Technology and education: ICT in Ugandan secondary schools

Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) could, if adopted and implemented appropriately, support learning and teaching in developing countries to provide young people with skills they need to participate effectively in the global economy. However, a significant digital divide still persists between developed and developing countries in terms of both physical resources and the capabilities of teachers to effectively utilize limited ICT resources. A very real challenge for schools is to acquire and effectively utilize ICT given the reality of an environment of scarce and limited resources. This study examines ICT infrastructure and use in 11 secondary schools in Mukono, Uganda using qualitative case study methods including an ICT infrastructure assessment, observations, and interviews. Stratified random sampling was used to identify 7 schools initially; 4 additional schools were also purposefully sampled based on their high levels of ICT. Findings indicate that despite limited resources, schools are investing heavily into ICT. Researchers found that teacher ICT usage at school could be grouped into three categories: administrative (86%), entertainment (45%) and pedagogical (45%). Administrators at some schools reported using ICT primarily to attract students and increase revenue. Implications of this study will assist school administrators to make informed decisions concerning further investment in ICT, efficient use of limited technology resources, and improvement of educational opportunities for students.     

Approaches to studying in higher education Portuguese students: a Portuguese version of the approaches and study skills inventory for students

This paper examines the validity of the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students—short version (ASSIST; Tait et al. in Improving student learning: Improving students as learners, 1998), to be used with Portuguese undergraduate students. The ASSIST was administrated to 566 students, in order to analyse a Portuguese version of this inventory. Exploratory factor analysis (principal axis factor analysis followed by direct oblimin rotation) reproduced the three main factors that correspond to the original dimensions of the inventory (deep, surface apathetic and strategic approaches to learning). The results are consistent with the background theory on approaches to learning. Additionally, the reliability analysis revealed acceptable internal consistency indexes for the main scales and subscales. This inventory might represent a valuable research tool for the assessment of approaches to learning among Portuguese higher education students.     

关于盲校教师专业化问题的探讨

本文从盲校教师专业化的的影响因素入手,对盲校教师专业化的问题进行了探讨,提出一些建议,以期有助于盲校教师的专业成长.     

Conservation development in the partially sighted child

A comparative study of conservation development in partially sighted, sighted, and sighted blindfolded children at four age levels (6–7, 8–9, 10–11, and 12–15 yrs.) was assessed. Conservation on tasks of mass, weight, and volume were evaluated using Piaget and Inhelder's (1941) prediction, judgment, and explanation questions. The significant differences were found between groups, task, and age level. Visually impaired children's performance was inferior to sighted children at all age levels, while little difference was found between partially sighted and blindfolded children's performance. For all three groups, conservation of mass was easiest, followed by conservation of weight, then volume. The findings support the notion of a developmental lag in cognitive skills for partially sighted children.     

Neoliberalism,education and the integration of ICT in schools. A critical reading

This article explores a contemporary perspective of education that aims to radically re-construct schools through the integration of information and communication technologies (ICT). Through the analysis of key texts produced by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, leading ICT industries, and international educational researchers, the article looks at the apparently neutral and desirable regime of truth surrounding education, where concrete problems are created and certain solutions provided. The findings discuss how the integration of ICT in schools is embedded in a perspective of education based on: new modalities of soft government, the centrality of a self-regulated and entrepreneur learner, and the representation of schools as flexible, autonomous and non-hierarchical environments organised around non-standardised modalities of public ‘accountability’.     

ICT tools in environmental education: reviewing two newcomers to schools

United Nations of Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO’s) founding statements about environmental education (EE) in the 1970s positioned it as a multidisciplinary field of inquiry. When enacted as such, it challenges traditional ways of organising secondary school education by academic subject areas. Equally, according to UNESCO, EE requires various forms of integrated and project-based teaching and learning approaches. These can involve hands-on experimentation alongside the retrieval and critical analysis of information from diverse sources and perspectives, and with different qualities and statuses. Multidisciplinary and knowledge engagement challenges are key considerations for an EE curriculum designed to harness information and communication technologies (ICT) to support and enhance student learning, which also challenge traditional instructional priorities that for example are largely based on textbooks. This review summarises research that has sought to integrate ICT and digital tools in EE. A key finding is that while there is a rich variety of such tools and applications available, there is far less research on their fit with and implications for student learning. The review calls for further studies that will provide models of productive forms of teaching and learning that harness ICT resources, particularly in developing the goals and methodologies of EE in the twenty-first century.     

Spontaneous expressive control in blind and sighted children

The effect of blindness on the spontaneous expressive control of negative emotion was examined in a study comparing 12 congenitally blind children with 12 sighted children who were matched by age, sex, and school. Blind children engaged in as much positive facial display as sighted children when receiving a disappointing prize, although they were less likely to refer spontaneously to their expressive control in explaining whether the examiner knew of their disappointment. Blind children were more likely to engage in neutral remarks when receiving the disappointing prize, and older blind children referred to verbal control of emotion communication. The data suggest that blindness does not preclude the spontaneous expressive control of negative emotion.     

