Servicing the State: Municipality and the Military Industrial Complex

Reviewed by: Warfare State: Britain, 1920–1970 Barton C. Hacker (bio) Warfare State: Britain, 1920–1970. By David Edgerton . New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Pp. xv+364. $32.99. President Dwight Eisenhower's 1961 farewell address controversially warned Americans about the dangers of a military-industrial complex and the unwarranted influence of technical experts in policymaking. Later, historians joined social scientists in raising questions about the historical interaction of science, technology, industry, and warfare. They could frame such questions in several ways, and how they chose to do so goes a long way toward explaining the answers they found. Initially, they posed two very restricted questions, both focused primarily on World War II and after: How did manufacturers persuade military authorities to provide the virtually unlimited and lightly supervised funding that made defense contractors rich? How did civilian scientists, notably physicists, persuade military authorities to support scientific research so lavishly? Although historians and social scientists have more recently expanded the chronological, geographical, and thematic scope of their investigations, they have not, for the most part, substantially altered their frame of reference. In particular, they have rarely considered the role of military institutions in shaping the military-industrial complex or the state's use of science. For at least two decades, David Edgerton, the Hans Rausching Professor in the Centre for the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine at Imperial College London, has been seeking to put the military into the question, at least as far as Britain is concerned. Although not so identified by Edgerton, Warfare State: Britain, 1920–1970 looks very much like the capstone of a trilogy, the first two volumes of which are England and the Aeroplane: An Essay on a Militant and Technological Nation (1991) and Science, Technology, and the British Industrial "Decline," 1870–1970 (1996). Contrary to the prevailing version of British history during that century, Edgerton argues that Britain was a highly successful developer of science, technology, and industry. Furthermore, he insists, British success derived largely from the central role that its military institutions played as sponsors, buyers, promoters, and users of the products developed. Warfare State is mostly a commentary on, and an argument with, the historiography of twentieth-century British science, technology, and industry. Thus, its sources are, for the most part, what has been written about those subjects. The footnotes are extensive—averaging more than 160 per chapter—and they include considerable substantive material as well. This makes the absence of a bibliography seem particularly unfortunate. Economic data appear in numerous figures and tables regarding the arms industry, military expenditures, government scientists, and related matters. The book also includes substantial prosopographical data on government scientists, [End Page 459] variously defined, in five appendixes—all addressed to drawing a picture of the military shaping of British science and industry. Edgerton has organized his argument in a roughly chronological framework around three major themes: (1) the arms industry and the state; (2) the nature of the state elite, especially the higher civil service; and (3) the interpretations and conceptualizations of the British state, and of British militarism and technocracy. The first thematic area comprises three chapters: chapter 1, on the military-industrial complex during the interwar years; chapter 2, the development of the warfare-welfare state, 1939–55; and chapter 6, concerning the shift to a less militarized technology policy, 1955–70. His second theme, on the expertise of the civil service, includes chapters 3 and 4 on the interwar period and World War II and afterward, respectively. Edgerton rejects the common view of a civil service staffed by generalists to develop a new picture that stresses the central roles of technical experts, arms industrialists, and military officers. He devotes three chapters (5, 7, 8) to his third, essentially historiographic, theme. Here the author examines the ways that post–World War II British historians and social scientists have distorted their accounts of scientific, technical, and industrial development by slighting, omitting, or missing altogether the significance of technical expertise and military concerns. Chapter 8 offers a particularly interesting and wide-ranging review of the existing literature, American as well as British, that systematically removes military institutions or allows them only a special, circumscribed...

