Care or Control?: Defining Learners' Needs for Lifelong Learning

Concerns about non-participation in lifelong learning may indicate an emerging moral authoritarianism arising from pessimism about the future. Low expectations of potential for social progress, human agency and learners' motivation to take part in formal learning, exacerbate moves towards a 'minimalist pedagogy' regulated by government agencies and encourages the idea that lifelong learning should be compulsory for adults 'at risk'.     

Learning is a Lifelong Obligation

When you see the topic, you may grow curious. Why do I say that learning is a lifelong obligation. In fact, from the time we were born, we were faced with a learning task. A baby learns how to eat, speak and walk. Afterwards he, at his six or seven years will go to school to learn reading and spelling. In the same way, an adult has to learn the basic skill of communication.     

On Purpose of Lifelong Learning

As we are enternig into the Age of Informa-tion,the Age of Knowledge,the Age of Paradox,the Age of Access.Age of Chaos,Age of Unrea-son,Age of Possibility,and the Age of the Fulfill-ment of Hope.learning for freedom,which meanslearning for the freedom to know,freedom to go,freedom to do,freedom to live,and freedom to be,has become possible and should be set as the ulti-mate goal of everyone's lifelong learning process.By learning for freedom a learner should developsufficientself- confid…     

Lifelong Learning Within Higher Education in South Africa: Emancipatory Potential?

In South Africa under apartheid higher education was inaccessible to the majority. This article argues that in the new South Africa there is an opportunity to redress this situation and promote equity though lifelong learning. This would involve greatly widening access and providing programmes to develop broadly applicable abilities such as computer literacy and problem-solving skills, which would increase the economic competitiveness and personal empowerment of learners. At the same time, the author argues, new educational approaches are needed to promote active citizenship.     

Global On-line Learning: Hope or Hype?

Recent developments in information technology and distance learning have combined with economic forces to fuel a global market for postsecondary (tertiary) education. The quest for new, better, and more cost-effective means of delivering education and training is intensifying worldwide. Is on-line learning the answer? Visionaries and marketers gloss over major complexities. For much of the world, the promise of modern distance learning can only be realized after massive investments in communications infrastructure. The Internet has great power and potential for good. It must not be permitted to become a new engine of global inequality.     

Learning styles fray: Brilliant or batty?

Many school educators, instructional designers, and corporate training specialists believe that learning styles are important and that much of training success relies on the craft of incorporating learning styles into learning materials. But how do common views and popular wisdom on learning styles align with what the psychological sciences tell us today? Does matching instructional design to learning styles really result in learning enhancement? This article seeks to examine such questions based on current research in psychological sciences.     

Higher-Education Planning 1990 — Problem or Opportunity?

Are the decreasing student enrollments after 1990 a problem or an opportunity for planning in higher education? At present we have the highest admission figures our university system has ever seen, and the number of students is expected to increase even more. Therefore, no one today can really imagine what will happen when the figures for first enrollments fall to below 50 percent of the current figure.     

Turnaround as Reform: Opportunity for Meaningful Change or Neoliberal Posturing?

This study explores the neoliberal agenda of turnaround school reform efforts in America by examining the application and transformation of a Midwest State Turnaround Schools Project for the public school system. Perceptions of administrators and state-level policy actors are considered. Data were collected from 13 participants during the implementation of the statewide turnaround program and the analysis focused on the neoliberal ideology during the implementation of the State Turnaround Schools Project. Corporate infiltration and funding leverage reflect the sticky web of policymakers and private corporations and their influence. District communication, support, and shared accountability underscore important lessons in leadership for turnaround school programs. Successful schools transformed the turnaround policy implementation by involving communities and restructuring their school district. However, the neoliberal agenda revealed the impact of government labeling, restructuring, and reallocating resources for under-performing schools and unveiling the infiltration of private corporations behind turnaround policy and student achievement. This alarming finding points to how turnaround school policy implementation weakens control of democratically elected authorities and stagnates critical thinking that challenges the interests behind turnaround school policy.     

The National Grid for Learning: Panacea or Panopticon?

