Enhancing Teachers' Technological Knowledge and Assessment Practices to Enhance Student Learning in Technology: A Two-year Classroom Study

This paper reports on a two-year classroom investigation of primary school (Years 1–8) technology education. The first year of the project explored emerging classroom practices in technology. In the second year intervention strategies were developed to enhance teaching, learning and assessment practices. Findings from the first year revealed that assessment was often seen in terms of social and managerial aspects, such as teamwork, turn taking and co-operative skills, rather than procedural and conceptual technological aspects. Existing formative interactions with students distorted the learning away from the procedural and conceptual aspects of the subject. The second year explored the development of teachers' technological knowledge in order to enhance formative assessment practices in technology, to inform classroom practice in technology, and to enhance student learning. Intervention strategies were designed to enhance the development of procedural, conceptual, societal and technical aspects of technology for teachers and students. The results from this intervention were very positive. This paper highlights the importance of developing teacher expertise pertaining to broad concepts of technology, detailed concepts in different technological areas and general pedagogical knowledge. The findings from this research therefore have implications for thinking about teaching, learning and assessment in technology.     

Mentor skills in a new context: working with trainee teachers to develop the use of information and communications technology in their subject teaching

This article reports on the findings of a study looking at the role of the school‐based mentor in developing the competence of trainee teachers in relation to the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in the classroom. One key factor in determining the contribution of the mentor appears to be the level of confidence in his/her ability to use ICT, both personally and in the classroom, which in turn has an effect on both the nature and range of the support given to the trainee teacher. Questionnaire and interview data indicated that many mentors feel that their ICT expertise is often not as great as that of the trainee (and therefore feel less confident and/or willing to offer guidance in this area) and that they are unable to offer support to trainees in relation to contexts that involve the use of ICT in the classroom. The authors would suggest that traditional approaches to mentoring might need to be reviewed in the light of this and they would argue that there could be benefits from adopting more innovative ways of working whereby the trainee’s ICT knowledge and skills might be used to full effect when combined with the mentor’s understanding of classroom teaching and learning. Such a model has implications for the providers of initial teacher training and these are discussed.     

在线学习管理系统中本科生与研究生交互比较研究(英文)

学习者与在线内容的交互被认为是决定网络教学和学习有效性的重要因素之一.学习环境中的任何事情总是一触即发,支持学习者与在线内容进行交互.当学习者与内容交互时,内部的反思性思考与对话发生了.本研究试图比较在线学习管理系统中研究生课程和本科课程中学习者交互之间的差别.基于所提出的研究学习者与在线内容交互的框架,研究者收集了学习管理系统日志和学习活动数据库中的相关数据;基于学习者与在线课程内容的交互模式和行为对收集到的数据进行了分析;并对教师和学习者在在线论坛中的讨论和交流的内容进行分析,尤其调查了已发生的交流的维度、深度和分类.基于上述研究成果.研究者认为应该加强网络内容的设计和传输,从而提升开放远程学习中在线学习环境的有效性.     

Motivation,Empowerment, and Innovation: Teachers' Beliefs About How Participating in the Edmodo Math Subject Community Shapes Teaching and Learning

Educators around the world participate in virtual communities, social media sites, and online networks in order to gain support and ideas for improving their practice. Many researchers have explored how and why teachers participate in these online spaces; however, there is limited research on how participation might impact teaching and learning. This study was designed to examine how K–12 teachers' participation in the Edmodo math subject community, an informal online space for educators, shaped their learning and practice. Data were collected through an online survey of 150 participants and in-depth, follow-up interviews with 10 participants. Three themes emerged from the participants' responses: motivation, empowerment, and innovation. The participants were motivated to spend time learning how to improve their practice, they felt empowered to make changes to their practice, and they believed they were able to adopt innovative, student-centered practices. Implications and ideas for further research are discussed.     

Adopting learning technologies: from belief to practice

A challenge faced by most heads of academic departments around the world is to manage the adoption and use of appropriate learning technologies in order to support the department’s learning offerings to students. Earlier research undertaken by the authors revealed that lecturers within the Department of Marketing and Retail Management at the University of South Africa believed a learning management system (LMS) to be the most appropriate technology to use. The experience of the Chair of Department, however, is that lecturers are using the university’s proprietary LMS, myUnisa, either to a limited extent or hardly at all. Consequently, further research was undertaken targeting the other Chairs of Departments and selected senior lecturers within the School of Management Sciences, to which the Department of Marketing and Retail Management belongs, in order to identify ways of increasing the use of myUnisa amongst lecturers.     

在线学习中的多媒体、社会存在和社区(英文)

在在线学习环境中,社区感、社会存在感是影响学生成功和满意度的重要因素。在线学习领域的研究者和实践者越来越关注多媒体工具、富媒体教学方法对在线课堂中社区感、社会存在感的积极影响的有效性。此外,随着在线学习环境越来越多媒体化,计算机媒介学习环境的内在社会障碍可能会越来越少。因此,本文首先调研了相关的理论框架和概念,包括社会存在理论、计算机媒介交流环境中的社区;然后探讨了特定的多媒体方法对于社区建构、社会存在的有效性。     

Content: Making it a Boundary Object in the College Classroom

Melioration is borrowing and using an idea from another field not closely associated with your field of expertise. Using the borrowed concept to address a challenge in your field potentially provides new avenues of action and insight. I borrow the concept of boundary objects from science fields and use it to examine assignments in the college classroom. Through analysis of student-teacher discussion, I become aware that content, not assignment, is the boundary object of interest. Avenues of action and insight opened through that analysis are discussed.     

