of 15 specific actions that have worked in the past and can be adapted to solve the problems of the 1990s. It is concluded that, despite the challenges that remain, the opportunities for development are greater today than at any time in history. The World Development Indicators annex is appended, as are 33 statistical tables that provide comprehensive and up-to-date data on social and economic development for 124 countries. (Author/DB)

Case studies of two, successful, rural, self-development programs in India are presented in this document, which is designed to supplement the study of India in the social studies curriculum. After a brief introduction to India's village system, the two projects are discussed. The first case study presents a water collection system in Bagrunda village near Udaipur in the state of Rajasthan. The second case discusses the introduction of sericulture to a farming community near Bangalore, Karnataka. Both cases offer examples of groups of people working together and with others to improve their lives. These examples are offered as a counterpoint to the impression many textbooks leave of Indian villages as places in which persons unbendingly follow tradition and are not open to change. The commentary for a slide presentation, a bibliography, a list of activities, and report topics are also included. (DB)

When considering what type of communication is required for development, the conventional answer of diffusion of technological innovation for modernization and growth is inadequate. Daniel Lerner and Everett Rogers describe traditional people as the greatest obstacle to development. Paulo Freire perceives communication as an instrument for changing society versus persuasion and extension for the maintenance of the status quo and social control. Andreas Fuglesang attacks the myth of people's ignorance and advocates cross-cultural communication. Third system communication organizes society with a reversal of authority. Development for the rural poor should, while not neglecting the sound economic base, be first and foremost development as if people mattered. Liberation from being passive recipients and toward an active citizenry is the essence of the new content of social development. By deduction, rural social development (RSD) will equally contain both these liberating and positively empowering aspects. Empowerment comes through participation. RSD communication will have to be participatory. Examples of participatory communication are the Kenyan DEP Program, indigenous nongovernmental organizations in West Africa, Organization of Rural Associations for Progress in Zimbabwe, and the Community Educational and Cultural Center in Kenya. (Contains 174 references and a subject index.) (YLB)

Addresses the concepts of modernization and risk society in relation to trade unions. Discusses the role of unions in education and training. Argues the need for a coherent union strategy regarding education and places the discussion within the context of globalization. (Contains 35 references.) (SK)