The state of affairs of teacher education with respect to information and communications technology

Abstract

If the Internet is an information superhighway, then teachers just might be the road-kill on the asphalt of the information superhighway. Possibly, for the first time in history, students are more adept at using the tools necessary for acquiring and transmitting knowledge than are their teachers. Children everywhere are creating their own virtual communities through the use of new technologies. They make use of chat facilities (MSN®, ICQ® etc.) to stay synchronously in touch with both old and new friends and email and short message services to stay in touch with them asynchronously. They take part in discussion groups, navigate through virtual worlds and assimilate new hardware and software as if it were second nature. In many ways they are light years ahead of their parents and teachers with respect to the possibilities of information and communications technology (ICT). As a result students are getting bored and frustrated and teachers are getting frustrated and distraught. To try to remedy this, the Inspectorate of Education of the Netherlands commissioned the Educational Technology Expertise Centre of the Open University of the Netherlands to lead an international study (quick-scan) on good/best practice with respect to the integration of ICT into the mental and physical toolbox of the aspirant teacher and to try to draw from this preliminary curricular benchmarks for teachers' colleges in the Netherlands. The quick-scan was carried out by a network of teacher training and ICT experts throughout the world. This special issue shows the reader the results of this quick-scan in terms of good practice and benchmarks for calibration and/or modelling of teacher training in ICT along with a number of pedagogical and policy repercussions of their adoption     

Learning practice and technology: extending the structurational Practice Lens to educational technology research

Scholars in the field of educational technology have been calling for robust use of social theory within learning technology research. In view of that, interest has been noted in applying Giddens’ structuration theory to the understanding of human interaction with technology in learning settings. However, only few such attempts have been published to date with recent reviews indicating the scarcity of structurational accounts from the educational technology field. Addressing this gap and advancing a critical use of the theory in the field, an attempt is made in this paper to lend coherency to structuration-based research into learning technology. Specifically, a critical consideration of the structurational Practice Lens is offered drawing from its application in a case study that explored technology-mediated learning practices in the institutional context of higher education. Conceptual and analytical aspects are addressed with a view to augment the framework, and to extend its relevance and applicability in educational technology research.     

数字技术赋能乡村治理的制度分析与理论启示

分析数字技术赋能返贫风险治理问题,对巩固拓展脱贫攻坚成果、守住不发生规模性返贫底线十分重要。基于返贫风险分析,可探索建立一个数字技术赋能返贫风险治理的分析框架。在返贫风险暴露阶段,数字技术可从排查风险来源、识别风险类型、评估风险程度、确定风险警示等方面赋能异质性和协同性返贫风险预警机制的构建。在返贫风险应对阶段,数字技术可赋能政府、脆弱人口、社区、企业、公益组织等主体,形成多元协同共治的合力。在抗逆力提升阶段,数字技术可通过素质技能提升、交互权利发展、外部资源获取等方面赋能个体抗逆力;通过优化政策制度、管理服务和治理结构等方面赋能组织抗逆力。为提升数字技术赋能返贫风险治理的效果,需要建立返贫风险数据的标准和规范、破除返贫风险信息的“数据孤岛”、提高返贫风险数据的自动化采集程度、关注基层管理与数字化赋能的协同、提高脆弱人口与管理人员的数字素养与数字技能。     

Perspectives on continuing professional development in and through information and communications technology

This paper considers the role and development of meaningful dialogue in digitally mediated learning (DML) in UK higher education for teachers. It argues that more research is vital in the field of meaningful dialogue if we are to avoid the risk that pedagogic values in DML become increasingly driven by market forces toward ‘data vending’ without sufficient contextualisation of learning as social practice. Three data collection sources are interpreted. The first is the narrativised experiences of a DML development team transforming an MA Education award; the second is some key reflections on the experiences of MA participants on a newly transformed DML module and the third is a brief analysis of student results and evaluations. The key focus for the paper is how important and challenging it can be to nurture a dialogic academic community online that clearly supports and nurtures the professional development of teachers across the education sector. Using a methodological approach incorporating Ulrich’s notion of ‘reflective competence’, the paper considers the pitfalls of transforming face-to-face modules into DML, arguing that both staff and participant preparation for DML must be at the forefront of such transformations. The paper concludes with a consideration of the vital role in DML of pedagogies which promote emotional engagement and ‘kindness’.     

