Integrating ICT to higher education in China: From the perspective of Activity Theory

This paper is based on a study that explored the relationship between the implementation of ICT pedagogy and the factors that influenced seven teachers of English for Business Purposes in Chinese higher education concerning their adoption of ICT into their teaching. Activity Theory was used as an analytical tool to investigate the relationships and to identify contradictions in their teaching systems that could lead to teachers’ implementation of a student-centred ICT pedagogy. The study revealed that the main potential driving force for change lay in the conflict between the deep-rooted teacher-centred pedagogy in the educational system and the student-centred pedagogy that accompanied the introduction of ICT. If teachers, curriculum developers and policy makers understood this conflict, this would enable them to concentrate on such issues as how to change the teacher-centred pedagogy to support both teaching and learning for improved learning achievements. Activity theory proved a powerful tool to analyse and understand the contradictions in an activity system. Changes in ICT related policy are recommended.     

Pedagogic Benchmarks for Information and Communications Technology in Teacher Education

Abstract

This article analyses the required content and strategies of information and communications technology (ICT) training for teachers in terms of learning to know, learning to do, learning to live with each other and with others, and learning to be. We conclude that the fast-changing role and nature of ICT in education, combined with the low level of penetration of ICT into present educational practices, requires a strategy that includes three aspects. These aspects are the training of students within teacher training institutions, the high-level implementation of ICT in schools as a joint effort by students, schools and teacher training institutions, and the formation of cooperating communities of practice to ensure the continued flow of emerging knowledge and practices to the educational field. Special attention should be given to unwanted and unforeseen side effects that may affect pupils' lives today and in the future.     

Modelling diffusion of a personalized learning framework

A new modelling approach for diffusion of personalized learning as an educational process innovation in social group comprising adopter-teachers is proposed. An empirical analysis regarding the perception of 261 adopter-teachers from 18 schools in India about a particular personalized learning framework has been made. Based on this analysis, teacher training (TT) has been identified as one of the dominant factor which can significantly influence decision by teachers to adopt the educational innovation. Different situations corresponding to fixed and time dependent dynamic carrying capacity of potential adopter-teachers at any time have been developed. New generalized models capturing the growth dynamics of the innovation diffusion process in conjunction with the evolutionary carrying capacity of potential adopters are investigated. The coupled dynamics allows forecasting the likelihood of success or failure of new educational innovation in a given context. Different scenarios for TT are considered based on??constant growth rate model; proportional growth rate model; stratified growth rate model. The proposed modelling framework would be of great interest to education policy makers as it has the potential to predict the likelihood of success or failure of new educational innovation.     

A comparison of the influence of government policy on information and communications technology for teacher training in England and Northern Ireland

Abstract

This article examines the introduction of national standards and guidelines for the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in initial teacher training in England and Northern Ireland. The context for the increased focus on ICT in teacher education is described for each part of the United Kingdom (UK). Comparisons are drawn between the two areas of the UK to show how schools and teacher training institutions have attempted to meet the standards within each political context by examining the positive features of three case teacher training courses, two in England and one in Northern Ireland. From this, inferences are drawn about the level of intervention by Government and whether greater government control has reduced or increased the integration of ICT into the cycle of teaching and learning.     

Creating partnerships for generative learning and systemic change: Redefining academic roles and relationships in support of learning

