Digital Commons Network^™

Trends In Special Education Case Law: Frequency And Outcomes Of Published Court Decisions 1998-2012, Zorka Karanxha, Perry A. Zirkel

Zorka Karanxha

Executive Overview • This article determines the frequency and outcomes of published court decisions under the IDEA for students from pre-K through grade 12, starting in January 1998 and ending in October 2012. • The frequency of these decisions trended upward during the 15-year period, particularly during the most recent five-year interval. • The conclusive outcomes favored districts on a 3:1 basis both overall and on relatively consistent longitudinal basis; however, the intermediate outcomes partially ameliorated this pronounced pro-district tendency. • The Second Circuit region (New York, Vermont, and Connecticut) had the highest volume of cases, and the Tenth Circuit …

Using Video In Contemporary Libraries, Claudia J. Dold

Claudia J. Dold

Video is an ideal tool for reaching many of today’s learners, especially when a process needs to be demonstrated and learned. Users can now access video to “see how it’s done”, offering information in visual and well as aural and textual formats. How-to videos have made inroads into everyday life: on airplanes they teach us how to prepare for take-off, in hardware stores, they demonstrate new attachments for electric tools, and DVDs now accompany products that explain the installation process.

Promoting Cultural Heritage Through Video, Claudia J. Dold

Claudia J. Dold

Cultural heritage is an ephemeral commodity: If it is not preserved, it will disappear. Capturing cultural heritage on video uses current technology that offers exciting opportunities for librarians. They may record, document, and preserve cultural heritage, including the local languages, in their archives.

The Hidden Curriculum: Candidate Diversity In Educational Leadership Preparation, Zorka Karanxha, Vonzell Agosto, Aarti Bellara

Zorka Karanxha

The authors describe a process of self-assessment attuned to equity and justice in the policies and practices that affect student diversity, namely, those associated with the selection of candidates. The disproportionate rate of rejection for applicants from underrepresented groups and the unsystematic process of applicant selection operated as hidden curriculum affecting the opportunities for the program to enhance meaningful relationships among diverse groups of students. The authors describe institutional and sociopolitical conditions, and individual actions reflecting a faculty’s will to policy. Faculty efforts supported and challenged systemic change to increase racial and ethnic diversity among aspiring educational administrators.

E-Book Platforms For Academic Librarians, Audrey Powers

Audrey Powers

No abstract provided.

Tablet Technology In Support Of Professional Productivity, Barbara Lewis, Drew Smith

Barbara Lewis

In 1987, Apple Computer, as it was then known, produced a five-minute video about potential human-computer interaction, set in a time approximately 25 years in the future (coincidentally, about the time in which these words are being written). The video depicted a university professor interacting with a touch-activated tablet-like device and a voice-activated artificial intelligence (AI) agent, communicating with students and colleagues, reviewing his daily agenda, and preparing a presentation for later delivery. It appears that the hypothetical “Knowledge Navigator” tablet device was imagined as a great aid to professional productivity.

In 2012, our reality involves the existence of touch-activated …

The Fox And The Hedgehog: Contrasting Approaches To Anticipating The Environment, Randy Borum

Randy Borum

This article uses the ancient metaphor of the fox and the hedgehog to discuss different ways of thinking about the global security environment. He suggests that that in a complex, interconnected and rapidly changing world, more agile, adaptive, intellectually diverse fox-like approaches will be needed to anticipate and adapt to what lies ahead.

Psychological Vulnerabilities And Propensities For Involvement In Violent Extremism, Randy Borum

Randy Borum

Research on the psychology of terrorism has argued against the idea that most terrorist behavior is caused by mental illness or by a terrorist personality. This article suggests an alternative line of inquiry – an individual psychology of terrorism that explores how otherwise normal mental states and processes, built on characteristic attitudes, dispositions, inclinations, and intentions, might affect a person’s propensity for involvement with violent extremist groups and actions. It uses the concepts of “mindset” – a relatively enduring set of attitudes, dispositions, and inclinations – and worldview as the basis of a psychological “climate,” within which various vulnerabilities and …

Cyber Intelligence Operations: More Than Just 1s & 0s, Randy Borum, John Felker, Sean Kern

Randy Borum

Today’s Coast Guard relies heavily on digital information and communication technologies. In fact, every aspect of Coast Guard operations and support relies upon network resources for function, sorting, analysis, storage, and communication. Cyber threats are often regarded as technical challenges. It is easy to forget that there are people behind the keyboards. Individual actors and groups have intentions, motivations, objectives, knowledge, and capabilities.

Scripted Curriculum: What Movies Teach About Black, Dis/Abled Males, Vonzell Agosto

Vonzell Agosto

This article examines the complexity of portrayals of Black (dis/abled) males that are scripted through dis/ability tropes and master-narratives of race and gender. Trends in these portrayals are juxtaposed with literature on how Black, (dis/abled) male students are treated in schools and society.

The Hidden Curriculum: Candidate Diversity In Educational Leadership Preparation., Zorka Karanxha, Vonzell Agosto, Aarti A. Bellara

Vonzell Agosto

The authors describe a process of self-assessment attuned to equity and justice in the policies and practices that affect student diversity, namely, those associated with the selection of candidates. The disproportionate rate of rejection for applicants from underrepresented groups and the unsystematic process of applicant selection operated as hidden curriculum affecting the opportunities for the program to enhance meaningful relationships among diverse groups of students. The authors describe institutional and sociopolitical conditions, and individual actions reflecting a faculty’s will to policy. Faculty efforts supported and challenged systemic change to increase racial and ethnic diversity among aspiring educational administrators.

Critical (Race) Media Literacy In The Curriculum Of Faculty Development: The Retreat To Teachable Moments, Vonzell Agosto, Zorka Karanxha, Deirdre Cobb-Roberts

Vonzell Agosto

This chapter illustrates a case study of a diversity committee and its co-chairs’ attempt to infuse critical theories of race and media literacy into the curriculum of professional development for faculty and graduate students. An aim of the co-chairs was to provide faculty and graduate assistants opportunities to engage in dialogue around critical incidents involving Blackface in connection to racial oppression in the development of critical media literacy as a theoretical and pedagogical tool.

Critical Information Literacy: A Model For Transdisciplinary Research In Behavioral Sciences, Claudia J. Dold

Claudia J. Dold

Librarians are instrumental in advancing the education of students and orientating tomorrow’s professions toward the world in which they will practice: rich in information, diverse in perspective, and latent with the opportunities for transdisciplinary research. Critical information literacy offers a model for orienting theory and practice to create an integrated learning experience for students in the behavioral health sciences. This paper examines how different disciplines may be included in a shared problem, using psychopathy as an example. The role of the librarian is discussed in terms of critical information literacy, as a means to conducting transdisciplinary research.

Using Video To Promote Your Library, Claudia J. Dold

Claudia J. Dold

This presentation was followed by a two-day workshop in which library staff got to know Camtasia software. Within four hours, each of the fourteen students had created a unique video, using stock components from a common file, and personalizing their videos with an introduction page, highlights, zoom features, background sound, color choices, and other features of Camtasia 8.0.