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Successful technology integration into the teaching of social studies is imperative in the twenty-first century classroom. This study sought to answer the following questions: do synchronous and asynchronous technology integration increase a student’s understanding of social studies content? Are synchronous technology-integrated social studies lessons more effective than asynchronous technology-integrated social studies lessons? How do students perceive the effectiveness of a synchronous technology-integrated lesson vs the effectiveness of an asynchronous technology-integrated lesson? The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This paper presents the results of a quasi-experimental research project comparing the learning outcomes of students who participated in synchronous and asynchronous technology-augmented lessons.

The results of this study found that synchronous and asynchronous technology-enhanced lessons are both viable pedagogies for increasing a student’s understanding of social studies content. The results also yielded no statistical significance between the effectiveness of the synchronous instruction vs asynchronous instruction. However, a statistical significance exists when analyzing a student’s perception of their own learning. Students participating in synchronous technology-integrated instruction reported a higher confidence in the lesson’s ability to teach them, when compared to that of the asynchronous population.

By continuing to seek new ways to integrate technology effectively into classrooms, social studies teachers can design lessons more effectively to meet the needs of today’s social studies students. The need to understand the learning outcomes of various technology-integrated approaches will continue to grow as more technologies become available to social studies teachers.

In their book Megatrends 2000, John Naisbitt and Patricia Aburdene (1990) stated that one of the ten “megatrends for the 1990's would be the rise of “The Age of Biology.” One of the central forces behind this societal shift which is occurring right now, they say, is research into understanding human genetics and the rise of biotechnology. The scientific knowledge regarding human genetics and the technology to examine an individual's genetic makeup have grown at a rapid pace, especially in the last decade as a result of the Human Genome Project. This venture has been labelled alternatively as “mediocre science” (Roberts, 1990b: p. 804) and as “biology's Holy Grail,” (Nelkin and Tancredi, 1989: p. 14). It is indisputably a monumental scientific undertaking, likened to the drive to put a man on the moon in the sixties (“The Geography of Genes,” 1989). This knowledge and the resultant trends will likely prove to be important factors not only in our future economy, but also in the nature of how we understand ourselves.

The Question Master for this session was Miss Mildred Couldrey. The Panel of Experts included Mr. D. V. Arnold (I.C.I., Ltd., Paints Division), Miss Ruth Jacobs (Department of Scientific and Industrial Research), Miss Barbara Kyle (Royal Institute of International Affairs), Mr. F. A. Sharr (Manchester Public Libraries), and Mr. E. N. Simons (Edgar Allen & Co., Ltd.).

Although numerous studies have explored gamification, its effects on student intrinsic motivation and behavioral engagement remain ambiguous. This study aims to address this gap by investigating the impacts of exogenous and endogenous fantasies on students’ intrinsic motivation, behaviors and perception of learning in gamified, fully online courses.

Using a quasi-experimental design and mixed methods, this study involved two groups of postgraduate students: exogenous fantasy group (N = 23) and endogenous fantasy group (N = 23). Intrinsic motivation was assessed through surveys, while behavioral engagement was tracked over 10 weeks using online trace data. Semi-structured interviews gathered student insights on learning perceptions. The patterns of behavioral engagement in both fantasy groups were analyzed using epistemic network analysis.

Observed behavioral data indicated a significantly higher level of intrinsic motivation in the endogenous fantasy setting. The endogenous group was more engaged in pre-task analysis and post-task reflection, while the exogenous group focused more on quiz work and post-task reflection. Participants in the endogenous fantasy setting also reported increased cognitive engagement and a strong identification with their fictional characters.

Integrating endogenous fantasy into the curriculum can boost students’ intrinsic motivation, behavioral engagement and self-identification. Adopting a first-person perspective that allows students to embody the role of a virtual character is highly recommended. The use of interactive multimedia can greatly enrich the fantasy environment, resulting in a more immersive and engaging learning experience.

The study provides valuable insights into the impact of endogenous and exogenous fantasies on intrinsic motivation and behavioral engagement. It also stands out for its use of epistemic network analysis to assess and compare complex networks of learning task participation in two fantasy settings. Through analyzing these engagement patterns, researchers can obtain a more profound understanding of how each fantasy environment influences student engagement.

As part of a series to mark the 60th anniversary of the Journal of Documentation, the aim is to review a 1956 article by Barbara Kyle.

Literature review and analysis.

The theme of Barbara Kyle's 1956 Journal of Documentation article “Privilege and public provision in the intellectual welfare state” retains its professional resonance in the 21st century. Her distinction between the mission of the library for the general public and that of the private sector library for a restricted clientele, draws attention to the broad educational and leisure mission of the former and the contribution to the commercial advantage of the organisation of the latter. The current professional focus on public rights to information, as expressed in freedom of information legislation, threatens to obscure the private sector's concern with the protection of intellectual property and the acquisition of business intelligence for the benefit of the organisation, but the distinct missions of library and information services in the two sector remain as significant as ever.

Provides a review of historical information still of value today.

Some thirty years ago, when the laboratory where I worked needed light alloy castings, success depended on divination carried out by the foreman. This hinged upon the effects of spitting in the crucible, and the results beat any scientific method hollow. About five years later we were using more dependable and repeatable, if less picturesque, criteria. This came about because meantime various theoretically‐minded people had studied various apparently minor and irrelevant matters such as the behaviour of single crystals of aluminium. Some of the personal skill and experience hitherto needed for routine operations now could be delegated; at times even to instruments.

Barbara Kyle is a respected member of the library profession. It is sad to know that she has resigned her place in Aslib work. She is too young and too able to be lost to library science. We look forward to seeing her health restored and her work resumed. Our first meeting was in 1948, in Chatham House. The huge work of newspaper clippings being done there impressed me as a first‐class piece of documentation work in the field of social sciences. Our next meeting was at Geneva in 1955 at a meeting of the Committee on the International Organization of Documentation Work in Social Sciences. There her dynamism could be seen in its fullness. In May 1957, she presided over my talk on Classification as a Discipline at the Dorking Conference. These were all formal occasions. We had a more intimate talk later, when we happened to ride by chance on the same bus down New Oxford Street in London.

As her many friends and colleagues all over the world already know, Barbara Kyle retired prematurely at the end of June from her twin posts on the staff of Aslib: Research Librarian and Editor of this Journal. Thus ill health has interrupted a career of singular éclat in the realm of librarianship and imposed a burden of rest and recuperation on one whose capacity for living is everywhere a legend. And ‘everywhere’, it must be said, contains in this context no hint of poetic licence, for rarely can the British documentalist abroad have engaged in converse with his colleagues without the name of Kyle being mentioned with respect, admiration, or personal affection—frequently the rare tribute of all three.

20. There is also a decree, dated 12th April, 1924, made under the authority of the Law of 21st December, 1923, which deals with the preparation of condensed milk and dried milk. The chief provisions of the decree are that the factory where the milk is prepared for export must be licensed by the Minister of Agriculture, and that it must have a satisfactory water supply and drainage system. It must also conform with the requirements of the Minister in regard to cleanliness. Definitions of condensed milk (full cream and skimmed), dried milk, homogenised milk and sterilised milk are also given. Rules are also laid down for the labelling of containers, and standards of purity are prescribed for the metal of which these are made. Provision is also made for the sampling of the products by officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and their examination at the laboratory of the Ministry. A further decree of the same date deals with the sanitation and hygiene of condenseries, the sterilisation and proper condition of milk vessels, the cleansing of machinery, and the health of the workers in so far as risk of infection of the milk is concerned.