The past several years have been Witness to a variety of education reform and reorganization efforts, including for students With disabilities. Prominent among these restructuring efforts have been initiatives that require educators to adopt practices that are supported by research. NoteWorthy examples of this trend include the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and other calls for use of effective practice methods by educators and others Who are connected With students With disabilities. Although this is a daunting challenge for any group of students, the process of identifying and consistently and correctly using effective practice methods has been especially demanding for professionals Who Work With children and youth With autism spectrum disorders. This article discusses issues and factors that relate to identifying and using effective practices With students With autism-related disorders. Recommended effective practice methods are also provided.

This position paper is the outcome of a brainstorming workshop organised by the International Society for Digital Earth (ISDE) in Beijing in March 2011. It argues that the vision of Digital Earth (DE) put forward by Vice-President Al Gore 13 years ago needs to be re-evaluated in the light of the many developments in the fields of information technology, data infrastructures and earth observation that have taken place since. The paper identifies the main policy, scientific and societal drivers for the development of DE and illustrates the multi-faceted nature of a new vision of DE grounding it with a few examples of potential applications. Because no single organisation can on its own develop all the aspects of DE, it is essential to develop a series of collaborations at the global level to turn the vision outlined in this paper into reality.

A combination of visual supports for two elementary-age boys with autism was evaluated. The visual supports were used to aid transitions from one activity to another in community and home settings. The effectiveness of the visual supports was assessed using single-subject reversal designs (ABAB). The data revealed a significant decrease in the latency between the time the students were given instructions and the time they began the next activity when the visual supports were used. Visual supports also resulted in a significant decrease in teacher-delivered verbal and physical transition prompts required for one of the students.

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A speech of then-Vice President Al Gore in 1998 created a vision for a Digital Earth, and played a role in stimulating the development of a first generation of virtual globes, typified by Google Earth, that achieved many but not all the elements of this vision. The technical achievements of Google Earth, and the functionality of this first generation of virtual globes, are reviewed against the Gore vision. Meanwhile, developments in technology continue, the era of “big data” has arrived, the general public is more and more engaged with technology through citizen science and crowd-sourcing, and advances have been made in our scientific understanding of the Earth system. However, although Google Earth stimulated progress in communicating the results of science, there continue to be substantial barriers in the public’s access to science. All these factors prompt a reexamination of the initial vision of Digital Earth, and a discussion of the major elements that should be part of a next generation.