Digital Commons Network^™

The Use Of Technology To Teach Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Meta-Synthesis, V. Joy Boitnott

Special Education Masters Program Theses

This meta-synthesis of empirical and non-empirical literature reviewed 43 journal articles that evaluated the availability and use of technology to educate and socialize learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder or Aspersers Disorder. Students with these disorders cannot be defined or categorized each individual is unique and elegant; challenging caregiver's and educator's creativity to teach and guide them toward a quality of life they would not find on their own. There are tools and research to support unique education on many levels of learning from academics to socialization. The literature indicates that while there is a wealth of technology available and new …

Factors Contributing To The Success Of Commercial Printers, Diana Watkins

Theses

Printing had been the uncontested primary media format for over five hundred years--with the commercial printing industry also thriving--until the late 1990s, when abnormal cost patterns and disruptive new media technologies worked together to permanently change the world economy and media landscape. Romano (2010a) estimated that 20% of all print production in the US had disappeared between 1995 and 2010. Many different theories have been posited to commercial printers as to how best to survive, but the overall message has been relatively consistent: print companies cannot rely on economic growth to regain business. Instead, they must adapt to the changing …

Computer Fluency, Access To Technology, And Attitudes Towards Technologically-Based Therapeutic Tools Among Practicing Clinicians, Emily M. Becker

Open Access Theses

Researchers in the field of dissemination and implementation of evidence-based practices have begun to develop computer-assisted therapies and computer-based training programs in an attempt to increase the level of evidence-based care in clinical practice settings. However, little to no work has attempted to understand potential barriers to the use of these technological tools in clinical practice settings (e.g., whether therapists are willing and able to use them). For these tools to be utilized successfully by therapists on a broad scale, therapists would need a certain level of computer skills, access to computer equipment, and willingness to adopt the technology in …

Vilém Flusser's Media Philosophy: Tracing The Digital In Nature Through Art, Anne Popiel

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Philosopher Vilém Flusser's theories and metaphorical writing style are considered together in order to explain the connection between digital technology, nature and artistic creativity in his work.

Me, Myself, & Identity Online: Identity Salience On Facebook Vs Non-Virtual Identity, Nathalie N. Delise

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Many Social Networking Sites have come and gone over the past decade, but Facebook continues to grow in popularity. Facebook is designed to connect people to one another through virtual networks of “friends” where members participate in the presentation of self virtually- through profile creation, maintenance, and exchanges of content. Social Networking Sites create a location for identity formation and projection that is similar, yet distinct, from face-to-face interactions. Facebook offers a unique avenue for people to control their presentation of self, while maintaining reflexive features. This study this study explores the notion of a particular “Facebook role” while specifically …

Capturing Attention: Advertising In The Internet Age, Tara Crane, Elise Weisengoff

Honors Theses

It is crucial for the advertisement industry to know whether or not their commercials work. According to ComScore.com, 45 percent of Americans see video ads online, for a total of more than 1.7 billion minutes in January alone. Hulu.com accounts for 26 percent of video advertisement views, with 1.1 billion views in January (2011). Companies spent $72 billion in online advertising in 2010, according to ZenithOptimedia.com. That number is projected to increase 8 percent in the next two years. Therefore positive results are critical for business and financial success. This study will attempt to analyze data collected from the generation …

Mental Schema Accuracy: Investigating The Impact Of Schemas On Human Performance And Technology Usability, Kylie Nash

Theses and Dissertations

This research evaluated mental schema accuracy, user experience, and training methods of computer based tasks using educational software. Aims were to investigate the impact of mental schemas on individuals’ usability of technology and analyze the impact of training and user experience in terms of mental schemas and performance. Study one investigated schema accuracy as a predictor of perceived usability and mental workload; by analyzing the accuracy of users’ mental schema through task correctness. Task was found to be a significant predictor of the measures of usability, along with various demographic variables. When considering the effect of tasks, schema accuracy was …

Disconnected: College Freshmen Experience Communication Without Technology, Lacey Myers

Honors Theses

We are in a technological revolution, where “Generation Next” is surviving and thriving in a digital world. New and improved methods of communication through technology have altered the way we live and communicate. Today’s young adults, who have grown up with personal computers, cell phones and the internet, are living in a whirlwind of innovation and advancement “and are now taking their place in a world where the only constant is rapid change” (Pew Research Center, 2007). They cannot remember or imagine a world without such advanced technology. Modes of digital communication such as the cell phone, internet, and social …