The adoption of information and communications technologies (ICT) is a catalyst for innovation and evaluation of teaching, and are driving many tertiary institutions towards a reconsideration of the nature of quality learning. While the technology of online delivery receives most attention, it is arguably the management of teaching and learning that requires new approaches. Universities which have been engaged in traditional forms of distance education are considering how best to integrate communications technologies that offer alternative forms of course delivery, communication, flexible pedagogies and new roles for teachers and learners. Institutional change issues are also linked to ICT adoption: developing students' generic skills, fostering lifelong learning and catering for greater flexibility in delivery of educational services is now core business in tertiary institutions across Australia. This paper argues that such changes require tertiary teaching staff to adopt a different mindset, that of facilitating and supporting learning while assuming new roles as managers, motivators, mentors and mediators of learning. The rationale for each of these roles within Web-based learning environments is presented within a constructivist framework, which affirms and extends good teaching practice. In addition to highlighting aspects of teaching and learning that are supported and transformed by constructivist, Web-based delivery, this paper proposes that professional development is essentially about establishing partnerships for renewal of teaching values, and that staff developers need to learn the craft of supporting change at various levels: at the individual level, at the course and unit level and at the institutional level through systemic contextualized affirmation of constructivist values. Professional development for adoption of Web-based teaching requires multi-dimensional thinking. Rather than acting as a driver of top-down change, effective staff development is participatory and supportive, seeking action research partnerships where more profound changes in teacher conceptions of learning must take place before online pedagogies become part of tertiary teaching culture.     

Bridging the Gap? A Comparative,Retrospective Analysis of Science Literacy and Interest in Science for Indigenous and Non‐Indigenous Australian Students

Previous research has shown that indigenous students in Australia do not enjoy equal educational outcomes with other Australians. This secondary analysis of PISA 2006 confirmed that this continues to be the case in science literacy for secondary students. However, the analysis also revealed that indigenous Australian students held interest in science equal to that of their non‐indigenous peers, and that observed variations in science literacy performance were most strongly explained by variations in reading literacy. These findings hold important implications for teachers, teacher educators, policy‐makers, and researchers. Firstly, acknowledging and publicly valuing indigenous Australian science knowledge through rethinking school science curriculum seems an important approach to engaging indigenous students and improving their literacy in science. Secondly, appropriate professional learning for practising teachers and the incorporation of indigenous knowing in science methods training in teacher preparation seems warranted. Additionally, we offer a number of questions for further reflection and research that would benefit our understanding of ways forward in closing the science literacy gap for indigenous students. Whilst this research remains firmly situated within the Australian educational context, we at the same time believe that the findings and implications offered here hold value for science education practitioners and researchers in other countries with similar populations striving to achieve science literacy for all.     

Empirische Bildungsforschung und evidenzbasierte Bildungspolitik

This paper discusses opportunities as well as constraints of evidence based policy and evidence based practice in education. Expectations held by different strands of the public (policy makers, teachers, parents) are discussed as constraint of the underlying educational research. Furthermore, such expectations constrain the communication between researchers and the public (a case of science communication). Communicating empirical evidence is a precondition for any evidence based policy in education.     

Teacher professional development and ICT: an investigation of teachers studying a postgraduate award in ICT in education

The Schools IT2000 initiative, launched in 1997, was the first large-scale attempt to integrate information and communications technology (ICT) into teaching and learning in the Irish education system. As part of this initiative a training continuum was developed with the objective of enabling teachers to progress from novice to expert users of ICT. Short-term in-service courses were offered to all post-primary teachers in the state. Third-level institutions were invited to develop professional development programmes in the area of ICT in education to advance the training continuum. This article reports on the findings of a survey of teachers who had progressed along this training continuum and had opted to study for a postgraduate award in ICT in Education. The research aimed to determine the general profile of teachers electing to study on the programme, their current use of ICT and the types of in-service education and training in ICT they had previously been exposed to.     

Handwriting: what do we know and what do we need to know?

Handwriting has a low status and profile in literacy education in England and in recent years has attracted little attention from teachers, policy‐makers or researchers into mainstream educational processes. This article identifies a substantial programme of research into handwriting, including studies located in the domains of special needs education and psychology, suggesting that it is time to re‐evaluate the importance of handwriting in the teaching of literacy. Explorations of the way handwriting affects composing have opened up new avenues for research, screening and intervention, which have the potential to make a significant contribution to children's progress in learning to write. In particular, the role of orthographic motor integration and automaticity in handwriting is now seen as of key importance in composing. Evidence from existing studies suggests that handwriting intervention programmes may have a real impact on the composing skills of young writers. In particular, they could positively affect the progress of the many boys who struggle with writing throughout the primary school years.     

