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Despite the visibility of equity, diversity, inclusion, and Indigenization (EDI&I) discourses within large institutions, such as post-secondary institutions, research has chronicled only modest advancements on these stated values. Blocks to advancements in EDI&I stem, in part, from the structural nature of racist and sexist domination, and especially its embeddedness in both formal and informal norms of institutions. Based on a close examination of two EDI&I initiatives in university contexts, and direct experiences of "pushback" against these initiatives, this article conceptualizes institutional gaslighting, whereby universities paradoxically both embrace EDI&I discourse, on the one hand, while simultaneously deploying strategies that prevent dismantling systemic inequalities, on the other. A conceptualization of this dynamic is designed to help others identify and address forms of resistance, especially in settings of high stated value, and ultimately advance these values within large institutions.

First-year university students (n = 185) completed an online questionnaire that allowed comparison of those who reported studying on-campus with those who reported studying fully-online. Independent sample t-tests compared the means of students in the two study modes on demographics, frequency of use of digital technology and metacognitive learning characteristics. Compared to students who studied on-campus, students who studied fully-online were older, more likely to be native English speakers and had lower expectations of academic achievement. Compared to students who studied fully-online, students who studied on-campus were more likely to use a computer to chat or tweet, had higher levels of extrinsic achievement motivation and expressed greater need for peer and teacher support for learning. Some differences between on-campus and fully-online students appear to be eroding; other differences persist. Implications for instructional practice are presented.

Twelve special education teachers and teacher assistants who have instructional experience using iPads with children with special needs completed a survey that queried their practices and perceptions. In general, teachers and assistants were extremely positive about the value of iPads for children with special needs, particularly for children with autism, attention deficits and limitations of fine motor control. Special education teachers and teacher assistants reported most frequently using iPads to promote student language and literacy skills, although mathematics learning activities were also commonly reported. Enhanced student motivation was the most frequently reported benefit of using tablet computers in school followed by instructional planning advantages. Tablet computers appear to have the potential to be an essential aspect of individual program plans. Teaching tasks might reasonably include downloading and organizing specific applications on specific children's tablets and professional development might increasingly focus of evaluation of tablet applications.

Ecological systems theory assumes that child development is the consequence of ongoing reciprocal and spiraling interactions between the child and his/her microsystem (immediate home, school, and community environments). The increasing presence of digital technologies in children's immediate environments suggests the need for the proposed theoretical "techno-microsystem". The ecological techno-microsystem situates the developing child in the context of Internet use in home, school, and community environments. Preliminary validation of the ecological techno-microsystem requires description of children's uses of the Internet across three environments and comprehensive measures of child development. Ninety-one children (37 males and 54 females; mean age 10.7 years) completed rating scales of their Internet use. Additionally, parents and teachers completed rating scales of child social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development. Significant correlations between specific uses of the Internet in specific contexts and specific measures of child development support the theoretical utility of the ecological techno-microsystem. The developmental consequences of Internet use varied as a function of elements of the microsystem (e.g., home and school characteristics) and elements of the technology (e.g., instant messaging versus email). (Contains 2 figures and 5 tables.)

Ideological groups (both non-violent and violent) make extensive use of the Internet for recruiting and other purposes, yet little is known about the effectiveness of the influence of websites of differing ideologies on attitudes and behavior. Furthermore, although credibility and interactivity have been extensively studied in online settings, they have received scant attention with regards to ideological groups. Using a within-subjects design, this study explored how individuals' attitudes, emotional reactions, behaviors and behavioral intentions are affected by two separate websites, with one promoting a liberal ideology and one promoting a conservative ideology. Results indicated that individuals preferred the liberal ideology, that violent websites led to higher negative affect and lowered perceptions of credibility than the non-violent websites, and that violence decreased the likelihood of taking action. Additionally, high interactivity increased the salience of the credibility manipulations with regards to their impact on the likelihood of taking action.

Instructionism refers to educational practices that are teacher-focused, skill-based, product-oriented, non-interactive, and highly prescribed. Constructivism refers to educational practices that are student-focused, meaning-based, process-oriented, interactive, and responsive to student interest. There is disagreement regarding which curricular orientation best serves the educational needs of children. Evaluative outcome research is contradictory and the superiority of either instructional orientation has not been clearly established. A combination of instructional methods may ultimately prove most beneficial. For example, intensely teacher-mediated lessons could be sprinkled throughout the school day, thereby minimizing teacher and student mechanization while maximizing student achievement gains. Instructionist-constructivism would promote systematic instruction within a context of individual meaning and personal interest. For example, skills such as spelling and grammar, rather than taught in isolation, could be embedded in meaningful literacy activities. Extreme and exclusionary instructional methods may be the ultimate threat to effective education.

