Google is celebrating its 20th anniversary--and the internet has become an inseparable part of the lives of adults, teens, and children. In awareness of the problems and challenges posed by the new world, various software programs have been developed, among them NetSpark (henceforth: the program), which make it possible to block and/or filter…

Instructional technology has become a crucial component of public education. Reflected in the college and career-ready standards being implemented across the United States, an emphasis has been placed on preparing students with both the literacy and technology skills needed to succeed in postsecondary education and the workforce. Though a growing…

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) offers innovative tools for restructuring teaching and learning processes in preparing students for the 21st Century skills. However, there is no sufficient and reliable data concerning how the use of ICT fit in different school cultures in Cameroon, and how teachers with varying pedagogical and…

This survey study investigated how graduate school admissions committees perceive and use the "GRE"® General Test and "GRE"® Subject Tests after the launch of the "GRE"® revised General Test in August 2011. These perceptions and uses impact the validity of the tests. Prior research about the perceptions and uses of…

Technological tools have permeated higher education programs. However, their mere introduction does not guarantee instructional quality. This article presents the results of an innovation project aimed at fostering autonomous learning among students at a Pre-School and Primary Teacher degree. For one semester all freshmen students used a system…

Academics' engagement in Open Educational Practices (OEPs) is critical for opening up higher education. It is in this perspective that the willingness to engage in such practices among academics in Rwandan public higher education was investigated with an agenda to trigger responsive actions. Via convenience/availability and volunteer sampling, 170…

Teacher praise is an effective strategy that decreases preschool students' disruptive behavior. It is well established that school-aged students with behavior problems receive fewer teacher praises than their peers; however, it is unclear whether these findings are consistent among preschool students. The purpose of this study was to collect…

There is limited research related to nursing students' social media use. Because of this, there was a need to further explore how they were using social media and their ability to maintain e-professionalism. This study discovered that pre-licensure baccalaureate nursing students are actively using multiple social media accounts on a daily basis.…

Functional behavior assessment is becoming a commonly used practice in school settings. Accompanying this growth has been an increase in research on functional behavior assessment. We reviewed the extant literature on documenting indirect and direct methods of functional behavior assessment in school settings. To discern best practice guidelines…

Patron-Driven Acquisitions (PDA) is a new model used for e-book acquisition by academic libraries. A key component of this model is to make records of ebooks available in a library catalog and let actual patron usage decide whether or not an item is purchased. However, there has been a lack of research examining the role of the library catalog as…

This article presents the results of a Web-based survey regarding the circulation of tablets in academic libraries. The survey, which was completed by 61 respondents, identifies the most common circulation policies and procedures used. These results will help other academic institutions develop their own policy or update existing ones. Areas of…

University Counseling Center staff are currently facing pressure to measure the value of their centers, in part due to shrinking institutional budgets and a push towards assessment and accountability. Scrutiny from university stakeholders provides an opportunity to document the efficacy of counseling center services and make improvements. Thus,…

This study explores the extent to which research published in Latin America - where the vast majority of which is made freely available to the public - has an impact and reach beyond the academic community. It addresses the ways in which the study of research impact is moving beyond the counting citations, which has dominated bibliometrics for…

This dissertation examines the impact of exploration and learning upon eDiscovery information retrieval; it is written in three parts. Part I contains foundational concepts and background on the topics of information retrieval and eDiscovery. This part informs the reader about the research frameworks, methodologies, data collection, and…

This study continues studies on the concept of leisure as culture dependent -- between tradition and modernity, while focusing on the usage of mobile phone applications and its impact on teaching and learning within a unique population. The study examined the association between having NetSpark on one's Smartphone and utilization of spare time…