加强教育科研 促进教育创新

联合国教科文组织 (UNESCO)一贯重视科学研究在增强国家社会经济发展潜力 ,尤其是促进教育创新及改革过程中的作用。在国际教育发展大背景下 ,教育研究的地位相应提高。教育研究注重加强与教育决策和创新实践的联系 ;注重对影响教育质量和学习成绩因素的研究 ;加强对生本课程和学生学习标准及相应的教师专业标准的探索 ;从新的广度及深度探讨信息通讯技术对教育的影响 ;教育研究日益全球化。教育科研要促进教育的全面发展 ,提高改革的成效 ,还应关注和解决诸如教师在教育科研中的作用、恰当地认识和加强研究与决策的关系、教育研究成果的推广应用、教育研究方法的改进等方面的问题。     

Designing Nordic technology-enhanced learning

The latest developments of information and communication technologies (ICT) and its large penetration in different sectors of our society pose new challenges and demands in the field of education. This special issue entitled “Designing Nordic technology-enhanced learning (TEL)”, presents and discusses how researchers in the Nordic countries are currently framing and thinking about issues that are related to pedagogical design of learning spaces, digital literacies, educational professional development, design of tools engaging students in collaborative inquiry learning as well as design-oriented multimodal understandings of learning.The objective pursued with the special issue has been to reflect upon current problems that educational institutions, practitioners and TEL researchers are facing in the Nordic countries as regards the acknowledgment of young people's ICT practices within formal education. Such analytical work has led us to identify and elaborate on what we believe constitute forthcoming research challenges for learning and education in the Nordic countries.     

The digital challenges of school and teacher education in Norway: Some urgent questions and the search for answers

This paper highlights the digital challenges within education in Norway and explains how the digital revolution creates new possibilities, dilemmas and challenges for school and teacher education in our contemporary society. Today we find a consensus among policy-makers, researchers, teacher educators and school management that digital literacy and ICT implementation must be given high priority and needs to be explored more deeply in our contemporary educational institutions. Despite this consensus, previous ICT efforts have revealed that implementation of ICT in the Norwegian context has been more strongly anchored rhetorically, than in practice. Consequently, the paper focuses on whether we now have learned from the past and are entering a time of upheaval within technology implementation and asks what kind of possibilities, challenges and dilemmas teacher educators and teachers face in this new pedagogical terrain. The paper focuses on some urgent questions and the search for answers within this pedagogical area, based on research findings from PILOT (Krumsvik, IKT i det nye læringsrommet, 2 (ICT in the new learning-space, 2), Unipub, Universitetet i Oslo, 2004a; Krumsvik, Norsk Pedagogisk Tidsskrift (Norwegian Journal of Pedagogy), 88:467–480, 2004b; Krumsvik, Scand. J. Educ. Res., 49:27–50, 2005a; Krumsvik, J. Nord. Pedagog. Res., 25:190–207, 2005b; Krumsvik, ICT in the school. ICT-initiated school development in lower secondary school, University of Bergen, Bergen, 2006), other relevant research studies, policy documents and theoretical foundations.     

Acceptance of learning management system: The case of secondary school teachers

There are many ICT tools that teachers can use to support teaching and learning. In recent years, Learning Management Systems (LMSs) have been present in most higher education institutions. However, the availability of LMSs in K-12 is more recent. Furthermore, we believe that LMSs are promising even for K-12 teachers in face-to-face learning contexts because they have many educational features that can support learning with students. The goal of this study is 1) to identify the factors that influence the acceptability of the LMS by teachers, 2) to see if teachers’ ICT use influences their intention to use the LMS, and finally 3) to see if teachers’ ICT use influences their perception of the affordances of LMS educational features. The LMS in our study was introduced in a school board of more than 35,000 students and approximately 2400 teachers. To study the acceptability of the LMS, we used the Technology Acceptance Model. The results obtained from the show that the perception of usefulness is a good predictor of the intent to use the LMS. As for ICT use and the affordances of LMS educational features, the results show that they are not a good predictor of the intention to use.     

