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This paper explores the ways that the intersection between disability and digital technology in higher education unfolds collaborative experiences that include disabled students through what I call 'Digital Collaborative Making'. Students who participate in Digital Collaborative Making collaborate on multimedia video projects that tell stories about their relationship with digital technology. As a "research-creation" approach that weaves academic research and artistic practices together, Digital Collaborative Making invites students to devise creative methods of critiquing the social and cultural impact of digital technology. While digital technology can improve accessibility in education, ableist dynamics and 'disabling' ideologies remain pervasive in universities. By engaging students with different identities and lived experiences, Digital Collaborative Making presents opportunities for students with disabilities to openly express their creativity and subvert normative perspectives that stigmatise disability as a deficit. In turn, non-disabled students can learn what it means to be open to the presence of disability and difference. To illustrate these points, this paper considers the inclusive prospect of Digital Collaborative Making in "Digital Lives," an undergraduate communications course at the University of Waterloo.

This review paper synthesizes peer-reviewed empirical research published between 2010 and 2021 about wildland fire communication practices. Our goal was to systematically review and provide an overview of how wildland fire communication has been empirically studied, and theoretical and methodological underpinnings and representativeness of this work. We found that researchers employ diverse theoretical and methodological approaches, yet most work originates from the western United States or Australia. Studies were published in diverse disciplinary journals, most frequently looked at residents as study subjects, and many sought to understand the effectiveness of communication. There is a need to build theoretical and methodological consistency in wildland fire communication research.

While advances in game-based learning are already transforming educative practices globally, with tech giants like Microsoft, Apple and Google taking notice and investing in educational game initiatives, there is a concurrent and critically important development that focuses on "game construction" pedagogy as a vehicle for enhancing computational literacy in middle and high school students. Essentially, game construction-based curriculum takes the central question "do children learn from playing games" to the next stage by asking "(what) can children learn from constructing games?" Founded on Seymour Papert's constructionist learning model, and developed over nearly two decades, there is compelling evidence that game construction can increase student confidence and build their capacity towards ongoing computing science involvement and other STEM subjects. Our study adds to the growing body of literature on school-based game construction through comprehensive empirical methodology and evidence-based guidelines for curriculum design. There is still debate as to the utility of different software tools for game construction, models of scaffolding knowledge, and evaluation of learning outcomes and knowledge transfer. In this paper, we present a study we conducted in a classroom environment with three groups of grade 6 students (60+ students) using Game Maker to construct their own games. Based on a quantitative analysis and a qualitative discussion we organize results around several core themes that speak to the field of inquiry: levels of computational literacy based on pre- and post-tests; gender-based attitudes to computing science and programming based on a pre- and post-survey; and the relationship between existing media literacy and performance in programming as part of the game construction curriculum. Significant results include some gender differences in attitudes towards computers and programming with boys demonstrating slightly higher confidence and performance. We discuss the complex reasons potentially contributing to that, particularly against a diverse ecology of overall media use, gameplay experience, and access to technology at home. Finally, we theorize game construction as an educational tool that directly engages foundational literacy and numeracy, and connects to wider STEM-oriented learning objectives in ways that can benefit both boys and girls in the classroom.

At the tertiary level today, courses on design thinking can be found in diverse programs in and beyond the realm of traditional design disciplines. Across Canada, design thinking courses feature in communication, culture and information technology, and business and engineering. This paper reports findings from a study that investigated the following question: What is design thinking and how is it being taught? The study surveyed different approaches adopted in five post-secondary programs. Specifically, it examined course emphases, class structures, assignments and other components, in the hope of drawing a matrix from which to analyze their strengths and weaknesses and to examine what they have in common. (Contains 3 endnotes and 2 tables.)

This paper assesses the efficacy of teaching a new course in the communication curriculum entitled Nonviolent Communication and Peace. Three studies are included: two pilot studies at a large Eastern US university and a final study which also included data from a concurrent study at a large Canadian university. Results from a pre-post instructional design show modest changes in the predicted direction of greater peace for three areas of assessment: (1) greater elaboration and integration of definitions for peace, (2) more agreement with statements about peaceful beliefs and behaviors related to the practice of peace in everyday life, and (3) increased recall for the number of peace role models. Future research includes recommendations for continued development of the peace assessment measure.

