The Works of Dr. Seymour Papert

Dr. Seymour Papert was born on February 29, 1928 in Pretoria, South Africa (Goldberg, 1991). However, another date was also identified as Papert’s birthdate, and this was March 1st of the same year and at the same birthplace (Stager, 2007). Papert received his bachelor’s degree from the University of the Witwatersrand in 1949, and his doctoral degree in Mathematics from Cambridge University in 1959 (Stager, 2007). Papert is identified as the founder of the LOGO programming language, and has been an instrumental player in the establishment of computers in schools and learning (Goldberg, 1991). Papert’s early career accomplishments included working (a) as a researcher in different prestigious universities, and at the National Physical Laboratory; (b) as a research associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1963; (c) as a professor of applied math and director of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory until 1991; and, (d) as a Cecil & Ida Green professor of education at MIT until 1981 (Stager, 2007).

The contributions of Papert is well recognized and highly respected in different parts of the world (One Laptop Per Child, 2012). Papert is acknowledged for his creation of the Epistemology and Learning Research Group, later on to become the MIT Media Lab, that provide a multitude of opportunities for individuals to create innovative projects, including musical instruments, social networking software, to name a few (MIT Media Lab, 2012). Likewise, this research group desires to help children to grow up as creative thinkers, where constant inventions of new opportunities are developed to benefit not only themselves, but as well as the respective communities (MIT Media Lab, 2012). Eventually, this idea cultivated into the conception of constructionism that involved the development of an original and highly influential theory based on the work of Jean Piaget regarding Constructivism learning theories (MIT Media Lab, 2012).

The development of the Logo programming language is another acknowledgement of Papert’s constructivist and creative thinking (Stager, 2007). Logo programming is based on the dialect of the Lisp language and was originally written as a functional programming language (Stager, 2007). Likewise, this programming language is used in education, which taught learners how to develop code using design concepts, mathematical data analysis and interpretation, and syntax to create graphics (Stager, 2007). A robot called “Logo Turtle” was part of the Logo programming language that served as a guide for learners to use in solving problems (Stager, 2007). Papert’s goal in developing this programming language is to provide a program for students to strengthen their ability to learn knowledge, think analytically and critically through a mathematical language, and to develop their abilities as potential expert users (Stager, 2007).

Papert’s other well-acknowledge contributions included the concept of the Knowledge Machine that may be interpreted as a virtual reality simulation for knowledge representation and reasoning within an artificial intelligence; the One Laptop Per Child initiative that manufactured and distributed laptops with Internet access in different developing nations; and, the Lego Mindstorms where Papert was a collaborator in the development of Logo-programming robotics kits (Stager, 2007). Papert’s innovative and creative thinking has garnered different awards, including the Guggenheim fellowship (1980), Marconi International fellowship (1981), Software Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award (1994), and Smithsonian Award from Computerworld (1997) (Stager, 2007).  Papert’s renowned contributions in the field of education and computer science continue to influence and to be instrumental in future developments of technology integration through constructivism, innovation, and creating thinking (The Daily Papert, 2012).

The Works of Individuals Inspired by Dr. Seymour Papert

The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Foundation is one of the many significant and well-recognized works of Dr. Seymour Papert (The Daily Papert, 2012). This foundation established the one-to-one computing among different students who live in developing nations (The Daily Papert, 2012). The purpose of the OLPC Foundation is to provide each child from a developing country with a rugged, low-cost, low power, and Internet connected laptop (One Laptop Per Child, 2012).  Hundreds and thousands of children from Rwanda, Nicaragua, Madagascar, Paraguay, India, Gaza and Ramallah, Nepal, Afghanistan, Kenya, Peru, Philippines, and Uruguay are inspired by the benefits of Papert’s works of wisdom, constructivism, innovation, and creativity to be develop and obtain learning knowledge using technology (One Laptop Per Child, 2012). For instance, students from Rwanda utilized the XO laptops to obtain universal access to the web, which opened doors for telecom giants to roll out connectivity across the country (One Laptop Per Child, 2012). The successful deployment in Rwanda was then repeated in other developing countries, which enabled more accessibility for children to learn beyond the four walls of a classroom, think beyond what books and pencils can provide in quality teaching and student learning, and produce creative and innovative individuals as part of continuing a global world of communication and collaboration (One Laptop Per Child, 2012). 

