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This article reports a theory-driven experimental study that evaluates the effects of an annotation functionality on online social interaction and individual learning outcomes. The central hypothesis of this study is that directly addressing a part of a text by annotating it and then connecting each annotation with its related discussion can decrease coordinative interaction costs and result in a higher-quality discussion that favors greater gains in individual learning outcomes. To reach our objective, we carried out a theory-driven experimental study that compares two versions of an anchored discussion system: one with annotation functionality and one without it, both displaying the learning material side by side with its associated discussion in one window. Participants were 106 students enrolled in two sections of a blended-format course in health education. We assigned each section to a software condition. The examination of students' online social interaction centered on a fine-grained content analysis of coordination and knowledge construction activities as well as sequential analysis of knowledge construction activities. The results indicate that annotation functionality decreased coordinative interaction costs and stimulated more elaborated discussions that favored greater gains in individual learning outcomes. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation's long and deep immersion in Ohio education policy, particularly in the charter-school realm, includes a half decade of direct experience as "authorizer" of several charters. Initially, the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) was chief authorizer of charter schools in the Buckeye State. After the state auditor released a scathing review of ODE's handling of its role, the legislature "fired" the agency and in early 2003 invited a host of other entities to undertake the challenges of school sponsorship. Along with state universities, and district and county school systems, the list of potential authorizers included nonprofit organizations that met certain criteria. If too few new authorizers were willing to step up to the plate, however, the legislature's move would orphan more than 100 extant charter schools, forcing them to close. The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation had long been active on the Ohio charter scene as critic, policy analyst, facilitator of new schools, and source of assistance (both financial and technical) to promising charter operators. After fruitlessly seeking new sponsors to take on the potential "orphans"--eligible organizations feared the political, financial, and legal-liability risks--and after much internal soul-searching and debate, Fordham decided in 2004 to apply to become a school authorizer and by June 2005 was occupying that hot seat. In this article, the authors recount and draw lessons from that experience. (Contains 1 figure.)

This study attempts to reconcile viewpoints on the role of errors in the design of computer-based training (CBT) systems. From one perspective, errors are detrimental to learning; from another, they can be beneficial. The results of an experiment are presented and discussed. When a CBT system is designed to allow learners to correct their own errors, they learn significantly more than when errors are prevented. When learners are allowed only to correct errors that others have made, they do not learn significantly more than when errors are prevented. Implications for the design of CBT systems and possibilities for future research are considered. (Contains 5 tables and 6 figures.)

UCLA, which has one of the top 10 research libraries in the country, has been using Taos software since 1996. However in 2001, Sirsi Corp. announced that it was freezing development on Taos software. As the associate university librarian for information technology at UCLA, the author relates that it was his responsibility to lead the way through the process of selecting a new integrated library system. The UCLA Library Executive Committee, made up of the university librarian and the associate university librarians, was committed to seek input from faculty and students in developing the Request For Proposal (RFP) and in evaluation competing vendor systems. Although it is challenging to involve library patrons in system selection, the library believes that involving them is crucial. In this article the author shares the techniques that they found the most effective in turning patrons into partners.

The dynamic assembly of filamentous (F) actin plays essential roles in the assembly of presynaptic boutons, the fusion, mobilization and recycling of synaptic vesicles (SVs), and presynaptic forms of plasticity. However, the molecular mechanisms that regulate the temporal and spatial assembly of presynaptic F-actin remain largely unknown. Similar to other F-actin rich membrane specializations, presynaptic boutons contain a set of molecules that respond to cellular cues and trans-synaptic signals to facilitate activity-dependent assembly of F-actin. The presynaptic active zone (AZ) protein Piccolo has recently been identified as a key regulator of neurotransmitter release during SV cycling. It does so by coordinating the activity-dependent assembly of F-Actin and the dynamics of key plasticity molecules including Synapsin1, Profilin and CaMKII. The multidomain structure of Piccolo, its exquisite association with the AZ, and its ability to interact with a number of actin-associated proteins suggest that Piccolo may function as a platform to coordinate the spatial assembly of F-actin. Here we have identified Daam1, a Formin that functions with Profilin to drive F-actin assembly, as a novel Piccolo binding partner. We also found that within cells Daam1 activation promotes Piccolo binding, an interaction that can spatially direct the polymerization of F-Actin. Moreover, similar to Piccolo and Profilin, Daam1 loss of function impairs presynaptic-F-actin assembly in neurons. These data suggest a model in which Piccolo directs the assembly of presynaptic F-Actin from the AZ by scaffolding key actin regulatory proteins including Daam1.

The authors developed and evaluated an expert system-based training system using Information Systems Design Theory (ISDT). First, an Expert System for Training (EST) was designed and implemented, and then a version of EST without expertise features, called IST, was also created. In order to evaluate which training system (if any) delivers better training, a three-group quasi-experiment was used. Each group was trained to use Statistical Process Control (SPC). One group was trained using the EST; outcomes for this group were significantly the highest among the three. A second group was trained using the IST; outcomes were not as high as the first group but significantly higher compared with the control group. The control group was trained with traditional means. Results show that the ISDT led to a useful purposely- developed application for enhancing the training of workers who have limited education but need to know about a very specific and complex field where the availability of trainers is limited. The authors call for further research that uses this ISDT to build purposely-developed software to support training of complex tasks. Keywords: Expert Systems, Information Systems Design Theory (ISDT), Information Systems Development, Statistical Process Control (SPC), Training, INTRODUCTION This paper reports the development of an information systems design theory (ISDT) for an expert system to support worker training. It describes design research that produced a system to [...]

The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation's long and deep immersion in Ohio education policy, particularly in the charter-school realm, includes a half decade of direct experience as 'authorizer' of several charters. [...]