Innovative or adaptive behavior of 86 eighth-grade students was rated by themselves, parents, and teachers using the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory. The inventory was found to be reliable, stable, and valid. No significant differences between male and female students' scores were exhibited. Correlation with scores on the Comprehensive Test…

Describes the conversion of graphic design studios at Virginia Commonwealth University from traditional to electronic environments. Interviews with undergraduates, graduate students, lab assistants, faculty, and administrators regarding the changing environment are summarized; and resulting conclusions and recommendations are presented. Examples…

Describes attempts to integrate computer technology into the preservice teacher education program at Lesley College. Topics discussed include technology goals; faculty attitudes; technology in the schools; technological developments; problems; and factors affecting adoption of computer technology, including the need for faculty to learn more about…

Discusses how to create a district plan for managing computer technology in schools from the perspectives of a district administrator and a media director. Topics addressed include equity in access and instruction; distance education consortiums; planning committee membership; goals and effective planning; staff support; adoption strategies;…

Examines how Paulo Freire's pedagogy changed, and how it affected pedagogical discourses when it was implemented by different education groups in Sweden. Explains how ideas move from one context to another using a grid-group model to analyze the text-translator, text-transformation process. Suggests theoretical systems can be used as ideological…

Twenty-three building and central office public school administrators identified internal and external system sources that they thought had influenced them to believe that effected school policy changes were or were not needed. A very large majority attributed major curriculum change influence to internal system sources. (SLD)

Three themes are identified in response to several papers about teachers' cognition and instructional improvement of students with learning disabilities: (1) the teacher's dilemma between attention to the individual or the group; (2) the content of the curriculum and perspectives on knowledge and knowing; and (3) staff development. Researchers are…

This is a paper about knowledge, learning and the idea of community in what we call "hybrid workspaces". Hybrid workspaces "bring together physical place and cyber place" in communication networks (Castells, 2001, p. 131). Many people work in various kinds of hybrid workspaces. A person working on a production line might have real-time co-workers…

Even though federal laws have had a major influence on foster care and child welfare policy for more than 40 years, additional reforms are needed to ensure safe and stable families for children in care. This article describes the complex array of policies that shape federal foster care and observes: A number of federal policies addressing issues…

A key issue in international management is the extent to which management practices are converging in response to the pressures of globalisation, and the ready availability to managers in all parts of the world of the same concepts of what constitutes best practice in the different management disciplines. In some instances convergence may be…

The communication technology and policy section of the Proceedings contains the following 11 papers: "The Battle for the Net Frontier: Technology and Policy in an Age of Hype and Sensationalism" (Jan H. Samoriski); "Uses and Gratifications of the World Wide Web" (Barbara K. Kaye); "Comparing Consumer Feedback Channels:…

Instructional technology allows students to visualize complex ideas and understand abstract concepts in a manner that simply is not possible with the use of just lecture and a chalkboard. The use of instructional technology in a class and the impact that it has on students are almost wholly dependent on individual instructors. While a small…

Despite enormous growth of the Internet and its proliferation of tools, resources, and on-line communities, the connection between local learning environments and virtual learning environments remains tenuous. This paper examines this relationship, based upon a case study of an academic unit at the University of Colorado at Denver. Drawing on…

The topic for this paper developed as a result of observations made during the course of a joint Internet pilot project with K-12 teachers and administrators in the city of Saskatoon (Canada); the project was designed to determine the amount of professional development time the participants needed to become functional Internet users and to explore…

Technology adoption concerns are increasingly important to understanding constructivist learning environments and learning communities. As instruction begins to move toward more open, participatory models, "end users"--both teachers and learners--are asked to take more responsibility in the learning process. Issues such as the variable…