Search results

1 – 10 of 122
Per page
102050
Citations:
Loading...
Available. Content available

Abstract

Details

Journal of Enabling Technologies, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-6263

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 19 July 2019

Katerina Pieri and Sue Valerie Gray Cobb

People with severe or profound hearing loss face daily communication problems mainly due to the language barrier between themselves and the hearing community. Their hearing…

467

Abstract

Purpose

People with severe or profound hearing loss face daily communication problems mainly due to the language barrier between themselves and the hearing community. Their hearing deficiency, as well as their use of sign language, often makes it difficult for them to use and understand spoken language. Cyprus is amongst the top 5 European countries with a relatively high proportion of registered deaf people (0.12 per cent of the population: GUL, 2010). However, lack of technological and financial support to the Deaf Community of Cyprus leaves the Cypriot deaf people unsupported and marginalised. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

This study implemented user-centred design methods to explore the communication needs and requirements of Cypriot deaf people and develop a functional prototype of a mobile app to help them to communicate more effectively with hearing people. A total of 76 deaf adults were involved in various stages of the research. This paper presents the participatory design activities (N=8) and results of usability testing (N=8).

Findings

The study found that users were completely satisfied with the mobile app and, in particular, they liked the use of Cypriot Sign Language (CSL) videos of a real person interpreting hearing people’s speech in real time and the custom onscreen keyboard to allow faster selection of text input.

Originality/value

Despite advances in communication aid technologies, there is currently no technology available that supports CSL or real-time speech to sign language conversion for the deaf people of Cyprus.

Details

Journal of Enabling Technologies, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-6263

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 11 July 2019

Maria Jose Galvez Trigo, Penelope Jane Standen and Sue Valerie Gray Cobb

The purpose of this paper is to identify the main reasons for low uptake of robots in special education (SE), obtained from an analysis of previous studies that used robots in the…

224

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the main reasons for low uptake of robots in special education (SE), obtained from an analysis of previous studies that used robots in the area, and from interviewing SE teachers about the topic.

Design/methodology/approach

An analysis of 18 studies that used robots in SE was performed, and the conclusions were complemented and compared with the feedback from interviewing 13 SE teachers from Spain and the UK about the reasons they believed caused the low uptake of robots in SE classrooms.

Findings

Five main reasons why SE schools do not normally use robots in their classrooms were identified: the inability to acquire the system due to its price or availability; its difficulty of use; the low range of activities offered; the limited ways of interaction offered; and the inability to use different robots with the same software.

Originality/value

Previous studies focussed on exploring the advantages of using robots to help children with autism spectrum conditions and learning disabilities. This study takes a step further and looks into the reasons why, despite the benefits shown, robots are rarely used in real-life settings after the relevant study ends. The authors also present a potential solution to the issues found: involving end users in the design and development of new systems using a user-centred design approach for all the components, including methods of interaction, learning activities and the most suitable type of robots.

Details

Journal of Enabling Technologies, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-6263

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 18 March 2011

Sarah Parsons, Laura Millen, Sara Garib‐Penna and Sue Cobb

This paper outlines the participatory design processes adopted within the COSPATIAL project which is developing interactive, collaborative technologies for children and young…

414

Abstract

This paper outlines the participatory design processes adopted within the COSPATIAL project which is developing interactive, collaborative technologies for children and young people on the autism spectrum to support collaboration and social conversation skills. The project has involved a ‘core design team’ of teachers in a series of design workshops from the start. Groups of typically developing children and those on the autism spectrum have also been regularly involved in design and feedback activities to inform the development of our technology prototypes. Initial impressions from pilot testing suggest that children have enjoyed using the prototypes and teachers have found them useful; we suggest that our participatory design methods have strongly contributed to this positive response.