The Beyonder App: Designing A Website And A Mobile Application For Teachers To Integrate The Torrance Incubation Model Into Classroom Content, Jenna M. Smith

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

E. Paul Torrance “the father of creativity” was quoted as saying “tomorrow’s world will be vastly different for today’s children. They will do kinds of work that do not exist now. This will require abilities, skills, attitudes and information that we cannot imagine today” (Torrance, 1993, p.159). Today’s world is vastly different, thus requiring creative skills and abilities to achieve success. Students growing up in today’s society are digital natives. This indicates that they do not know a world without technology advances, so technology is fully ingrained in their culture. Yet, today’s educational system has still not adapted to the …

How Ipads Can Be Used In The Math Classroom To Improve Student Learning, Katie Ann Garrity Smieja

Mathematics Graduate Theses

This study explores how iPads can be used to enhance student learning in the math classroom. The author reviews current literature to determine how iPads are being used to facilitate communication, formative assessment, and promising practices in math education such as discovery learning and use of spreadsheets, graphing calculators, and manipulatives. Additionally, challenges and drawbacks to using iPads in the classroom are examined. Research supports the use of iPads to provide students access to digital content including online discussion boards and practice activities with instant feedback. iPads can also be used as student response systems to engage students in instruction …

The Future Workforce In Cancer Prevention: Advancing Discovery, Research, And Technology, Wayne D. Newhauser, Michael E. Scheurer, Jessica M. Faupel-Badger, Jessica Clague, Jeffrey Weitzel, Kendra V. Woods

Faculty Publications

As part of a 2-day conference on October 15 and 16, 2009, a nine-member task force composed of scientists, clinicians, educators, administrators, and students from across the USA was formed to discuss research, discovery, and technology obstacles to progress in cancer prevention and control, specifically those related to the cancer prevention workforce. This article summarizes the task force's findings on the current state of the cancer prevention workforce in this area and its needs for the future. The task force identified two types of barriers impeding the current cancer prevention workforce in research, discovery, and technology from reaching its fullest …

Student Loyalty Assessment With Online Master's Programs, Ali Dehghan

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Relationship marketing is attracting, maintaining, and, in multi-service organizations, enhancing customer relationships. Educational programs and services, like those of businesses, depend highly on the repeated purchases of their loyal customers. The purpose of this descriptive research is to investigate the relationships between factors that may lead to student loyalty in online graduate educational programs. Specifically, the study seeks to examine the relationships between service quality, technology, trust, commitment and satisfaction, reputation and ultimately loyalty. A new model is presented, which includes the results of testing these variables.

The results of this study concluded that satisfaction with the program has the …

The Real Virtual World: Connectivity And Techno-Mediation In The Lives Of College Students, Alecea Standlee

Sociology - Dissertations

This dissertation examines the way in which techno-mediated communication technologies, such as social media, text messaging, and virtual communities are used to negotiate, establish and maintain interpersonal relationships among college students. Using in-depth interview and online participant observation, I explore the relationship between technological communication and social behavior, interpersonal relationships and social networks. I focus on three broad questions: how do developments and structures of technological communication allow for the emergence of new social expectations and behaviors in the realm of connectivity and social interaction? How do individuals experience social pressures for connectivity and how do such pressures shape relationships? …

Trends And Challenges In Lawyer Regulation: The Impact Of Globalization And Technology, Laurel Terry, Steve Mark, Tahlia Gordon

Faculty Scholarly Works

Globalization and technology have changed the practice of law in dramatic ways. This is true not only in the United States, but around the world. In this article, author Laurel Terry, along with Australian regulators Steve Mark and Tahlia Gordon, documented some of these global trends in lawyer regulation. Their article concluded that regulators face issues in common regarding “who” is regulated, “what” or whom is regulated, “when” regulation occurs, “where” regulation occurs, “how” it occurs, and “why” regulation occurs.