Papert’s inspirational goals in his academic and professional backgrounds have influenced the individuals behind the foundation, itself, to take the initiative in building possibilities for children in developing countries to be connected to the world through communication and collaboration using technology (One Laptop Per Child, 2012). His influence also extended to other well-known organizations in today’s technology driven world, namely the founding members: AMD, Brightstar, eBay, Google, Marvell, Nortel, Quanta, Red Hat, and SES Astra (One Laptop Per Child, 2012). These founding members continue to be inspired by the goals and works of Papert in creating technologies that will be instrumental in furthering growth and development for a better, and brighter future for humankind (One Laptop Per Child, 2012). For instance, Google is a well-known organization that established the importance of obtaining and deploying worldwide web presence whether it is to be used for personal, educational, or organizational purposes (Google, 2012). This includes (a) the establishment of easy and immediate communication through video conferencing (i.e. Skype), social networking (i.e. Google +), online chats (i.e. Google Talk), electronic email system (i.e. Google Mail), etc.; (b) the collaboration among peers and colleagues through social networking (i.e. Google +), online creation and development of documents (i.e. Google Docs), and visualization using online interactive maps (i.e. Google Earth); and, (c) the development of innovative apps and tools that highly encourages students to think critically and creatively (i.e. Google Apps) (Google, Inc., 2012).  

As technology continue to progress in a fast pace in today’s world, it is important for education to keep pace in order to provide its students with the learning knowledge and skills to adapt and flourish in a highly demanding and global society (Stager, 2000).  Papert is adamant in advocating the deployment and use of connected laptops to children all over the world to ensure equality and equity in receiving quality and relevant learning knowledge and skills that would not only benefit themselves, but will have a greater and more immediate effect in a world that is shared by humankind (Stager, 2000).

References

Goldberg, M. F. (1991). Portrait of Seymour Papert. Educational Leadership, 48(7), 68-70.

Google, Inc. (2012). Google in education. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/edu/

MIT Media Lab. (2012). Lifelong kindergarten. Retrieved from http://llk.media.mit.edu/

One Laptop Per Child (OLPC). (2012). One laptop per child. Retrieved from http://one.laptop.org/stories

Stager, G. (Producer). (2000). Seymour Papert at Bates College. [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://vimeo.com/9106174

Stager, G. (2007). The history of Mr. Papert by Martin Boyle. Retrieved from http://www.stager.org/omaet2004/papertbio.html

The Daily Papert. (2012). Daily Papert words and wisdom of Dr. Seymour Papert. Retrieved from http://dailypapert.com/?page_id=34

History of Writing and Its Impact on Society

Writing may be considered as one of the earliest form of transformative technology that provided many benefits to humankind. It may also be considered as a significant contributor to the intellectual and communicational abilities of humans to transmit information, demonstrate verbal and non-verbal expressions through written text, and establish status quo based on the educational abilities that are acquired by the individual writer. In doing so, it would be interesting to trace back the development of writing and how its impact on society have influenced and may continue to influence the behavioral traits, intellectual abilities, and social skills of humankind.

There are different information in today’s Internet that provides ideas, facts, and opinions regarding the early beginnings of writing. According to History World (2012), the early beginnings of writing have started in the early 20th century when the two civilizations of Egypt and Sumer (now known as Iraq) developed the Sumerian script and its Egyptian version a century or more later (History World, 2012). Likewise, there were evidences of later discoveries by a German archaeologist, who have discovered small bone and ivory tablets that have been used by earlier civilizations for writing (History World, 2012). Sumerian tablets have been discovered in 3200 B.C. that were identified as the earliest cuneiform tablets from this civilization (History World, 2012). For instance, the early forms of scriptwriting included images that were used to depict or illustrate words. The use of pictographs continued to evolve when early civilization learned to combine pictures to explain a concept, to represent a pun, to recommend a different concept through a representation of another object, and to develop a conceptual character (History World, 2012).

