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With the large increase in online instruction, including remote instruction with online materials during the COVID-19 pandemic, there also was an increase in the use of instructional materials that were made to be displayed online or were digitized for online use. However, teachers have not had access to guidance about how to select and evaluate online instructional materials for classroom use. The lack of guidance has the potential to harm historically excluded populations of students and could frustrate teachers as they learn to teach with digital materials. The purpose of this paper is to share the 4A Framework for evaluating online instructional materials. The framework is organized around the premise that quality online instructional materials are accessible, promote active engagement, advocate for inclusion, and are accountable for their relationships to standards and data privacy. Each feature is discussed and examples of teacher work in applying the framework are shared.

Background Electronic medical records contain information of value for research, but contain identifiable and often highly sensitive confidential information. Patient-identifiable information cannot in general be shared outside clinical care teams without explicit consent, but anonymisation/de-identification allows research uses of clinical data without explicit consent. Results This article presents CRATE (Clinical Records Anonymisation and Text Extraction), an open-source software system with separable functions: (1) it anonymises or de-identifies arbitrary relational databases, with sensitivity and precision similar to previous comparable systems; (2) it uses public secure cryptographic methods to map patient identifiers to research identifiers (pseudonyms); (3) it connects relational databases to external tools for natural language processing; (4) it provides a web front end for research and administrative functions; and (5) it supports a specific model through which patients may consent to be contacted about research. Conclusions Creation and management of a research database from sensitive clinical records with secure pseudonym generation, full-text indexing, and a consent-to-contact process is possible and practical using entirely free and open-source software.

Objective Given the effectiveness of both in‐person and digital diabetes prevention programs (DPPs), participants have an opportunity to select a delivery mode based on their needs and preferences. The objective of this study was to understand and compare participants’ experiences with digital and in‐person DPPs to identify factors that affected how useful participants perceived these two program delivery modes. Methods Semi‐structured interviews with participants who were enrolled in DPPs as either a digital (n = 23) or in‐person (n = 20) program within one health care system were conducted. Data were analyzed following the template method using the qualitative software NVivo 12. Results Findings from the interviews indicated that creating accountability for weight loss was crucial for all program participants. In the digital program, weight and food tracking played a central role in creating accountability, while in the in‐person program, group interactions fostered accountability. The digital program was perceived to encourage self‐monitoring, oftentimes resulting in participants’ reflection on their habits. The in‐person program provided a platform for group support and mutual encouragement. Conclusions Participants perceived both programs as similarly useful. Yet program characteristics such as the ability to engage with other participants in‐person or to seamlessly track weight on a daily basis appealed to different participants. It may be beneficial to align participants’ preferences with programs’ characteristics and strengths.

There are multiple benefits when it comes to online teaching. It stimulates the interest towards the knowledge taught by capturing the attention due to the audio-visual presentation of the notions, thus eliminating the risks of inattention due to routine or boredom. The imagination is stimulated by presenting audio-visual information, but also by using computer games that increase the speed of reaction when stimuli appear. Teaching can be individualized: computer-assisted training programs having the quality of allowing students to learn at their own pace, without emotions that change the way they behave or react. The teacher receives immediate feedback, signalling very quickly any errors or difficulties, facilitating their immediate correction and leading to accountability of learners.

