On the future of teacher education: challenges, context and content

This article focuses on a discussion paper, which presents an analysis of context under four headings before turning to issues of what kind of teachers, teacher education and education services are required for 2020. There are three issues to be faced in the twenty-first century. The first issue is how to deal with the reconstitution of the natural environment so as to avoid imminent disaster. The second issue is how to overcome the xenophobia, learn to live with difference and construct institutions capable of accommodating difference. The third is how to mitigate gross disadvantages within and between societies.

Youth publications, generation Y and hopes for the future of newspapers

If readership projections are correct, newspapers in the United States will become niche players by 2010. That is, in about half a decade fewer than half of American adults will read a daily newspaper. This will produce major problems in attracting advertising, the lifeblood of the newspaper business. The biggest decline in readership has occurred among Generation Y - people born between 1977 and 1995. They do not read newspapers to the extent their parents did. They get their news elsewhere, mainly online. As part of a process to attract readers, many of America's major publishers launched a series of youth-focused newspapers in the 18 months to March 2004. The aim was to try to get the elusive 18-24-year-old demographic into the habit of daily reading, hoping that over time they would migrate to more traditional outlets. This paper explores the background to these youth-focused publications, describes the main players and issues involved, and provides a case study of a youth-focused pioneer, the Tribune Company s Red Eye, which is published in Chicago.

What can we learn from McLuhan? Electronic communication technologies and the future of schooling

In the 1960's, Marshall McLuhan predicted that schooling, among other things, would be transformed as society embraced electronic communication technologies. McLuhan and other medium theorists provided an evocative but controversial discussion of the effects of technological development on society and its institutions. McLuhan's ideas were widely criticised by his contemporaries, particularly educationalists; however, his ideas are not so radical today and visions similar to those formulated by McLuhan can now be found in mainstream educational literature. Predictions made by medium theorists about the future of schooling are consistent with both the reforms advocated by current-day educationalists and the speculations of technologists.

In this paper, I revisit McLuhan's predictions for the future of education. I then draw parallels between McLuhan's vision and those espoused by contemporary educationalists. I argue that, although McLuhan's predictions have re-emerged, his analysis of the interaction between new technologies and old ways of doing have not re-emerged to the same extent, with many commentators neglecting to take account of the resilience of the institutionalised practices, structures and roles of traditional schooling.

“My universe is here”: implications for the future of academic libraries from the results of a survey of researchers

One of the major challenges of university libraries is to adequately support the information needs of researchers. This paper outlines the results of a survey conducted by Deakin University Library into the information needs of researchers and the library’s perceived role and performance. The survey consisted of twenty-three interviews conducted with researchers, and its results challenged established ideas regarding researchers’ preference for print, age of resources required, and reliance on specialist rather than general or cross-disciplinary databases. Of note were the decreasing physical use of the library, the increasing importance of online resources and the changing need for library support services. The study raises some key questions relating to the future of libraries and the role of librarians.

Questioning the future of paper and online survey questionnaires for management research

The way that we build the foundations of our intellectual capital in management has changed. One example is the steady move in management research from the use of traditional paper-based survey questionnaires to online technology-based formats. This paper considers this shift, particularly focusing on the question of whether the advantages of online survey questionnaires outweigh their potential problems. The historical use of paper-based survey questionnaires has produced a large body of literature on both the advantages and disadvantages in their use, which are reviewed here alongside those of online survey questionnaires. In addition, welI-tested methods are available for increasing survey response rates in paper format, and these should not be thrown out in the quest to utilise online survey methodology. Rather, researchers should aim to exploit the potential benefits of online technologies and increase response rate by thoughtfully combining traditional and new methods. This paper argues for further discussion and research attention on electronic methods of data collection to ensure potential cost savings are not outweighed by either financial or participation costs involved in online survey questionnaire design.

The present and the future of digital TV in Australia

Australia adopted digital TV (DTV) on January 1, 2001 but due to slow adoption by end users, the deadline to discontinue the analog signal has so far been postponed twice. This paper examines the history and current status of DTV adoption in Australia with reference to theories of adoption and diffusion and the Justification Model of Technology and why end users
appear reluctant to adopt-in spite of affordable converters. End user opinions are examined on ‘why they do not adopt’ and ‘what may encourage them to adopt’, using public submissions to the 2005 parliamentary ‘Inquiry into the uptake of digital TV in Australia’. The paper advocates relevant media literacy programs to address the low public awareness of DTV and its benefits because its rejection may result in less affluent end users losing the chance to receive a range of convergent services in the future via the ubiquitous and affordable television.

The future of Victoria's greatest asset : the coast. An independent review of the Coastal Management Act 1995 after ten years of operation

This report is in essence a critique of the Victorian Coastal Management Act 1995 (VCMA), followed by recommendations for improving the Act and its implementation. The author recognises that of course the Coastal Management Act 1995 is far from the sole piece of legislation or element of governance for Victorian coastal planning and management (see Wescott, 1988.1990,1993,1995, Birrell,1994). But the Act is the leading element of Victorian coastal governance and hence an analysis and critique of its operation after ten years, and recommendations for improvements to the Act, should enhance future coastal planning and management.