This article uses this who-what-when-where-why-and-how framework to discuss events around the world. These developments include the 2007 UK Legal Services …

Influence Of University Level Direct Instruction On Educators' Use Of Technology In The Classroom, Angie M. Garner

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

Previous research regarding technology integration in education has indicated that when technology is integrated into the classroom with fidelity it can enhance educational experiences ranging from academic achievement to student attitudes toward education and student self-concept. Research has also indicated, however that despite the growing presence of technology in classrooms, it is not being effectively utilized. Further research investigating this disparity between presence of technology and integration of those technologies for student-centered learning opportunities has revealed that there are several underlying factors related to effective educational technology integration. Those factors which are considered to be most influential are (a) time, …

Teaching Online Social Skills To Students With Emotional And Behavioral Disorders, Joseph John Morgan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders often lack appropriate social skills. This deficit can lead to negative outcomes including peer and teacher rejection, increased behavioral problems at school, and decreased academic achievement. In order to improve the social outcomes of students with emotional and behavioral disorders, teachers will often implement direct and explicit instruction of appropriate social skills in the natural environment. Increases in the use of technology for academic and social interaction have created a new natural environment where students participate. This environment has its own set of social rules and norms that users must understand. No published results …

Broadband Adoption In Illinois, Jonathan A. Cape

Research Papers

This research paper discusses broadband demographic factors which may affect adoption in Illinois. Primary data was collected by the PEW Internet & American Life Project, which has made multiple data sets available for public use. Calculations were conducted to specifically analyze Illinois broadband adoption by demographic variables of income, ethnicity/race, education, gender, and age.

Analysis confirmed previous studies showing similar demographic factors affecting adoption of broadband apply to Illinois. The most prevalent factor in determining adoption is education. This study shows 90% of Illinois residents who have a college degree or higher adopts broadband. Income results are in line with …

Teachers And Hand-Held Graphing Technology: An Examination Of Concerns, Edward Helton

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this nonexperimental causal-comparative study was to examine the concerns of teachers in reference to the graphing calculator, as measured by the Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ) and compare the results to a combination of levels of concerns between groups. The study participants were high school teachers of mathematics in Northwest Georgia and Southeast Tennessee (n = 128). This study utilized a two-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) to determine the effect of two independent variables, formal training and experience teaching with a graphing calculator, on seven dependent variables, teachers' Stages of Concern (stages 0-6). Also, a one-way …

The Effects Of Technology Instruction On The Academic Achievement Of Fifth Grade Students, Karen Davis

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

A digital native is an individual born between 1981 and 2001, and children born after 2001 are called millennials. Educators are expected to meet the needs of today's technologically savvy students. Some researchers assert that an academic `moral panic' is taking place that lacks the empirical and theoretical knowledge to support the claims that education needs to change to meet the needs of digital natives and millennials. The problem is that considering that the majority of students today are digital natives are educators meeting the learning needs of their students. This research study focused on the use of instructional technology …

Increasing Student Voice And Empowerment Through Technology: The Perceptions Of Communication Apprehensive Latter-Day Saint (Lds) Seminary Students, Doran H. Christensen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Many students find themselves unwilling or unable to participate vocally in traditional classroom settings. This study examines a group of LDS (members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) seminary students who were hesitant to participate vocally in the classroom, but were highly involved in peer-to-peer communication through technology. The objective of this research was to determine the perceived value of technological implementations as it provides a potential forum for increased student participation.

As educators find and utilize teaching methods and resources that engage students more fully in the educational process, the students themselves become the primary beneficiaries. …

Exploring The Effects Of 1:1 Laptop Implementation On Quantifiable Student Outcomes In Junior High School Science Classes Between Demographic Subpopulations Of Students, Ryan C. Hansen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The use of internet-based information and digitalized resources is becoming increasingly common in public schools. Laptops or tablets are being provided to students in a 1:1 ratio to be used in accessing instructional information and also as a medium of interaction between the student and the teacher. As schools transition to digital systems of instruction, it is imperative that administrators can predict what the impact on measures of student achievement will be and especially for the more "at-risk" student populations.

To investigate the initial reaction of different demographic student groups to a 1:1 implementation, exploratory research was conducted at a …

Technological Evolution And Its Effects On Graphic Design And Textbook Design, Danielle Renae Allen

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Technological Evolution and its Effects on Graphic Design and Textbook Design Although fundamental principles of art and design have been around for thousands of years, the development of new technology has greatly altered how designers must use these foundations. This paper investigates how this complex history has changed graphic design practices and specifically the design of textbooks. It also discusses technology’s huge role in changing the way design fundamentals are taught and practiced and how this affects where the profession is headed. Through researching the history of graphic design and then examining three editions of the textbook, Design Basics by …