According to Jeremy Norman’s (2012) chronological studies on the history of information and media, the early forms of writing began during 2,500,000 BCE to 8,000 BCE, which included the early attempts to record information or may have been considered as early forms of art; oral transmission of traditions among groups of people; use of the Ishango Bone to record a six-month lunar calendar, logical or mathematical carvings, passage of time, a series of numbers, and a system of proto-writing and notation.

From 8,000 BCE to 1,000 BCE, some of the different evidences of early writings or printing included carvings on 8600 year-old tortoise shells that were discovered by archaeologists in the Henan province of Western China; Egyptian hieroglyphs that may have evolved from drawn symbols on pottery produced by the Gerzeh culture; Sumerians’ cuneiform writing that began the system of pictographs and were written with styli on clay tablets; Egyptian papyrus that was used for boats, mattresses, mats, and as a writing surface; and, Mesopotamia’s stamping of inscriptions into soft clay of brinks that were ordered by royal rulers to build temples of gods and goddesses (Norman, 2012). These discoveries demonstrated how early civilization used different instruments to communicate and document information, and to build structures adorned with symbolical illustrations to represent their cultures, beliefs, and practices (Norman, 2012).

From 1,000 BCE to 300 BCE, some of the evidences of early writings during this era included the oldest known evidence of the Phoenician alphabet was the Ahiram Sarcophagus, being that Phoenician was one of the most widely used writing systems that were spread by merchants; the Iliad as the oldest literature works of ancient Greek language, and believed to be one of the first works of ancient Greek literature; the Dipylon inscription that was a short written text on an ancient Greek pottery vessel was considered as one of the oldest known examples of the use of the Greek alphabet; and, the construction of the Tower of Babel (was then known as the Etemenanki Ziggurat) that contained bricks stamped with inscriptions in cuneiform (Norman, 2012). These evidences of early writings demonstrated how civilization used writing to create impact and to influence the development of people’s knowledge, to conduct business and trade among different cultures, and the evolution of alphabet writing as part of distinguishing different racial cultures (Norman, 2012).

From 300 BCE to 30 CE, the dead sea scrolls is one of the many discoveries and inventions of early writing that was identified during this time (Norman, 2012). These scrolls were believed to have contained historical, paleographic, and linguistic evidence of being the oldest manuscripts of the Hebrew Scriptures when Jesus of Nazareth lived (Norman, 2012). Meanwhile, writing using a bamboo pen was created for longer messages and for books during the end of the Zhou (Chou) Dynasty (Norman, 2012). From 30 CE to 500 CE, the graffito was the earliest surviving image of the crucifixion, although the depiction behind the meaning of this early writing and illustration was done in a more sarcastic tone (Norman, 2012). It was also during this time that the Four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, were approximately composed by authors who have not been identified (Norman, 2012). These books were written to depict the traditions and early Christian beliefs and writings as part of the early Christian movement (Norman, 2012). More evidences of earlier writings developed through many more centuries of human existence, which have influenced the development of simple to complicated machineries, equipment, and devices to support more sophisticated forms of publication, writing, and communication (Norman, 2012).

Literacy in Writing in the American Education System

Literacy in the American education system includes writing as one of the significant factors in the development and growth of American students (Bartholomew, 2012). The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act (2001) established higher expectations with regard to (a) student accountability in the public school education, (b) highly qualified teachers to be certified specifically in different content areas based on required specifications, and (c) rigorous standards in all content areas to meet the higher expectations to meet the demands of a more global economy (Hickok & Ladner, 2007). In doing so, many public schools in the United States (U.S.) have either met or struggled in meeting the expectations set by the federal government (Hickok & Ladner, 2007).

