The World Wide Web and School Culture

Abstract

The vast educational potential of the Web continues to be largely unrealized in schools. There are many reasons for this, including cultural lag and the speed of technical advancements. Specific problems include educational Web pages that lack interaction, educational fads, frantic implementation of distance education with no regard for quality control, lack of teacher training, lack of institutional technical and pedagogical infrastructure, limited Internet access, and antiquated hardware. The article concludes with a call for research into these problems.     

Online undergraduate students’ perceptions of the impact of Web 2.0 on higher education / Percepciones de estudiantes de licenciatura en línea sobre el impacto de la Web 2.0 en educación superior

Abstract

Although Web 2.0 has changed students’ roles, placing them at the centre of the teaching-learning process, attitudes towards Web 2.0 have been observed to have a relation with its use in a formal academic context. An instrument was applied to higher education students in Mexico to explore their perceptions by collecting information on students’ attitudes, training and use of Web 2.0, and its impact on higher education. The findings showed that training in Web 2.0 determines use of it, as well as the attitudes towards it and the possible impact these can have on teaching-learning processes. No differences were found regarding participants’ gender in relation to their perceptions of the use of Web 2.0 as a learning environment.     

Information Technology Courses in Teacher Education: the need for integration

ABSTRACT

Although computers have become common features of schools worldwide, their impact on education and learning has been far less than what could be expected from such a versatile and powerful technology. A significant deterrent has been teachers’ lack of skills and expertise with the new technologies but although computer education is increasingly becoming a significant component within teacher education programmes, this paper will argue that the direction and nature of the teaching and learning in many of these courses is counter‐productive and unable to provide the skills and expertise required from new teaching graduates. The paper posits that these skills can best be developed and achieved through instructional programmes in teacher education that mirror the models that student teachers will be required to embrace in their own classrooms. In order to achieve this, the IT component within teacher education must become an integral part of the programme.     

Training,attitude, use and impact of Web 2.0 in higher education: scale validation / Formación,actitud, uso e impacto de la Web 2.0 en educación superior: validación de una escala

Abstract

This paper presents a study which aims to validate a scale for assessing the impact of Web 2.0 in education. From a structural perspective, we evaluate the influence of various factors (Training, Attitude and Use of Web 2.0) on the Impact of Web 2.0 in education with a sample of 403 students from different degrees of the University of Huelva, applying a Likert scale constructed for this purpose. To analyse the psychometric properties of the scale, we conducted a Chronbach’s Alpha reliability test and factor analysis. To validate the theoretical construct, we conducted an analysis according to structural equation modelling, which enabled us to confirm the influence of training, attitude and use on the Impact of Web 2.0, and to observe how the factors interrelate and influence each other. We conclude that the existence of a training plan is not enough in itself and that, rather, it is the approach taken to Web 2.0 and the use made of it that has more influence on its educational impact.     

Impact of Internet Images: Impression-Formation Effects of University Web Site Images

ABSTRACT

Institutions of higher education are increasingly becoming dependent on Web-based marketing to reach out to their target audiences. The current empirical study examines the types of impressions formed by prospective students based on exposure to different university Web site images. A between-subjects experiment was conducted using four identical university Web sites that differed only in their visual representation of campus architecture (modern/traditional) and landscaping (presence or absence of contextual greenery). The results show how the types of visuals viewed influence impressions about academic prestige, athletic reputation, cultural vitality and invitingness of a university.     

The Web and Early Literacy

Abstract

The Web as an appropriate vehicle for educating young children in formal and informal school settings is the subject of widespread, international debate (Anderson, 2000; Attewell, Suazo-Gar-cia, & Battle, 2003; Davis & Shade, 1994; Dolowy, 2000; Filipenko & Rolfsen, 1999; Pendleton, 2001; Vail, 2001; Wardle, 1999). Regardless of these debates, however, the Web's use in early education continues to grow. This article describes current Web usage in early education, particularly literacy education, and suggests possibilities for the future.     

Web3.0:个性化学习新平台

在分析Web3.0的概念及特征的基础上,深入探讨Web3.0对教育、学习带来的影响。Web3.0必将把教育教学带进一片新的天地。     

Introduction to the special issue ‘How adolescents read and learn on the Web: internal and external factors (Introducción al número especial ‘Cómo leen y aprenden los adolescentes en la red: factores internos y externos’)

ABSTRACT

The World Wide Web has become a major information resource for adolescents (i.e., 10–19 years of age), offering an unprecedented amount of information on virtually any topic. While the Web can potentially offer new learning opportunities, it also presents several challenges. Reading and learning on the Web requires a set of advanced literacy skills that adolescents do not necessarily possess and need to develop in order to effectively deal with the complexity of information encountered online. This special issue brings together five empirical articles and a discussion paper that examine internal and external factors that are beneficial (or detrimental) to adolescents’ reading and learning on the Web, and contribute to explaining how young learners develop complex literacy skills. Theoretically, the special issue contributes to the conceptualization of what researchers refer to as ‘multiple documents literacy’. In practice, it informs researchers and educators of emerging empirical results regarding adolescents’ information behaviour, as well as on instructional strategies that can be effective for developing adolescents’ literacy skills.     