The development of technology enhanced learning: findings from a 2008 survey of UK higher education institutions

This article summarises the key findings from a UK survey of higher education institutions, focusing on the development of technology enhanced learning (TEL). TEL is defined as any online facility or system that directly supports learning and teaching. The 2008 survey builds upon previous UCISA surveys conducted in 2001, 2003 and 2005 and for which at each stage after 2001, a longitudinal analysis was undertaken [see Browne, T., Jenkins, M., & Walker, R. (2006 Browne, T., Jenkins, M. and Walker, R. 2006. A longitudinal perspective regarding the use of VLEs by higher education institutions in the United Kingdom. Interactive Learning Environments, 14(2): 177–192. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). A longitudinal perspective regarding the use of VLEs by higher education institutions in the United Kingdom. Interactive Learning Environments, 14(2), 177–192]. The findings, confirmed by other studies published since 2005, reveal that ensuring the quality of learning and teaching activities is consolidated as the primary driver for using TEL with a committed local champion representing the highest ranked factor in supporting TEL development within an institution. External strategies have been influential, contributing to the rise to prominence of institutional e-learning strategies. The delivery of course content continues to be the most common way in which TEL is used to support teaching and learning. The tools that have increased in prominence are those for podcasting, e-portfolios, e-assessment, blogs and wikis. Regarding new activities, streaming media, mobile computing, podcasting and Web 2.0 are discernibly the greatest. Upgrading staff skills were overwhelmingly noted as the greatest challenge that these new activities would create, with staff development and supportive strategies being seen as the primary remedies. However, the perception of lack of time was identified as the main barrier that needed to be surmounted. Though much of the data remain subtle, clear identifiable differences continue to be discernible between Pre-92 and Post-92 universities.     

成人自我导向学习与成人教育教师角色

自我导向学习是成人学习的应然选择,是未来成人学习的主导方式.成人学习方式的变化,必将引起教师教学方式的变化.基于成人的自我导向学习,成人教育教师应重塑其教师角色:培养高自我导向学习者;传播、倡导成人学习文化;消除成人学习心理障碍;促进成人深层学习;创新成人教学方法.     

New Labour's cultural turn: some tensions in contemporary educational and cultural policy

The election of a Labour government in Britain, after 18 years of Conservative rule, has seen the emergence of a new educational discourse, based on a distinctive combination of cultural, economic and social themes. In this article, we identify the components of the discourse, and explore how it is currently deployed in arguments for educational change. Specifically, our focus is on two recent documents: All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education (NACCCE 1999), produced by an Advisory Committee appointed by the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS); and Making Movies Matter (FEWG 1999) by the Film Education Working Group, set up by the British Film Institute at the request of the DCMS. Embodying in separate ways the features of the emergent discourse, these texts also position themselves very differently in relation to current educational policy. Through a critique of the reports, we identify some of the broader difficulties of the ‘cultural turn’ in education, and the possibility of a more productive alternative.     

任务型教学模式下教师角色定位研究

任务型教学模式下,教师的角色地位发生了质的变化.在教学过程中,教师充当中介者、组织者和设计者;在教学方式上,教师不再"操纵"整个学习过程,而是帮助学生学会学习;在教学活动中,教师通过任务型的教学设计,使学生投入到真实性的活动中去,并积极参与,充分发挥学习的主动性;在教学内容上,教师参与课程的设计和内容的选编;在教学的交互模式上,教师只是配合学生进行交流,而非控制整个交互过程及内容.同时,实施任务型教学必须坚持处理好教师和学生的职责关系,必须坚持教师技能的长远发展.     

英语口语协作学习及评价方法

本文根据口语课堂的教学实践，阐述一些英语口语协作学习及评价方法，说明了协作学习及评价方法能更好地培养学生的交际能力，可以弥补自身的知识不足，有利于学生充分发挥主动性和语言运用的创造性，其最大优势就是协作活动促进了师生及学生之间的互动作用，在英语口语教学中能够达到事半功倍的效果。     

Encounters in the third space: constructing the researcher’s role in collaborative action research

ABSTRACT

Action research is a methodology that has been increasing in educational studies in recent years. Previous studies have revealed that action research affects practitioners more than traditional methods, since the practitioners are not only participants but also researchers themselves. One branch of action research is collaborative action research (CAR), whereby practitioners and the researcher collaborate through the action research process. This study builds on material from CAR in one Icelandic preschool that lasted over 24 months. The focus of this article is on the role of the researcher in the action research project and how it was constructed through the process. The research material consists of the researcher’s self-narratives, practitioners’ diaries, interviews, and recordings from meetings. The findings show that the researcher’s role was constructed in a so-called third space where the researcher and practitioners collaborated. The researcher went through an emotional landscape while constructing her role and her position was something in between an insider and an outsider. Finally, she faced different kinds of tension concerning her role as a researcher in the CAR. The study contributes to the limited number of studies on the researcher’s role in CAR and how it is constructed during the process.     