Although not fully established, the National Grid for Learning (NGfL) initiative is already being presented by both government and industry as offering students, teachers and school extensive freedom and autonomy in their day-to-day work. However, this paper argues that the official discursive construction of the NGfL in this way, as a 'panacea' to educational problems, obscures vital issues of power and control that may only become apparent once the initiative is fully integrated at the classroom level. Drawing initially on the work of Foucault, and then Poster's more recent conception of the electronic 'SuperPanopticon’, this paper re-examines the basis of the NGfL and its role in extending and reinforcing existing power configurations in education. The paper concludes by considering directions for future research into the NGfL, and educational use of the Internet in the light of this analysis.     

Online or Face-to-Face: Do Mission-Related Student Learning Outcomes Differ?

This study investigated how an authentic assessment program was used to examine student learning outcomes within the context of a Christian university’s institutional mission, core values, and distinctive qualities. For the purposes of this study, an authentic assessment program is defined as assessing student-produced work within the context of the institutional mission. A sample of 1,814 undergraduate students taking one or more general education courses at the university during the 2007–2009 academic years was examined for any significant differences in student learning outcomes. A univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) indicated the Student Assessment System (SAS) scores for the online students were not significantly different from the SAS scores for the face-to-face (F2F) students after controlling for course grade. These results suggest that online students achieved the same critical mission-related educational outcomes that the university required of its F2F students. An implication of this finding is that the university just as effectively articulated its faith-based mission and vision to the online students as it did to its students taking classes F2F.     

Academic drift in Danish professional engineering education. Myth or reality? Opportunity or threat?

This article examines whether and, if so, to what extent academic drift can be said to have taken place in Danish professional engineering education. If the answer is affirmative, what were the driving forces behind it and what are the consequences – if any? First, a theoretical and conceptual framework for the discussion is introduced. This is followed by a case study of institutional change in higher education in Denmark, with a particular emphasis on two institutional examples, the two previously independent engineering colleges that recently merged with universities. The two examples are based on data gathered in interviews with teachers and management in these two engineering colleges (now both part of a university). In conclusion, based on the findings the questions posed in the title of this article are addressed and possible benefits and drawbacks of increased academisation of professional engineering education are discussed.     

Opportunity or exploitation? Women and quality assurance in higher education

Based on interviews with 18 UK women academics and managers on quality and power in higher education, this article interrogates the impact of quality assurance discourses and practices on women in higher education. Micro‐level analysis of the effects of audit and the evaluative state seem to suggest that hegemonic masculinities and gendered power relations are being reinforced by the emphasis on competition, targets, audit trails and performance (Morley, 2003a Morley, L. 2003a. Quality and power in higher education, Buckingham: Open University Press.  [Google Scholar]). Furthermore, pedagogic space for exploring social justice issues is closing with the emphasis on learning outcomes and student consumerism (Morley, 2003b Morley, L. 2003b. “Reconstructing students as consumers: new settlements of power or the politics of assimilation?”. In Higher education and the lifecourse, Edited by: Slowey, M. and Watson, D. Buckingham: Open University Press.  [Google Scholar]). Yet women are also gaining new visibility as a consequence of the creation of a new cadre of quality managers. Quality assurance, as a regime of power, appears to offer both repressive and creative potential for women. This article will explore whether quality signs and practices are gendered and whether these represent opportunity or exploitation for women in the academy.     

School Students' Ideas About Air Pollution: Hindrance or Help For Learning?

School students are thought to have an insecure knowledge about the `science' of the air, yet the popular media often feature issues about air pollution, which may either confuse students further, or offer teaching opportunities. This study used a free-form questionnaire to explore 1011 year old students' ideas about the nature of air pollution, and its biological and physical effects. Many think that `gases' pollute the air, using the term in a general, non-scientific sense. However, some students can name individual pollutants (CFCs, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide), perhaps because they associate them with well-known environmental problems. Transport and industry were seen as the main sources of pollutants. Most students stated that air pollution will kill plants and animals. Although fewer thought this true of humans, many thought that people will become ill, with a quarter of the students raising the specific problem of asthma. Some students thought that buildings will be unaffected by air pollution, but many wrote that they would be damaged or become discolored. The view that students' ideas from out-of-school sources, coupled with their intrinsic concern for the environment, may offer starting-points for teaching curriculum science is discussed.     