Effective Practices in Distance Education

Summary

Distance education is changing the landscape of higher education and many faculty are now developing Web-based courses. This paper describes the lessons learned by the authors' experiences and research and offers a specific set of pedagogical and assessment strategies that they have found to be successful in online settings. The authors have found that classes delivered on the Web provide a viable option for professional development of K-12 teachers, and that the learning that occurs is of equal quality to those university courses taught on campus. Web-based courses offer students an opportunity to take courses anytime, anyplace.     

From intimidation to love: Taoist philosophy and love-based environmental education

Abstract

For decades, a review of environmental education initiatives in and beyond schools indicates that many of them were implemented from an anthropocentric perspective. The rationale behind them is often that we must not destroy the environment because doing so is harmful for ourselves, human beings. One striking feature of the various forms of environmental education is the use of fear as a motivator, as people are warned about the frightening consequences of environmental destruction on their life. While this type of fear-based environmental education may be effective to some extent, intimidation cannot be a fundamental solution to environmental issues. We need to form a loving relationship with nature, through love-based environmental education. From intimidation to love, love-based environmental education focuses on enhancing public environmental awareness through inculcating love, respect, and gratitude toward nature, thereby helping to solve present and future environmental problems and construct an eco-friendly world.

Love-based environmental education is richly embedded in Eastern philosophies such as Taoism and contemporary Western eco-ethics. In this article, we synthesize the tenets of love-based environmental education mainly through the lens of Taoist philosophy, discuss implementation approaches, and explore contemplative methods to cultivate connection with nature. Finally, we point out fear-based and love-based environmental education are not mutually exclusive. We need a combination of, or a diversity of approaches to ensure that we effectively change attitudes and behaviors of people.     

网络课程设计中的教学设计

随着现代教育技术的发展,网络教学已经成为现代远程教育的重要形式．目前,开发的许多网络课程,忽视了教育理论方面的指导,缺乏对教与学的系统设计．针对这些问题,提出了网络课程教学设计的理论依据,并对网络课程设计中的教学设计进行探析．     

Post mortem or post modern? Some reflections on British sociology of education

Abstract

The current state of British sociology of education is reviewed; noting its decline, but suggesting that its influence has been dispersed throughout educational research in Britain. It is argued that its fate is not simply a product of external attack but also derives from internal problems. Against this background, it is suggested that postmodernism can be treated as a stimulus for a fundamental reconsideration of the proper nature and role of academic research on education.     

Web site credibility: Why do people believe what they believe?

This research investigates university students’ determinations of credibility of information on Web sites, confidence in their determinations, and perceptions of Web site authors’ vested interests. In Study 1, university-level computer science and education students selected Web sites determined to be credible and Web sites that exemplified misrepresentations. Categorization of Web site credibility determinations indicated that the most frequently provided reasons associated with high credibility included information focus or relevance, educational focus, and name recognition. Reasons for knowing a Web site’s content is wrong included lack of corroboration with other information, information focus and bias. Vested interests associated with commercial Web sites were regarded with distrust and vested interests of educational Web sites were not. In Study 2, credibility determinations of university students enrolled in computer science courses were examined for 3 provided Web sites dealing with the same computer science topic. Reasons for determining Web site inaccuracy included own expertise, information corroboration, information design and bias. As in Study 1, commercial vested interests were negatively regarded in contrast to educational interests. Instructional implications and suggestions for further research are discussed. Preliminary results from Study 1 were presented as a poster entitled “Users’ Confidence Levels and Strategies for Determining Web Site Veracity” (Iding et al. 2002a) and appeared in associated proceedings for The WWW 2002: The Eleventh International World Wide Web Conference, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Preliminary results from Study 2 were presented as a paper entitled, “Judging the Veracity of Web Sites” (Crosby et al. 2002) and appeared in associated proceedings for the International Conference on Computers in Education (ICCE 2002) in Auckland, New Zealand.     