职业院校教师信息化教学能力指标体系研究

以国际视野下的教师信息化能力概念为基础,分别按结构、功能对教师信息化教学能力的内涵挖掘,揭示职业院校教师信息化教学能力的固有特点。从偏远地区职业院校教师信息素养的现状和少数民族地区教师信息化能力发展影响因素着眼,构建职业院校教师信息化教学能力指标体系,其指标体系具有科学性、规范性、灵活性、本土性、人本性等特点。     

网络技术专业人才需求及教育衔接研究

高职高专计算机网络技术专业是相对成熟的IT类专业.对石家庄网络技术人才的需求状况和学生的就业岗位进行了分析,探讨了中高职街接的几个方面：人才培养目标及专业结构布局的街接,课程体系、教材及信息技术应用的街接,教育教学过程和评价模式的衔接及院校间、教师间的多向合作.     

The unexpected journey: renewing our commitment to students through educational action research

This article presents four cases of journeys of discovery and renewal, and the unexpected learning that results from exploring our practice with others. The authors are three classroom teachers – Steve, Stephanie and Bennyce – all of whom took part in a year-long action research sequence and the two professors – Helen and Mary – who co-taught these courses. Taking part in this process, whether as teachers or students, we gained new insights into important relationships that are too frequently taken for granted in busy teaching days, and discovered, in doing so, a renewed commitment to both our students and to the power of action research to bring about change     

试论探究性学习中生物教师的角色创新

为了有效地进行生物探究性学习,并把这一全新的教育理念带进课堂、指导教学、培养人才,适应时代发展的需求,生物教师必须从教育观念、教学模式、自身素质等方面进行角色创新.     

边疆地区中小学教师信息技术能力培训设计研究

本文在分析当前边疆地区中小学教师信息技术应用存在问题的基础上,总结问题成因,有效设计培训内容,应用在线学习共同体模式,构建边疆地区中小学教师信息技术能力培训框架,希望为边疆学校开展有效教师培训起到一定指引的作用。     

Conditions,processes and consequences of technology use: a case study

Abstract

The conditions, processes and consequences of technology implementation were explored in order to develop a holistic view of technology use in a typical elementary school (ages 6-11 years). This qualitative case study employed a symbolic interactionist conceptual framework, an interpretivist research paradigm and analytic induction strategies. Assertions generated from the process of analytic induction suggest that even when conditions appear ripe for transformational uses of technology, these uses often do not occur. The study raises questions about whether school-wide transformational uses of technology can occur without an organized reform effort and whether the conditions for transformational use of technology advocated in the literature are sufficient to facilitate such use. The study also supports the need to consider stages of adoption when planning for technology integration within a school and adds another dimension to the question of whether constructivist teaching strategies enable transformative uses of technology or whether the transformational uses of technology lead to more constructivist tendencies.     

The TeleTOP Implementation Model: Establishing the Use of a WWW-Based Course Management System in a University

The process that accompanies the decision to make an institutional commitment to new ways of teaching and learning supported by a WWW-based course management system is complex. Such a process is underway in the Faculty of Educational Science and Technology at the University of Twente in the Netherlands via its TeleTOP project (http://teletop.edte.utwente.nl). A model was needed to guide the change process. In this paper, the development of the first version of the TeleTOP Implementation Model is described and an exploratory study of the generalizability of the model to other settings is reported upon. The general conclusion of this preliminary investigation is that the model appears to be generally applicable in other institutional contexts also involved in systematic change processes involving WWW-based course management systems, but that some revision of the model is needed. Based on the preliminary exploration study, an introduction to version 2 of the model is presented here.     

Genealogy and educational research

The aim of this paper was to demonstrate how genealogy can be used as a method for critical education research. As Foucault emphasized, genealogy is a method for identifying the way in which the individuals are subjectified through discourse. The genealogical analysis in the article defines two mayor tendencies in contemporary Danish pedagogy: individualization and structuralizing. The analyses also show an example of how the two tendencies are intermingled in the Danish law of learning plans in day care institutions.