[AISWorld] IJDLDC 1(2) 2010: New issue and call for papers

[Antonio CARTELLI]

The contents of the latest issue of:

International Journal of Digital Literacy and Digital Competence (IJDLDC)
Official Publication of the Information Resources Management Association
Volume 1, Issue 2, April - June 2010
Published: Quarterly in Print and Electronically
ISSN: 1947-3494 EISSN: 1947-3508
Published by IGI Publishing, Hershey-New York, USA
www.igi-global.com/ijdldc

Editor-in-Chief: Antonio Cartelli (University of Cassino, Italy)

PAPER ONE

The Media Diet of University Students in Italy: An Exploratory Research*

Andrea Pozzali (University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy)
Paolo Ferri (University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy)

Developments in information and communication technologies have raised  
the issue of the intergenerational digital divide that can take place  
between ?digital natives? and ?digital immigrants?. Despite emphatic  
claims concerning how educational systems must take into account the  
specific characteristics of ?digital natives?, sound empirical  
research on these topics is lacking, especially for Europe. This paper  
presents the results of research performed during the course of 2008,  
studying how university students in Italy use digital technologies.  
The research is based on a survey of 1086 undergraduate students at  
the University of Milan-Bicocca, complemented by focus groups and  
in-depth interviews. The results of our research show that, even if  
university students are familiar with digital technologies, the  
general possession of high level skills in accessing and using the  
Internet should not be taken for granted.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below.
http://www.igi-global.com/Bookstore/Article.aspx?TitleId=43722

PAPER TWO

Cooperative Learning through Communities of Practice

Emilio Lastrucci (University of Basilicata, Italy)
Angela Pascale (University of Basilicata, Italy)

A community made up of a group of individuals becomes a ?community of  
practice? when a mutual engagement is established between its members.  
The mutual engagement unites the participants in the carrying out of a  
common task (Wenger, 1998). The main aim of a community of practice is  
to find the solution to a problem by sharing experiences (Midoro,  
2002). This paper examines the definition, characteristics, management  
and effectiveness of communities of practice. They are understood as  
being communities of self-managed learning where professional  
development is not based on a pre-set training course but on sharing  
experiences, identifying best practices and helping each other face  
the daily problems encountered in one?s profession (Trentin, 2000).  
Such communities are useful in particular working environments as an  
opportunity to improve digital competences. In communities of  
practice, it is possible to encourage ways of co-building knowledge  
through teaching methods such as cooperative learning. Until now  
cooperative learning has been limited to traditional training  
contexts, but it can be realised via Web technologies.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below.
http://www.igi-global.com/Bookstore/Article.aspx?TitleId=43723

PAPER THREE

Information Communication Technologies for the Lifelong Learning: The  
Multimedia Documentation of Best Practices in Education

Laura Corazza (University of Bologna, Italy)

In today?s knowledge society, better identified as a learning society,  
the opportunities for self-instruction and lifelong learning are  
playing an increasing role due to Information Communication  
Technologies. Old and new communication technologies offer  
possibilities for learning, as long as the worker is capable of  
learning in autonomy. Training has a central role as an educational  
activity, which aims at promoting and updating knowledge. Knowledge  
society does not only require citizens and workers to have basic  
skills; it asks for a life-long learning. Documentation is a form of  
communication that allows tacit, unexpressed, informal knowledge to  
emerge. It provides knowledge of the individual experiences of  
teachers and educators that can be widely shared. In knowledge  
management, audiovisual and multimedia documentation has proved to be  
a useful and efficient means of recording the experiences that are to  
be shared.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below.
http://www.igi-global.com/Bookstore/Article.aspx?TitleId=43724

PAPER FOUR

E-Skills and ICT Certification in Greek Cultural and Travel Agencies:  
An Exploratory Study

Fotis Lazarinis (University of Ioannina, Greece)
Dimitris Kanellopoulos (University of Patras, Greece)

ICT skills are fundamental for the further enhancement and development  
of productivity and knowledge-intensive products and services. The  
long-term-demand for professionals with ICT skills still exceeds the  
supply, particularly in user industries such as the travel industry.  
This paper presents the results of a study aimed at analysing the  
impact of ICT certification for people working in cultural and travel  
agencies in Greece. The authors consider if the e-skills acquired  
during training for an ICT certification are of practical value while  
presenting the opinions of the survey participants, statistics about  
the required e-skills, and the correlation between these skills and  
the syllabus of the ECDL ICT certification. It is claimed that the  
ECDL ICT certification plays a crucial role in cultural and travel  
agencies as their employees being technologically skilful can offer  
better services to their customers.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below.
http://www.igi-global.com/Bookstore/Article.aspx?TitleId=43725

