Greeting You Online: Selecting Web-Based Conferencing Tools for Instruction in E-Learning Mode

Academic distance learning programs have gained popularity and added to the demand for online library services. Librarians are now conducting instruction for distance learning students beyond their traditional work. Technology advancements have enhanced the delivery mode in distance learning across academic disciplines. Online conference tools originally designed for commercial use are now Web-based conferencing tools allowing librarians to be innovative in their service delivery, disregarding proximity barriers. This article talks about selection criteria and important features to consider when selecting e-learning instruction software. Suggestions of some free Web-based conferencing tools are provided.     

A blended learning approach for teaching computer programming: design for large classes in Sub-Saharan Africa

The challenge of teaching programming in higher education is complicated by problems associated with large class teaching, a prevalent situation in many developing countries. This paper reports on an investigation into the use of a blended learning approach to teaching and learning of programming in a class of more than 200 students. A course and learning environment was designed by integrating constructivist learning models of Constructive Alignment, Conversational Framework and the Three-Stage Learning Model. Design science research is used for the course redesign and development of the learning environment, and action research is integrated to undertake participatory evaluation of the intervention. The action research involved the Students’ Approach to Learning survey, a comparative analysis of students’ performance, and qualitative data analysis of data gathered from various sources. The paper makes a theoretical contribution in presenting a design of a blended learning solution for large class teaching of programming grounded in constructivist learning theory and use of free and open source technologies.     

六大秘诀让你不再恐惧职场冲突

作为职场一族,你需要知道如何有效化解职场冲突.设想一下,每天8小时间,面对各种工作职责和目标,都需要协调,一旦碰上缺乏凝聚力的团队,遭遇强烈的反对意见,甚至遇到难以相处的人,包括你的老板或者客户时,难免发生冲突,这个时候该如何应对呢?没有人希望将职场变成一个充满硝烟的战场.冲突会对你的职场人际关系造成破坏性的影响,还会增加隔阂,拉大人与人之间的距离.所以我们需要有效的方式来解决冲突,核心守则不仅仅需要诚意和谅解,更需要一定的礼仪和技巧,当你掌握了这些秘诀,你会发现应对冲突不再是一件艰巨的任务.     

Teachers’ perceptions of the use of an external change agent in school curriculum change

An external change agent (ECA) was recently employed in three Queensland schools to align the school curriculum with the requirements of the state’s high stakes test known as the Queensland Core Skills test (QCS). This paper reports on the teachers’ perceptions of a change process led by an ECA. With the ever-increasing implementation of high stakes testing in Australian schools, teachers are under mounting pressure to produce ‘results’. Therefore, in order to maximise their students’ success in these tests, schools are altering their curricula to incorporate the test requirements. Rather than the traditional method of managing such curriculum change processes internally, there is a growing trend for principals to source external expertise in the form of ECAs. Although some academics, teachers, and much of the relevant literature, would regard such a practice as problematic, this study found that in fact, teachers were quite open to externally led curriculum change, especially if they perceived the leader to be knowledgeable and creditable in this area.     

Leading assessment for enhanced student outcomes

This paper reports the leadership findings that emerged from the Alberta Student Assessment Study, a large-scale study employing a mixed-method design. Findings included the importance of assessment leadership, credibility of leaders, capacity to make hard decisions and ability to lead professional learning. An optimal assessment leadership profile emerged which includes values and assessment knowledge, mediated by personal qualities and accompanied by an interplay between procedural knowledge and professional skills. This informs leadership vision and actions leading to increased assessment literacy, more effective monitoring and reporting practice, enhanced instructional practice, enriched partnerships with parents and community members and positive student outcomes.     

Further Developments in Peer Assessment of Group Projects

This report advises of refinements to the peer assessment technique detailed in Goldfinch & Raeside's paper of 1990. This technique is used to assign individual marks to the members of a team who have been working on a group project. The improvements include a way of easing the administrative burden of the technique for the lecturer, and a safeguard against an observed problem whereby over‐generous students effectively penalised themselves.