DeMOOCing society: Convivial tools to systems and back again in the information age

Since early development of information technologies, in particular computers and the Internet, there has been tension between those who believe these new technologies and their applications they have been mired in tension. Originally conceived and developed as tools for enabling high level, nonhierarchal engagement in problem-solving and development of information sources they have more recently been appropriated by those who believe the new technologies are best used for creating expert driven systems that guide users in obtaining important outcomes. One of the most eloquent social/educational theorists in recognizing this tension was Ivan Illich. Some of the most important early pioneers in computing technology were influenced by Illich’s writings on tools conviviality, while many of the networking researchers were highly sympathetic to his ideas. In spite of this the idea of development of closed networks gained traction in popular culture, including in education. Many Internet-based education interventions, for instance, focus on creating directive systems that mimic traditional educational tools and goals in guiding students and/or teachers. One of the most important things education can do is teach students to reclaim conviviality of new information tools, especially applications focusing on engagement that have emerged in the last decade.     

New perspectives on reading and writing across the disciplines

ABSTRACT

There’s a level of public anxiety that at times approaches moral panic around the argument that those born into a digital age have lost the ability as well as the desire to read or write long-form text. That anxiety haunts higher education, too. From rigorous research in the reading-heavy disciplines to conversations among colleagues after class, the internet is often held as responsible for the failure of too many of our students to be able to read enough disciplinary material in enough depth to allow them to take the next steps in the dialogic that constitutes a university education. We look to research that suggests that to blame changing technology is at best an oversimplification. While the capacity to deep read complex texts and to respond orally and in writing are foundational skills that are complicated by the rise of digital technologies, research on what has come to be termed reading non-compliance suggests the problem is of much longer standing. The ways in which we engage text may have changed, but the failure to read for class preceded digital technologies and their distractions (Hobson). We argue we can best serve our students now by encouraging biliteracy (Wolf and Barzillai) so they are able to shift between the reading-for-information that involves scanning, clicking, and linking, and the deep, immersive reading vital for the rich and productive engagement that enables critical, creative, and ethical learning.     

The university of the future: Stiegler after Derrida

Abstract

Higher education has not been spared from the effects of the disruptive aspects of technology. MOOCs, teach bots, virtual learning platforms, and Wikipedia are among technics marking a digital transformation of knowledge. The question of the university, the foundation of its authority and purpose is more than timely; it is urgent to any future philosophy of higher education. Will the university survive in the future and if so, for what purpose? We examine two philosophers, Jacques Derrida and Bernard Stiegler, who take on this challenge. Derrida, writing at ‘the scene of teaching’, proposes new humanities for a university ‘without condition’, one with increasing autonomy to democratize it further. Stiegler takes issue with him on the conditions of the university of the future. Stiegler offers not an ‘anti-Derridian discourse’ but a ‘deconstruction of a deconstruction’ of Derrida. Stiegler’s critique of Derrida on the role of the professoriate and the university of the future expand the fissure between them. In this article, we argue that Stiegler’s reading of Derrida points to the university not as an anachronistic way of knowing displaced by the digital revolution but as vital to a politics of the spirit in a democratic future.     

The Pedagogy and Pleasures of Teaching a 21st-Century Skill

Since at least the 1990s, voices both inside and outside the academy have vigorously debated whether the university has the responsibility to educate students in ‘transferable skills’ in addition to disciplinary content. Lists of these skills often include critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and innovation, and, almost always, communication, this article's focus. I briefly review the debate on whether such skills should be a prominent part of the university curriculum, and specifically address one argument advanced by the critics—that these skills cannot be taught. I describe my experience teaching communication relying on research-based practices and reflect on what it means to teach transferable skills in the digital age, as pedagogy changes and the university extends its reach. The article concludes with a recommendation to expand the teaching and learning of transferable skills and suggests how this can be accomplished.     

