2003年火星离地球最近

Mars recently emerged into the morning sky andhas begun an orbital(轨道的)dance with Earththat will,over the next several months,lead tothe best viewing opportunity since Neanderthals(穴居人)looked skyward. To get ready for this momentous(重大的)skywatch—ing event,now would be a fine time to reacquaint(重新认识)yourself with the Red Planet[maps/charts].All during     

Early career teacher peer support through private groups in social media

This paper describes the support that Australian early career teachers are accessing through private groups within social media. It presents findings from 22 interviews with teachers who indicated that Facebook was a source of support. Participants describe using private online groups for: (a) support during casual employment; (b) accessing collegial support from pre-existing connections, in particular those formed during initial teacher education; and (c) support to deal with challenging situations such as a hostile work environment. The paper suggests that further research needs to be conducted into how private media groups might support the needs of early career teachers.     

Creating and using knowledge: an analysis of the differentiated nature of workplace learning environments

This paper argues that contemporary workplaces give rise to many different forms of knowledge creation and use, and, as a consequence to different forms of learning and pedagogical approaches. Some of these are utilised to the benefit of the organisation and employees (though not, necessarily, in a reciprocal manner), but others are buried within everyday workplace activity. The discussion builds on earlier work where it was argued that organisations differ in the way they create and manage themselves as learning environments, with some conceptualised as ‘expansive’ in the sense that their employees experience diverse forms of participation and, hence, are more likely to foster learning at work. By studying the way in which work is organised (including the organisation of physical and virtual spaces), this research is suggesting that it is possible to expose some of this learning activity as well as to identify examples where new (or refined) knowledge has been created. In this regard, it is argued that it is important to break down conceptual hierarchies that presuppose that learning is restricted to certain types of employee and/or parts of an organisation and to re‐examine knowledge as applied to the workplace. The conclusion focuses on how such an approach, and in particular the use of a productive system analysis, is strengthening the concept of expansive and restrictive learning environments.     

"Have I learnt it?" Evaluating skills for resource-based study using electronic resources

Electronic information resources are increasingly in use for courses at all levels of Higher Education. They may be employed as reference material when researching particular topics for assignments, as part of a conventionally structured course, or alternatively their use may be a central part of resource based course philosophy. Whilst the use of these resources may offer many advantages in terms of developing more independent learners, there are also information handling skills which students must acquire. This paper discusses the relevance of these skills and the factors influencing their acquisition for students on two networked resource based courses at the UK Open University     

CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION AND CHARACTER EDUCATION: SIMILARITIES AND CONTRASTS

ABSTRACT:  We suggest that there is a need for those who seek to explore issues associated with the implementation of citizenship education in England to clarify its specific nature. This can be done, at least in part, through a process of comparison. To that end we review some of the connections and disjunctions between 'character education' and 'citizenship education'. We argue, drawing from US and UK literature but focusing our attention on contexts and issues in England, that there are indeed some broad areas of overlap between these two fields. Citizens should be of 'good' character and the educational initiatives that we consider both emerge from a concern about current trends in society. However, we suggest that the overlaps with citizenship education principally apply when character education is drawn very broadly. When we examine a particular approach to character education that is often US-based, and titled as 'citizenship', we note many contrasts with citizenship education as formulated in the National Curriculum for England. We suggest that citizenship educators in England need to interpret claims about the similarity between these two fields with caution, or meanings that apply to both character education and citizenship education will be distorted.     

Professionalism,Change and the Politics of Lifelong Learning

This article argues that contemporary professions are facing a continuing struggle for legitimacy and explores the implications of this for lifelong learning. The article commences by exploring a range of theoretical perspectives on professionalism - the trait approach, the functionalist approach, the power school and postmodernist approaches. Drawing on the power and postmodern perspective the implications for lifelong learning in the professionals are considered. The Macpherson Report on the death of Stephen Lawrence in the United Kingdom is utilised as a case study which demonstrates some of the pressures on modern professionalism. It is argued that lifelong learning for the professions must operate in the context of social change, working with diverse populations and the need to constantly renew their claims to expertise.