Selecting a learning management system (LMS) in developing countries: instructors' evaluation

Learning management systems (LMSs) contain hidden costs, unclear user environments, bulky developer and administration manuals, and limitations with regard to interoperability, integration, localization, and bandwidth requirements. Careful evaluation is required in selecting the most appropriate LMS for use, and this is a general problem in web-based education. One possibility is to automate this evaluation process using computer-aided techniques. In this article, the researcher has focused on the idea of automating the evaluation process and has developed a computer-aided system named Easy Way to Evaluate LMSs (EW-LMS), for the quick and efficient evaluation of LMSs, especially for developing countries, where the idea of using an LMS may be relatively new. The investigation described in this article was carried out with 88 voluntary higher education instructors to test the usefulness of the developed system. Two types of quantitative questionnaires were used during the study. The results obtained indicate that the instructors were highly satisfied using the developed system, and the EW-LMS is technically sound and well developed. Theevaluation system can help instructors to select the best LMS appropriate to their educational needs and their type of usage in the shortest possible time, with little effort, without any specialized technical knowledge/training and by following simple, user-friendly steps. The system is oriented to anyone interested in evaluating and using an LMS in web-based education. Those individuals who may be interested in using this software are instructors, students, or anyone else who may have an interest in LMSs, and educational organizations such as universities, schools, and institutes.     

知识管理背景下社会科学成果评价体系的构建原则

通过对知识管理的理念和方法的研究,结合我国社会科学成果评价体系的研究现状和应用情况,分析了影响社会科学成果评价体系的诸多因素,提出构建社会科学成果评价体系应遵循的八项基本原则和技术原则。     

论网络教育时代多媒体电教设备的集中管理

多媒体电教设备教学采用生动活泼的声像显示,不仅丰富了教学资源,扩充了教学手段,而且提高了课堂教学效率。但是,在实际使用中,由于现有多媒体电教设备配置和管理模式存在着多种问题,影响了多媒体电教教学技术的应用效果,造成了资源的浪费。本文就如何进一步做好多媒体电教设备管理,提高多媒体电教设备管理效率,改革多媒体电教设备的管理配置模式,多媒体教学设备管理的现行资源整合和集中控制管理等方面进行探讨,以适应现代教育形式下设备管理效率优化的需要,从而使电教设备能真正最大限度在教学过程重发挥它的作用。     

协作知识建构的社会网络分析

本文用社会网络分析方法,以K12教育论坛作为虚拟学习社区代表,分析各问题讨论式帖子间的内在交互联系,并用社群图揭示虚拟学习社区的知识建构过程,从密度、中心性、凝聚子群三大方面分析协作知识建构的特征,以探讨利用虚拟学习社区如何进行有效的协作知识建构.     

网络协作学习中的社会网络分析个案研究

协作学习可以归结为认知和参与两种形式的学习隐喻之间的对话,而现有研究很多都集中在学习者的认知特征的分析上,对参与特征的分析较少。因此,本文利用社会网络分析(Social Network Analysis,以下简称SNA)方法,从网络交互的密度、凝聚子群、核心-边缘、中间中心度等角度对一门网络课程中学习者之间的社会交往特征进行了实证分析。文章最后对研究结果进行了分析并提出了后续的研究计划。     

A Fine Balance: Instructor Self-Disclosure in the Classroom

This paper explores the issue of the instructor's self-disclosure within a classroom. Theoretically, the paper offers a broad relational framework from which we discuss dynamics regarding the instructor's inevitable use of self-disclosure and its impact on the student-instructor relationship and the learning process. Further, we survey the literature from the clinical and supervisory domains for relevant ideas. We recommend that instructors judiciously and reflectively self-disclose in the classroom. Conscious awareness of the dynamics of self-disclosure helps to monitor the effectiveness of this activity. A fine balance between thoughtful restraint and genuine openness helps to facilitate this goal.     

媒资视域下的多媒体学习资源管理研究——以传媒与艺术类学习资源为例

高校普遍完成了网络教学平台的设计和构建,却不同程度的存在着资源不齐全、应用不方便等问题,影响了其效能的充分发挥.若想网络教学平台被充分利用且能持续发展,多媒体学习资源的生产与管理是关键.研究针对传媒和艺术类学习资源特点,探究应用媒体资产管理理念和技术,来实现学习资源的获取与存储、分类与编目、检索浏览与下载和版权管理.     

我国外语教学中的自主学习研究综述——以社会网络分析为视角

文章从外语教学中的自主学习(autonomous learning)研究文献中提取关键词,经过数据处理后形成共词(co-words)网络。通过共词网络社群图(sociogram)的绘制、密度(density)分析、中心性(centrality)分析、核心-边缘(core/periphery)分析等常用社会网络分析(social network analysis,简称SNA)技术,揭示我国外语教学中自主学习的研究现状与未来发展趋势。     

Teachers' knowledge work in collective practice development: Approaches to introducing assessment for learning at the school level

Collective approaches to practice development are increasingly common in the teaching profession. Such initiatives frequently involve groups of teachers taking responsibility for introducing, sharing and developing new pedagogical resources and for aiding their integration into existing practices. This article explores teachers’ knowledge work as a component of collective practice development, and investigates how engagement with knowledge is constructed in different school environments. Drawing on research that followed an Assessment for Learning (AfL) project in a Norwegian city, the article examines how two groups of lower secondary teachers worked to support the introduction and development of AfL resources at their respective schools. The analysis reveals how their knowledge work was framed in different ways through available organisational roles and resources, and discusses the implications for initiatives aimed at collective practice development at the school level.     

论高校师资队伍知识管理体系

针对当前高等教育进入大众化阶段高校师资管理的特点,用知识管理理论和系统分析方法对高校师资队伍管理的本质进行了分析,建立了高校师资队伍的知识管理体系,为发现、管理和开发高校教师资源提供了一条综合途径。