The desire to standardize the control and management of funding in the public school system has generated different problems, including (a) weakening the state-level exams and academic transparency in the state level; (b) changing on how tests are scored to allow more students to pass and to show more progress; and, (c) lowering of standards to mask real student performance (Hickok & Ladner, 2007). The regulations that have been developed from the NCLB Act (2001) created many changes on how American public schools address and support school funding and allotment, curriculum design, curriculum instruction, and evaluation of students’ academic performance (Hickok & Ladner, 2007). In fact, this policy influenced the development of future grants, legislative decisions, and other programs with regard to strengthening American public school education (Hickok & Ladner, 2007). For instance, in 2009, the U.S. Department of Education’s Race to the Top grant competition was announced to provide different state governments with the opportunity to look and apply for more school funding (Bartholomew, 2012). This grant was aimed to support better changes in the U.S. education curriculum framework (including materials, assessments, and policy) that will greatly benefit American students into having a stronger and more rigorous education to support the dynamic needs of 21st century society (Bartholomew, 2012).

The events that transpired through the years in the American education system have greatly influenced the literacy of American students, including the (a) changing in the direction on meeting the technological competitiveness of 21st century demands; (b) desire to prepare students to meet and compete in a global economy; (c) drive to focus on analytic and written communication skills as important elements to be taught across the curriculum in science, social studies, and technical subjects; (d) increase in the development of critical understanding of information texts; and, (e) expectation to write compositions that demonstrate analytical thinking and mastery of inductive and deductive reasoning, to name a few (Bartholomew, 2012).

Analogy of Contemporary Technology

The evolution of writing has influenced the ongoing development of contemporary technology; specifically in the use of written text to formulate and create codes that modern machines and devices can understand to decipher desired commands by the human mind (Nordkvelle, 2004). Earlier inventions of writing eventually led to different developments in the 19th century, including the (a) computer text editors; (b) word processing and email; (c) tablet computers and the first reference to electronic ink; (d) beginning stages of electronic mail; (e) hypertext, text editing, windows, email, and the mouse; (f) general markup language; and, (g) Internet (Norma, 2012). These later developments continue to aspire for complex and dynamic technologies (i.e. mobile tablets, mobile communication devices, social networks) that contribute significantly in the establishment of control, power, freedom, efficiency, or self-realization with people in society (Nordkvelle, 2004). Individuals and groups who have greater knowledge in the manipulation and development of modern technologies have established business influences that continue to control the economic demands and needs of present society, particularly in the communication and collaboration within professional learning communities (Nordkvelle, 2004). In addition, people’s sense of freedom has been based on the extent of connections in social networks, as well as presence in different online communities (Nordkvelle, 2004). Today, contemporary technology play an essential role in producing and implementing decisions and choices that affect people’s life styles, way of thinking, new cultures and traditions, new social classes, and learning environments (Nordkvelle, 2004).

References

Barnes, S. (1996). Literacy skills in the age of graphical interfaces & new media. Retrieved from http://www.helsinki.fi/science/optek/1996/n3/barnes.txt

Bartholomew, B. (2012). Where's Literature in the Common Core?. Educational Leadership, 69(7), 82-85.

Graham, S., Harris, K. R., & MacArthur, C. (2006). Explicitly Teaching Struggling Writers: Strategies for Mastering the Writing Process. Intervention In School & Clinic, 41(5), 290-294.

Hawkins, L. K., & Razali, A. (2012). A Tale of 3 P's--Penmanship, Product, and Process: 100 Years of Elementary Writing Instruction. Language Arts, 89(5), 305-317.

Hickok, E., & Ladner, M. (2007, November). Reauthorization of NCLB: Federal Management or Citizen Ownership of K-12 Education?. USA Today Magazine. pp. 64-66.

History World. (2012). History of writing. Retrieved from http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab33

Nordkvelle, Y. (2004). Technology and didactics: historical mediations of a relation. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 36(4), 427-444. doi: 10.1080/0022027032000159476

Norman, J. (2012). Writing / paleography / calligraphy timeline outline. Retrieved from http://www.historyofinformation.com/index.php?category=Writing / Paleography / Calligraphy

Warner, F. (2008). Improving Communication is Everyone's Responsibility. Change, 40(6), 26-35.

