What is open learning?

The recent change in this journal's title, from Teaching at a Distance to Open Learning, poses obvious questions of definition. What is open learning? And how does it relate to distance education and adult education? In this article, Roger Lewis, Head of Educational Development Unit at North Staffordshire Polytechnic, makes use of his considerable and varied experience of working with the Open University, the Council for Educational Technology, the Open Tech, the National Extension College and other practitioners of open learning in providing some answers. Readers should find the analytical tools and examples included in the article of considerable use in examining their own experiences in the open learning field.     

Where is the learning in mobile technologies for learning?

Mobile technology – such as tablets, cell phones, and wearable devices – has the potential to play a useful role in promoting academic learning. This potential motivates this special issue on “Mobile Technology, Learning, and Achievement: Advances in Understanding and Measuring the Role of Mobile Technology in Education” edited by Matthew L. Bernacki, Jeffrey Greene, and Helen Crompton. Research on learning with mobile technology should focus on three research questions: Do students learn academic content better with mobile technology than with conventional media (media comparison question)? Which instructional features afforded by mobile technology cause learning (instructional method question)? Under what conditions do students learn academic content better with mobile technology than with conventional media (boundary condition question)? A research agenda is proposed.     

What am I to action learning and what is action learning to me?

This account of practice charts one organisation development practitioner’s experience of the influence of action learning (AL) at various points in his career, from the early 1970s to the present day. It explores the impact of AL upon his practice over the years, chronicling various episodes which had strongest impact. It contrasts AL as it was in its formative years in the UK with how it is now, asking some questions as to how the early pioneering spirit might sustain the face of forces for commoditisation.     

Who or What is School 'Self'-Evaluation for?

Schools' own capacity and responsibility for reflection and evaluation is now at the forefront of UK policy. This article posits an identifiable 'English model' of school self-evaluation, which can be contrasted with the model derived from a recent CIDREE project on school self-evaluation involving 7 other European countries. The 'English model' has various strengths, which can be characterised as instrumentalist, action-oriented, rationalistic and managerial; what seems to be missing from it are what the article calls 'the ethical, affective, non-rational and democratic modes of thinking'. The article argues that, since these are crucial dimensions in the process of education, they should also figure as key aspects or modes of evaluation. What might be the implications of this for current policy and practice?     

What is play fighting and what is it good for?

Play fighting is a common form of play reported among species of mammals, birds, and some other taxa. The competition present in play fighting revolves around gaining some advantage, such as biting a partner without being bitten. The behavior simulated during play fighting need not be restricted to that present in adult serious fighting, but can involve competitive interactions derived from amicable behavior, such as sex and social grooming, or from nonsocial competition, such as predation. What unifies play fighting, irrespective of the functional behavior being simulated, is that it involves some degree of reciprocity, or turn taking, that requires that the competition be attenuated by cooperation. However, there are several different ways in which cooperation can be inserted into playful interactions, and these vary in use across different species. The moderation of competition with cooperation forces animals to monitor their own actions and those of their partners, and this common feature appears to be one vehicle through which the experience of play fighting in the juvenile period can train animals for greater psychological resilience. The monitoring and contextual adjustment of actions influences the development of executive functions of the brain, which, in turn, leads to the development of more adaptable adults.     

What (more) can,and should,assessment do for learning? Observations from ‘successful learning context’ in Singapore

Singapore has earned accolades as one of the leading education systems in the world, based on its record in international assessments, including TIMMS and PISA. This has contributed to the entrenchment of ‘assessment’ becoming an institutional authority of standards, teaching (performativity) and classroom learning. It is against, and amidst such contexts, that this article traces how the notion and discourse of formative assessment and Assessment for Learning (AfL) are widely introduced and used formally across all Singaporean schools, particularly after a recent introduction of new ‘Holistic and Balanced Assessment’ policies. We argue that the very institutional authority of successful high-stake examination results, which served as critical standards of performativity of teaching and learning in the classroom, is being challenged. The changing assessment context of Singaporean schools, therefore serves as an interesting case study site for studying how formative assessment and AfL can be adapted and understood when ‘learning’ is already seen to be successful.     

What every worker wants? Evidence about employee demand for learning

In order to boost learning, recent UK governments have invested in trade union‐led workplace learning. Investing in the supply of learning is useful but ignores the demand for learning by workers, about which there is little research. This paper addresses this lacunae by analysing worker demand for learning, which workers want learning, what learning is demanded and why, and what factors might best lever learning. Data come from two surveys of potential learners and union learning representatives. Findings reveal a large demand for learning and that unions can lever this learning. Findings also suggest further policy development to address problems associated with union‐led learning.     

What is this?

"嘿……你认得我吗?""哎哟!谁,谁打我的头……"你!说的就是你,不要这么突然跑出来吓人啊!哼,就算你是我们今天请来的客人,也要乖乖守规矩才可以!咳咳,大家好,让我把台词说完……来,猜猜看今天来到我们这个栏目的朋友是谁吧!当然,按老规矩,要先给它画张像才可以!     

What is this?

"在每一个天空被洒满朦胧月色的夜晚,我从幽深的森林里启程,来到人们居住的地方,吸食人们的梦。我不会害怕在吃梦的时候吵醒熟睡着的人们。因为我生性胆怯,在夜色中,只会发出轻轻的、摇篮曲一样的叫声……"传说中我过着这样的生活。然而你真的知道我是什么吗?     

What is this?

也许你觉得我很可怕,但我其实是个傻娃娃!咦?你在笑什么,难道觉得我在说大话?哼,不要小看了我啊。如果你了解我,一定就不会这样嘲笑我了。我的名字?现在可不能告诉你,老规矩,来猜猜看吧!