Objective: To conduct a time-cost analysis of formatting in scientific publishing. Design: International, cross-sectional study (one-time survey). Setting: Internet-based self-report survey, live between September 2018 and January 2019. Participants: Anyone working in research, science, or academia and who submitted at least one peer-reviewed manuscript for consideration for publication in 2017. Completed surveys were available for 372 participants from 41 countries (60% of respondents were from Canada). Main outcome measure: Time (hours) and cost (wage per hour x time) associated with formatting a research paper for publication in a peer-reviewed academic journal. Results: The median annual income category was US$61,000–80,999, and the median number of publications formatted per year was four. Manuscripts required a median of two attempts before they were accepted for publication. The median formatting time was 14 hours per manuscript, or 52 hours per person, per year. This resulted in a median calculated cost of US$477 per manuscript or US$1,908 per person, per year. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study to analyze the cost of manuscript formatting in scientific publishing. Our results suggest that scientific formatting represents a loss of 52 hours, costing the equivalent of US$1,908 per researcher per year. These results identify the hidden and pernicious price associated with scientific publishing and provide evidence to advocate for the elimination of strict formatting guidelines, at least prior to acceptance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents an overview of satellite technology and trends in its use, reviews the evolution of education and training applications of communication satellites, and prognosticates about the possible national and international uses during the 1990s. A bibliography of 26 items is included. (CHC)

Explores McLuhan's intellectual connection and indebtedness to his fellow Canadian Harold Innis. Contrasts their distinguishing characteristics and contributions to communications media theory. (PD)

The author discusses why an advisory vocational committee (AVC) is a necessary tool within the Ontario (Canada) school system and within the community. Also examines the importance of establishing an ongoing channel of communication among AVCs within provinces to the Canadian Vocational Association. (CT)

Reviews the slow development of communication and journalism departments in Canadian universities and colleges. (PD)

“Vaccine hesitancy” is a concept now frequently used in vaccination discourse. The increased popularity of this concept in both academic and public health circles is challenging previously held perspectives that individual vaccination attitudes and behaviours are a simple dichotomy of accept or reject. A consultation study was designed to assess the opinions of experts and health professionals concerning the definition, scope, and causes of vaccine hesitancy in Canada. We sent online surveys to two panels (1- vaccination experts and 2- front-line vaccine providers). Two questionnaires were completed by each panel, with data from the first questionnaire informing the development of questions for the second. Our participants defined vaccine hesitancy as an attitude (doubts, concerns) as well as a behaviour (refusing some / many vaccines, delaying vaccination). Our findings also indicate that both vaccine experts and front-line vaccine providers have the perception that vaccine rates have been declining and consider vaccine hesitancy an important issue to address in Canada. Diffusion of negative information online and lack of knowledge about vaccines were identified as the key causes of vaccine hesitancy by the participants. A common understanding of vaccine hesitancy among researchers, public health experts, policymakers and health care providers will better guide interventions that can more effectively address vaccine hesitancy within Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To conduct a systematic review of studies of social media platforms used by young people to discuss and view deliberate self-harm. Study Design: 11 electronic databases were searched from January 2000 to January 2012 for primary research; in June 2014 an updated search of Medline was conducted. Grey literature sources were also searched. Search results were screened by two reviewers. Data were extracted by one reviewer and verified by another. Methodological quality was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Results: Due to heterogeneity in study objectives and outcomes, results were not pooled; a narrative analysis is presented. 26 studies were included. Most were conducted in Canada or the UK (30.8% each), used qualitative designs (42.3%), and evaluated discussion forums (73.1%). Participants were most often aged 19–21 years (69.2%), female (mean 68.6%), and 19.2% had a documented history of depression. The social media platforms evaluated were commonly supportive and provided a sense of community among users. Support included suggestions for formal treatment, advice on stopping self-harming behavior, and encouragement. Harms included normalizing and accepting self-harming behavior; discussion of motivation or triggers, concealment, suicidal ideation or plans; and live depictions of self-harm acts. Conclusions: Although this evidence is limited by its descriptive nature, studies identify beneficial and detrimental effects for young people using social media to discuss and view deliberate self-harm. The connections users make online may be valuable to explore for therapeutic benefit. Prospective, longitudinal investigations are needed to identify short- and long-term potential harms associated with use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine climate change news coverage from 1997 to 2010 in two Canadian national newspapers: theGlobe and Mailand theNational Post. The following questions guide our analysis: Why did the volume of climate change coverage rise and fall during the period? Focusing on the key period of 2007–2008, what kinds of issue categories, thematic frames, and rhetorical frames dominate the news discourse? Canadian news coverage of climate change is characterized by a series of peaks and troughs, combined with an overall increase in coverage. The volume of coverage appears to be primarily driven by national and international political events, more than by changes to national or global carbon emissions, or by other ecological factors. The Canadian news discourse about climate change is dominated by themes of government responsibility, policymaking, policy measures for mitigation, and ways to mitigate climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article examines the shift in the Canadian privacy law and its impact on the Canadian media and investigative reporting practices. Topics discussed include the need to develop a common law tort for invasion of privacy, also referred to as intrusion upon seclusion, the decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal on the Jones v. Tsige case and the Supreme Court's defamation law analysis in the Grant v. Torstar Corp. case that led to the development of a two-stage framework for the intrusion tort.