Lifelong learning in Singapore: where are we now?

The term lifelong learning has been used in different contexts and in policy application for a wide variety of purposes and initiatives. Singapore’s approach to lifelong learning is pragmatic and rational. It is one of the economic drivers used by policy makers to enhance Singapore’s competitiveness and is viewed as an antidote against unemployment. With the emergence of a more integrated and interdependent global economy, the premium placed on ideas and continuous learning becomes critical to an individual, organization and the country. This paper offers a snapshot of some of the current responses to the challenges and the perceived issues from the perspective of the government, organizations and individuals. The discussion would also cover a number of policy implications that may overlap and interconnect in practice.     

Learning to Teach or Learning to Manage Mentors? Experiences of school-based teacher training

In the late 1990s teachers acting as mentors play a key role in initial teacher training (ITT). This article reports the findings of a study which examined student teachers' perceptions of 'good' practice in mentoring. Given that certain parallels have been drawn between the nineteenth-century pupil-teacher scheme and school-based ITT, the work of Lave and Wenger (1991) who see apprenticeship as central to learning was used as a framework for analysing the data. The study highlighted the significance of the affective in student teachers' school-based learning. But it also highlighted the significance of the affective in mentors' practice: e.g. mentors' feelings of vulnerability. The way in which students responded to mentors in this respect - how far they were able to 'manage' their mentors - ultimately contributed to the success of students' placements. The article concludes that the possession of mentoring skills alone will not guarantee that students receive appropriate support.     

Culturally Mixed Groups on International Campuses: an Opportunity for Inter‐cultural Learning

One of the major educational goals of the internationalisation of higher education is to prepare students to function in an international and inter‐cultural context. Cultural diversity on university campuses creates ideal social forums for inter‐cultural learning, yet, one of the most disturbing aspects of the internationalisation of higher education in Australia is the lack of interactions between local and international students from Asian backgrounds. This article examines the factors which students believe are affecting the formation of mixed groups for the completion of academic tasks. It also explores the nature of change in students’ perceptions after a successful experience of mixed group work. The focus on both local and international students’ appraisals of the situation highlights the two‐way, interactive nature of group formation and shows how both parties share some responsibility in the lack of cultural mix.     

Internet Resources for Middle School Science: Golden Opportunity or “Silicon Snake Oil”?

This study examines the experiences of six teachers at three schools in learning about and beginning to implement or enhance project-based learning in their middle school science classrooms using a variety of resources available through the Internet. Data were gathered over a one-year period ending in March, 1996. As a result of their experience, teachers became aware of the possibilities and the problems created by both the nearly unlimited quantity of information available on the Internet and the limited quality and relevance of much of that information. Positive and negative experiences described by teachers and the variety of issues and concerns which they reflect are compared and contrasted, including: unreliability of network connections; potential availability to students of inappropriate resources; consistency of classroom organization structures necessary to facilitate Internet access with normally preferred teaching methods; the dependence of the efficiency and motivational value of project-based units on students' appreciation of the nature and power of the technology; conflict between curriculum space devoted to teaching about technology and that devoted to substantively using the technology to teach about science and related subjects; the on call convenience of the Internet; the up-to-date nature of much of the scientific information available on the Internet; Internet-based information (versus textbook information) as authoritative yet not impersonal.     

Oral Presentation——Opportunity or Suffering

This paper is about a reflective practice happened in the author’ s College English teaching.Since 2005,a 5-minute oral-presentation was required for all the students in turn,in order to raise opportunities for them to practice oral English.But the students’ responses were always disappointing since they only took the task as a burden.After the teacher lift the limits on presentation time,form,sequence,partner,etc.,better learning outcomes were achieved.When reflecting on this change,Biggs’3P Models of "constructive alignment" is taken into account.Any teaching and learning activity (TLA) cannot put the students’ and the teacher’ s presage aside since the students’ ability,interests,motivation as well as the teacher’ s objective,assessment approach and so on are co-determinants of a successful TLA.Further suggestions are given based on this reflection at the end of the paper.