Over the last several decades we have seen a fundamental transformation of higher education. Fifty years ago, 75% of faculty were in highly paid and secure tenure-track jobs, but today 75% are in non-tenure-track, or contingent positions. University administrators argue that this shift, and the low wages that accompany these positions, are necessary to reduce costs in response to cuts in state funding. However, this shift has created divisions among faculty. Many scholars who study contingent faculty and the transformation of higher education argue that this transformation has divided faculty into two very different groups: a highly paid, high-status and very secure tenure-track group, and a low paid, low-status and insecure non-tenure-track group. However, most research has ignored divisions among non-tenure-track, or contingent faculty themselves. These divisions are important to recognize because they create inequality among contingent faculty and create barriers to solidarity and collective action.Drawing on in-depth interviews with one hundred contingent faculty at two large public research-intensive universities, this dissertation uncovers the divisions among contingent faculty and explores the consequences of these divisions. I argue that there are two important dimensions that divide contingent faculty: class location and job pathway. I develop a typology of contingent faculty based on these two dimensions, which creates four very different groups of contingent faculty. The academy has always needed some flexible faculty, and those types of positions were well suited to a particular group of contingent faculty -- those who see teaching as a hobby or side job, who have no desire to do research, and who do not rely on the income from this job as their primary source of income. However, the increase in contingent positions means that many of these positions are being filled by people who do not desire this type of position and who do rely on this job as their primary source of income. The contingent faculty who see this as a hobby or side job, who I refer to as Privileged Teachers, are the only contingent faculty who experience high job satisfaction. For the other three groups, these positions lead to dissatisfaction and often a poor quality of life. One group, the Privileged Frustrated Scholars, sought a tenure-track position or other permanent, well-paid job, but had to accept a non-tenure-track position after failing to secure a tenure-track position or other permanent professional job. They are unhappy in teaching-focused positions that provide insufficient opportunities or support for research and that they perceive as low-status. The other two groups, Struggling Teachers and Struggling Frustrated Scholars, rely on the income from these jobs and have a difficult time meeting the needs of themselves and their families. Their love of teaching or lack of other options is exploited by universities, who pay them wages that are difficult to live on without significant personal sacrifice. The divisions among contingent faculty create inequality among contingent faculty because only one group, the Privileged Teachers, are able to experience high job satisfaction and a high quality of life. For this group, these actually are good jobs, but for everyone else they are less than ideal. These divisions also create barriers to solidarity and collective action, as contingent faculty are unable to create a common narrative or identify shared grievances.

At a time when implementation of electronic portfolios (EPs) is expanding, the issues of clarifying their purposes continue to plague teacher education programs. Are student-centered uses of EPs compatible with program assessment and accreditation efforts? Is this an either/or situation, or can a productive middle ground be forged? This article reviews the compatibility of key purposes for EPs in light of the changing landscape of their use in teacher education. It explores theoretical perspectives, analyzes policy implications and challenges, and provides recommendations that support current adoption and implementation decisions. It concludes that it is possible to effectively use EPs for varied purposes and provides specific recommendations for doing so. (Contains 2 tables.)

As an example of design-based research, this study refined an assessment strategy for simultaneously enhancing inquiry-based learning and supporting achievement on conventional assessment measures. \"Astronomy Village®: Investigating the Universe™\" is a software program designed to engage secondary science students in authentic and inquiry-based learning over core topics in astronomy. The software was enhanced with a 20-hour curriculum and three levels of assessment to ensure successful inquiry experiences and high-stakes achievement. The first year implementation of Astronomy Village® yielded significant gains on a curriculum-oriented exam but not a standards-oriented test, and provided useful design insights that were integrated into the second year implementations. Significant gains were obtained on the test during the second year as well. It is expected that many existing inquiry-oriented science curricula might be similarly enhanced, and is suggested that a large-scale effort to do so might have a lasting impact on science education.

Archives have the potential to change people’s lives. They are created to enable the conduct of business and accountability, but they also support a democratic society’s expectations for transparency and the protection of rights, they underpin citizen’s rights and are the raw material of our history and memory. This paper examines these issues in the context of the historical development of archives and archivists in twentieth century England. The research lays the foundations for understanding how and why the modern archives and records management profession developed in England. This paper will investigate the historical conflict (or is it a continuum?) between archives as culture and as evidence. The story identifies and highlights the contributions made by many fascinating individuals who established archives services and professional practice in England in the twentieth century. They shaped the archive in a very real way, and their individual enthusiasms, interests and understandings set the course of the English archival profession. To a great extent, it was these individuals, rather than government or legislation, that set the boundaries of English archives, they decided what was included (acquired) and what was not (of archival value.) The conclusion will consider the more fundamental questions: what are archives and what are they for, or perhaps, ‘what good are the archives’?