The Brookings Institution. (2012). Can academic standards boost literacy and close the achievement gap?. Retrieved from http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2012/10/02-boost-literacy-haskins-sawhill

U.S. Department of Education. (2012). Race to the top fund. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop/index.html

Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education (CITE) Journal

The Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education (CITE) publication is an online, peer-reviewed journal, that was established and jointly sponsored by five professional associations, namely the (a) Technology and Mathematics Education (AMTE), (b) Technology and Science Education (AETS), (c) Technology and Social Studies Education (NCSS-CUFA), (d) Technology and English Education (CEE), and (e) Educational Technology (SITE) (CITE Journal, 2012). This journal is selected based on the publication’s unique features, which include the ability to provide (a) readers to write short responses to articles published in a commentary strand linked to the article; (b) interactive medium to develop ongoing, peer-reviewed dialog and critique; (c) a general educational technology section and three cross-disciplinary sections, such as Editorial, Current Practice, and Seminal articles; (d) an online medium that provides authors to demonstrate technologies about the written work, such as video and audio sections, animation, computer-generated reality, web links, and replications; and, (e) diverse educational issues, such as educational policies and practices, teacher education, teacher professional development, technology integration, and conceptual and theoretical pieces, to name a few (CITE Journal, 2012).

The author of this paper will be interested to submit an article to CITE Journal that will focus on the effectiveness of hybrid online learning to support the development and implementation of relevant and meaningful instructional strategies on different content areas for K-12 classrooms. The objectives of the author’s paper include: (a) providing the connection of instructional methodologies and strategies being conducted in the classroom with an online learning environment; (b) development of authentic and relevant online lessons and activities based on project-based learning to motivate and engage students to obtain mastery and understanding of different content areas; (c) discovery and exploration of innovative approaches to integrate technology effectively in teaching and student learning; (d) communication and collaboration among professional colleagues in the field of education; and, (e) critical discourse of best practices between traditional classroom teaching and technology-enriched teaching.

The online submission of an article with CITE Journal is located at http://site.aace.org/publish/?fuseaction=Authors.BeginSubmissionCITE (CITE Journal, 2012). The submission guidelines, which is also located in this link, include specifications on length; originality; pre-publication; copyright; author note(s); handling of manuscripts; presentation; tables, figures and graphics; quotations, terminology and abbreviations; citations; references, and hyperlinks (CITE Journal, 2012). Articles can be submitted to the Publications Coordinator through an email address, pubs@aace.org (CITE Journal, 2012).

Educational Leadership

The Educational Leadership journal is the flagship journal of ASCD, which is formerly known as the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD, 2012). This journal focuses primarily to pre Kindergarten to 12th Grade educational issues, such as curriculum, instruction, supervision, and leadership. The articles in this journal are mostly written by educators for educators, with the strong emphasis on sharing and inspiring fellow colleagues to improve teaching and student learning (ASCD, 2012). One of the unique features of Educational Leadership is the concept of themes as part of its monthly journal publications (ASCD, 2012). The thematic approach provides journal writers to think of innovative and creative topics that may not be covered in a purely technology-integration based journal (ASCD, 2012). In doing so, a wider audience can be reached by this journal because of the variety of topics that Educational Leadership offers to its readers (ASCD, 2012).

The author of this paper will be interested to submit an article to Educational Leadership journal that will focus on the demonstration of effective school leadership using relevant and innovative technology-based practices.  The objectives of the author’s paper include: (a) a discussion on the complex challenges and different initiatives that school administrators face in today’s education; (b) the high stakes that principals face concerning coaching and mentoring fellow educators, collaborating and building positive working relationships with teachers, establishing quality communication with parents, and accountability on students’ academic success; and, (c) the effectiveness and relevance of implementing technology-based practices to support productive functionality in school operations and people management, classroom instruction, parent communication, and student learning.