Details

Journal of Assistive Technologies, vol. 5 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-9450

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 18 March 2011

Chris Abbott

63

Abstract

Details

Journal of Assistive Technologies, vol. 5 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-9450

Access Restricted. View access options
Book part
Publication date: 19 September 2012

Polly Björk-Willén

Purposes – The overall aim of the chapter is to explore children's acting and disputing within a family role-play and highlight how different roles are argued upon and negotiated…

Abstract

Purposes – The overall aim of the chapter is to explore children's acting and disputing within a family role-play and highlight how different roles are argued upon and negotiated by the participants, both verbally and nonverbally.

Methodology – The chapter is drawn from a single play episode between five 6-year-old girls at a Swedish preschool. The analytical framework of the study is influenced by ethnomethodological work on social action focusing in particular on participants’ methodical ways of accomplishing and making sense of social activities.

Findings – The analyses show that the girls use a range of verbal and nonverbal resources to argue and accomplish the social order of the play (i) using past tense to display the factual past event status, and present tense to bid for upcoming events, (ii) building a mutual pretend understanding of places and objects that were used to configure nearness as well as distance in the girls’ interaction and relationship. Finally, the analyses clearly show that the significance of a pretend role is situated and depends on the social context in which it is negotiated.

Practical implications – To get acquainted with detailed analyses of children's pretend play can be useful for preschool teachers’ understanding of how children build relationships within the play, and hopefully awaken their interest to study children's play in depth in everyday practice.

Value of chapter – The present chapter contributes to a wider understanding of how social relationships are argued and negotiated by preschool girls within pretend family role-play.

Details

Disputes in Everyday Life: Social and Moral Orders of Children and Young People
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78052-877-9

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Book part
Publication date: 19 September 2012

Amanda Bateman

Purpose – This chapter demonstrates the social organization practices evident in early childhood disputes in order to promote a greater understanding of the role of non-verbal…

Abstract

Purpose – This chapter demonstrates the social organization practices evident in early childhood disputes in order to promote a greater understanding of the role of non-verbal, embodied actions within the dispute process. In doing so, this chapter offers insight into children's co-construction of disputes and has practical implications for early childhood teachers.

Methodology – Ethnomethodology (EM), conversation analysis (CA) and membership categorization analysis (MCA) are applied to the current study of children's disputes in order to offer insight into the sequences of social organization processes evident in children's disagreements.

Findings – This chapter presents a detailed analysis of the everyday disputes which four-year-old children engage in during their morning playtime at a primary school in Wales, UK. It reveals the children's use of physical gestures to support their verbal actions in order to maximize intersubjectivity between the participants. This joint understanding was necessary during the social organization process.

Practical implications – Managing children's physical disputes within an educational context is recognized as a very difficult aspect of a teacher's routine as the timing and level of intervention are so subjective (Bateman, 2011a). This chapter offers insight into the organization of physical disputes between young children, and so enables teachers to make an informed decision in their practice.

Details

Disputes in Everyday Life: Social and Moral Orders of Children and Young People
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78052-877-9

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 1 March 1998

C. Richard Yarbrough, Glen T. Cameron, Lynne M. Sallot and Allison McWilliams

This paper offers a quick overview of Cameron's contingency theory of conflict management in public relations. It then applies the theory to three cases that occurred during the…

379

Abstract

This paper offers a quick overview of Cameron's contingency theory of conflict management in public relations. It then applies the theory to three cases that occurred during the 1996 Summer Olympic Games that were taken from the policy position papers, notes, diaries and tape recordings of C. Richard Yarbrough, Managing Director‐Communications of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG). The areas analysed include: the moving of preliminary volleyball matches from one venue to another which was forced by conflict between gay activists and local politicians who passed an anti‐gay resolution — a sustained effort at accommodation that shifted to advocacy; conflict between the ACOG board of directors and the media resulting from the disclosure of ACOG executive salaries — a strong advocacy stance that led to compromise; and conflict threatened between ACOG and a minority minister who was disgruntled about an Olympic sponsor — a case of marginality too insignificant to bother with. The cases not only illustrate and support factors in the contingency theory, but highlight the impracticality and inflexibility of two‐way symmetrical or mixed‐motive public relations as models of choice.