Cloud Pedagogy: Utilizing Web-Based Technologies for the Promotion of Social Constructivist Learning in Science Teacher Preparation Courses

The new guidelines for science education emphasize the need to introduce computers and digital technologies as a means of enabling visualization and data collection and analysis. This requires science teachers to bring advanced technologies into the classroom and use them wisely. Hence, the goal of this study was twofold: to examine the application of web-based technologies in science teacher preparation courses and to examine pre-service teachers’ perceptions of “cloud pedagogy”—an instructional framework that applies technologies for the promotion of social constructivist learning. The study included university teachers (N = 48) and pre-service science teachers (N = 73). Data were collected from an online survey, written reflections, and interviews. The findings indicated that university teachers use technologies mainly for information management and the distribution of learning materials and less for applying social constructivist pedagogy. University teachers expect their students (i.e., pre-service science teachers) to use digital tools in their future classroom to a greater extent than they themselves do. The findings also indicated that the “cloud pedagogy” was perceived as an appropriate instructional framework for contemporary science education. The application of the cloud pedagogy fosters four attributes: the ability to adapt to frequent changes and uncertain situations, the ability to collaborate and communicate in decentralized environments, the ability to generate data and manage it, and the ability to explore new venous.     

Rediscovering Vygotsky’s Concept of the ZPD: Stanley Mitchell’s New Translation of ‘The Problem of Teaching [Obuchenie] and Mental Development at School Age’

This article introduces the new translation by Stanley Mitchell of a very well-known Vygotskyan text, which has become the locus classicus for Vygotsky’s concept of the ‘zone of proximal development’ (ZPD). It outlines the history of Vygotsky’s text and compares Mitchell’s new translation with the version found in Chapter 6 of Mind in Society (a collection of Vygotsky’s articles edited by Cole, John-Steiner, Scribner, and Souberman in 1978). It indicates the main points of difference between the two translations and considers their significance for our reading of this key text. Chief among these points of difference is the emphasis given to pedagogy in Mitchell’s translation; it is clear from this version that the role of pedagogy in the mental development of children is a major focus for Vygotsky throughout the paper. Mitchell’s translation is nearly 2000 words longer than the 1978 translation and includes several passages which were cut from the original text; in particular, a section relating to ‘pedology’, an interdisciplinary movement sometimes called ‘child science’. This article discusses some of these cuts and finally considers Vygotsky’s vision of the potential of the ZPD concept for the study of teaching and learning, and its value in the sciences of pedagogy and pedology.     

Schematic pedagogy: supporting one child's learning at home and in a group

In this paper, we identify ways in which the learning of very young children can be supported by practitioners developing a schematic pedagogy which focuses on structures of children's thinking. First, we provide a critical overview of relevant literature on schemas and schematic approaches to pedagogy. We then outline an original study undertaken to identify and support the learning of seven young children. Taking one child, whom we call Annie, we illustrate how her attention to the fine detail of elements of her home and group environments as she played offered strong clues to her pedagogues about her persistent interests (schemas). We show how careful observation by practitioners can be used to understand and support future learning encounters through a schematic pedagogy, and we consider implications of such an approach for practice in toddlers’ early learning.     

论语文阅读教学中批判性思维的培养

批判性思维是当今国内外教育研究中的热点之一,批判性思维对培养学生的创造精神和创新能力具有十分重要的作用。然而我国传统阅读教学中缺乏这种思维的培养,导致学生的阅读能力不够全面。阅读教学要培养学生的批判性思维,从观念转变上,需纠正阅读取向的偏失和创设民主和谐的课堂对话氛围;从内容选择上,需选好切入点,如文本的主题、含糊其辞处、情绪性话语、原始文本与二手文本、不恰当的比喻等。     

Disturbing stories: Literature as Pedagogical Disruption

Literature's power to consider moral and ethical issues to expand and reflect on our own lives has long been considered a vital dimension of subject English. Moreover, critical perspectives ask how texts and pedagogies serve particular interests and beliefs, leaving other perspectives silent. ‘Safe’ elements of teaching are reinforced by discourses established through experience, while popular narratives can distort the complexities of teaching. Initial teachers witness little in their field experience to challenge inscribed ways of thinking, which marginalises the role of critical theory in classroom practice. In this article, we use a pedagogy of discomfort to explore how an adolescent novel can challenge initial teachers' notions of literature teaching. We discuss the ways in which unsettling fiction based on fact serves to dislocate certainties, and suggest possibilities for reconstructing initial teachers' approaches to literature and pedagogy.     

