Digital Commons Network^™

How Can Primary Teachers Use Technology, Primarily Ipads, To Differentiate Language Arts Instruction And Increase Comprehension, Ellen Isaacs

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

This project answers the question: how can primary teachers use technology, primarily iPads, to differentiate language arts instruction and increase comprehension? This paper reviews technology resources that can be used in elementary classrooms, focusing on kindergarten, first, and second grades. These resources are analyzed using the SAMR model (Puentedura, 2014), The App Map (Israelson, 2015), and the dimensions of participatory literacy (Roswell & Wohlwend, 2016). A website was created to culminate the findings based off of research, student artifacts, and visuals from the digital resources

How Integrating Digital Formative Assessment Impacts The Learning Of Sixth-Grade Science Students, Sara E. Potter

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed in the project was, How integrating digital formative assessment impacts the learning of sixth-grade science students? The motivating factor for this capstone was the increased use of electronic devices in the classroom. In this study, qualitative and quantitative data was collected using student surveys and summative assessment results of a science unit after using either traditional or traditional and digital formative assessments. In one year, exclusively traditional formative assessment was implemented, and in the other, both traditional and digital formative assessments were used. It was found that whether traditional formative assessment or a combination of traditional …

Effective And Engaging Online Learning A Research Based Blended Curriculum In The Middle School Language Arts Classroom, Emily Eggers

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

As technology becomes more prominent in today’s society, teachers need to be prepared to integrate technology into their classrooms. This capstone was made to answer the question “What is the best method to facilitate student learning in the online environment?” It documents one teacher’s creation of an all encompassing unit of study that incorporates many online learning strategies. Based on the Understanding by Design method of curriculum development, the unit includes learning outcomes, forms of assessment, and daily activities to help deepen students’ understanding of the material with the integrated use of technology. The methods of technological instruction are selected …

Potential Of One-To-One Technology Uses And Pedagogical Practices: Student Agency And Participation In An Economically Disadvantaged Eighth Grade, Maria Dulce Silva Andrade Johnson

LMU Theses and Dissertations

The accelerated growth of 1:1 educational computing initiatives has challenged digital equity with a three-tiered, socioeconomic digital divide: (a) access, (b) higher order uses, and (c) user empowerment and personalization. As the access gap has been closing, the exponential increase of 1:1 devices threatens to widen the second and third digital divides. Using critical theory, specifically, critical theory of technology and critical pedagogy, and a qualitative case study design, this research explored the experiences of a middle school categorized under California criteria as “socioeconomically disadvantaged.” This study contributes to critical theory on technology within an educational setting, as well as …

Current Patterns Of Ownership And Usage Of Mobile Technology In Older Adults, Karen E. Cottle

Theses and Dissertations

The older generation is growing at a rate surpassed only by the speed at which mobile technology is advancing. Technology has become so ubiquitous in daily life, that most older people have done their best to adopt it. The purpose of this study was to explore the older adult (>50 yrs.) learner's everyday approach to and regard for mobile technology. Paper surveys were distributed by hand to four geographically diverse audiences. Each audience was composed of a minimum of 20 adult learners of each gender across three age groups, accounting for 160 individual older adults in all. Returned survey …

Implications Of Synchronous Ivr Radio On Syrian Refugee Health And Community Dynamics, R. Talhouk, T. Bartindale, K. Montague, S. Mesmar, C. Akik, A. Ghassani, M. Najem, Hala Ghattas Ph.D., P. Olivier, M. Balaam

Faculty Publications

With 1,033,513 Syrian refugees adding a strain on the Lebanese healthcare system, innovation is key to improving access to healthcare. Our previous work identified the potential for technology to improve access to antenatal care services and increase refugee agency. Using (1) paper mock ups and a mobile based prototype, (2) process mapping, (3) focus groups and interviews and (4) key informant meetings, we explored the concept of refugee led community radio shows to deliver peerled healthcare.1We observed the influence of community radio shows on Syrian refugee health education, community dynamics and community agency in relationships between healthcare providers and refugees. …

Exploring The Future Of The Teaching Materials Center At Illinois State University: From E-Textbooks To Makerspaces, Julie Derden, Sally Gibson, Anne Shelley

Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library

In this project, investigators collected data on K-12 e-textbook management and related services to pre-service teachers in academic libraries. We administered a pre-site-visit survey to seven colleges and universities that we identified as having strong teacher education programs supported by curriculum centers. We then conducted site visits to each location to collect data. Additionally, we distributed a survey via our institutional vendor representatives to three, large K-12 textbook publishers. With this poster, we share our research methodology and findings with other librarians, K-12 e-textbook publishers, and other interested parties. The results of this research have provided support for planning the …