Conceptualisation of learning to learn competence and the challenges of implementation: The Estonian experience

The importance of students' learning to learn competence for academic achievement, as well as their well-being at school and in life, is increasingly emphasised by educators and policy makers in national curricula and educational strategies. In an uncertain and complex world, learners need to become autonomous, be able to analyse challenges and apply knowledge in different contexts, address complex tasks, and create new knowledge. This article explores concepts and approaches to the development of students' learning to learn competence in the context of education in Estonia. First, the conceptualisation, model and dimensions of learning to learn competence are described and related challenges for teachers are analysed. Second, an overview of Estonian teachers' current practices, beliefs, knowledge, skills and occupational standards relevant to students' learning to learn competence is provided. We discuss how Estonian teacher education policy may enhance or inhibit the work of teachers when supporting students to develop learning to learn competence. Future directions for teacher educators and how to prepare teachers to support the development of students' learning to learn competence are suggested.     

Understanding the relationship between Singapore preservice teachers’ ICT course experiences and technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) through ICT course evaluation

Teacher education institutions conduct information and communications technology (ICT) courses to prepare preservice teachers (or initial teacher education candidates) to support their teaching practice with appropriate ICT tools. ICT course evaluations based on preservice teachers’ perception of course experiences are limited in indicating the kinds of ICT integration knowledge or technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) preservice teachers have gained throughout the course. Preservice teachers’ ICT course experiences was found to influence their intentions to integrate ICT but its influence on their TPACK perceptions, if better understood, can inform teacher education institutions about the design of ICT courses. This study describes the design and validation of an ICT course evaluation instrument that examines preservice teachers’ perceptions of ICT course experiences and TPACK. Hierarchical regression analysis was performed on survey results collected from a graduating cohort of 869 Singapore preservice teachers who had undergone a compulsory ICT course during their teacher training program. These preservice teachers were being prepared to teach the different subject areas at primary, secondary, and junior colleges (or postsecondary institutions for 17–19 year olds) in Singapore. The regression model showed that preservice teachers’ perceived TPACK was first influenced by their perceptions of course experiences that supported the development of intermediary TPACK knowledge components such as technological knowledge and technological pedagogical knowledge. The methodological implications for the design of ICT course evaluation surveys and the practical applications of survey results to the refinement of ICT course curriculum are discussed.     

How context shapes practitioner research and professional learning in schools in Singapore and NSW

The New South Wales (NSW) Government Department of Education and Communities and the Singapore Ministry of Education have encouraged teachers to engage in practitioner research as part of their professional learning agenda because it is perceived as a powerful means of investigating and improving educational practice. Drawing on a Schatzkian perspective, where social life is understood as being tied to a context, or ‘the site of the social’, we examine teachers’ experiences as practitioner researchers in NSW and Singapore. We also argue that practitioner research has been remodelled and re-interpreted differently in different contexts and that cultural context is a potent constituent of the practice architecture that prefigures practitioner research. Using data collected from interviews with 42 participants comprising academics, policy makers and teachers, we specifically illuminated those contextual/cultural characteristics respondents identified as factors that actively shape teachers’ experiences as practitioner researchers.     

Getting from Here to There: The Roles of Policy Makers and Principals in Increasing Science Teacher Quality

In this study we investigate how federal and state policy makers, and school principals are working to improve science teacher quality. Interviews, focused discussions, and policy documents serve as the primary data source. Findings suggest that both policy makers and principals prioritize increasing incentives for teachers entering the science teaching profession, providing professional development for new teachers, and using students’ data to evaluate and improve instruction. Differences between the two leadership groups emerged in terms of the grain size and practicality of their concerns. Our findings indicate that the complexity of educational challenges to improve science teacher quality call for the co-construction of policy by multiple constituent groups including school principals, federal and state policy makers, and science education researchers.