A Virtual Learning Environment for Part-Time MASW Students: An Evaluation of the WebCT

This study aims to evaluate the perception of a cohort of social workers studying for a part-time master's program in social work in using the popular Web-based learning platform-World Wide Web Course Tools (WebCT) as a complimentary method of teaching and learning. It was noted that social work profession began incorporating computer technology in its practice long after other professions. Its incorporation into social work teaching came even later. Questionnaires were used to collect views on computer-assisted learning (CAL) and the WebCT. Follow-up, individual in-depth interviews were conducted to obtain further qualitative data to understand the specific conditions under which a virtual learning environment becomes facilitative. It was found that in general students have a positive towards CAL and the WebCT, but they do not think that their education should be entirely Web-based. Teacher-student interactions were still essential to achieve the educational objectives. Nonetheless, the complementary value of the virtual learning environment, that is, a good measure of independence and productivity in their study depends on the students' level of competence and familiarity with the WebCT platform.     

Competency, capability, complexity and computers: exploring a new model for conceptualising end-user computer education

Notions of competency have dominated the computer education literature, and have underpinned Competency‐Based Training (CBT) in information technology at all levels of education and training. The emergence of counter‐narratives underpinned by the capability movement, have as yet had minimal impact on practice in computer education. New discourses in educational theory and practice which are founded on non‐linear approaches to learning and teaching provide added impetus to engage in the competency/capability debate, and re‐examine our approaches to computer education. This paper explores complexity theories and demonstrates how complexity's pedagogical implications can lead to new models for understanding computer learning and teaching. A new model for conceptualising end‐user computer education is presented that was derived from a three‐year action research initiative with pre‐service teachers.     

Three Educational Scenarios for the Future: lessons from the sociology of knowledge

This article draws on social realist approaches in the sociology of knowledge and in light of them constructs three scenarios for the future of education in the next decades. The primary focus of the article is on one of the most crucial questions facing educational policy makers — the relationship between school and everyday or common sense knowledge. The different possibilities for how the school/non-school knowledge boundaries might be approached are expressed in three scenarios —'boundaries treated as given', 'a boundary-less world' and the idea of 'boundary maintenance as a condition for boundary crossing'. The curriculum implications of each are explored and the article makes the case for the third scenario. The factors likely to make one or other scenario dominate educational policy in the next 20–30 years are also considered.     

Technology 2000

Abstract

This article describes a collaborative university-school district project for improving teaching and learning by using state-of-the-art educational technologies. The work resulted in the simultaneous improvement of P-12 education and teacher education. The article illustrates some of the important outcomes of a project known as Technology 2000, a collaborative effort between a university, a school district, and a business partner. Through using appropriate educational technologies, pre-service teachers, in cooperation with their supervising teachers in five classrooms at two school sites, engaged in the collaborative alignment of curriculum, instruction, and assessment to facilitate student achievement. The participants believe that the outcomes of this educational technology project have important implications for improving teaching and learning in other schools and teacher education settings.     

Changing knowledge,changing technology: implications for teacher education futures

Recent research in teacher education futures has identified two themes that require further study: the changing nature of knowledge and the changing capabilities of technologies. This article examines the intersection of these two themes and their implications for teacher education. The research employed futures methodologies based on scenario creation. With a focus on the above themes or dimensions, a panel of experts was interviewed to draw on its collective wisdom to explore alternative teacher education futures. Data from these interviews were analysed to stimulate the construction of four future teacher education scenarios. Feedback on the scenarios was obtained from teacher educators in Europe and Australia. The scenarios were then revised based on this feedback. The final scenarios are presented here as a way of provoking discussion among teacher educators about teacher education futures.     

高等职业教育的生命力在于职业特色

近年高等职业教育迅速升温,要使这一新兴的教育事业健康发展,具有生命力,必须在职业特色上下功夫。因此,应关注高等职业教育投资主体多元化、办学集团化、专业设置市场化、课程教材职业化、课堂社会化、教师技能化、教学模式个性化的观点。     

Untangling the Net

Abstract

The importance of computer training in social work education will continue to increase as the profession becomes more globalized and technological. It is the authors' premise that social work education must include the integration of training in computer technology. One resource available to educators is the Internet. The world wide web contains a vast amount of information on policy and social issues. This article discusses the use of web based learning exercises to simultaneously teach social policy and enhance student computer skills. Two learning exercises are presented which are designed for use in social work policy courses. The authors present their teaching experiences and provide suggestions on using this approach in the classroom environment. Information on resources and useful URL's for policy research is included in the discussion.     

