Practical considerations when supporting transitions for pupils with speech,language and communication needs

This article investigates the impact of transitions upon pupils aged 11–14 with speech, language and communication needs, including specific language impairment and autism. The aim is to identify stress factors, examine whether these affect any subgroups in particular and suggest practical strategies to support pupils through transitions. Stress factors discussed include homework, bullying, independent learning and social situations. The compared subgroups include pupils with diagnosis of SLI and autism, those receiving free school meals and those not, and pupils achieving at different National Curriculum levels. The sample is too small to be representative or generalisable but some recommendations for practice are given.     

A prototype Semantic Web-based digital content exchange for schools in Singapore

Singapore has many large and educationally valuable digital collections and is planning the development of many more. These digital collections contain historical, cultural and scientific multimedia objects, along with learning objects. At present, school teachers and pupils find it hard to locate many of these resources using traditional search engines. This paper describes a research investigation into the design and subsequent development of a prototype digital resource discovery portal (Digital Content Exchange) based on Semantic Web technologies, and explores some of the educational issues raised. The research project explored how the features of the Semantic Web might offer valuable additional educational benefits and affordances beyond that of those based on existing information retrieval technologies.     

Who Owns the Unexpected? Insights from Antigone for Don Lamberton’s economic question

Dissent and assent contribute to new information and knowledge in that they foster ideas, avert errors and counter misplaced beliefs. Although intended to facilitate progress, innovation and creativity, dissent may be opposed by the closed mind and defensive mindset. Don Lamberton encountered a specific mindset in his own duties to scholarship in economics. Thus, the perspective of dissent is a fitting way to pay homage to his scholarship. However, this paper is also a lament. It gives an interpretation of Antigone from political philosophy which depicts Antigone rocking an ideological boat harboured by the polis. The silencing of Antigone’s voice results in unexpected losses in the oikos. This is the sort of tragedy threatening critical and innovative scholarship in the twenty-first century.     

探索有效终身学习之指标:“学习能量”及其动态测评

“学习能量”有关学习的倾向、态度和价值观,是英国教育界近年来出现的讨论“学会学习”的一种新的话语.它包含了改变与学习、意义建构、探究意识、创造力、学习关系、战略意识和心理弹性七大维度.“有效终身学习指标”作为其动态测评工具,对教学和科研的意义重大.“学习能量”为切实改进教学法、进行课程变革、开展个性化学习以及发展终身学习型社会提供了有力的理论依据和实践框架.它最大的创新之处在于激发并解放了学习者终身学习的能动性,对进一步深化中国的教育改革有着重要的启示.     

Using the multimodal affordances of the interactive whiteboard to support students’ understanding of texts

The purpose of the study reported on here was to explore ways in which the interactive whiteboard (IWB) can support students’ understanding of texts. A Year 3 and a Year 4 primary school class in New South Wales, Australia, is the focus of the research. A qualitative case study was carried out using multimodal analysis focusing on the use of an e‐book displayed via the IWB. The results of the study indicate that the IWB can support students’ understanding of a narrative to prepare them to write a whole‐class response through providing increased access to a range of resources that are multimodal in nature. The way the interactive features of the IWB can facilitate access to multimodal resources to cater for student needs is also discussed.     

High school boys’ and girls’ writing conceptions and writing self-efficacy beliefs: what is their role in writing performance?

This study investigated the conceptions about writing and writing self-efficacy beliefs held by high school students in relation to the students’ gender as well as their associations with writing achievement. The results show that female students have more sophisticated writing conceptions than their male counterparts but no gender differences were found in writing self-efficacy beliefs. In addition, results reveal that writing self-efficacy beliefs and gender play an important role in predicting writing performance and that writing performance is moderated by students’ writing conceptions. Educational implications and further research are discussed.