This commentary reflects on the contributions to learning analytics and theory by a paper that describes how multiple theoretical frameworks were woven together to inform the creation of a new, automated discourse analysis tool. The commentary highlights the contributions of the original paper, provides some alternative approaches, and touches on…

The renewal of quality assurance in Australian higher education comes at a time when the higher education sectors in Australia and around the world are experiencing a number of key challenges. These include: ongoing decline in public funding of universities; the massification of higher education and demand for it during global recession;…

This article describes a successful experimental collaborative teaching project to deliver a short course to develop work-relevant social literacies in technical students. Heterogeneous work contexts require both students and educators to find ways to integrate thinking and practices across disciplines. Teaching social literacies to information…

This paper is set within the context of university change in the Republic of Ireland. Irish third-level institutions are increasingly situated, whilst situating themselves, in the global advance of the so-called "entrepreneurial" university model. This model promotes knowledge as utilitarian and performative that, in turn, informs new…

This article presents the authors' response to Hisham B. Ghassib's article entitled "Where Does Creativity Fit into a Productivist Industrial Model of Knowledge Production?" The authors focus on one aspect of Ghassib's (2010) analysis of creativity and knowledge production in the sciences--specifically, the influence of technology on changing…

In the tug-of-war between researchers and IT for supercomputing resources, a centralized approach can help both sides get more bang for their buck. As 2010 began, the University of Washington was preparing to launch its first shared high-performance computing cluster, a 1,500-node system called Hyak, dedicated to research activities. Like other…

Has the wave of the open web crested? What does "open educational technology" look like, and does it stand for anything? In this article, the authors discuss the rise of open educational technology. The present range of Web 2.0 service providers offers a self-evident strategic technology framework. Without much effort, online teachers and learners…

Over the last decades the notion of learning has become increasingly popular both as an intellectual site of investigation and as an organizational aspiration. However, learning has many--sometimes contradictory--meanings. For pragmatic sociologists and researchers in science and technology studies (STS) the notion may appeal because of its…

Appraises the relationship between technology and human agency with specific attention to communication and information technologies. Presents a general, dialectical model of technology, in which technologies and attitudes toward technologies are viewed as socially constructed. Applies the model in an analysis of some of the classic and…

Researchers have highlighted various benefits of the simulation-based approach to second language (L2) writing instruction. In this article, the author argues, with specific pedagogical scenarios, that an explicit focus on genre and genre analysis in simulation-based L2 writing instruction can further enhance learners' reading of content…

Many observers describe the 21st century as a complex age with new demands for education and new requirements for accountability in teaching and learning to meet society's needs in a new, global economy. At the same time, innovations in teaching and learning and proposals for measuring them often seem disconnected from public and political…

Describes the concept of Information Based Education, provides a theoretical basis for investigating the role of information in education, and begins developing a classification scheme for documenting and distinguishing among information bases. Attributes of information associated with information resources, information skills, information…

Discusses how advancements in computer graphics technology, especially hypermedia, are changing the language of visual communication and defining multidimensional communication models that require new perspectives in information design. Suggests that an understanding of these new communication models can be enhanced by examining works of…

The "new gerontology," built on the concept of successful aging, sets forth the preconditions for and the end product of the process of aging successfully. Focused on health and active participation in life, it vests largely within individuals the power to achieve this normatively desirable state. While acknowledging the contributions of the…

Proposes that information science is a postmodern science, driven by the need to solve problems caused by classical sciences and technologies. Some basic structures of current approaches to information science, the role of knowledge, information as knowledge for action, and the theoretical structures needed to establish the bases of information…