Purpose The construction industry is considered worldwide to be a dangerous industry because of its high rate of fatal accidents and serious injuries. This study aims to find ways to improve this situation by focusing on how to improve competence on health and safety (H&S) among newly graduated construction engineers in Norway. Design/Methodology/Approach In Norway, the regional safety representatives (RSRs) are considered to be cornerstones in ensuring H&S in the construction industry. Information in this study was gathered by conducting semi-structured in-depth interviews with 15 RSRs. Findings The results show that RSRs believe that while construction engineers have sufficient theoretical competence on HS however, many seem to lack the practical competence needed to ensure and implement H&S measures. The informants underline the importance of work practice on construction sites as part of the education as key to improve H&S competence among graduates. Research Limitations/Implications Input on possible improvements is collected from only one group of stakeholders in the industry. Other stakeholders might have valuable input that should be considered before concluding what improvements in the education are most effective. Practical Implications The findings may help to decide upon and implement improvements in the education of construction engineers and, thus, contribute to a safer and healthier industry in the future. Originality/Value The stakeholder perspective of RSRs on education of construction engineers has not been considered in earlier research despite the fact that they represent vital competence on H&S in the construction industry. This study aims to fill some of this gap.

The article "The use of online platforms and digital technologies in the system of higher education of the Republic of Kazakhstan" considers the topical issue of using online platforms and digital technologies in the educational process in Kazakhstan. This paper provides an overview of existing national and international projects aimed at developing online education in Kazakhstan. Also shown are the results of a study on students' perception of the possibilities of online education and the level of their readiness to use digital technologies in the educational process, the advantages and disadvantages of online education and digital technologies are considered, recommendations for improving the quality of education when using these technologies in higher education of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The purpose of this article is to study the use of online platforms and digital technologies in the higher education system of the Republic of Kazakhstan. To achieve the purpose, an analysis of scientific publications was carried out, a review of world research, also conducted a survey and interviews among students, teachers and ICT experts of Baishev University and Aktobe Regional University named after K. Zhubanov. The results of the study show that the use of online platforms and digital technologies in higher education of the Republic of Kazakhstan has great potential to improve the quality of education and expand the accessibility of education. However, to use these technologies effectively, barriers must be removed and problems that may limit their effectiveness must be addressed. In general, the article presents scientific findings that can help improve the use of online platforms and digital technologies in higher education in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The paper is dedicated to issues on peculiarities of applying information and communicative technologies in the higher legal education. There is stressed, information and communicative technologies, in the context of its` applying in the educative process, would be understood as a tool of knowledge. There is suggested to interpret information and communicative technologies, applying in the educative process as a set of methods and technical equipment for providing an effective process of studding and communication on the basis of computer networks. Roles of information and communicative technologies in the higher legal education are formulated. They are cognitive, researchscientific, professional-practical, formative-personal, competitive-motivational, resistant, creative. Their content is opened. There is showed, the significance of information and communicative technologies in the process of the higher legal education is an establishment, formation and development of a subject of the educational process relevant to today's technological requirements as a complete individual with a high level of professionalism and appropriate personal features. There is outlined, the applying information and communicative technologies in the higher legal education has a raw of peculiarities. The specificity of higher legal education, which is manifested in the practical orientation of legal professions and the orientation of training students for work in state authorities, is their determinant. Advantages and disadvantages of the applying information and communicative technologies for students and tutors are analyzed. After results of analysis, recommendations on applying information and communicative technologies in the educational process in general, and in the higher legal education in particular, are formulated. These recommendations provide usage of information and communicative technologies in the higher legal education on the basis of rationality and temperance, and, however, exclusion of the possibility of replacing the real one with a "virtual" educational process.

Discussing the importance of Educational Technologies is essential for building the Educational Management in the Higher Education since it has a strong indication on the necessity of discussing problems that involve the scientific-technological context and the social context. Aiming to understand how the educational practice is dealt with and how it can add valuable contributions to the challenge of searching for knowledge. With this premise, we present the problem: How should we use the Information and Communication Technologies in Education for the Higher Education? What is the role of the teacher in the Higher Education and how his/her networking discourse contributes to create more symmetrical relations than the ones we have in a traditional educational context? Is the use of Information and Communication Technologies able to establish a new way of coexisting with a world that strives to become more human, demanding new means of intervention to humanize the relations? With these questions in mind, we developed a research with the objective of analyzing the usage of educational technology in the Higher Education. Nowadays, the Educational Technology has to be thought, learned and used as a resource and a mean to qualify and humanize everyone. This research was carried out through considerations and investigations on the Research Line of “Public Policies and Educational Management” of the Post-Graduation program in Education of the Tuiuti University of Paraná/Brazil. From this research, we could infer that using the Information and Communication Technologies in Education as a pedagogical resource is necessary as a valuable “support” in forming the creative and critical thought when the apprentice takes ownership of the theoretical-methodological and ethical-political basic principles of Information and Communication Technology.

