The purpose of this study was to examine a ubiquitous/pervasive computing initiative from a Community of Practice perspective. It sought to understand how faculty fit technology use into the already paramount goals they had for their students learning, and how that technology’s role became a part of that essential domain. Furthermore, it sought to determine the extent to which a community of practice emerged around the use of technology as a central practice. Using case study methodology with mixed-methods data collection strategies, this study explored practice among faculty participating in a ubiquitous laptop initiative within a pre-kindergarten through fourth-grade teacher preparation program. This program was part of a college of education in a major research university in the southern United States. Doing so involved an examination of the roles of participants, primarily faculty, in the community or communities to identify the primary domains of concern, and to determine to what extent the use of laptops in the classroom has itself become a practice around which a community has emerged. Findings from this study suggested that instructors were, to varying extents, involved in an emerging community of practice that included the use of technology, specifically laptops, to enhance the development of elementary school teachers. This community of practice was heavily dependent upon infrastructure provided by the administration of the college and the ubiquitous laptop initiative. At the same time, these instructors were less involved with a domain that included teaching teachers to use technology, or Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (Mishra & Koehler, 2006). / text

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The feeling of ownership is a topic of research that has not been addressed as a component in the integration of technology in the K-12 classroom. The effectiveness of this abstract concept in relationship to digital computing is important in the evaluation of one-to-one initiatives in education. This paper reports findings of a research study conducted using a new ownership survey instrument I developed, the Laptop Usage Inventory (LUI). Also administered during the study was the Student Attitude Survey given in a pretest/posttest design. The instruments were administered to seventh and eighth grade students in a north Texas middle school in the 2007-2008 school year. The methodology used to evaluate the Laptop Usage Inventory consisted of Cronbach's alpha and various scaling methods. LUI scale scores were correlated with the results of the Student Attitude Survey to compare students' attitudes toward school before and after using a laptop computer for the school year. Implications for laptop initiatives and for the classroom are discussed and a future research agenda is presented.

Cílem této práce je navrhnout a sestavit napájecí zdroj pro notebooky různých výrobců pro použití v osobních a nákladních automobilech a na motocyklech s výstupním výkonem až 120W. Výsledný zdroj obsahuje USB-C konektor pro podporu napájení notebooků a chytrých zařízení s podporou Power Delivery, dále USB-A konektor s podporou Quick Charge 3.0 a také 12V automobilovou zásuvku pro možnost připojení dalšího automobilového příslušenství. Napájecí zdroj dále disponuje ochranou proti přepětí a přepólování vstupního napětí a také ochranou proti přetížení jednotlivých výstupů. Součástí zařízení je také LED displej, který uživateli umožňuje pomocí vstupního rozhraní jednoduše nastavit výstupní napětí pro notebook a sledovat aktuální hodnoty všech výstupů. Pro nastavování výstupu, indikaci a ochrany je použit mikrokontroler Arduino Nano.

The purpose of this study was to examine technology integration and the application of Culturally Relevant Teaching (CRT). This inquiry evolved as a result of trying to understand the unique intersectionality of student identity, which is inclusive of youth culture, and whether teachers understood this dynamic and hence leveraged it in the classrooms and school communities they taught. Given that youth culture is a “mash-up of cultures and the membership transcends ethnic and racial lines,” there was evident value in exploring how youth cultural competence is unpacked and applied by educators to both deliver content and build relationships (Keuss, 2012), Understanding that a major youth cultural referent is technology, the study observed how teacher’s Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge manifested itself in the classroom and the types of technology students shared they were exposed to, in addition to their perceptions of teacher competence of technology and/or youth culture. This exploration was further framed by using a Culturally Relevant Teaching framework to analyze teacher-student interactions, based on the principles, behaviors and mindsets outlined by Ladson-Billings in her construction of defining the characteristics of a CRT educator (2009). This was a qualitative study that included 10 teachers and 20 student participants that were members of a technology-rich middle school in an urban environment. Teachers participated in classroom observations, interviews, and CRT reflective tasks. Students participated in grade-level focus groups that leveraged interactive and reflective tasks. As a result of the data analysis, implications from the study presents school leaders with practical insights on how technology integration can be woven into the fabric of the school to strengthen teacher development, support content delivery and enhance the quality of student learning experiences. Additionally, there is evidence of a need for commitment by schools to train teachers in Culturally Relevant Teaching practices in order to attend to the whole child, operate with a more student-centered approach, and adequately prepare scholars for the digital world. / Educational Administration