Web2．0文化解析

文章从Web2．0文化的产生开始,逐步解析Web2．0文化的表现、形态、性质。揭示Web2．0文化在人类社会文化领域生长的迹象：其文化表现丰富,综合了技术和工具革新、观念和方法更新、制度和人的行为方式创新,能深入促进网站和网民的互动;其文化形态,以Web2．0文化器物、制度、观念层面的内容为载体．既是人类创造和发明的人化的世界,又是Web2．0文化“育人”、化人的世界;其文化性质。以环境化、教育性、创造性为主的各项性质的彰显,蕴涵着Web2．0文明的禀赋和禀性,将随着人们的社会实践活动的发展而不断呈现。     

Web2.0在师范生教育技术能力培养中的应用研究

文章揭示了师范生教育技术能力培养中存在的问题,提出了利用Web2.0技术构造教育技术能力培养模式,注重协作交流,培养学生获取知识的能力和协作精神,并对存在的问题进行了讨论。     

Heidegger’s Reinscription of Paideia in the Context of Online Learning

Abstract

One of the questions that Heidegger presents in his paper, ‘Plato’s Doctrine on Truth’, is the distortion as he sees it of paideia—that is the loss of the essential elements in education. This loss is characterised according to Heidegger, by a misconception of Plato’s concept of teaching and learning. By undertaking an historical examination, Heidegger provides a means to rectify this loss. With reference to past, present and future philosophical perspectives of teaching and learning as particular spaces, an attempt is made in this paper to examine Heidegger’s reading of paideia within the context of online learning. This, for many contemporary writers on education, is an encounter with new literacies, new knowledge and the adoption of an online environment that challenges the hegemonic order of the institution as the purveyors of knowledge. Teachers within this new environment are, however still constituted as experts and their knowledge is seen as ultimately inviolate. Heidegger in his re-interpretation of Plato sees the teacher as leading the students to where they might make themselves intelligible within the space of their being. This alignment forms an acceptance and a challenge to the metaphysical concepts of uniformity of being and place that limits the potential of knowledge as something that is fixed and complete. The experience of the social web or Web 2.0 has seen a shift in learning premised upon dialogue, exchange and constantly shifting horizons. Within this context, the teacher is recast as a craftsman, creating learning opportunity within dialogic exchange. The heightened sense of involvement that is revealed in this context lays the ground for a future visioning of education where emergence is seen as essential, unlike a re-working of authorisation to learn that inhibits student and teacher alike in new attempts at revitalising education.     

Book Reviews

Abstract

This article provides an overview of the current situation and problems of moral education in Canada today. After a brief summary of some multicultural dimensions of the Canadian context, three difficulties in point of view are discussed. The first concerns the status and nature of official policy on moral education within Canadian educational jurisdictions. The second identifies two general directions of contemporary change in Canadian society with high potential to affect moral education in incompatible ways. Finally, it is argued that the most crucial problems revolve around the central role of the teacher in moral education efforts.     

Relationship of Student Undergraduate Achievement and Personality Characteristics in a Total Web-Based Environment: An Empirical Study

Web‐based education is a popular format for the delivery of college courses. Research has shown that it may not be the best form of education for all students. Today, many students (and student advisors) face a choice in course delivery format (i.e., Web‐based or more traditional classroom courses). This research study examines the relationship between student personality characteristics and their achievement scores as a means of identifying predictors of academic success in an undergraduate business program using Web‐based education. The results of the study show that four basic personality characteristics are highly correlated to student achievement in Web‐based courses. Use of these personality characteristics as variables in a regression model is shown to be a highly accurate predictive tool to aid students in the decision as to whether to take a particular Web‐based course format or a more traditional classroom course.     

Thinking/acting locally/globally: Western science and environmental education in a global knowledge economy

This paper critically appraises a number of approaches to 'thinking globally' in environmental education, with particular reference to popular assumptions about the universal applicability of Western science. Although the transnational character of many environmental issues demands that we 'think globally', I argue that the contribution of Western science to understanding and resolving environmental problems might be enhanced by seeing it as one among many local knowledge traditions. The production of a 'global knowledge economy' in/for environmental education can then be understood as creating transnational 'spaces' in which local knowledge traditions can be performed together, rather than as creating a 'common market' in which representations of local knowledge must be translated into (or exchanged for) the terms of a universal discourse.     

Drugs in the classroom: A historical approach to drug education

This article suggests various techniques and strategies for integrating historical research methods into the drug education classroom. While most criminal justice programs offer courses on drug education, instruction has typically concentrated on policy issues. With little historical perspective on the roots of the drug problem, students are too often left with a one-dimensional perspective: that all illegal drug use should be criminalized. Like many recent historical events, the roots of the drug problem remain a distant abstraction to the current generation of criminal justice students. A historical approach to this subject using historiographic methods can lead to a better understanding of the cyclic nature of the U. S. drug problem and policies over the past century.