PAPER FIVE

Frameworks for the Benchmarking of Digital and: Knowledge Management  
Best Practice In SME and Organizations

Antonio Cartelli (University of Cassino, Italy)

The paper discusses the impact of IT/ICT on society by analyzing the  
effects it has on subjects and organizations. The recent proposal of  
frameworks for digital competence assessment and the construction of  
suitable instruments helping students in the acquisition of this  
competence are the main reason for the transfer to Small and Medium  
Enterprises (SMEs). In this paper, the author compares knowledge  
phenomena in subjects with the strategies of knowledge management in  
the organizations. A framework for benchmarking best practices in SME  
and organizations is also given on the basis of the results obtained  
in virtual campuses. The author presents instruments for the  
acquisition of further information from all stakeholders, and possible  
interventions toward the improvement of digital processes in SMEs and  
organizations are discussed.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below.
http://www.igi-global.com/Bookstore/Article.aspx?TitleId=43726

PAPER SIX

Levels of Self-Efficacy among Harassed Teachers

Isabel Cantón (University of León, Spain); Consuelo Morán (University  
of León, Spain)

The aim of this study was to examine the differences among harassed  
teachers and un-harassed ones, regarding coping strategies,  
self-efficacy, and locus of control. Participants were 255 teachers  
(163 women and 92 men) who completed a set of three questionnaires,  
the Mobbing Perceived Questionnaire, a battery of control  
expectancies, and the Brief COPE to assess, respectively, mobbing  
perceived at work, self-efficacy, locus of control, and cooping  
strategies. The results showed differences in self-efficacy, locus of  
control, and use of coping strategies depending on the teachers?  
degree of mobbing perceived. The authors believe that the efforts for  
preventing mobbing made by educational organizations must be  
intensified, as they not only affect teachers? quality of life but  
also the quality of the educational system, furthermore new  
technologies can have a relevant role on this side by making available  
all information on those phenomena.

To obtain a copy of the entire article, click on the link below.
http://www.igi-global.com/Bookstore/Article.aspx?TitleId=43727

****************************************************
For full copies of the above articles, check for this issue of the  
International Journal of Digital Literacy and Digital Competence  
(IJDLDC) in your institution's library.  This journal is also included  
in the IGI Global aggregated "InfoSci-Journals" database.
*****************************************************

CALL FOR PAPERS

Mission

The mission of the International Journal of Digital Literacy and  
Digital Competence (IJDLDC) is to provide a platform for experts,  
scholars, stakeholders, and others professionals involved in the use  
of information communication technologies in education to share  
theories, studies, experiences, projects, instruments, and  
applications. This journal covers ideas concerning digital literacy  
and digital competence that will penetrate the whole society and  
create shared and commonly accepted educational paradigms to be used  
in academics by means of a practice-theory-practice paradigmatic  
approach to education. IJDLDC publishes innovative findings from  
leading experts, including engineers, researchers, scientists,  
educators, and practitioners in the creation of hardware-software  
instruments in everyday education, training, and school work.

Coverage

Topics to be discussed in this journal include (but are not limited  
to) the following:

?	Definitions/features for digital literacy and digital competence
?	Digital competence assessment
?	Digital divide and digital literacy
?	Digital literacy and digital competence interaction with:
o	Communities of practice
o	Computer science education
o	Construction of learning environments
o	Information systems
o	Knowledge management
o	Learning organizations
o	New teaching paradigms
o	Psycho-pedagogical paradigms
o	School curricula
o	Social Networking
o	Social-technical approach to MIS use
o	Teacher profession/updating
o	Ubiquitous computing
o	Virtual learning environments
o	Web technologies
?	Digital literacy in developing countries
?	Digital literacy, digital competence, and diversely able people
?	Digital literacy, digital competence, and knowledge society with a  
special attention to:
o	E-citizenship
o	E-government
o	Lifelong learning
o	Multicultural society
o	Net generation
o	Personal knowledge management
o	Personal learning environments
?	Frameworks for digital literacy and digital competence analysis
?	National and international initiatives for digital literacy
?	National and international policies for digital literacy  
Vocational-industrial education

Interested authors should consult the journal's manuscript submission  
guidelines at www.igi-global.com/ijdldc

All inquiries and submissions should be sent to:
Editor-in-Chief: Antonio Cartelli at cartan at unicas.it


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