Use Of Skype Research Articles

From the Editor: An International Potpourri

One of the aspects of editing this journal that I most enjoy is its international orientation, as indicated in its subtitle and with its emphasis on encouraging and including articles submitted by family therapists from around the world. I find it fascinating to hear so many varied voices, to learn about the unique challenges and dynamics of therapy in different cultures, and at the same time to see the commonalities that are part and parcel of the therapy process despite differences in context. In an era when international connections are so easily facilitated and maintained via such technological wonders as email or the use of skype, it seems only appropriate that we take as broad a view of the family therapy world as possible. And I especially laud those who are willing to overcome the potentially daunting challenge of conveying their ideas in a language that is not their first in order to have their articles published in this journal. Although unplanned, I therefore was gratified to see that three of the four articles selected for publication in this edition were submitted by residents of countries other than the United States. From Finland Aarno Laitila shares thoughts about ‘‘The Expertise Question Revisited: Horizontal and Vertical Expertise,’’ advocating for a both/and perspective that encourages a recognition of the importance of making recourse to expertise as defined relative to both modernist and postmodernist perspectives. Monica Wong provides food for thought from Canada relative to the importance, as well as the creation and application of pre-marital inventories in ways that are culturally sensitive and thus appropriate in her article ‘‘Strengthening Connections in Interracial Marriage Through Pre-Marital Inventories: A Critical Literature Review.’’ Another Canadian contribution comes from Heather Ramey, Donato Tarulli, Jan Frijters, and Lianne Fisher, who report on ‘‘A sequential Analysis of Externalizing in Narrative Therapy with Children,’’ describing findings that support Michael White’s model of narrative therapy. Finally, our lone article from the US was written by Anibal Torres Bernal, whose focus is ‘‘Family Therapy Education and Higher Education Administration Policy: Facing New

No improvement—reflections and suggestions on the use of Skype to enhance college students’ oral English proficiency

British Journal of Educational TechnologyVolume 39, Issue 4 p. 721-725 No improvement—reflections and suggestions on the use of Skype to enhance college students’ oral English proficiency Ya-Ting C. Yang, Corresponding Author Ya-Ting C. Yang Institute of Education and Centre for Teacher Education, National Cheng Kung University, TaiwanYa-Ting C. Yang, Institute of Education & Centre for Teacher Education, National Cheng Kung University, No. 1, Ta-Hsueh Rd., 701 Tainan, Taiwan. Email: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorLing-Yin Chang, Ling-Yin Chang Institute of Education and Centre for Teacher Education, National Cheng Kung University, TaiwanSearch for more papers by this author Ya-Ting C. Yang, Corresponding Author Ya-Ting C. Yang Institute of Education and Centre for Teacher Education, National Cheng Kung University, TaiwanYa-Ting C. Yang, Institute of Education & Centre for Teacher Education, National Cheng Kung University, No. 1, Ta-Hsueh Rd., 701 Tainan, Taiwan. Email: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorLing-Yin Chang, Ling-Yin Chang Institute of Education and Centre for Teacher Education, National Cheng Kung University, TaiwanSearch for more papers by this author First published: 03 July 2008 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2007.00769.xCitations: 15Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Citing Literature Volume39, Issue4July 2008Pages 721-725 RelatedInformation

The delay-friendliness of TCP

TCP has traditionally been considered unfriendly for real-time applications. Nonetheless, popular applications such as Skype use TCP since UDP packets cannot pass through many NATs and firewalls. Motivated by this observation, we study the delay performance of TCP for real-time media flows. We develop an analytical performance model for the delay of TCP. We use extensive experiments to validate the model and to evaluate the impact of various TCP mechanisms on its delay performance. Based on our results, we derive the working region for VoIP and live video streaming applications and provide guidelines for delay-friendly TCP settings. Our research indicates that simple application-level schemes, such as packet splitting and parallel connections, can reduce the delay of real-time TCP flows by as much as 30% and 90%, respectively.