Critical action learning – rituals and reflective spaces

This paper is written to outline our ideas on rituals and reflective places and how this thinking has emerged through our writing, facilitation and reflections around critical action learning and critical leadership. We attempt to show the conceptual framework that underpins our vision of Critical Leadership and how out of this work we have begun to develop new action learning techniques which we believe help to make the action learning we teach and practise, more critical. In describing these concepts of criticality we consider the tripartite elements of each of the three concepts we call Critical Leadership. That is ‘knowing, being, doing’; ‘space, place and pace’ and ‘thinking, feeling, willing’. We then go on to demonstrate how these three concepts helped us to shape our new action learning technique entitled ‘The Coliseum’. We believe that this new action learning technique enhances the likelihood of critical action learning taking place by underscoring key elements such as encouraging feedback, initiating deep listening, promoting challenge and, perhaps, in the end, precipitating enlightenment.     

基于批判性阅读的专业英语阅读教学实验研究

近年来,批判性阅读模式倍受关注,它主要强调在阅读过程中,学习者不仅要理解文章内容,分析全文的结构,总结主题思想,更要注重判断、分析和评价作者的观点、论证过程、写作目的和语气,以此来形成自己对某个问题的看法。实验研究结果表明：批判性阅读策略培训可以提高学生应用策略的频率和意识;批判性阅读可以提高学生的阅读能力和议论文的写作能力,显著程度大于常规教学方式;学生对批判性阅读教学的满意度较高。     

Learning to be affected: Matters of pedagogy in the artists’ soup kitchen

Expanding on the robust contributions by feminist new materialist scholars this essay focuses on two concepts—affect and rhythm—in order to elaborate on matters of pedagogy and a politics of attunement. If one of the key challenges that arises from feminist new materialism is that the human can no longer be taken for granted, then this prompts us to open ourselves to other ways of thinking, knowing, and doing. Being attuned to the agency of all matter offers a way of looking at how pedagogy is constituted as material, affective, and in rhythm, and this attention to the mechanisms of pedagogy can in turn affect a politics of attunement. In order to problematize an affective pedagogy we turn to a socially enagaged performance called The Artists’ Soup Kitchen.     

From Digital Consumption to Digital Invention: Toward a New Critical Theory and Practice of Multiliteracies

The teaching of media and digital literacies has gained increased attention in the 20 years following the New London Group’s landmark publication. From approaches urging the study of popular culture to calls for youth led social media revolution, there is no shortage of approaches. Yet scant attention is offered toward articulating a new and comprehensive theory of pedagogy and production that acknowledges the changing tools and technologies at young people’s disposal, conceptualizes young people as media producers, and applies these developments to today’s complex classroom context. We aim to articulate a new critical theory of multiliteracies that encompasses 4 types of digital engagement: (a) critical digital consumption, (b) critical digital production, (c) critical distribution, and (d) critical digital invention. We make the argument that a new critical theory of multiliteracies needs to account for each of these types of digital engagement but that, ultimately, we must move beyond theorizing our youth as passive consumers or even critical users of digital technologies toward the project of facilitating youth communities of digital innovation.     

Crossing the boundaries of imagination: The role of a public library exhibition in global learning for student teachers and teacher educators

In this paper, we utilise the theoretical concept of ‘boundary crossing’ to explore how, as Australian university teacher educators, we worked with library curators and a class of student teachers to mount a public exhibition of their group work. We consider how the students crossed ‘boundaries of imagination’ in symbolic representation and critical analysis by creating artistic installations to express global education themes. We reflect on what we, the university educators, learned about crossing institutional and pedagogical boundaries to mutually facilitate new learning. We argue for the importance of shared public pedagogy as offering new avenues for teacher education and of connecting with local communities.     