Perceptions of art and design faculty on the instructional value of iPads

The widespread use of iPads in higher education brings to the forefront questions about the contribution of these computer tablets towards teaching and learning. However, there is a noticeable gap in research on the educational potential of iPads in higher education. This article describes the second stage of a research project on the use of iPads in undergraduate art and design disciplines, and in particular the views and experiences of faculty in two different art and design schools over a period of one semester. The first stage of the project investigated the perceptions of art and design students about the educational value of iPads. For the second stage, the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology model was used to gauge adoption of the iPad for teaching and learning, and the participants provided qualitative data that was used for this phenomenographic study. The outcomes of this investigation provide an overview of challenges and obstacles from the perspective of art and design faculty in embedding the use of iPads in teaching and learning.     

Configuration of the Teacher-State Relationship: The Shanghai Experience

As one of the most prominent cases of high performing education systems in Asia, Shanghai has received widespread attention in recent years. The existing literature has shown that the formation of a high performing education system in Shanghai is closely associated with the high-quality teaching force. The purpose of this paper is to explore the experience of Shanghai in configuring the teacher-state relationship and building the teaching profession against China’s background of centralized education. Our analysis was framed around three key actors that have reshaped the relationship between teachers and State in the post-Mao era, including the establishment of teaching as a profession, schools, and the labor market. Based on policy analysis and empirical evidence from Shanghai, the research findings indicate Shanghai’s own experience in building the teaching profession, teachers’ professional well-being, and other subjective perceptions related to school management and the labor market.     

Teaching beliefs and practice,institutional context,and the uptake of Web-based technology

This research examines the relationship between teaching beliefs and practice, institutional constraints, and the uptake of Web-based technology for teaching in higher education. Semistructured interviews were conducted with six teachers at a New Zealand tertiary institution. Using inductive analysis and cultural historical activity theory, themes in technology use were identified, as well as areas of tension and conflict in the teaching system. Four overarching influences were identified as mediating teachers’ use of Web-based technology in teaching: teaching beliefs, experience and practice; perceptions of technology; technology as a teaching and learning tool; and institutional priorities and division of labor. Teaching practices were affected to varying degrees by institutional strategic priorities, workload constraints, and the learning management system provided.     

学习化社会与高职高专教育的合理定位

学习化社会及终身教育理念的渗透与实践，要求人们从新的视角理解教育功能、学校教育的地位、职业与技术的根本含义、职业技术教育特别是高等职业教育在学习化社会中的定位。本文认为，新时期的高职高专教育应重新对其教育职能、服务区域、培养目标、市场需求、课程设置、课时安排、业务技能、培养规模等进行合理定位，以适应学习化社会建构的需要，并在这一过程中实现自身的发展与完善。     

教育研究方法在网络教学中的应用与实现

教育技术研究方法能有效地对网络教学进行经验总结,形成理论模型并有利于今后的教学实践。本文通过具体的实践案例,介绍如何在网络技术条件下方便、快捷、有效地实施传统的教育研究方法,如问卷法、访谈法等;同时介绍两种网络条件下特有的教育技术研究方法：内容分析法和教学数据挖掘法。     

How do educational systems regulate the teaching profession and teachers’ work? A typological approach to institutional foundations and models of regulation

This cross-national study contributes to the comparative literature on institutional variations in the regulation of the teaching profession by developing a theoretical typology articulated around teacher education, labor market regulation, and the division of labor. Drawing on Freidson’s work on professionalism in the field of sociology of professions, our typology highlights four models of regulation – the ‘market’, the ‘rules’, the ‘training’, and the ‘professional skills’ models. We discuss how these models, embedded in a bureaucratic, market-oriented or professional approach, shape the regulation of the teaching profession and teachers’ work in different contexts.     

University teachers’ learning paths during technological innovation in education

Curriculum development initiatives, especially those involving educational technologies, provide a rich learning space for university teachers. In-depth interviews with teaching staff (n = 11) were qualitatively analysed to gain insight into the variety of individual learning paths and to identify potential relationships between learning paths, motivation, and conceptions of teaching and learning through educational technology. Three distinct learning paths relating to teachers’ learning preferences and activities were identified: learning by performing daily teaching activities; deliberately experimenting with new teaching approaches; and reflecting on teaching experiences. The relationships between learning paths and relevant factors are described and implications for professional development practices are discussed.     

Learning to be a doctor while learning anatomy!