E-learning is the buzz word in the field of education. Realising the advantages of using technology in education, the University of Delhi is launching its e-learning portal. Based on a survey of 240 college students from both private management institutes and colleges of University of Delhi, the paper focuses at gauging the existing state of technology in these institutes. This will provide a framework to promote Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in higher education. The study also aims at giving suggestions and recommendations to improve quality of higher education in India. The survey shows that the present state of technology in higher educational institutes is not good enough to effectively use technology in education. Thus, the merits of traditional classroom teaching and ICT tools should be integrated into a single system.

Factors affecting the adoption and use of AVR technology in higher and tertiary education

The integration of big data technologies in higher education is a topic of growing interest due to its potential to revolutionize teaching, learning, and administrative processes. This study aims to explore the impact of big data technologies on educational practices and outcomes in higher education settings. Through a comprehensive investigation, including literature review, surveys, and statistical analysis, the study examines the utilization, effectiveness, and challenges associated with integrating big data technologies in educational settings. Key findings reveal a significant positive correlation between the utilization of big data technologies and the frequency of interaction among faculty, researchers, and practitioners. Additionally, faculty training is identified as a crucial factor influencing the successful integration of big data technologies in higher education. Institutional support emerges as a key facilitator in the effective implementation of big data technologies, while student readiness, including technological proficiency and willingness to engage, is found to positively correlate with integration efforts. The perceived effectiveness of big data technologies mediates the relationship between integration efforts and outcomes in higher education settings. Based on these findings, recommendations are provided to enhance the integration of big data technologies in higher education, including the need for continuous faculty training, institutional support, and student readiness initiatives. Overall, this study contributes to the ongoing discourse on leveraging data-driven approaches to enhance educational practices and outcomes in higher education.

This article argues for exploring, connecting, and applying utopian imagination, speculative design, and planetary thinking as a way forward for higher education to reimagine and move towards more hopeful planetary futures. It examines hopepunk and solarpunk perspectives on possible futures to propose a design agenda for rewidening and rewilding higher education and educational technology with utopian imagination. Firstly, the article outlines and develops a framework for wider and wilder futures in higher education, emerging from utopian thinking and desire. Secondly, it connects hopepunk with speculative design and solarpunk with planetary design to highlight and put forward rebellious strategies of hope in envisioning more preferable futures. Thirdly, it approaches the field of educational technology within the context of wide and wild education to establish four planetary orientations concerning educational technology: Higher Education for, in, with, and by the world. Taken together, the article proposes a design agenda for educational technology that integrates utopian imagination and solarpunk practices with planetary educational technology to catalyse the development of more preferable futures in a more-than-human world.

The purpose of this theoretical paper is to explain the relevance of the Master of Engineering Education (M Eng. in Education) at one university of technology in South Africa, that comprises four distinct faculties. The paper is based on relevant literature review. The M Eng in Education creates the nexus between Engineering Sciences and Education as specific fields of study and research to enhance cross-boundary knowledge, skills, pedagogy and application. This is in line with the South African National Development Plan, Vision 2030, that accentuates the need for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education in the country to address the economy, develop skills, create jobs, eradicate poverty and unemployment towards a capable developmental state. Using a social constructivist lens, the researchers draw from their experiences while working with Engineering lecturers who enrolled for the Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education (PGDHE) programme, offered within the institution. From the interaction with the Engineers through the PGDHE programme, the researchers found that the teaching and research skills of these engineers fundamentally improved because they had to submit long essay-type assessments. The researchers conclude that the M Eng in Education will enable engineers to teach better and improve student learning within their classrooms.