The online submission of an article with Educational Leadership is located at http://www.ascd.org/Publications/Educational-Leadership/Write-for-Educational-Leadership/Write-for-Educational-Leadership.aspx (ASCD, 2012). The submission guidelines, which is also located in this link, include specifications on (a) the kind of articles that will be published in this journal; (b) how to prepare a manuscript, such as number of pages, document margins, number of words, and information needed for submission; (c) how to submit a manuscript, including the type of file that should be used if manuscript will be submitted through email, and the number of copies a manuscript should have when submitting by mail; (d) what happens next, such as the round of reviews that manuscripts undergo before final approval; (e) how to survive the editing process, such as the process involved to complete the different stages of editing and layout; (f) artwork and photographs, including the type of photos, slides, and examples of student work for publication; and, (g) what happens when an article comes out (ASCD, 2012). Manuscripts can be submitted online through email at elsubmissions@ascd.org, or can be sent to Marge Scherer, Editor in Chief of Educational Leadership, at 1703 N. Beauregard Street Alexandria, VA 22311-1714 (ASCD, 2012).

Educational Technology and Research Development

The Educational Technology and Research Development journal is a bi-monthly scholarly publication of the Association for Educational Communications & Technology (AECT) that focuses primarily on research and development in educational technology (Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT), 2012). Furthermore, this journal focuses on research that includes (a) planning, implementation, evaluation, and management of a variety of instructional technologies and learning environments; (b) formative evaluations and theoretical-based instructional designs to support student success in the mastery of different content areas; (c) instructional development process to support more relevant and meaningful teaching practices; (d) innovative approaches technology implementation to instructional development; and, (e) book reviews, international reviews, and abstracts (Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT), 2012).

The author of this paper will be interested to submit a paper to Educational Technology Research and Development that will focus on the integration of mobile applications into K-12 teaching and learning, particularly in supporting current teaching methodologies and strategies for students’ academic achievement. The objectives of this paper will include: (a) an explanation on the different teaching methodologies and strategies that K-12 public school teachers implement in everyday classroom instruction to deliver relevant and meaningful content; (b) a discussion on the different types of mobile applications that are available for teaching and student learning; (c) a discourse on the contributions of mobile applications to building knowledge and skills through project-based learning, collaboration with peers, and creating projects using different mobile applications; (d) a demonstration on how student understanding and mastery of the content can be evaluated through relevant use of mobile applications; and, (e) the relationship of innovative mobile applications to developing motivation and engagement among students and teachers to cultivate a positive and productive learning environment.

The online submission of an article with Educational Technology Research and Development is located at http://www.springer.com/education+%26+language/learning+%26+instruction/journal/11423 (Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT), 2012). The submission guidelines include the following instructions: (a) manuscripts that focus primarily on research in educational technology should be submitted online to http://www.edmgr.com/ertd, inquiries should be sent to Michael J. Hannafin, Research Editor, through email at Hannafic@uga.edu; (b) manuscripts that focus primarily on design and development of learning systems and educational applications should be submitted online to http://www.edmgr.com/ertd, inquiries should be sent to J. Michael Spector, Development Editor, through email at mike.spector@unt.edu; (c) book reviews should be submitted to http://www.edmgr.com/ertd, and inquiries should be sent to Tiffany Koszalka through email at takoszal@syr.edu; (d) international reviews should be submitted to http://www.edmgr.com/ertd, inquiries should be sent to Abbas Johari through an email at abbasj@cameron.edu; (e) editorial procedure on double-blind peer review; (f) manuscript submission; (g) permissions; (h) online submission; (i) title page, abstract, keywords, and biography; (j) text formatting, headings, abbreviations, footnotes, acknowledgements, and page length; (k) tables; (l) references and citation using APA style; and, (m)  artwork and illustration guidelines (Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT), 2012).                

Journal of Technology and Teacher Education (JTATE)

The Journal of Technology and Teacher Education (JTATE) publication is the official journal of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE), which focus on the exchange of knowledge and use of information technology in teacher education Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education, 2012). Likewise, this journal covers topics on (a) teacher pre-service and in-service; (b) graduate programs in areas such as curriculum and instruction; (c) educational administration; (d) instructional technology; and, (e) educational computing (Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education, 2012).