This research explored the impact of a sixth grade one-to-one laptop initiative on student attitudes about learning and technological competencies. The study compared student preintervention and postintervention survey data prior to and after a sixth grade laptop intervention initiative. The survey responses were divided into 5 dimensions (School Subject Attitudes, Teaching and Learning Preferences, Computer Use Perceptions, Technology Skills, and Personal Attitudes and Behaviors) on both pre- and postsurveys. District means were compared with preintervention and postintervention data, as well as the means from the 5 dimensions, using a one-sample t-test with a midpoint test value of 3 on a 5-point scale. Ninety students participated in the preintervention survey and 93 students participated in the postintervention survey across 3 schools. The findings indicated that there was a statistically significant difference in student responses in 4 of the 5 dimensions except Teaching and Learning Preferences. Overall the findings on the 2 dimensions related to technological competencies had statistically significant scores on the postintervention survey, whereas the findings on 2 of the 3 sections related to student attitudes about learning had statistically significant scores. In conclusion, generally the laptop intervention initiative had an overall positive impact on student attitudes and technological competencies. The researcher concluded that the timing of the postsurvey, as well as the research taking place during the first year of implementation could have had an impact on the Teaching and Learning Preferences results. Examining the impact of one-to-one initiatives on student attitudes about learning and technological competencies could support districts in making the decision of adopting this technology.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Marjorie R. Hancock / The purpose of this study was to explore participants' (teachers, students, administrators, and parents) experiences and perceptions regarding the perceived impact a rural high school's one-to-one laptop initiative had on content area literacy, new literacy's, and critical literacy. Through a case study, data were collected through multiple sources and viewpoints to obtain an in-depth perspective of how this rural high school's one-to-one laptop initiative had perceivably impacted teacher's instruction to enhance student learning. Data were collected and analyzed through a blending of direct interpretation and categorical analysis, presenting the following findings. The one-to-one laptop initiative's technology was utilized: (a) by student participants for academic purposes, personal efficiency, and recreational purposes, (b) by teacher participants for educational purposes, and (c) within content area instruction. Resulting from the access to laptop technology, this study documented the purposes of finding information for assignments, facilitating "just in time" learning, and stimulating schema about curricular content. Content area literacy instruction was perceivably effected because of the multiple textual formats the technology provided, and instructional occurrences were documented as developing vocabulary and fostering either content comprehension or reading comprehension. The new literacy's and how they were implemented within the mathematics, language arts, science, and social studies classrooms were discussed. The role of critical literacy was presented in relation to students' sense of agency, and the power dynamic within various content area classes. The majority of participants were documented having a positive perception regarding the one-to-one laptop initiative. Although integration of technology was occurring, there were opportunities lacking that could further develop teachers' instruction to enhance student learning. When considering professional development within schools implementing a one-to-one technology initiative, administrative teams should: (a) consider what will be requisite versus elective technology integration tasks, and (b) ensure professional support is provided to teachers regarding integrating technology within their pedagogical practices. Additionally, teachers should instructionally integrate the technology tools and literacy's that students currently employ. Pedagogically, this study implies that teachers must expand their comfort zones regarding content area literacy, new literacy's, and critical literacy.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Este estudo, inserido no contexto das transformações e novas alfabetizações possibilitadas pela cultura digital, busca contribuir para a compreensão de processos de aprendizagem envolvidos na atividade de programação de jogos em Etoys (software de autoria multimídia desenvolvido em linguagem orientada a objetos). Foram realizadas quatorze Oficinas de construção de jogos em uma escola estadual de Porto Alegre com seis sujeitos de 5º ano do Ensino Fundamental cuja turma se inseria na modalidade um computador por aluno (1:1). As intervenções que sustentam o trabalho são guiadas pelo Método Clínico de Piaget. A análise dos processos de construção de jogos digitais pelos sujeitos é fundamentada em conceitos do campo do estudo da cognição, videogames (Game Studies) e da programação. O Etoys se mostrou um dispositivo interessante para a pesquisa desses processos. Através da observação e análise das produções desenvolvidas, pôde-se observar a dinâmica de estratégias, noções de programação e de jogos envolvidas na atividade de programar. / These study, placed in context of the digital age's transformations and possibilities, aims to contribute to the compreehsion of learning processes involved in programming games with Etoys (multimidia authoring software developed in object oriented language). Fourteen weekly workshops were given for a group of six students (which the class had one laptop per child) from a state public school in Porto Alegre. The interventions were carried out guided by Piaget Clinical Method. The processes of creating a game are grounded on the fields of Cognition, Game Studies and programming. The Etoys has proved to be an interesting tool for researching these processes. Through the analysis of the games produced, the dinamic of strategies, programming and game concepts could be observed.

In this thesis, the studies mainly focus on recent trends in novel MIMO antennas for indoor wireless communication system. Firstly, we propose a novel MIMO antenna for access-point application. This proposed antenna can reduce the lateral length of the conventional access-point antenna for MIMO application. Then, we present MIMO antenna designs for mobile devices such as PDA phones and laptop computers. Although these two devices are of different configurations, the PIFAs are applicable in these two devices, and their design rules are basically the same. Thus, for this study, the design consideration of the MIMO antenna will focus on S-parameter analysis. Detailed antenna designs and experimental results are presented and discussed in this thesis.