数字文本时代阅读教学范式转型的挑战与应对

与口头文本、“物”质文本和纸质文本相比,数字文本具有超文本性、交互共享性、虚拟性和沉浸性特征。这对阅读教学范式转型提出了挑战:线性思维与离散思维的阅读思维差异;深度阅读与浅表阅读的阅读行为层次;知识建构与情感交流的双重阅读过程。为应对这三大挑战,实现阅读素养培养,需要深化阅读思维理论研究,建构面向个体的数字阅读教科书和基于活动的阅读教学模式。     

The University as a community of selves: Johan Vilhelm Snellman's “On Academic Studies”

Nowadays we tend to regard the idea of a university as an outdated subject. The world of universities is today so complex and diverse that no general doctrine of the university seems possible. In a recent article Alasdair MacIntyre challenges this view and points out that by giving up the question “What is university?” we also give up the question “What is an educated mind?” In this article I will return to the old discussion on the idea of a university. I will go all the way back to Plato, but my main theme is J. V. Snellman’s essay On Academic Studies (1840). There Snellman, a young university lecturer at the time, defends his view that the university is a community of selves. The essay strongly emphasises that students should not only learn to know but also to act in a responsible way as selves. However, the text also reflects on Snellman’s own activity before the publication. He had defended academic freedom against the rector of the Imperial Alexander University of Finland. As a result, Snellman was in the end sentenced in an open court and forced to leave the university. Snellman’s view is certainly not the final definition of the university, but as it, besides presenting a theoretical view on the essence of the university, also reflects on activity in a university community, it gives us elements for reflecting on the idea of a university and an educated mind.     

eBooks and Literacy in K–12 Schools

In this article the authors present a review of literature from multiple disciplines pertaining to using eBooks in the classroom in order to understand the underlying literacy and technology related issues and challenges. eBooks brought about changes in how students learn to read, and in how they read to learn. They require students to learn new literacies and to use new technologies, which has had a profound impact on reading pedagogy in K–12 classrooms. Dedicated eBook readers, smartphones, and tablet computers have led to changes in a signature pedagogy—reading literacy instruction. Research is needed on how to best teach the new literacies to help learners adapt to the challenges of new media and technologies.     

Digi-teens: Media Literacies and Digital Technologies in the Secondary Classroom

This article explores the impact on learning of digital technologies and media practices across the secondary curriculum, with a particular emphasis on non-linear video editing in a specialist media technology school. It observes the making of a trailer for Psycho by a group of Year 11 girls, asking how the advent of this very new technology enables new kinds of reading of visual texts, as well as new kinds of textual production dependent upon new IT-based literacies. It suggests that we need to find an adequate language of the visual, and to understand how this relates to other ‘grammars’ and semiotic systems; to understand how these competencies are rooted in wide-ranging cultural allegiances and pleasures, embracing popular as well as ‘classic’ texts; and to understand the classroom as a site both of encounter with popular culture, and of increasingly professional audiovisual production.     

Damaging confusions in England's KS2 reading tests: a response to Anne Kispal

This article is written in response to the article published in issue 39.3 of this journal, in November 2005, on the nature of the Key Stage 2 National Curriculum reading tests: ‘Examining England's National Curriculum assessments: an analysis of the KS2 reading test questions’ by Anne Kispal of the National Foundation for Educational Research. It argues that, far from providing a valid and rewarding assessment experience for pupils as Kispal suggests, the primary English tests at the end of KS2 are invalid as a measuring instrument and are having a damaging effect on pedagogy. The tests and the information on them provided by the Qualifications and Curriculum Agency are based on a misleading unidimensional conception of reading literacy attainment. Because the test assessment simply adds together marks achieved for very different cognitive skills, it propagates a dysfunctional model of literacy pedagogy that conflates and confuses two separate developmental trajectories – word reading and text comprehension. The article goes on to argue that the unidimensionality of the national tests and their pedagogic apparatus has constricted the primary English curriculum in ways that are damaging for young pupils and for the national need for creativity and enterprise.     

Supervising the Teacher Education Practicum: A Self-Study with a Critical Friend

ABSTRACT

If the practicum is the most valued element of a teacher education program, how good is each teacher candidate’s learning and how well is it supported by the university supervisor? While most self-studies of teacher education practices focus on practices in the university classroom, this article reports an analysis of a supervisor’s practices, with special attention to underlying assumptions of the supervisor. Data permitted identification of patterns in the supervisor’s pedagogy and in teacher candidates’ responses to that pedagogy. The supervisor’s underlying assumptions and the contribution of conversations with a critical friend were identified. A table was constructed to contrast the assumptions in two stances toward supervision, one characterized as transmission and the other as interpretation. Conclusions emphasize the importance of listening to each candidate’s voice and including a metacognitive element in a supervisory conversation after a lesson observation.