This conference, jointly organised by OECD's Department for Science, Technology and Industry and the Italian Ministry for Innovation and Technology, was attended by approximately 350 representatives from industry, academia and government. Rapporteurs presented summaries in terms of issues and areas where there was agreement and/or convergence…

Rural areas of the developing world are the last frontier of the information technology revolution. Telephone and internet penetration there remains a small fraction of what it is in the developed world. Limited means of electronic communication with the outside world are just one source of isolation of rural communities and economies from the…

Natural disasters (droughts, earthquakes, epidemics, floods, wind storms) damage wellbeing, both in their immediate and long-term aftermath, and because the insecurity of exposure to disasters is in itself harmful to risk-averse people. As such, mitigating and coping with the risk of natural disasters is a pressing issue for economic development.…

In 2005 the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) commissioned the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) to gather evidence on local authority (LA) and school approaches to nutrition in schools in order to inform the work of the WLGA Schools Food Task and Finish Group. This report presents the findings of that research.…

It seems irrefutable that the world is progressing in concert with computer science. Educational applications and projects for first and second language acquisition have not been left behind. However, currently it seems that the reputation of completely computer-based language learning courses has taken a nosedive, and, consequently there has been…

On April 14, 2004, a management letter was forwarded setting out the expectations of the Ministry of Advanced Education for the British Columbia Council on Admissions and Transfer (BCCAT) in 2004-2005. This Annual Report was presented to specify how BCCAT has addressed those expectations and to provide information regarding other projects and…

The Excellence in Cities (EiC) policy was launched in 1999 with the aim of improving the attainment of all pupils in disadvantaged urban areas. Further Phases were launched in 2000 and 2001, by when EiC covered about a third of the secondary schools in England and over 60 per cent of the minority ethnic pupils in England attended schools in EiC…

The Increased Flexibility for 14-16 year olds Programme (IFP) was introduced in 2002 by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) in order to "create enhanced vocational and work-related learning opportunities for 14-16 year olds who can benefit most." Partnerships between a Lead Partner, usually a college of Further Education,…

This literature review is intended to provide practical information; lessons learned and promising practices which have been drawn from recent Kindergarten to Grade 12 (K-12) one-to-one mobile computing research reports and related articles. The information is presented in the form of answers to the following questions: (1) How is one-to-one…

With this Career and Technology Studies (CTS) curriculum guide, secondary students in Alberta can do the following: develop skills that can be applied in their daily lives; refine career-planning skills; develop technology-related skills in design; enhance employability skills, especially in design occupations; and apply and reinforce learning…

This guide describes legislation, policy, and funding related to the education of students with special needs in Alberta (Canada) and outlines the province's program delivery requirements and expectations. After an introduction, the first section provides policy guidelines with excerpts from legislation concerning provincial policies and special…

This introductory text is designed to prepare teachers of English as a Second Language to teach speech skills. The first three chapters explore general issues in relation to spoken language and speech instruction. The first chapter examines the nature of spoken language, and why and how we learn our native language. The second focuses on…

This article examines the impact of end-users on the information profession and looks ahead to what the future holds. It examines three waves of end-users that emerged with new search technologies: (1) full-text, natural language online systems; (2) CD-ROMs; and (3) the Internet. In the 1980s, when full-text online systems such as Textline, NEXIS,…

This longitudinal study examined the multiple influences of social class and family socialization on intelligence at age 7, and on the development of cognitive competence from age 7 through age 15 in a sample of 121 urban Icelandic children and adolescents. Socialization condition was defined as sources of parental support and control strategies,…

This report on vocational education and training (VET) reform in Estonia is one of a series of country reports by the European Training Foundation on the reform process in partner countries. Chapter 1 provides basic data on the country. Chapter 2 describes the present situation and recent developments in VET. It covers main features of the…