An Analysis Of The Effect Of Lecture Capture Initiatives On Student-Athletes At An Ncaa Division I Institution, Gregory Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Student-athletes often miss class due to travel and competitions (Diersen, 2005; F. Wiseman, personal communication, September 30, 2010; Hosick, 2010; NCAA On-line, 2008; Rhatigan, 1984). Missing class is negatively associated with grades (Park & Kerr, 1990; Romer, 1993; Schmidt, 1983). Therefore, as classroom instruction time is replaced by athletic-related commitments, student-athletes may be negatively affected academically. As technological advancements continue to evolve, it is possible to mitigate the effects of missed class time. One such technology being employed in 2012 is lecture capture. This case study examined the academic effect of lecture capture on student-athletes at Big Time University using …

Apple Vs. Microsoft: Which One Is Better? A Historical And Technical Comparison Of Two Companies, Philip Thorpe

Senior Seminars

With this paper, the goal is to help define between Apple and Microsoft which one was better. The focus of research started with a brief introduction into the GUI, and how that evolved into what Windows and Apple created. This was broken down into the changes they made in their operating systems, what type of hardware requirements were needed to run the operating systems, how these two companies made changes in comparison or in response to each other, and how much market they share among personal computers and operating systems. With the information provided, an unknown user could make a …

Interactive Web Technology In The Art Classroom: Problems And Possibilities, Marie Lynne Aitken Oxborrow

Theses and Dissertations

Research has shown that the use of technology in curriculum, and art classrooms in particular, can benefit students. This thesis outlines these benefits which include the potential for technology to make learning more personal, assist students in their future careers, and allow opportunity for collaboration. Still, several obstacles impede the full-fledged realization of that potential, often leading teachers to avoid or ignore technology in their pedagogical strategies. This thesis addresses these obstacles and provides practical and theoretical solutions. Once these obstacles are overcome, teachers will be better able to incorporate new technology in their lessons, such as social media, podcasts, …

Putting Words On Paper: A Technoautobiography, Andrew Treneer Pitman

Harlot: A Revealing Look at the Arts of Persuasion

This project was originally created for a class called "Multimedia Authoring," which is sort of a whirlwind tour through graphic design, web design, and digital filmmaking from both a practical and theoretical perspective. Although the class as a whole is inherently very optimistic about new technologies, because it teaches students how to understand the exciting rhetorical possibilities afforded by them, I wanted to examine a specific case where I had found technological progress to be problematic. This piece explores my personal history with technologies that enable writing.

Composition And Community: Integrating Design And Service Learning, Linda Gottesfeld

Cornerstone 2 Reports : Community Outreach and Empowerment Through Service Learning and Volunteerism

No abstract provided.

A Case Study Examining The Reading And Study Habits Of Gifted Readers In The Context Of Deep Reading, John William Bradford

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

New debates have been increasing about how technology is rewiring the infrastructure of the brain, especially among today’s teenagers who have grown up with computers. One of these debates concerns deep reading, a concept that stresses the brain’s need to concentrate undistracted on one thing at a time in order to maximally process and synthesize new material. One side argues that a computer with its dynamic interactions and multitasking demands robs teenagers of the ability to deep read and, as a consequence, disables the brain from properly developing and maturing. Another side argues that the very act of multitasking and …

Bringing Together The Office Of Community, Equity And Diversity And The Harrington School Of Communications To Promote Topics From The Uri Community And Reach Approx. One Million Potential People In Rhode Island And Beyond, Joseph A. Santiago, Dana Neugent

Office of Community, Equity and Diversity Publications

This is Joseph Santiago and Dana proposal application for 2012/2013 Innovative Approaches Using Technology to Advance the Student Experience.

Dana and Joseph are establishing the Community Voices Committee to showcase diversity and community at URI to go beyond traditional internet sharing of information and reach approximately one million potential television viewers in Rhode Island with the many original programs, speakers, and talent (faculty, staff, guest speakers) that go on here every day. The committee will take on topics from the URI community with potential to be utilized in the classroom to entertain, educate, and raise awareness while providing promotion of …

Reaching The Adult Learner: Teaching Information Technology Infrastructure Library (Itil) To Practicing Technology Managers, Anthony K. Adade

Community of Scholars Day—Posters

A great deal has been written about adult learning but little has been published on best practices for teaching IT Infrastructure Library® (ITIL) certification course. This dearth of research, along with years of experience teaching ITIL sparked interest in exploring the research question, “What are the characteristics of an effective ITIL training course that focuses on helping trainers prepare trainees to pass the certification exam and use their new knowledge to implement ITIL in the workplace?” This presentation gives insight from interviews on best practices for teaching ITIL.