Technology in Mathematics Education

Combining both leadership and diversity, the author’s define “leadership diversity” to be: leadership that engages followers that is inclusive to gender, culture, and the social context of the followers. In this chapter, a theoretical framework called “Technological Mathematical Leadership Diversity” (TMLD). TMLD refers to using technology to engage all followers’ mathematic learning that is inclusive of their gender, culture, and social context. As mathematics educators, it is important to understand that our role as chief instructor is changing; students are now taking control of their education. The infusion of Web 2.0 is changing how students learn and receive their information. The author set out to answer three questions through the TMLD lens: 1) Will the technology be applied to something already done? 2) Will the technology be used in such a way that it improves upon the way an existing task is done? 3) Will the technology allow us to do things that could not easily be done before? Within this context, the authors organize the technology into two distinct categories “productivity” and “cognitive” based off their primary usage. The rising cost of higher education is driving students to find ways to obtain their education in the quickest time and least expensive way possible. While in pursuit of this, it is important that diversity leadership is maintained. Using frameworks such as TMLD, the authors are able to examine the existence and potential effectiveness of a technological tool. These changes can affect mathematics education in a drastic way.

Measuring the Right Objectives

For businesses to keep pace with contemporary workforce changes, it is imperative to foster an inclusive work environment that empowers, values, identifies, and capitalizes on the workforces’ talents, skills, and abilities. Although diversity is recognized as a crucial element for organizational performance, its measurement lacks standardization. Organizations tend to follow simplistic assessment approaches, typically by tracking and measuring salient areas (i.e., easily measured areas such as the demographics of the organization and/or promotion rates). Thus, they fail to evaluate the actual effectiveness of diversity initiatives. Given that this approach is limited and lacks the substance that would inform organizational strategies of the need to increase employee engagement and productivity, the authors leveraged the expertise of two practitioners to discuss methods for measuring the effectiveness of diversity and inclusion programs. In addition, diversity is discussed as related to innovation, employee engagement, and change management, thereby leading to suggestions for future research.

The Role of Emerging Technologies in Developing and Sustaining Diverse Suppliers in Competitive Markets

As organizations seek to maintain competitiveness in an ever-challenging global economic environment, considerable attention has been focused on rationalizing and realigning supply bases to match market realities. Firms are reducing and restructuring the number and types of suppliers from which they buy goods and services worldwide. This restructuring has a direct impact on minority suppliers. This chapter focuses on how minority suppliers can use technology, with particular focus on electronic procurement systems and related methods, to strengthen performance and attractiveness to potential business-to-business customers. Through the use of e-procurement, electronic auctions, and multiple customer relationship management processes, minority firms can strengthen relationships that lead to long-term success.

Diversity Technology, Cultural DNA, and Personality

For the last sixty years, personality and personality traits (or characteristics) have been studied, researched, and applied to managing individuals and organizations. Some practitioners say that personality research predates the Roman Empire and the Great Greek Philosophers. The use of personality identification as a form of diversity leadership and possible technology is becoming more popular in helping people and organizations assign tasks within the organization as well as to enhance the performance in the organization. The Myers Briggs Type Instrument (MBTI) is one personality tool that strategically links diversity to cultural DNA and enhances the performance educational, medical, business, and military leadership worldwide. There are other personality instruments that can provide similar results, but the authors have chosen the MBTI to best depict how personality can easily be applied to diverse systems to measure individual and organizational change. The impact of these and other diversity characteristics, competencies, and technologies must be filtered through formal instructional systems, design processes, and evaluation procedures to help leadership identify strengths and weaknesses within the organization regardless of the type of organization. There will be a need for varied evaluation and measures to help sustain effectiveness and outcomes. The authors present a brief framework for these measures.

Factors in Fluidity of Leadership in Emerging Contexts

Using the definition of Hesselbein, Goldsmith, and Beckhard (1996), leaders are defined as those with followers and who garner influence with and among those followers. Mobile technologies, social media, and other computer-mediated communication tools have changed how those followers are connected to leaders and organizations as well as how influence can be exerted by the followers themselves. Leadership in political, economic, and educational contexts is examined through examples taken from research and current events. Three common themes emerged within each of the leadership sectors examined: time and place, the role of the individual vs. the group, and interactivity. These themes are explored through a framework of questions and leadership actions.

Diversity Leadership in the Community College

The chapter examines the disconnection between the diversity of community college students and community college administrators. The history of community colleges in the United States is presented, along with the demographics of the typical community college student. A definition of leadership is provided, and theories of diversity leadership are discussed. Methods of producing greater diversity at the administrative level are also explained. In particular, Kotter’s eight-stage model for organizational change is presented as a means of altering a college’s culture to promote greater diversity leadership. Further, strategies that can be used to increase diversity in community college leadership, with an emphasis on the role that technology can play in promoting diversity leadership, are presented. Directions for future research are shared.

Preparing Science Teachers

Pathway to Science (PTS) is a nationally funded project through the National Science Foundation (Award # 0934829) involving a university’s Colleges of Education, Arts and Sciences, and Engineering Departments in partnership with a local school district. All entities involved have a vested interest in increasing the number of certified secondary science teachers as all are interested in producing students who are better prepared in science at both the collegiate and secondary levels. This chapter explores how technology is used in the training of science teachers and how technology is used to retain them as science teachers once they are employed.

Effective Diversity Management in the 21st Century

The chapter establishes who determines the effectiveness of organizational diversity management while providing a sustainment plan for the coming years. Additional experiences from the author as a diversity practitioner help to establish how culture impacts diversity effectiveness in the U.S. Military as well as business and industry in the United States. Finally, as personality types tend to validate certain behaviors in the international community with respect to culture, the U.S. Military and supporting commercial contractors could easily change the mindset of diversity leaders when they imply that personality type has no bearing on the culture of the occupied country and the willingness to win the hearts and minds (Patreaus, et al., 2006) of those occupied. The Consulting Psychology Press (CPP) and the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) can help us to better understand the diverse personalities required to help make organizations effective. At the end of the day, organizational leaders (regardless of their affiliation with the military, education and training, or business and industry) who receive various forms of diversity and inclusion education and training can enhance their overall effectiveness and diversity management programs.

The Analysis-Evaluation Cycle

This chapter focuses on where diversity programs in the government and military intersect, which meets the definition and essence of diversity, how some instructional design process(es) may be undertaken to ensure that the real meaning of diversity is projected into the programs, and how to improve programs to ensure diversity training is effectively impacting organizations.

Using Prospect Theory to Explore the Digital Divide

The growing popularity of Internet-based technology in both the public and private sector has led to a disparity known as the digital divide. The digital divide is described as the gap between those who have access to the Internet and other Internet-based technologies and those who do not (Wattal, Hong, Mandviwalla, & Jain, 2011). J. van Dijk (1999) outlines the digital divide as four types of access barriers: material, psychological, skills, and usage. This chapter reviews the four types of access divides and uses prospect theory as a means to highlight the impact of computer anxiety and computer self-efficacy on psychological access. Suggestions for future research are provided.