Exploring dimensions of change: the case of MOOC conceptions

This paper addresses a relatively new phenomenon in higher education, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), and explores conceptions around this new and emerging development from the perspective of a number of stakeholders in the university. A phenomenographic approach is adopted. The study explores how different stakeholders at a university perceive the MOOC phenomenon, and reflects on how the many conceptions stakeholders adhere to are made meaningful for academic developers in their role as ‘partners in arms’. The conceptions run across a continuum from the local and narrow to the global and broad. The study identifies challenges to change agency in a higher education institution.     

Education and skills for development in South Africa: Reflections on the accelerated and shared growth initiative for South Africa

In July 2005, President Mbeki announced the launch of the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA), a new development strategy designed to help the South African state meet the ANC's 2004 election pledges, namely:

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halve unemployment;     

Telemental health technology in deaf and general mental-health services: access and use

Long-distance travel to provide mental health services for deaf people has implications for efficiency, safety, and equality of service. However, uptake of Telemental Health (TMH) has been slow in both deaf and general mental health services. A quantitative study was used to investigate access to TMH and whether staff confidence, experience, or demographics affect TMH use. It was concluded that staff in neither deaf mental health services nor general mental health services had adequate knowledge of or access to TMH. Staff expressed concerns over TMH's appropriateness in their work. Previous use of videoconferencing was assosciated significantly with confidence, but previous use of videophones was not. Neither staff in deaf services nor deaf staff were more experienced with or more confident about videoconferencing, whereas, within deaf services, deaf staff were significantly more confident about videophone use. Training implications are discussed.     

The role of education in development: an educationalist’s response to some recent work in development economics

This paper delves beneath the widespread belief that education (often repackaged as human capital) is important in development to consider the role that the discipline of education plays in shaping the wider discourses of development. In particular, it will explore recent texts by important figures in development economics (Collier, Easterly, Sachs and Stiglitz) to see what they say (and don’t say) about education’s role in development and to contrast this with educationalists’ accounts. This will lead on to a consideration of what the implications of such a reading are for the field of international and comparative education. The paper concludes that the relative marginalisation of educational accounts in mainstream development thinking is a major challenge to which international and comparative education needs to respond.     

Teacher awareness program on child abuse: a randomized controlled trial

Teachers have a significant role in preventing, detecting and reporting child abuse and neglect. They are hindered in fulfilling this role by a serious lack of knowledge of the law, of school board policies, and of maltreatment. A comprehensive professional development workshop was developed and presented to elementary school teachers. The package was evaluated by means of a randomized controlled trial. The workshop proved to be effective in increasing and maintaining knowledge.     

The International Network for Older Adults

Conclusion Although funds were not available to bring members of the Older Adults Network to the World Assembly of Adult Education in January 1990, there was, among the delegates, considerable interest in the subject and several meetings were arranged. The thing that struck me most was not how different were our situations, coming as we did from every corner of the earth, but how many problems and concerns we had in common.With the second Network Newsletter, sent out in the spring of 1991, questionnaires asked for brief details of schemes which involved older people in projects that were, in some way, conservational. They could be involved in conserving language, mythology or history. They might be working to improve and save their environment. The aim is to establish a small but useful register of such projects in sufficient detail to encourage contact and replication by others. For this purpose, small grants are being made available from the money given by CIDA. Slowly but surely, the Older Adults Network is gathering information about positive actions being taken to ensure that older people, in all countries, have the skills and opportunities they need to continue as fully participating citizens. With the rapidly increasing number of older people in all our countries, this small beginning will, hopefully, be a foundation on which much important work will be done in the years to come.