Beyond traditional literacy: Learning and transformative practices using ICT

Educators, government bodies and employers have acknowledged the need for modern learners to acquire 21st century skills using information and communication technologies, to personalise student learning. Students need broader skills than the 3Rs (reading, writing and arithmetic) to operate in the 21st century. These broader skills known as the 4Cs include: creativity, communication, collaboration and critical thinking. The use of information and communication technologies is crucial in developing the 4Cs in conjunction with understanding how learning takes place. However, simply using technology does not guarantee that deep learning will occur. The use of technology needs to align and adapt with our knowledge of learning to be able to operate in a transformative space. This paper is designed to link the understandings of deep learning, 21st century skills and appropriate use of information and communication technologies to provide direction to educators who wish to lead in a technological environment of change.     

Cognitive Processes,ICT, and Education: A Critical Analysis

Information and communication technologies (ICT) have brought about renewed spaces for the societies of today, full of possibility and transformation. Bordering on the infinite, these spaces have generated new activities and behaviors. This technological scenario is now commonplace, an everyday reality that has taken root in our lives with remarkable speed. Now would therefore be an appropriate time to open up a line of inquiry into how this is shaping educational practice and how it is affecting our cognitive structures. We have chosen to conduct a review of relevant literature that will enable us to adopt a critical analysis to our subject: education and, above all, the learner, seen from the perspective of neuroscience and social analysis. However, the principal aim of this paper is to lay bare the disparities between research findings and current educational practices that use ICT.     

ICT for education: a conceptual framework for the sustainable adoption of technology-enhanced learning environments in schools

The paper presents an evaluation of student and tutor experiences in the introductory module of a European Masters programme in e‐Learning, Multimedia and Consultancy. The aims and outline of the Masters programme are described, together with the pedagogical approach adopted in the introductory module which explores open and flexible learning environments with students and tutors from four European countries. The second part of the paper evaluates the success of the teaching and learning that occurred in this unit, from the perspective of both the students and tutors. Data collected include student and tutor written evaluations, reflections on the authors’ own roles in the programme, and analysis of the products contained in the environment. The paper concludes by detailing future developments in the Masters programme that have been influenced by this cycle of evaluation.     

Agricultural innovation systems and farm technology adoption: findings from a study of the Ghanaian plantain sector

Purpose: We assess farm technology adoption in an integrated analysis of social networks and innovation in plantain production in Ghana. The paper explores the strength of social networks in the agricultural innovation systems (AISs) and the effect of AISs on adoption of improved farm technology.

Methodology/Approach: The paper uses social network analysis (SNA) tools to identify, map and analyze the AISs and the two-stage Heckman selection model. Combining qualitative and quantitative methods allows testing the differential effects of social networks on technology adoption.

Findings: We find weak innovation systems in the study area. Farmers are central in the social networks but have little to no influence in the innovation system perspective. Social network capital plays a critical role in improving adoption of improved farm technology.

Practical implication: Focal farmers are important actors disseminating farm technology. They should be supported by policies to interact more effectively with research and extension agents. Strengthening the role of social networking in the innovation system will enhance adoption of improved farm technology.

Theoretical implications: The inclusion of SNA indicators in the adoption model is a novel approach for quantifying the effect of the innovation system and contributes to understanding the roles of different actors. Further validation of the SNA indicators is needed for a comprehensive analysis of the innovation system.

Originality/value: The innovation system approach is useful for researchers and policy-makers by encouraging them to consider new innovation actors and relationships in technology development and dissemination. Combining quantitative and qualitative methods can help to identify starting points for policies to promote innovations among farmers.     

What we are really doing with ICT in physical education: a national audit of equipment, use, teacher attitudes, support, and training

This paper reports on the results from a detailed national audit of information communication technology (ICT) in physical education (PE), examining attitudes, training, numbers of pieces of equipment and hardware owned, and its employment and use across nine Local Education Authorities, six types of schools, and four types of Specialist College. After setting the context, a summary of the survey methods used and an overview of the findings from 500 schools are presented. Results from 252 questionnaires returned suggested that the majority of PE teachers felt that ICT was a valuable teaching tool; however, parity of training and ownership of equipment were not standard across the range of schools or regions. Furthermore, the data suggest a growing trend in ICT use in PE across England.     

The rise and fall of the private sector in Portuguese higher education

The steering and regulation of Continental European higher education systems remains, in general, dominated by State authorities. However, recent developments in public administration and finance have produced some changes in the traditional role of the State as the sole provider of funding and central regulator for higher education institutions. The idea of a “market” for higher education has also been used, in many countries only in a rhetorical way, but in other countries some market-like mechanisms are actually being employed by governments in order to increase the efficiency and the responsiveness of universities and colleges to societal demands. In Portugal, a very large private sector of higher education has been allowed to develop. By analysing the governmental policies vis-à-vis its results, we arrive at the conclusion that, despite this very large private sector, no “real” market has emerged, and that the simultaneous lack of efficient State regulation has resulted in a situation of deep crisis for the sector.     

ICT in Portuguese reference schools for the education of blind and partially sighted students

Technology has become an essential component in our society and considering its impact in the educational system, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) cannot be dissociated from the educational process and, in particular, from pedagogical practices adopted for students who are blind or partially sighted. This study focuses on Portuguese reference schools for the education of blind and partially sighted students, regulated by the Decree-Law No. 3/2008, in which are concentrated the human and material resources that can offer an educational response with quality for these students with special education needs. The study intends to analyse the perceptions of the teachers, who teach visually impaired students in middle school and secondary school education in these reference schools, of their knowledge, teaching and training in the area of ICT, as well as of the real ICT integration in the teaching and learning of these students. A survey, which has been applied to these teachers in the 2012/13 school year, was adopted as a method of data collection. The results reveal a sample confident in their technological capabilities, however with little resourcefulness in some tools and software specific to the area of visual impairment and a very significant number of teachers ignoring many of these. The implementation of ICT with students who have visual disabilities is lower compared with the sighted students. The lack of specific training is considered to be the main obstacle for teachers, with regard to the real integration of ICT in the teaching and learning of these students.     

