Incorporating technologies into a flexible teaching space

Higher education institutions are increasingly exploring how they can use emerging technologies to develop and enhance the learning experiences offered to students. These activities have mainly focused on developing student‐centred facilities. The University of Warwick has taken the next step by developing a space (the Teaching Grid) specifically designed to meet the needs of teaching staff across the institution. This paper describes how the Teaching Grid supports teachers by providing a flexible experimental space together with a rich collection of established and new technologies, and with comprehensive staff support. We analysed the use of the facility during the first 30 months of operation, using data collected from 119 case studies, in order to present a perspective on how they have used the technologies and how this has impacted on their teaching practice. We present a taxonomy that provides a concrete framework to support future analysis of and comparisons between such spaces.     

Paedagogica Historica: trendsetter or follower?

This article considers the role Paedagogica Historica has played in stimulating new approaches in the history of education within the international community since the emergence of the new series in 1900. Particular focus is placed on the volumes published in the wake of ISCHE (International Standing Conference in the History of Education) conferences and the special issues, which the editors began to promote in 1990 as a way of highlighting innovative scholarship in the field. The article considers a total of 55 issues. In addition to a presentation of the diversity of topics addressed, the article assesses the following: editorial strategies to reach a broader public and connect with specialised networks internationally; efforts to achieve international ranking for the journal; the ways individual scholars or national communities showcase certain approaches or themes in the history of education. Finally, the article will consider the limits to the journal’s efforts to establish trends in our contemporary digital age.     

Telecommunications

SILICON VALLEY FEVER: GROWTH OF HIGH-TECHNOLOGY CULTURE by Everett M. Rogers and Judith K. Larsen (New York: Basic Books, 1984---$19.95)

TECHNOSTRESS: THE HUMAN COST OF THE COMPUTER REVOLUTION by Craig Brod (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1984---$16.95)

THE NAKED COMPUTER: A LAYPERSON'S ALMANAC OF COMPUTER LORE, WIZARDRY, PERSONALITIES, MEMORABILIA, WORLD RECORDS, MIND BLOWERS AND TOMFOOLERY by Jack Rochester and John Gantz (New York: William Morrow, l983---$15.95)

TELEMATICS AND INFORMATICS edited by Indu B. Singh and Jay Liebowitz (Pergamon Press, Fairview Park, Elmsford, NY 10523----$95.00 institutions/$45.00 to individuals, quarterly)

MICROCOMPUTER COMMUNICATIONS: A WINDOW ON THE WORLD by Barbara E. McMullen and John F. McMullen (New York: John Wiley, 1983---$14.95, paper)     

The Use of Communication Technology in Thailand's Political Process

Thailand's political landscape has changed dramatically during the past five years. The rapid growth of communication technology in Thailand has been instrumental in generating political participation in the national elections of 2001 and 2005. In this article we provide the results of a benchmark study that assesses the early period of this political transformation. Specifically, we examined the use of television and of the Internet for political information by interviewing 500 urban residents. Our results indicate that likely voters actively gathered political knowledge from television advertisements and political party websites. Although use of television and the Internet for political purposes did not increase direct involvement in political parties, it did promote participation in the 2001 national election. Implications of these findings for future research on the use of communication technology for political communication in Asia are discussed.     

Early years curriculum: funds of knowledge as a conceptual framework for children’s interests

Children’s interests are frequently cited as a source of early‐years curricula. Yet, research has rarely considered the nature of these interests beyond the play‐based environment of early‐childhood education. This paper reports findings from a qualitative, interpretivist study in two early childhood settings in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Using participant observation, interviews, and documentation, the study examined children’s interests and teachers’ engagement with these in curriculum interactions. Evidence suggested children’s interests were stimulated by their ‘intent participation’ in family and community experiences and encapsulated in the notion of ‘funds of knowledge’. The concept of funds of knowledge provides a coherent analytic framework for teachers to recognize children’s interests and extend teachers’ curriculum planning focus beyond that of a child‐centred play‐based learning environment.     

