This article highlights key online teacher professional development (oTPD) areas in need of research based on a review of current oTPD research conducted in conjunction with an oTPD conference held at Harvard University in fall 2005. The literature review of this field documents much work that is anecdotal, describing professional development programs or “lessons learned” without providing full details of the participants, setting, research questions, methods of data collection, or analytic strategies. Until more rigorous oTPD research is conducted, developers are hard pressed to know the best design features to include, educators remain uninformed about which program will help support teacher change and student learning, and funders lack sufficient guidelines for where to direct their support. The authors believe that the recommendations in this article for a research agenda will guide oTPD scholarship toward an evidence-based conceptual framework that provides robust explanatory power for theory and model building.

BackgroundSelf-harm is a major public health concern. Increasing ageing populations and high risk of suicide in later life highlight the importance of identification of the particular characteristics of self-harm in older adults.AimTo systematically review characteristics of self-harm in older adults.MethodsA comprehensive search for primary studies on self-harm in older adults was conducted in e-databases (AgeLine, CINAHL, PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Web of Science) from their inception to February 2018. Using predefined criteria, articles were independently screened and assessed for methodological quality. Data were synthesised following a narrative approach. A patient advisory group advised on the design, conduct and interpretation of findings.ResultsA total of 40 articles (n = 62 755 older adults) were included. Yearly self-harm rates were 19 to 65 per 100 000 people. Self-poisoning was the most commonly reported method. Comorbid physical problems were common. Increased risk repetition was reported among older adults with self-harm history and previous and current psychiatric treatment. Loss of control, increased loneliness and perceived burdensome ageing were reported self-harm motivations.ConclusionsSelf-harm in older adults has distinct characteristics that should be explored to improve management and care. Although risk of further self-harm and suicide is high in all age cohorts, risk of suicide is higher in older adults. Given the frequent contact with health services, an opportunity exists for detection and prevention of self-harm and suicide in this population. These results are limited to research in hospital-based settings and community-based studies are needed to fully understand self-harm among older adults.Declaration of interestNone.

Preschool students with disabilities engage in social interaction with peers less often than children developing typically in inclusive classrooms. This research explores how divergent theories of literacy learning, those inherent in the structure of special education and those promoted by scholars interested in emergent literacy learning, impact upon inclusive classrooms. This qualitative case study details how a writing community in an inclusive preschool classroom promoted social engagement and literacy learning of all students. The study highlights one preschooler with a disability to showcase one way in which these divergent theories of learning might be bridged.

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Foreign language ability, global awareness, and intercultural communication skills are increasingly recognized as essential dimensions of productive participation in the emerging economic, civic, political and social arenas of the 21st century. Consequently, these skills are being promoted more intentionally than ever across the spectrum of K16 education. This newly articulated set of objectives for today’s students implies a concomitant set of competencies in educators. These competencies have not traditionally been a focus of professional development efforts in the United States, and little is known about how best to cultivate these competencies in educators. These competencies can be understood in terms of Byram’s (1997) model of intercultural communicative competence (ICC). The principles of ICC development point to online learning as a potentially powerful lever in cultivating teachers’ own competencies in this arena. A review of studies of intercultural learning, technologically-mediated intercultural learning and online teacher professional development is offered to suggest how these three domains might overlap. A synthesis of the findings across these literatures suggests a set of principles and educational design features to promote the building of teachers’ intercultural competencies. A key finding reveals the unique affordances of networked technologies in online learning opportunities to support the development of intercultural competencies in teachers across all subject areas.La competencia en lenguas extranjeras, la conciencia global y la comunicación intercultural están cada vez más reconocidas como aspectos esenciales de la participación productiva en el ámbito económico, cívico, político y social del siglo XXI. Como consecuencia, la promoción internacional de estas competencias adquiere una importancia única en el espectro de la educación infantil, básica y secundaria en Estados Unidos. El conjunto de nuevos objetivos para estudiantes de hoy implica el desarrollo de nuevas competencias entre docentes que no han sido contempladas hasta ahora en las iniciativas de desarrollo profesional llevadas a cabo en Estados Unidos, y poco se sabe sobre la adquisición de estas competencias entre educadores. Estas competencias pueden entenderse según el modelo de competencia comunicativa intercultural de Byram (1997), cuyos principios de desarrollo se basan en señalar el aprendizaje on-line como una herramienta eficaz para la adquisición de competencias entre docentes. En este artículo se presenta el análisis de varios estudios sobre el aprendizaje intercultural; aprendizaje intercultural y tecnología; y el desarrollo profesional on-line de profesores, con el fin de plantear la posibilidad de las tres dimensiones. En suma, se nos ofrece una serie de principios sobre el diseño educativo que promueven la construcción de estas competencias interculturales en los profesores, entre los que destaca la evidencia de que las tecnologías en red aplicadas al aprendizaje on-line poseen aspectos únicos para desarrollar las competencias interculturales en todas las áreas.

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