The author of this paper will be interested to submit a paper to the JTATE publication that will focus on the impact of effective and relevant professional development among K-12 public school teachers on appropriate technology integration in content areas. The objectives of this paper will include: (a) a discussion on the different professional development that K-12 public school teachers currently undergo as part of their teaching profession; (b) a discourse on qualitative and quantitative results from different instruments in gathering K-12 public school teachers views, factual data, and other pertinent information; (c) an explanation on the meaning and understanding of appropriate technology integration; (d) findings on different methodologies and strategies with regard to technology integration in different content areas; and, (e) the effects of technology integration in K-12 teaching and student learning.

The online submission of an article with the JTATE journal is located at http://site.aace.org/publish/?fuseaction=Authors.BeginSubmission (Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education, 2012). The submission guidelines include the following instructions: (a) journal content, including research papers, case studies, tutorials, courseware experiences, evaluations, review papers, and viewpoints; (b) originality of the manuscripts, accuracy, and editorial form; (c) organization and selection of facts to support manuscripts; (d) language to be used in writing manuscripts; (e) preview process before and after submitting manuscripts; (f) pre-publication by another journal; (g) copyright rules and regulations by the Association for the Advancement of Computer in Education (AACE); (h) author’s note; (i) handling of manuscripts by at least two members of the Editorial Review Board; (j) presentation of manuscripts in online form, preferably in Microsoft Word (.doc) format; (k) tables, figures, and graphics have to be embedded within the file with specified resolution and quality; (l) quotations, including its sources; (m) terminology and abbreviations; (n) program listings, if space permits; (o) citations in APA style; and, (p) references in APA style (Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education (SITE), 2012).

The Journal

The Journal was launched in 1972 and became the first magazine to cover education technology. The Journal is also known to dedicate topics that inform and educate K-12 district and school administrators, technologists, and tech-savvy educations within districts, schools, and classrooms, with the goal of improving and advancing the learning process of students through the use of effective and meaningful technology. Furthermore, each issues in The Journal contains different news, trends, and “how-to” topics such as networking, security, policy and advocacy, telecom, hardware/software, the smart classroom, mobile computing and wireless, eLearning, technology funding, professional development, technology support, and the like (The Journal, 2012).

The author of this paper will be interested to submit an article to The Journal that will focus on the effective of hybrid online professional development for K-12 public school teachers to provide collaboration, communication, and creativity among educators regarding relevant and meaningful teaching practices. The objectives of this paper will include: (a) the discussion on what is effective and appropriate professional development for K-12 public school teachers; (b) the importance of providing K-12 public school teachers with engaging and highly interactive, job-based professional development; (c) the implementation process that follows after K-12 public school teachers receive professional development; (d) the components that would be essential in an effective hybrid online professional development; and, (e) the structure and organization of technology integration in the design and development of hybrid online professional development for K-12 public school teachers.

The online submission of any article to The Journal is located at http://thejournal.com/pages/press-release-guidelines-for-the-journal.aspx (The Journal, 2012). The submission guidelines include the following instructions: (a) editorial decisions are based on the value of information that can be provided to The Journal’s diverse readers; (b) articles that relate to real-life case studies and one-on-one interviews with higher education school leaders and managers; (c) feature articles have a set deadline date that is usually three months ahead of the issue date; (d) opinion submissions may be submitted anytime to Michael Hart, Managing Editor, through email at michaelhart@1105media.com; and, (e) topics are listed in The Journal Editorial Calendar for 2013 at http://bit.ly/QmxORs (The Journal, 2012).

References

Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT). (2012). Educational technology research and development . Retrieved from http://www.aect.org/Intranet/Publications/index.asp

ASCD. (2012). Educational leadership. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/Publications/Educational-Leadership/Guidelines-for-Writers/Guidelines-for-Educational-Leadership-Writers.aspx

CITE Journal. (2012). Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education (CITE). Retrieved from http://www.citejournal.org/vol12/iss3/

Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education (SITE). (2012). Guidelines for journal of technology and teacher education submission (JTATE). Retrieved from http://site.aace.org/publish/?fuseaction=Authors.BeginSubmission

The Journal. (2012). Press release guidelines for the journal. Retrieved from http://thejournal.com/pages/press-release-guidelines-for-the-journal.aspx