Stephen M. Alessi is an Associate Professor at the University of Iowa, on Psychological and Quantitative Foundations Department. He received his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology form University of Illinois in 1979. His principal research interests are Educational Technology, Multimedia Design, Web-Based Learning and Instructional Simulation. Stephen M. Alessi is an active member of American Educational Research Association, Association for Educational Communications and Technology, European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction and System Dynamics Society. Stanley R. Trollip is an Associate Professor at Capella University, Minneapolis. His main interests are Higher Education, Educational Assessment and Educational Technology. He has published more than 50 publications on topics like Computer based technology, Education methods and development, Classroom management, Educational Software. Stanley R. Trollip is an active member of American Educational Research Association, Association for Educational Communications and Technology Article visualizations:

The effectiveness of technology-enhanced resources in mathematics in higher education is far from clear, nor is student engagement with such resources. In this review article, we investigate the existing literature in three interrelated areas: student engagement with technology in higher education and mathematics; what works and what does not in technology in education and in mathematics in higher education; evaluating the use of technology in higher education and mathematics; and the use of frameworks and models. Over 300 research articles were identified for this purpose and the results are reported in this review. We found a dearth of studies in undergraduate mathematics education that specifically focus on student engagement with technology. In addition, there is no overarching framework that describes both the pedagogical aspects and the educational context of technology integration in mathematics.

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are drastically changing the norm in today's society, economy and culture. The acceptance and successful adoption of new technologies is as important as their introduction. This matter is particularly relevant to the current health crisis, especially for the aspect of education. The implementation of ICTs is changing the practice of learning institutions. Thus, this study aims to review academic publications on the use of technology in the education sector in Saudi Arabia. From the review of the literature, we determine six main factors influencing the successful adoption of ICTs. Using these factors, we develop a conceptual framework on the basis of the analysis and knowledge obtained from relevant literature. The proposed conceptual model helps identify the main factors that affect the successful adoption of innovative technologies in the education sector. We also provide potential research directions concerning the use of technology in the education sector in Saudi Arabia.

The relevance of the research is due to the need to improve the educational process in higher education. Edu-cational technologies should be aimed at increasing the motivation of students to acquire knowledge. The existing teaching methods are gradually losing their effectiveness due to changes in the moral, economic, and social compo-nents of the modern world. The trend of recent years is digitalization, affecting all spheres of society, so educational technologies must meet changing conditions.The purpose of the research is to identify the positive and negative features of gamification as an educational technique in modern higher education.The objectives of the research: to define the concept of "gamification" and to identify its differences from the concept of "game"; to consider the components of gamification as an educational technique; to identify the motiva-tional role of gaming technologies in the educational process; to consider possible ways to increase students' motiva-tion during educational activities; to analyze the shortcomings of the introduction of gaming technologies in the edu-cational process.Methodology. The methodological basis of the research is the method of dialectical scientific cognition; a sys-tematic approach to the problem under consideration, the historical method, the analytical method, etc. Results. In the course of the research, various approaches to the concept of "gamification" were identified and systematized. The authors identified the positive and negative features of the introduction of gaming technologies into the educational process, and also considered the motivational component of the modern student's education.Conclusion. Gaming technologies are rarely used in education, as many teachers underestimate their poten-tial. In addition, their introduction into the educational process requires the teacher to make efforts, including creative ones. Such technologies make it possible to involve more students in the educational process by increasing interest in something new and different from the classical teaching methods. Of course, the use of gaming technologies in the educational process has a number of disadvantages that can be offset by a successful combination of innovative and classical teaching methods.

The article reveals the importance of digital technologies (virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality with the use of artificial intelligence) in the educational space of educational institutions, identifies the types and considers the advantages of virtual reality, shows the important role of augmented reality in the educational space of educational institutions; the most well-known means of digital technologies in the educational space of educational institutions are analyzed. The use of immersive technologies is presented as a tool to involve all students in the educational process, where digital technologies are used to personalize learning, a new innovative educational environment is created, motivation is increased, and for understanding reality, providing information, ease of its perception, new opportunities are being searched for the future specialist; The advantages of using immersive technologies in professional education are highlighted, the importance of artificial intelligence for higher education is shown, directions for using a chatbot are suggested. In the conditions of the real educational process, we conducted a study on the formation of students with a high level of competence in the use of digital immersive technologies in the educational space of higher education institutions.