Beyond Commercialization: Science, Higher Education and the Culture of Neoliberalism

Since the 1980s, scholars and others have been engaged in a lively debate about the virtues and dangers of mingling commerce with university science. In this paper, we contend that the commercialization of academic science, and higher education more broadly, are best understood as pieces of a larger story. We use two cases of institutional change at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to shed light on the implications of neoliberalism for public research universities in the United States. We conclude that instead of neoliberalization being a timely strategy for the specific fiscal and other problems facing public universities today, it has become an omnibus solution available to be employed when any opportunity arises and, in fact, helps to define the “problems” of the university in the first place.     

Mea Culpa: Formal Education and the Dis-Integrated World

Formal education has removed itself so far from any truly integrated view of the Natural World that fragmentation and certainty are prevailing ethics. Technological progress has resulted in increased specialization within academic disciplines and their concurrent separation from each other. Knowledge is extracted from a fully integrated world, but is examined and defined by the 'dis-integrated' objectives.     

Bridging In-school and Out-of-school Learning: Formal, Non-Formal, and Informal Education

The present paper thoroughly examines how one can effectively bridge in-school and out-of-school learning. The first part discusses the difficulty in defining out-of-school learning. It proposes to distinguish three types of learning: formal, informal, and non-formal. The second part raises the question of whether out-of-school learning should be dealt with in the in-school system, in view of the fact that we experience informal learning anyway as well as considering the disadvantages and difficulties teachers are confronted with when planning and carrying out scientific fieldtrips. The voices of the teachers, the students, and the non-formal institution staff are heard to provide insights into the problem. The third part discusses the cognitive and affective aspects of non-formal learning. The fourth part presents some models explaining scientific fieldtrip learning and based on those models, suggests a novel explanation. The fifth part offers some recommendations of how to bridge in and out-of-school learning. The paper closes with some practical ideas as to how one can bring the theory described in the paper into practice. It is hoped that this paper will provide educators with an insight so that they will be able to fully exploit the great potential that scientific field trips may offer. This paper appears as a chapter in: Eshach, H. (2006). Science Literacy in Primary Schools and Pre-Schools, Netherlands: Springer.     

Beyond Positivism: Research,Practice, and Undergraduate Professional Education

Undergraduate professional education programs are supposed to mediate the relationship between research and practice. The positivist conception of the curriculum and the research-practice relationship remain dominant today. Unfortunately, this positivist conception carries flawed views of the undergraduate curriculum and its mediating role. Research is inevitably incomplete and “silent” on aspects of practice. The positivist view ignores the necessity for problem-setting and the uncertainty, complexity, and diversity that are embedded in work practices. This view also brings unfounded assumptions about the effectiveness of courses and programs, the language of practice, the work epistemologies of practitioners, and practitioners' work organizations. An alternative conception is founded upon the realities and demands of practice. Rather than assuming that research can and should drive both undergraduate curricula and work practices, practice should serve as the source of coherence for both. Practitioners' work epistemologies, together with practice's uncertainty, complexity, and variability, require changes in research and undergraduate programs. Examples of these changes are explored, together with selected challenges for higher education in the 1990s.     

Education and Training: Beyond the Great Debate

Abstract

Strategies in schools for developing students’ action‐planning skills are explored. The student skills required for effective action planning are defined, and means of developing them are identified. Attention is also paid to the nature of the teacher skills required to foster the development of the student skills, and the means of developing these teacher skills. Potential links with teacher appraisal schemes and with institutional development planning are noted.     

超越传统:走向批判与本土化的比较教育学

比较教育学即将迎来学科创立200周年。在经历了多次研究范式的转换之后,当代比较教育学呈现出新的发展趋势,即走向"批判"并回归"本土化"。伴随着传统的"描述与借鉴"范式的日趋式微,比较教育研究越来越受到社会批判理论和后现代主义理论的影响,由此带来了批判性的学术话语。在全球化时代,比较教育学的学科功能被重新定义,聚焦本土化问题成为新的取向,这意味着我们需要在"国际性"与"本土化"之间寻找新的融合点与平衡点。     

The Use of ICT in Education: a survey of schools in Europe

The Survey of Schools: ICT in education commissioned in 2011 by the European Commission took place between January 2011 and November 2012, with data collection in autumn 2011. This article presents the main findings of the Survey based on over 190,000 questionnaire answers from students, teachers and head teachers in primary, lower and upper secondary schools randomly sampled. The article details the analytical framework design and the survey methodology implemented. It then presents the main ‘state of the art’ indicators that have been built, concerning ICT infrastructure and access to it, frequency of students' ICT based activities during lessons, level of teachers' and students' confidence in their digital competences, their opinion about using ICT for teaching and learning, and the school strategies to support ICT integration in teaching and learning. The article also presents the main findings of the exploratory part of the analysis, introducing the concepts of digitally supportive school, digitally confident and supportive teacher and digitally confident and supportive student, estimating their respective proportion at EU level on average and by country and investigating whether high percentage of digitally supportive schools include high percentages of digitally confident and positive teachers and students. A few recommendations for policy making at European, national, regional/local and institutional levels conclude the article.     

科学教育与ICT角色文献综述:使命、问题与未来的方向

通过追溯英国科学教育的发展,对英国中学科学教育所发生的变革进行描述和境脉介绍,提出了英国科学教育的目标及目前教学存在的问题,重点讨论了ICT应用对科学教学的价值、影响和目前的局限。