Learning‐to‐learn and learning‐to‐teach: the impact of disciplinary subject study on student‐teachers’ professional identity

A coherent view of student‐teachers’ preparation and the learning experiences to which they are exposed are key to sustaining the relevance of university‐based teacher‐education programmes. Arguably, such coherence is lacking and the research base to an understanding of the student‐teacher experience is still a relatively limited one. This paper takes the view that student‐teachers’ epistemological growth is a key component of their professional development, their sense of identity as intending teachers, and their successful entry into a teaching career. In adopting a phenomenographic approach it explores a chain of evidence which demonstrates that immersion in the processes of learning and knowing, within a specific disciplinary context, had a significant impact on students’ emerging professional identities and on their values as teachers which extends beyond the subject matter itself. Arguably, the findings of this case‐study hold important implications for a teacher‐education programme and for effective pedagogic practice.     

Class instruction in voice

DRAMA IN LIFE: THE USES OF COMMUNICATION IN SOCIETY. Edited by James E. Combs and Michael W. Mansfield. Humanistic Studies in the Communication Arts. New York: Hastings House, Publishers, 1976; pp. xxx+444. $18.50; paper $10.50.

UTOPIA AND REVOLUTION: ON THE ORIGINS OF A METAPHOR, OR SOME ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE PROBLEM OF POLITICAL TEMPERAMENT AND INTELLECTUAL CLIMATE AND HOW IDEA, IDEALS, AND IDEOLOGIES HAVE BEEN HISTORICALLY RELATED. By Melvin J. Lasky. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1976; pp. xiii+726. $35.00.

COMMUNICATION YEARBOOK I. Edited by Brent D. Ruben. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Books, 1977; pp. xii+656. $24.95.

DECISION MAKING: A PSYCHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF CONFLICT, CHOICE, AND COMMITMENT. By Irving L. Janis and Leon Mann. New York: The Free Press, 1977; pp. xxii+488. $15.95.

RHETORIC AND PHILOSOPHY IN CONFLICT: AN HISTORICAL SURVEY. By Samuel Ijsseling. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1976; pp. 142. DG 35.

LORD NORTH. By Peter D. G. Thomas. London: Allen Lane, 1976; pp. viii+176, £6.00; New York: St. Martin's Press, $12.95.

THE IMPENDING CRISIS, 1848–1861. By David M. Potter. New York: Harper &; Row, 1976; pp. xv+638. $15.00.

SCHOOLMASTERS OF THE TENTH CENTURY. By Cora E. Lutz. Hamden, Connecticut: Archon Books, 1977; pp. xi+202. $1250.     

Media Portrayals of Tiger Woods: A Qualitative Deconstructive Examination

The purpose of this study was to qualitatively examine televised media portrayals of Tiger Woods from a cultural studies perspective that is sensitive to historical patterns of minority participation in golf. A deconstructive strategy was undertaken to analyze the type, style, and kind of media images of Tiger Woods' life history and golf accomplishments. The underlying meanings of these images were analyzed in an effort to expose how popular culture reflects and promotes hegemonic practices in golf. The results revealed that the meanings and images of Tiger Woods articulated within the media were inconsistent and in direct contradiction to common sense views that minorities have made advances in the golf subculture. In fact, a closer examination of the media texts showed that the underlying media messages actually reinrorce historical practices and common stereotypes of the golf community. In this paper we argued that media portrayals of Tiger Woods were characterized by an underlying racist, sexist, and classist ideology masked by cummon sense images and views of sport.     

The teacher as manager in continuing and professional education

This paper presents a model dealing with the teacher as manager of self‐directed and interactive learning programs and discusses the value of this model for educators working within continuing and professional education contexts. It provides a framework for the planning, implementation and evaluation of learning programs which promote self‐directed and interactive learning and comprises an outline of phases of learning programs and the roles of teachers (and learners) in these programs.

Major goals related to the process of continuing and professional education today include: promotion of the learners’ ability to work and interact effectively together, fostering their commitment to lifelong learning and development of their self‐directed learning skills. The model presented in this paper is a means of promoting the achievement of these goals. It emphasises the development of skills of independence, self‐direction, interaction, communication, leadership, group membership and conflict resolution. Such skills can be transferred to the workplace to enable adults to accomplish their tasks effectively, achieve their goals, work co‐operatively in teams as leaders and team members and take greater responsibility for their work and continued learning.