Cell Phone Use And Its Effects On Undergraduate Academic Performance, Juliet M. Womack, Corinne L. Mcnamara

The Kennesaw Journal of Undergraduate Research

In this literature review, we explore cell phone use and its impact on academic performance of students in college classrooms. We discuss the prevalence of and motivation for cell phone use and how it affects user and peer academic performance as measured by grades earned in class and overall grade point average. Moreover, we include in our discussion the impact of classroom technology use on student-teacher interactions. Potential solutions to guide students and faculty toward more appropriate use of technology in the classroom and development of classroom syllabus policy are provided. Additional implications of research findings as well as suggestions …

The Significance Of Dewey’S Democracy And Education For 21st-Century Education, Lance E. Mason

Education and Culture

This paper explores the significance of Dewey’s Democracy and Education for “21st-century education,” a term used by proponents of curricular standardization and digital ubiquity in classrooms. Though these domains have distinct advocacy groups, they often share similar assumptions about the primary purposes of schooling as career preparation. In Democracy and Education, Dewey argues for a broader purpose of education—that of cultivating a social spirit in students. Because of contemporary dispositional challenges in the broader society, Dewey’s perspective offers a timely and relevant way to reconceptualize the purposes of schooling in ways that can effectively address current social challenges.

Reimagining The Collective: Black Popular Music And Recording Studio Innovation, 1970-1990, Will Fulton

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines developments in the production practices of black popular music in the recording studio from 1970 to 1990. The year 1970 marked a transition in the recording practice of popular music that had a distinct impact on styles marketed as R&B, soul, and funk. Multitracking in the 1950s and 1960s had paved the way for a transformed production process, one initiated by Les Paul’s and Sidney Bechet’s overdubbing experiments in the 1940s. The collective sound of instrumentalists and vocalists heard on records no longer resulted from live-to-tape recordings of group performances, but was increasingly the product of constructed …

La Tecnología Ha Evolucionado (12th Grade), Josie Hammons

Understanding by Design: Complete Collection

This unit is designed so that students will be able to explain the purpose of varying types of technology in Spanish. Additionally, students will recognize that “technology” does not have to mean something electronic, but even the wheel, writing, and medicine are also forms of technology -- tools that humans use on a regular basis. Because they use technology in their everyday life, students will most certainly learn vocabulary relevant to their everyday lives. They will read articles about the power (literal and figurative) that comes with access to technology, as well as articles that express what it means to …

The S-Curve Of Technological Adoption: Mobile Communication Devices On Commuter Trains In The Chicago Region, 2010–2015, Joseph P. Schwieterman, Lauren A. Fischer

Journal of Public Transportation

Urban transit riders’ use of mobile communication devices has grown markedly in recent years. Studies evaluating the usage of these devices have generally focused on only one or two points in time, limiting their ability to describe long-range trends. To foster insights into this issue, this study evaluated data from 15,531 passenger observations collected on 156 commuter trains on the metropolitan commuter rail system of Chicago, Illinois, from 2010 through 2015. The data show that the rate of technological usage is following an S-shaped pattern among passengers. The share of passengers using mobile communication devices at observed points grew sharpest …

Information And Communication Technologies In Public Child Welfare: A Systematic Literature Review, Stephanie K. Schneider

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This systematic literature review synthesizes findings from empirical studies published between 1989 and 2016 to examine types, use, purpose and implementation of information and communication technology in public child welfare to determine if there are thematic reoccurrences in these arenas. Study results yielded information to the field of social work and public child welfare by determining themes in successful usage, purpose and implementation of information and communication technology in public child welfare to better serve those vulnerable populations. This systematic literature review contextualizes and identifies these themes across the literature. Studies included in this review were analyzed and categorized to …

Computer Vision Based Route Mapping, Ryan S. Kehlenbeck, Zachary Cody

Computer Science and Software Engineering

The problem our project solves is the integration of edge detection techniques with mapping libraries to display routes based on images. To do this, we used the OpenCV library within an Android application. This application lets a user import an image from their device, and uses edge detection to pull out a path from the image. The application can find the user's location and uses it alongside the path data from the image to create a route using the physical roads near the location. The shape of the route matches the edges from the given image and the user can …

Review: “Jeffrey Geiger And Karin Littau (Eds.): Cinematicity In Media History”, Andrew Behrendt