Details

Journal of Communication Management, vol. 3 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-254X

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 15 November 2019

Irene Biza and Elena Nardi

The purpose of this paper is to propose and evaluate a proactive reflective activity for mathematics student teachers in which they consider mathematical content and its teaching…

388

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to propose and evaluate a proactive reflective activity for mathematics student teachers in which they consider mathematical content and its teaching in highly specific classroom situations.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was conducted in context of a mathematics Initial Teacher Education programme in the UK. Participants were invited from the whole cohort of student teachers to identify, script and reflect upon critical classroom incidents. In total, 12 such scripts were produced and then discussed by 17 student teachers in group and plenary sessions. Discussions were audio-recorded. Scripts and discussions were analysed according to four characteristics: consistency between stated pedagogical priorities and intended practices; specificity of the reflection to the classroom situation reported in the scripts; reification of pedagogical discourse; and, reification of mathematical discourse.

Findings

In the results, the authors exemplify student teachers’ insights that emerged from the analysis of the scripts through the typology of the four characteristics, and the authors observe that the student teachers’ insights mirror the complexity and richness of the mathematics classrooms they face. The authors’ examples and their evaluation through the aforementioned typology of the four characteristics illustrate the potency of student teachers’ participation in producing, and reflecting upon, individually and collectively, critical incidents of their inaugural experiences in the classroom.

Practical implications

As these activities take placein the context of teacher education, professional development or developmental research environments, an additional challenge is to generate robust and informative evaluation of teachers’ engagement with reflection and research on their practice. This study takes on this challenge in the context of a mathematics teacher education programme in the UK: the authors propose and evaluate a proactive reflective activity for mathematics student teachers in which they consider mathematical content and its teaching in highly specific classroom situations.

Originality/value

The examples and their evaluation through the typology of four characteristics illustrate the potency of student teachers’ participation in producing, and reflecting upon, individually and collectively, critical incidents of their inaugural experiences in the classroom.

Details

International Journal for Lesson and Learning Studies, vol. 9 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-8253

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Book part
Publication date: 8 November 2010

William V. Rapp

This research chapter argues lawyers, not just bankers, for good and bad have been involved in all aspects of the current financial crisis. Indeed after examining and assessing…

Abstract

This research chapter argues lawyers, not just bankers, for good and bad have been involved in all aspects of the current financial crisis. Indeed after examining and assessing various civil causes of action related to the “Mortgage Meltdown” and its aftermath, it appears if lawyers had been less involved or had raised warnings about legal risks as well as economic ones, whether the financial impact would have been so disastrous and widespread. Indeed by raising cautionary flags earlier, lawyers might have better served both the clients’ and the public's long-term interests. This view thus complements issues related to criminally prosecuting mortgage fraud that has also seen explosive growth and where lawyers have again played central roles. Lawyers have been involved at the back end too in terms of legislation or resolving issues such as bankruptcies and foreclosures.

The chapter examines several causes of action the media have reported being raised by various parties and how they illustrate the role lawyers, regulations, and legislation have played in the origins and evolution of the current crisis. The cases explored involve individual parties and class actions. The chapter also analyzes in detail a case representing opposite ends of the origination and foreclosure closure spectrum by describing a derivative shareholder suit against corporate officers and directors actively involved in creating the subprime mess, who were then sued for covering up the inevitable results from failed loans in the reports to shareholders. It thus illustrates the legal complexities emerging from the abuse of complex financial and organizational structures impacting many investors. Finally the chapter concludes by arguing there is a public policy need not only for financial regulatory reform but also for a tightening in the professional standards and regulatory penalties imposed on lawyers involved in such transactions.

Details

International Banking in the New Era: Post-Crisis Challenges and Opportunities
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-913-8

1 – 10 of 122
Per page
102050