This article presents results from a longitudinal study following a cohort of medical students. Semistructured interviews are conducted every year, in which the students tell about their experiences learning medicine, their daily life, and their social activities in relation to university. The aim of the study is to analyze how medical students develop their professional competencies, values, and attitudes. This article focuses on the medical student's professional development in relation to the process of studying and learning anatomy. We analyze interviews conducted while the students are in their third and fifth semester. Anatomy plays a significant role in the medical student's educational process, on both a cognitive and emotional level. It seems that students in learning the subject matter adapt to fundamental values in the medical profession and are thus transformed into real medical students, sharing a unique experience. The implications for curricular development and professionalism are discussed, and this article argues that the issue of professionalism must be addressed in the educational process in the preclinical years and in relation to the basic sciences. Anat Sci Ed 2008. © 2008 American Association of Anatomists.     

Creating a Continuing Education Pathway for Newly Arrived Immigrants and Refugee Communities

With the increase in the number of displaced peoples, the demand for skilled social workers from diverse backgrounds to serve them is critical. This article explores a continuing education program that prepares precollege individuals from newly arriving communities who will work as entry-level workers serving these immigrant and refugee communities. The article focuses on the development of a Case Management Certificate Program as a response to community-identified issues, then presents a discussion exploring the educational pathways and unique contributions of these individuals. The article calls for the profession to explore how continuing education pathways can bridge service gaps, contribute to the knowledge base of social work, and meet current labor market demands.     

红色培训的教育创新与启示

红色培训具有专业性、产业性和现场性的特点。在教学方式上,红色培训以“重回历史现场”的情境化教学为主,以引导学员主动代入角色,实现寓教于乐;在教学内容上,红色培训注重挖掘红色资源的时代价值;在教育功能上,红色培训在强化德育功能的基础上,拓展其他教育功能,使之成为一种“五育合一”的综合教育方式。今后,思想政治教育工作可通过多种方式,利用和借鉴红色培训的教育成果和经验,提高教育成效。     

The passion of teaching: learning from an older generation of teachers

This article reports on a qualitative small-scale case study that investigated what pre-service teachers learned from a former generation of teachers about the context and nature of teaching and teacher education during the 1950s and 1960s. Data comprised semi-structured interviews and a grounded theoretical approach was used to analyse the data. A process of coding and re-coding of the data resulted in the identification of emergent patterns and broad overarching themes and subthemes. Findings suggest that the pre-service teachers drew inspiration from the older teachers’ emotional connection to the profession, and their own passion for teaching developed or intensified as they came to understand teaching as a rewarding lifelong career. It is suggested that mentor relationships between pre-service teachers and those from an older generation have the potential to support novice teachers in developing a passion for teaching and, ultimately, resilience and longevity in the profession. Recommendations are made for the inclusion in teacher education of opportunities for intergenerational learning through such relationships.     

ICT,educational technology and educational instruments. Will what has worked work again elsewhere in the future?

Computers in education have been around for more than 30 years. They have been the vector not only of diverse forms of educational technology, but also of many new kinds of learning activities using software instruments. With the gradual trivialization of computer systems, the initially rather positive expectations about computers in education have progressively turned into more skeptical attitudes about the use of ICT. What is really working with computers in education? Was the investment worth the outcomes? The number of scientific studies focusing on these issues is huge. Most of their results have been obtained either by very focused experiments on some educational technology, generally involving a limited number of students, or by surveys, taking into account large numbers of learners but with little control about the kind of activities that were actually organized. Overall, hardly any conclusive results about possible causal implications of using ICT in learning have been obtained and there is no evidence about the stability of existing results over time. This paper, particularly taking into account the French experience, draws attention on the specific case of software instruments. These instruments do not exactly aim at performing more efficiently existing activities, but lead to invent new learning activities better in line with constructivist views. It suggests that, besides studies about what works, more research is in order about how it works and contends that what will work in the future is linked to the capability of the teaching profession and their allies to collectively build and discuss new interrogations and solutions to pedagogical problems, which will sustain and regulate the many discoveries of innovators.     

教育数字化发展的新趋势及其反思

进入21世纪以来,世界各国的教育数字化发展呈现出网络搜索图书资料与教材、数字化学习与混合学习、开放式课件、web2.0参与性学习、网上国际学习交流、网络游戏成为学习新载体、移动学习、个性化学习网络等八大新趋势。与此同时,包括西方发达国家在内的各国主流意识中也存在反对教育工作盲目依赖数字网络的理性声音。对教育数字化实践进行合理反思,可以给我国的教育数字化发展提供一些有益的借鉴和思考。如果我们遵循教育规律,"善用"计算机数字技术,那么我们完全可能实现一场富有成果的"教育数字化革命";如果丢失的宝贵教育智慧,在教学与教育上任意"滥用"计算机数字技术,那么,教育数字化运动也可能演变为一种"教育数字化灾难"。