Research findings suggest both positive and negative developmental consequences of Internet use during childhood (e.g., playing video games have been associated with enhanced visual skills as well as increased aggression). Several studies have concluded that environmental factors mediate the developmental impact of childhood online behaviour. From an ecological perspective, we propose the techno­-subsystem, a dimension of the microsystem (i.e., immediate environments). The techno-subsystem includes child interaction with both living (e.g., peers) and nonliving (e.g., hardware) elements of communication, information, and recreation technologies in direct environments. By emphasizing the role of technology in child development, the ecological techno-­subsystem encourages holistic exploration of the developmental consequences of Internet use (and future technological advances) during childhood.

Four hundred five college students completed a questionnaire that assessed patterns of Internet use. Results describe college students, with rare exception, as Internet users. The vast majority of college students frequently communicate online and access websites. While an Internet game experience is typical, relatively few college students are heavy online gamers. Overwhelmingly (i.e., 77.8%), college students conceptualized the Internet as a convenience, although 17.8% considered the Internet a source of amusement. Approximately 5% of college students reported negative perceptions of the Internet (frustrating or a waste of time). Principal component analysis revealed three patterns of online behaviour; integrated-Internet-use, games-only use, and dating-only use. Implications for online instructional practice are presented.

Online practice tests and quizzes are commonly available to higher education students. The extent of student use of such study tools and the relationship of use to achievement, however, have not been fully investigated. One hundred twelve college students were encouraged to use optional online quizzes in preparation for proctored examinations. In-class examinations included multiple choice items that assessed four cognitive domains: factual, application, comprehension, and conceptual. In general, few students made extensive use of the optional online quizzes. Analysis revealed that student use of online quizzes was associated with increased academic achievement, although it was not clear if quiz use caused achievement or achievement caused quiz use. Short-answer and true-­false online quiz items were differentially associated with measures of academic achievement, suggesting that cognitive processing differed across item format. Implications for further research are provided.

Constructivism refers to a collection of educational practices that are student-focused, meaning-based, process-oriented, interactive, and responsive to student personal interests and needs. In contrast, instructionism refers to a collection of educational practices that are teacher-focused, skill-based, product-oriented, non-interactive, and highly prescribed. In the context of reading instruction, constructivist theoretical assumptions are reflected in whole language learning; instructionist theoretical assumptions are manifest in remedial reading. Constructivist remediation is teacher-controlled and skill-directed instruction delivered in a context that is personally meaningful to students. Both constructivist and instructionist assumptions are acknowledged and combined to provide the foundation upon which specific skill deficits are identified and corrected in meaningful context. Constructivist remediation is conceptualized and presented in terms of seven critical elements that are integrated and interdependent. Core skills remediation in 1) phonological processing, 2) sight word vocabulary, and 3) reading comprehension, based upon 4) authentic individual student assessment, are taught in instructional contexts made meaningful by 5) whole pieces of literature, 6) integration of literacy and language development, and 7) enhanced student motivation through self-selected, functional learning activities.

Many normative political theorists have engaged in the systematic collection and/or analysis of empirical data to inform the development of their arguments over the past several decades. Yet, the approach they employ has typically not been treated as a distinctive mode of theorizing. It has been mostly overlooked in surveys of normative political theory methods and methodologies, as well as by those critics who assert that political theory is too abstracted from actual political contestation. Our aim is to unearth this grounded normative theory (GNT) approach – to identify its definitive practices and highlight its potential significance. We detail four overlapping commitments characteristic of GNT. These include commitments to expanding the comprehensiveness of input for normative arguments through original empirical research and/or analysis, recursivity in the development of normative claims, attentiveness to the systematic inclusion of a range of voices and ways of knowing, and accountability to those engaged by the theorist in empirical contexts. We discuss methodological distinctions within GNT, including between more- and less-solidaristic approaches. We discuss how GNT answers calls for theorists to engage more closely with empirical political dynamics and we consider responses to possible critiques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology often mediates, and thus influences, written language conventions such as punctuation and capitalization. Fifty university students sent two text messages, one with an alphanumeric multi-press keypad mobile phone (i.e., Nokia 1101) and another with a full QWERTY keypad smartphone (i.e., Apple iPhone 4). Compared to text messages sent from the alphanumeric mobile phone, text messages sent from smartphone contained significantly more words, commas and question marks and significantly less required capital letters. Results suggest that text message quality may be enhanced by emerging technology (i.e., full QWERTY keypad smartphones) but not necessarily by use of standard written English language conventions such as capitalizations. Implications for higher education student writing include validating students' literacy skills, fostering global communication skills and using communication technologies to facilitate learning.

First-year university students (n = 199) completed an online questionnaire that queried their purchase of paper books and eBooks for university study and personal interest. The questionnaire also required students to rate their learning characteristics including reading strategies, study self-regulation, learning control beliefs and achievement motivation. Self-reported student learning characteristic scores were associated with self-reported book purchases. For example, as student extrinsic motivation scores increased, number of paper books purchased for university study tended to increase. As student learning control belief scores increased, purchase of eBooks for university study tended to increase. Collectively, such results lend support to the conclusion that education students who embrace emerging technologies such as eBooks and who read for leisure perceive themselves as more able learners than students who do not embrace emerging technologies such as eBooks and who do not read for leisure.