History and Political Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Let the appearance of jargon in this book’s title deter no one: Cinematicity in Media History is an inviting, interdisciplinary collection of essays on the question of what it has meant to interact with moving images in the modern era. The volume mounts a welcome opposition to the teleological pitfalls of what W. Russell Neuman has termed the “heroic” and “systemic” models of media history, whereby valiant geniuses produce revolutionary inventions and each new media format/device is destined to give way to the next and disappear dutifully into obsolescence (Neuman 2010: 6–11). The essays in Cinematicity strike a collective blow …

Creating A Virtuous Circle Of Student Engagement With The Tech Corner, Brian R. Shuck, Susan B. Wainscott, Jennifer Church-Duran, Darcy C. Del Bosque

Library Faculty Research

While many academic libraries have followed the public library lead in developing maker-spaces, not all libraries have the money or space to dedicate to such large-scale operations. This case study explores a different approach to engaging users with new technology and investigates how to support their creativity without a costly investment in space and staffing. It demonstrates not only how students can be provided a virtual space to explore technology equipment, but also how their opinions can be leveraged for growing the collection and creating training materials.

Digital Mindfulness: An Emerging Field Of Inquiry And Practice, Sherri Henderson

Mindfulness Studies Theses

This two-part paper explores digital mindfulness as an emerging field of inquiry and practice into the integration of technology and contemplative practices. The first part surveys the growing research on the effects of technology on health and well-being. Investigating Buddhist teachings leads to a more balanced and aware approach towards integrating mindfulness with the digital world. Digital mindfulness encourages meaningful engagement while online. It also encourages thoughtfulness, awareness and intention. Digital mindfulness also reshapes and encourages conversations in our homes, schools, and proposes digital responsibility and digital citizenship. The second part of the paper proposes a framework for a workshop …

A Case Study Of Classroom Blogging In Three Elementary Schools, Betty M. Ebrecht, Heng-Yu Ku

Journal of Educational Research and Innovation

The purpose of this study was to explore how three 3rd – 5th grade teachers used classroom blogging as an instructional activity to support students’ literacy and technology skills. A qualitative case study was used as the methodological approach and four data sources were analyzed. Results of the study suggested teacher-participants implemented classroom blogging as a way to enhance student literacy skills while introducing and practicing a number of essential technology skills. Teachers described classroom blogging as a collaborative activity that could be easily embedded into existing literacy instruction. In addition, student-participants were positive about how blogging directly supported acquisition …

To Scan Or Not To Scan, Nancy Richey, Amanda Drost, Allison Day

The Southeastern Librarian

Librarians and archivists have made great strides in making collections discoverable and accessible to a wide audience by creating electronic finding aids, digitizing materials and using social media, but modern researchers want more. Their research needs, practices and expectations are rapidly changing both in academia and in many other areas. Researchers are looking for quick, painless access to primary resource materials and the ability to use new communication technology mechanisms to gain this access. The authors of this study were interested in the policies and practices of academic special libraries in the United States and Canada. Did they permit scanning/capture …

How Libraries Are Meeting Researcher Needs In The Digital Humanities, Kelley F. Rowan

Digital Initiatives Symposium

This presentation will provide guidance for those considering the creation of a digital humanities (DH) lab, as well as for those with a current functional DH lab. The Digital Scholars Studio at Florida International University (FIU) was created in 2016 with the purpose of providing needed technology and collaborative space for researchers and students. We will explore the challenges experienced by restricted space and budget and discuss how we resolved these specific limitations before continuing with an in-depth look at programming and usage of DH software and tools. We will take a look at a few current projects our researchers …

Aug City: The Cyber-Spatial Impacts Of Augmented Reality On The Field Of Urban Planning, Colton Berck

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

In the summer of 2016 a technology revolution swept the world from an unsuspecting place, a mobile game called Pokémon: Go. Almost immediately upon release, this application reached white-hot growth with a user-base spanning the globe, sparking new methods of interacting with communities. Behind the app, a driving force of the popularity, is the technology known as augmented reality (AR). This innovative medium, which intersects the “real-world” with the “digital-world,” is set to impact many aspects of life. As planning professionals are closely involved with the development and growth of communities, this thesis serves as a tool to determine how …

The Expanding Scope Of Human Rights In A Technological World — Using The Interamerican Court Of Human Rights To Establish A Minimum Data Protection Standard Across Latin America, Josiah Wolfson

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

Privacy is a human right that many in the world do not enjoy. The failure of many countries to prioritize privacy through the passage and enforcement of comprehensive data protection laws has left their citizens vulnerable. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights should use its authority to set a minimum data protection standard for its Member States.