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.     

关于职校生生命教育的调查与思考

本文是根据近年来校园自杀事件屡屡发生的问题而设置调查问卷的。结果说明当前学生的生命价值观比较薄弱，挫折承受能力较差，家庭、学校、社会的生命健康教育环节非常薄弱。对此学校应给予足够的重视，努力完善心理危机干预机制，开展各种途径和形式的生命教育，让每个学生懂得救人自救，珍爱生命，顺利成长。     

浅谈小学问题学生情感教育

由于家庭因素和学校因素的影响,一部分小学生被贴上“问题学生”的标签,这严重影响了学生的身心发展和自我认识.采用情感教育的渗透,培养学生的自尊心自信心,可以让问题学生走出内心的困扰,重新树立正确的人生价值观.     

八段锦教学在盲生体育课中的探索与实践

视力障碍严重限制了盲生的活动空间,使其在参加体育运动过程中具有一定的局限性。文章根据盲生身心特点和健身需要,运用文献资料法、实证考查法等研究方法,对广东省培英职业技术学校的盲生进行了健身气功八段锦教学的探索与实践。结果表明:八段锦动作简单、易学易练、运动强度适中、不受年龄、性别、体质、时间、场地、器械等因素的制约,具有增强体质、防治疾病、保健强身的功效,是一项非常适合盲人锻炼的体育运动项目。     

中职生公民权责教育初探

完整的公民教育应包含公民品德教育与公民权责教育两个方面。然而，我国的公民教育长期以来只重视公民品德教育，忽视了公民权责教育，这种现象在中等职业学校中同样存在。文章阐释了公民权责教育的要义，分析了我国中职生公民教育中存在的问题，进而提出了在中等职业学校开展公民权责教育的途径和方法。     

A rationale and recommendations for sexuality education in schools for students who are deaf

The authors evaluate and advocate the need for comprehensive sexuality education that meets the unique needs of youth who are deaf or hard of hearing, while calling for the expansion of teacher preparation in this critical area. Effective comprehensive sexuality education is designed to prepare young people to become more comfortable with, and informed about, their sexuality. Teachers and parents are key adults in this process. However, the responsibility for preparing teachers to handle sexuality education lies with both the postsecondary teacher preparation program and the administrative team at the individual school; their willingness to provide comprehensive training, current resources, and continued support are crucial to the success of any comprehensive sexuality program. In the individual school, effective guidance of youth who are deaf or hard of hearing in making appropriate decisions about their sexuality is built upon a team that includes not only school staff, but also parents and deaf adults in the community.     

The value of using ICT in the education of school students with learning difficulties

This article argues that whatever the 2015 OECD report says about the value of ICT in relation to PISA results, our research has shown that using ICT in the education of students with Learning Difficulties has great value in interesting, enthusing and inspiring these students, so leading to better educational outcomes. The term ‘Learning Difficulties’ (LD) is used to refer to a condition of a large group of children who need extra assistance with schooling and arises from a vast range of cognitive and physical impairments. The reported research was conducted in two Special Schools in metropolitan Melbourne with the goal of investigating whether, and if so how, ICT could be used to support school communities involving students with learning difficulties, and whether it could help these students with their learning. This research found that ICT certainly does improve LD students’ attitude to learning and equips them with adequate skills to allow them to enter the workforce or continue with further study through various pathways. It provides evidence that for LD students, a significant attainment in skills and academic knowledge is facilitated by the adoption of ICT in the classroom.     

中职学生心理教育探析

在中等职业教育迎来前所未有的发展机遇的同时,也对中职教师提出了新的挑战、新的要求。中职教师要适应职业教育发展的新形势,迎接新挑战就要做好最基本的道德教育,在德育的基础上发展学生个性。     

The development of reading skills in young partially sighted readers

Young learners with severe visual impairments are restricted in many ways, and psychologists and special needs teachers require information about the nature and extent of the possible educationally handicapping effects. This article, written by Michael Tobin, Emeritus Professor of Special Education within the School of Education at the University of Birmingham, and Eileen Hill, a teacher at Queen Alexandra College, Birmingham, reports the use of a longitudinal approach to measure how reading development is affected in these children and to uncover the relationships with and among other cognitive factors. The 60 participants were part of a larger cohort of children registered as blind or partially sighted, their reading progress being monitored from seven to 12 years of age. While improving in all three skill areas as measured by the Neale Analysis of Reading Ability, there were significant deficits/lags in development as compared with the norms for their fully‐sighted age peers, especially in speed of reading. Even more disturbing was the finding that the deficits increased with age. Significant correlates of reading, changing in importance over time, were intelligence, visual efficiency, phonological awareness, vocabulary knowledge and short‐term memory. It is proposed that, if the educationally handicapping effects of the impairment are to be overcome, a formal, regular cycle of testing to monitor progress be instituted by specialist teachers and educational psychologists. together with the design, development and standardisation of a new reading assessment procedure; and that the professionals collaborate in the construction of programmes of continuing structured teaching to improve speed of reading throughout primary and early secondary schooling.