Teacher feedback is critically related to student learning. This study sought to determine the relationships between distance education (DE) student level of self-regulated learning (SRL) and their preference for audio-recorded vs. written feedback from tutors. DE students (n = 102) enrolled in a first-year university course completed an online questionnaire that assessed eight dimensions of SRL as well as a personal evaluation of written vs. audio-recorded tutor feedback that was provided during the academic study period. In general, the participating DE students expressed preference for written over audio-recorded feedback. However, complex patterns of relationships emerged between dimensions of SRL and evaluation of written vs. audio-recorded feedback. For example, DE students who were most likely to listen to audio-recorded feedback appreciated peer interaction and personal challenges more than students who preferred written feedback. In DE learning environments, a variety of feedback formats may best meet the needs of all students, although exposure to various technologies may facilitate SRL.

Although research establishes that student characteristics exert considerable influence on learning outcomes, research concerned with e-learning satisfaction most typically focuses of factors associated with instructional design, curriculum and pedagogy. Fifty-eight first-year university e-students completed an online survey that queried their satisfaction with various e-learning experiences and their physical characteristics (i.e., activity level, perception of health, level of pain, sleep and fatigue, diet and nutrition and problematic use of alcohol) and psychological characteristics (i.e., self-efficacy, stress, obsessive-compulsive behaviours, self-esteem, loneliness, peer relations, social adjustment and social support). Stepwise regression analysis was conducted in order to determine which physical and psychological variables predicted student satisfaction with e-learning. Student social adjustment to university, perception of family support, problematic use of alcohol and obsessive-compulsive tendencies, in various combinations, explained as much as one-third of the variance in student e-learning satisfaction. As e-learning continues to evolve, student physical and psychological well-being may assume increased focus in virtual instructional contexts as students are supported in a variety of ways. E-students with, for example, problems with alcohol may be identified and directed to online sources of support. E-learning practice may have sufficiently matured to consider the many ways in which virtual connection can promote both learning and wellness or, preferably, that learning and well-being are not conceptualized as distinct phenomena.

In higher education, assessment integrity is pivotal to student learning and satisfaction, and, therefore, a particularly important target of continuous quality improvement. This paper reports on the preliminary development and application of a process of recording and analysing current assessment moderation practices, with the aim of identifying areas in need of improvement. Specifically, survey software was used to create a record keeping strategy in which unit coordinators documented the assessment moderation and integrity practices in each unit during each study period. Such an online survey approach to record keeping was amenable to data analysis with statistical software, which facilitated identification of trends and anomalies. Instructional staff responded well to the initiative. As is typically the case with monitoring of behaviour, improvements in assessment moderation practices were immediately apparent.

The uptake of small screen technology by adolescents is widespread, particularly in industrial nations. Whether the same is true for Australian Aboriginal youth is less clear as there is a dearth of research in this regard. Therefore, in this exploratory study the use of small screen technology by Indigenous students was examined. Twenty-four Indigenous adolescents (mean age 16.4 years) attending a boarding school in a remote region of Western Australia participated in individual and in-depth structured interviews that queried their use of: (1) television, (2) video games, (3) computers, (4) the internet, and (5) mobile phones. The results showed that mobile phones were the most frequently used and the most popular (i.e., they were nominated as first choice in a hypothetical scenario), followed by the internet, whereas television, video games and computers were used less often. It did appear that mobile phones were used by participating Aboriginal adolescents in ways similar to non-Indigenous adolescents (e.g., not only to make phone calls, but also to send text messages and access the internet). However, their mobile phone use did reflect differences based on their cultural values and identity, and also reflected their physical distance from their family (i.e., because of their enrolment at a boarding school). This study supports anecdotal evidence of a rapid uptake of mobile phones by Indigenous adolescents. It also suggests that as the small screen technology of choice, they have the potential to be utilised for educational opportunities.

In educational discourse on human learning (i.e. the result of experience) and development (i.e. the result of maturation), there are three fundamental theoretical frameworks, -- behaviourism, cognitivism and constructivism, each of which have been applied, with varying degrees of success, in online environments. An ecological framework of human learning and development in interactive learning environments is proposed. Such an inclusive paradigm organizes the fundamental theoretical assumptions of behaviourism (i.e. automated learning), cognitivism (i.e. recall, understanding, analysis, synthesis, evaluation, creativity, problem solving) and constructivism (i.e. private and shared meaning). Based on review of the literature, behaviourism is best conceptualized as a learning theory; constructivist theoretical assumptions are best applied to cognitive development including private online experience (cognitive constructivism) and shared online experience (social constructivism). Cognitivism is a particularly relevant theoretical orientation in understanding both human learning and development in interactive learning environments.