Innovation in Technology-Based Flexible Learning: Dentaltec,a case study

The DentalTec project at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) was funded by a BT University Development Award between 1998 and 2000. The project was intended to lever change in technology and pedagogy in the teaching of Dental Technology, using emerging video and web approaches. The methods established by the project are still in use and are subject to ongoing development work--to that extent the project was a success, and those successes are discussed. However, key stakeholders to the project (educational development staff and subject leaders) concluded that the project had only limited impact where more had been expected. Drawing upon the Latchem and Hanna and the Collis and Moonen articles in this edition, this article reflects on the reasons for the successes and limitations of the DentalTec project.     

Identifying and developing creative giftedness

To a large extent, creativity is a decision. Children as well as adults are creative, not by virtue of an innate ability, but by virtue of a set of decisions. In essence, they decide for creativity, rather than an innate set of abilities deciding whether they are creative. Thus, creative giftedness is not a fixed trait, but a decision‐making skill that can be developed. In this article, I present ten decisions people can make to decide for creativity. Included are teaching examples of these decisions as well as teaching activities to facilitate students' learning how to make these decisions.     

Examining the rationale for gifted education

The rationales underlying the enrichment and acceleration approaches to programming for the gifted are analyzed and compared. The focus is on how each approach views questions concerning who are the gifted and how they are best educated. Acceleration emphasizes development of specific cognitive abilities while enrichment is aimed at helping students with certain personality characteristics to organize their abilities into constructive and creative products. The Revolving Door Identification Model debate aired in an earlier issue of this journal is used to illustrate the differences that exist between proponents of enrichment and acceleration programming models.