While a strong case has been made for addressing multimodality in composition, the case has been less clear for WAC/WID and CxC programs and research. Studies of disciplinary communication have documented the use of multiple modes in a number of fields, but few engage directly with theories of multimodality or with multimodality in context of changes related to networked, digital media. This study presents a snapshot of multimodal communication practices and assignments across disciplines developed through a survey of faculty at a research-intensive public university. Quantitative results indicate that, with some disciplinary variation, faculty across disciplines use multiple modes of communication in their professional work, their scholarly communication, and their pedagogy. Qualitative analysis of faculty responses complicates this picture with diverse conceptualizations of the relationships between modes. Themes related to faculty experiences of genre change and to the challenges of communicating about multimodality across disciplines are also addressed. These results justify the need for professional development efforts focused on multimodality in the context of WAC/WID and CxC programs and for continued research on multimodality in university contexts, even as they point to the challenges of communicating across disciplines that lack shared vocabulary.
A recurring theme in both the composition and information literacy literature is that writing faculty and librarians need to collaborate more frequently and deeply. Our work is relevant to and should inform each other’s. We need to engage with each other’s’ theories, findings, and values. And we need to work with each other as institutional and pedagogical partners.
As the recipient of a Pearson Emerging Pedagogies Research and Travel Grant, I used the 2014 CCCC, the major conference for compositionists, as an artifact for exploring and documenting the state of the conversation between composition and information literacy. While doing the same with a conference for academic and instructional librarians would also be useful for this type of inquiry, first-year composition tends to be the curricular location for teaching research and information literacy in addition to writing, and is therefore a productive site of inquiry. To explore this relationship, then, I identified the sessions most explicitly connected to information literacy and partnership with academic librarians, arriving at a total of eight to attend and summarize here (disclaimer: I presented at one of these eight).
What I discovered from this focused view of CCCC is that student research and source use is a significant concern for composition faculty. Many of the sessions I attended were full or close to it. I also started recognizing several faces, who were clearly attuned to the same keywords and themes. Striking up a conversation with one of these attendees, I discovered that she was an instructional librarian visiting CCCC for the first time, an encouraging sign of exchange. Some of the main themes that recurred during the sessions I attended included the notion of research as a process, the importance of engaging students in authentic inquiry, and the question of how certain information technologies may actually shortchange critical thinking. Explore my session summaries to find out more about information literacy at CCCC 2014.
Because of the limitations of the Global Positioning System (GPS) in indoor scenarios, various types of indoor positioning or localization technologies have been proposed and deployed. Wireless radio signals have been widely used for both communication and localization purposes due to their popular availability in indoor spaces. However, the accuracy of indoor localization based purely on radio signals is still not perfect. Recently, visible light communication (VLC) has made use of electromagnetic radiation from light sources for transmitting data. The potential for deploying visible light communication for indoor localization has been investigated in recent years. Visible-light-based localization enjoys low deployment cost, high throughput, and high security. In this article, the most recent advances in visible-light-based indoor localization systems have been reviewed. We strongly believe that visible-light-based localization will become a low-cost and feasible complementary solution for indoor localization and other smart building applications.
Background: The growing availability of genomic information to the public may spur discussion about genetics and genomics on social media. Sites, including Twitter, provide a unique space for the public to access and discuss health information. The objective of this study was to better understand how social media users are sharing information about genetics and genomics in health and healthcare and what information is most commonly discussed among Twitter users. Methods: We obtained tweets with specific genetics- and genomics-related keywords from Crimson Hexagon. We used Boolean logic to collect tweets containing chosen keywords within the timeframe of October 1, 2016, to October 1, 2017. Features of the software were used to identify salient themes in conversation, conduct an emergent content analysis, and gather key demographic information. Results: We obtained 347,196 tweets from our search. There was a monthly average volume of 28,432 tweets. The five categories of tweets included: genetic disorders/disease (45.3%), health (15.6%), genomics (8%), and genetic testing (7.3%). Top influencers in the conversation included news outlets and universities. Conclusions: This content analysis provides insight about the types of conversation related to genomics and health. Conversations about genomics are occurring on Twitter, and they frequently emphasize rare genetic diseases and genetic disorders. These discussions tend to be driven by key influencers who primarily include news media outlets. Further understanding of the discussions related to genomics and health in social media may offer insight about topics of importance to the public.
by
Priya Bansal;
Nathan Hare;
Sakina S. Bajowala;
Stuart L. Abramson;
Sheva Chervinskiy;
Robert Corriel;
David W. Hauswirth;
Sujani Kakumanu;
Reena Mehta;
Quratulain Rashid;
Michael R. Rupp;
Jennifer Shih;
Giselle S. Mosnaim
Waqar and Agarwal1 make significant points regarding the rapid adoption of technology, specifically telemedicine, into fellowship programs. As all of the authors in the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology telemedicine work group will attest to, many factors need to be taken into account before adopting a functional telemedicine platform in the clinic. Keeping up with current regulations to maintain compliance in light of the changes during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond also requires considerable effort.2 What is uniquely addressed in this letter are the practical issues that allergists and immunologists face with telemedicine.
Although spirometry is limited at this time, technologies are being created and implemented to accomplish home forced expiratory volume in 1 second measurement.3 Assessing and teaching the inhaler and emergency epinephrine device technique can be performed remotely and re-evaluated at follow-up visits via telemedicine. Telemedicine has also been valuable to evaluate and monitor our most at-risk patients, such as those with immunodeficiency, as they may be fearful of returning to the clinic for routine in-person evaluations. Time will reveal more data in our field as we are able to obtain cost-benefit analysis for allergy and immunology telemedicine encounters. By providing innovative, valuable, and cost-effective care while educating our fellows and continuing to rapidly adapt in times of need, we will persist in pushing open the door of modern medical technology in health care.