This Note discusses the historical development of data protection, the current data protection gap in Latin America, and proposes the role that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights should play in advancing a minimum data protection standard in the region.

Personalized Learning: Utilizing Canvas Technology For Ell Success, Rebekah A. Struble

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

This action research project was put in place in order to identify the possible benefits of utilizing a flipped classroom technology program called Canvas in the sixth grade mathematics class. This implementation was meant as a means to enhance the academic success of the ELL students through a more individualized instruction plan with the aid of a technology program. Video-audios, peer discussion boards, and independent student research in conjunction with teacher guidance, redirection, and classroom group activities were utilized throughout a statistics unit over a one-month period. To properly compare the benefits of the technology program implementation there was also …

Glhf: A Brief Overview Of Gaming Cafes, John Sun

ART 108: Introduction to Games Studies

My paper is on the history of internet and gaming cafes, focusing on how they are seen today, the problems they face and some potential solutions. Although my focus is on gaming cafes in America, because they are so popular overseas in Asian countries (such as South Korea, China, and Japan), they inevitably come up more often in my paper and presentation.

The Culture Of Conspiracy: Evolving Media Technology And Its Relationship To Conspiracy Theories, Jennifer Carol Gagliardi

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Conspiracy theorists often use media technology to create and distribute their ideas to a wider audience. In doing so, these theorists also use the same technology to manipulate the images they are using, thus changing the way the photographs or film stills were meant to be received originally. In changing these aspects of the object, the conspiracy theorist is creating an entirely new narrative based on their personal values. Throughout this paper I will refer to this idea as the “culture of conspiracy†and use it to discuss how technologies such as photoshop, DVD players, and manipulative rhetoric are used …

Integrating Technology Into Morning Meeting In Early Childhood, Micaela Borer

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

In early childhood education (ECE), there are many interpretations of the morning meeting. This meeting can encompass learning in several areas of early childhood namely mathematics, literacy, and social skill building. Many activities within morning meeting help with classroom management and can be beneficial to children with special needs as well including morning message, visual schedules, and calendar time. Some ECE professionals are beginning to note that technology can also be included in this crucial part of the school day. Incorporating technology not only will encourage young children to learn, but will prepare them for their future. Technology use is …

Factors In Fairness And Emotion In Online Case Resolution Systems, Youyang Hou, Cliff Lampe, Maximilian Bulinski, J. J. Prescott

Articles

Courts are increasingly adopting online information and communication technology, creating a need to consider the potential consequences of these tools for the justice system. Using survey responses from 209 litigants who had recently used an online case resolution system, we investigate factors that influenced litigants’ experiences of fairness and emotional feelings toward court officials. Our results show that ease of using the online case resolution system, the outcome of the case, and a litigant’s perceptions of procedural justice are positively associated both with whether the litigant views the process as fair and whether the litigant ultimately feels positive emotions toward …

Politics, Technology, And Libertarianism, Thomas J. Perry

Honors Projects

In recent years, technology has started to play a major role in the U.S. political climate. Specifically, it has created a platform for outside groups, such as libertarians, to have their voices heard. This brought forward an important research question: How has technology helped or hindered the ability of individually focused libertarians to organize for collective action? Through the exploration of previous research, two major findings are discovered: 1) technology and the growth of individualism in politics are intertwined and 2) technology and individualism both have ties to libertarianism. The implications of libertarianism are analyzed further through the study of …

Information Sharing, Transparency, And E-Governance Among County Government Offices In Southeastern Michigan, Lawrence Bosek

All NMU Master's Theses

The Internet has given rise to the availability of information at our fingertips. While the public, particularly consumers, are more commonly described as being the leading users and beneficiaries of electronic information services, businesses and governments are also players in the arena for sharing official information. Information can be easily stored on Internet websites for the public, businesses, and other governmental offices to search and peruse when needed. This study examined the ease of locating county governmental information, such as contact information for public officials and financial reports, and surveyed elected county officials for purposes of identifying how information is …

The Duc Healthy Aging Website: Providing Online Occupation-Based Information, Haley Caruthers, Samantha Talavera, Jackeline Ulloa, Stephanie Vera

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

Access to current, evidence-based health information is an important step to the promotion of health and wellness for all age groups, including OAs. Since the virtual world is easily accessible and is being used more frequently by OAs, an effective way to convey relevant up-to-date health information is through a website devoted to the dissemination of health promotion information tailored for OAs, including tips for integrating healthy habits into their lifestyle. Dominican University of California’s (DUC) Healthy Aging website, developed in May 2014, contains relevant and evidence-based research, including activities and local community based programs that promote healthy aging on …