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In this article, Karen Billings discusses how working at a non-profit trade association has provided a unique perspective on how schools are using technology to support the teaching and learning process. Billings leads the Education Division at SIIA, the Washington, D.C.-based principal trade association for the software and digital content industries. She, along with the association's members, develop initiatives that support a comprehensive, life-long learning strategy--initiatives that help integrate technology into education to provide "anytime, anywhere" and personalized learning and help to meet high-tech workforce needs. Billings shares the lessons learned from a survey that was used to assess schools' progress in reaching the educational goals promoted in the "Vision K-20" initiative. The "Vision K-20" initiative promotes the best uses of technology to ensure that all U.S. students have access to a teaching and learning environment capable of preparing them to compete globally and lead the world in innovation. After spending most of her life supporting the use of technology in schools, Billings believes that technology will never be a replacement for teachers, but instead, will always be an effective enabler for good teaching.

The authors review past and current funding/support for U.S. K-12 educational technology companies. They review both who provided the funding for product development and the reasons why. They look back to the 1960s and 1970s, when federal government agencies helped produce computer-based materials, then how the schools' access to technology changed the market.

Background: Parents with children with developmental disabilities (DD) encounter a variety of stressors associated with rearing their children and must develop effective coping mechanisms in order to adapt successfully to these challenges. Previous research has failed to establish the role of parental individual differences in the reported use of different coping strategies. The current study explores parental personality and whether children with DD were adopted or born into the families and their influence on the coping strategies used by mothers and fathers. Methods: A total of 97 mother-father dyads rearing at least one child with DD were participants. They narrated stressful situations related to their child and completed the Ways of Coping Questionnaire twice. Data were also collected with regard to personality, depression and subjective well-being (SWB). Results: Both adoptive and birth mothers and fathers used more problem-focused than emotion-focused strategies. Personality factors, Neuroticism especially, were predictive of coping strategy use. Higher levels of Positive Reappraisal were associated with higher levels of SWB, whereas higher levels of Escape-Avoidance were associated with lower levels of SWB, but only for mothers. Results were consistent with a dispositional model of strategy use in that frequency of use was associated with personality characteristics, was consistent over time, and for different children in the same families. Future research should focus on the persistence of the associations between strategy use and well-being and whether they hold true at different stages of the lifespan when coping contexts may change quite dramatically.

Rechargeable lithium metal anodes are contenders to supplant carbon anodes, but because of their thermodynamic instability the kinetic stability afforded by solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer formed in situ is crucial. Unlike graphite, a stable SEI that facilitates charge transfer is rarely formed on Li in any electrolyte, and requires an “engineered” interface. The interfacial stability of Li can be improved in both liquid and solid electrolytes by thin coatings of AlF3 using atomic layer deposition. Its method of deposition and its efficacy to protect Li in acetonitrile, and improve specific capacity and cycle life of lithium-sulfur cells are described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploration missions to the moons of the outer planets (such as Europa) pose unique challenges regarding the design of the spacecraft power source. Current aerospace qualified primary battery technologies cannot adequately meet the mass and volume requirements of proposed missions. Although they have not been used in prior deep space landed missions, lithium carbon-fluoride (Li/CFx) technologies were identified as a potentially viable option, both with and without blends of manganese dioxide (MnO2). To meet the performance requirements over the intended operating conditions of future NASA missions requires further development of this technology, in particular in the delivery of a high specific energy at moderate to low temperatures, and low discharge rates. A cell development effort was therefore pursued with an industrial battery cell manufacturer. Low (50 mA) and medium (250 mA) discharge rates were used to assess the performance of D-size cells under mission relevant conditions, between 0°C and -40°C. Select AA-size and C-size cells were also evaluated using similar rates scaled to the lower cell capacities. Developmental Li/CFx-MnO2 D-size cells designed for higher specific energy over these conditions were fabricated and tested, targeting operation between 0 and -40°C and a 50 mA constant discharge current, as the baseline operating condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The National Wind Erosion Research Network was established in 2014 as a collaborative effort led by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service and Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the United States Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management, to address the need for a long-term research program to meet critical challenges in wind erosion research and management in the United States. The Network has three aims: (1) provide data to support understanding of basic aeolian processes across land use types, land cover types, and management practices, (2) support development and application of models to assess wind erosion and dust emission and their impacts on human and environmental systems, and (3) encourage collaboration among the aeolian research community and resource managers for the transfer of wind erosion technologies. The Network currently consists of thirteen intensively instrumented sites providing measurements of aeolian sediment transport rates, meteorological conditions, and soil and vegetation properties that influence wind erosion. Network sites are located across rangelands, croplands, and deserts of the western US. In support of Network activities, http://winderosionnetwork.org was developed as a portal for information about the Network, providing site descriptions, measurement protocols, and data visualization tools to facilitate collaboration with scientists and managers interested in the Network and accessing Network products. The Network provides a mechanism for engaging national and international partners in a wind erosion research program that addresses the need for improved understanding and prediction of aeolian processes across complex and diverse land use types and management practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]