Families and educators have turned to digital tablets to support the unique needs of students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), due to their ease of use, social acceptance, low cost, and portability. While school-based trial programs are emerging, there is very little research examining collaborative partnerships between families and educators relating to digital tablets. This study employed a qualitative methodology to investigate the use of digital tablets in the home setting to support students with ASD. Underpinned by Moll and Greenberg’s funds of knowledge theoretical framework, the study posited that the use of digital tablets for students with ASD can be enhanced if experiences from the home setting are validated by educators. It used semistructured interviews and anecdotal evidence with four families to explore the various ways digital tablets are used. Data from interviews with four teacher participants in a school-based trial were used to examine the collaboration between homes and schools regarding digital tablet use. The results showed that digital tablets were used daily in their homes. Frequent recreational and educational uses were reported as well as uses that supported behavior and communication. Finally, there were some suggestions in relation to the collaboration between home and school.
Multimedia resources such as video and animations are increasingly used to enhance student engagement and understanding, particularly when teaching cognitively complex concepts. However, the creation of animation is time-consuming and hence, expensive compared to the creation of graphics. Recognizing this and the challenges students face in learning immunology, we describe here a process of a multi-disciplinary collaboration that produced a series of 3-minute animated infographics videos for tertiary-level immunology teaching within an Australian university. We evaluate the benefit of these and their merit as supplemental curriculum resources to enhance learning.
An exploration of materiality, corporeality and the creative tropics. The paper investigates factors affecting creative practice in the tropics, referring to the experience of the author and selected local artists and teasing out the impact on the creative mind, body and output. Major themes are the impact of: heat and humidity; tropical light and colour; and the impermanence of material culture. The scientific foundations of these aspects are outlined and a range of experiences, implications and adaptive strategies are discussed. These factors are seen to be more generally applicable and the concept of the Tyranny of the Temperate is identified. Paper illustrated with stills from the author's work, Tropicality 1.2 his paper explores materiality, corporeality and the creative tropics. It is a position paper, focusing on three core themes that are established in physics and biology, developed through interviews with local artists and applied to creative practice in the tropics and beyond.The paper has a Far North Queensland-centric perspective and studies the impact on creative practice of: heat and humidity; light and colour; and the impermanence of material objects. As part of this process I conducted brief interviews with four local artists who generously shared their experiences. They are referred to here by their initials. Their full names, areas of practice and websites are listed in the Appendix. But let's start with the back story.
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