Do new information and communications technologies have a role to play in the achievement of education for all?

Many commentators have suggested that the use of new information and communications technologies (ICTs) has significant potential in providing access to, and improving the quality of, teacher education. Such an idea is particularly relevant for the Global South, it is argued, where tens of thousands more qualified teachers are required if universal primary education (UPE) is to be achieved. This article explores six arguments commonly used to critique the relevance of ICT for development, encompassing technical, cost, philosophical, cultural and pedagogic issues. The arguments are categorised as the ‘technological’ view; the ‘donor’ view; the ‘anthropological’ view; the ‘standard’ view; the ‘individual’ view; and the ‘transmissional’ view. Drawing on empirical research into ICT and teacher education in sub‐Saharan Africa, including the work of the Digital Education Enhancement Project, six responses are used to review these arguments (‘developmental’, ‘democratic’, ‘cultural’, ‘deep’, ‘community’ and ‘pedagogic’). The author concludes that these contemporary data offer new ways of thinking about such debates and concludes with recommendations for policy makers, educators and the donor community.     

Illustrating Dependence between Random Variables Using Slot Machines

This article illustrates the concept of statistical independence using the example of slot machines that may be played on multiple lines.     

Drivers of learning for the low skilled

The drivers of learning for mid-career workers with few initial qualifications from the Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy and Poland are examined. The focus in this article is upon the learning pathways and experience of the low-qualified drawn from empirical research which gathered and analysed the strategic career and learning biographies of 105 low-skilled individuals, mainly aged between 25 and 40, in the 7 countries, using semi-structured narrative interviews. The five drivers for learning evident in the interviews were enhancing self-efficacy; self-improvement; labour market-orientated learning; significant others motivating learning; and work-related practical learning. The interviewees were divided between those who wanted tangible and immediate learning outcomes and those who saw learning primarily as a means of self-improvement. Some interviewees with negative experiences of initial education were motivated to re-engage by a positive experience with continuing education, encouragement of significant others or through an experience of mastery of challenges at work which led to an increase in their self-efficacy. For the majority of interviewees, practical learning was particularly appreciated, whether undertaken to secure or enhance their current labour market position or undertaken to increase their self-efficacy.     

The quality of guidance and feedback to students

The paper presents research findings on students’ experiences of the provision both of guidance and feedback, and with respect to examinations as well as coursework assignments. A first‐ and a final‐year bioscience course unit were surveyed in each of three contrasting university departments. The resulting dataset comprised 782 completed student questionnaires and 23 group interviews with a total of 69 students. Although the questionnaire data provided a robust overall picture of the students’ perceptions of guidance and feedback across the six units, the interview data made possible a much finer‐grained analysis of their experiences. At the core of this analysis was a guidance and feedback loop, within which six interrelated steps have been picked out, beginning with the students’ prior experiences of cognate assessments and closing with the potential of what has been learned from a given task to feed forward into subsequent work. By pinpointing potential troublespots, the framework can serve as a valuable diagnostic as well as analytical tool.     

A Destination of Choice for All

Making a difference where it counts is important to the Campaspe Regional Library service in Echuca, Australia. Creating strong community connections to work together to make our library space a destination of choice for all. The library team have worked specifically over a number of years to improve the environment and to provide inclusive and welcoming services and programs, particularly for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. This article provides an overview of the Being Connected: Libraries and Autism project that was conducted during 2014–2016, plus the additional programs and the strong community partnerships that have been developed since the completion of the project.     

‘I could do with a pair of wings’: perspectives on physical activity,bodies and health from young Australian children

There is little research that reports children's perspectives on physical activity, bodies and health. This paper, drawn from a larger multi-method study on physical activity in the lives of seven- and eight-year-old Australian children, attempts to ‘give a voice’ to 13 children's views. Interviews focused on children's activity preferences and related decision making and motivations pertaining to these activities, as well as how they thought about the relationships between physical activity, health and their bodies. Data suggest some tensions surrounding the importance of fun for children alongside their awareness of ‘healthist’ discourses that require self-monitoring and improvement.     

Encouraging College Student Active Engagement in Learning: The Influence of Response Methods

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of two student response methods within selected college lecture halls. Kinesiology majors from three universities were asked to respond to questions during two consecutive lectures, one using “clickers” and the other using hand-raising. Participation and comprehension rates were statistically significantly different following the use of the different response methods. Participant survey responses revealed insight into student participation, question presentation, perceived cognitive engagement, and overall learning in traditional lecture settings using the response methods.     

Blood and Bones: The Influence of the Mass Media on Australian Primary School Children’s Understandings of Genes and DNA

Previous research showed that primary school children held several misconceptions about genetics of concern for their future lives. Included were beliefs that genes and DNA are separate substances, with genes causing family resemblance and DNA identifying suspects at crime scenes. Responses to this work ‘blamed’ the mass media for these misunderstandings. This study aimed to determine whether that blame had any foundation by examining the media habits and conceptions about genes and DNA of Australian children. With little prior research considering the influence of entertainment mass media on children’s academically relevant knowledge, this was an exploratory study with a mixed modes design. Data were collected by detailed media questionnaires and face-to-face interviews with 62 children aged 10–12 years, and subjected to content and thematic analysis. Specific mass media examples children reported using were examined for genetics content. Results indicate 5 h/day of media use, mostly television including crime shows, and that children perceived television to be their main source of information about genetics. Most children (89 %) knew DNA, 60 % knew genes, and more was known about uses of DNA outside the body such as crime solving or resolving family relationships than about its biological nature and function. Half believed DNA is only in blood and body parts used for forensics. These concepts paralleled the themes emerging from the media examples. The results indicate that the mass media is a pervasive teacher of children, and that fundamental concepts could be introduced earlier in schools to establish scientific concepts before misconceptions arise.