Sustaining technological innovation: The example of videoconferencing in English Schools

The main factors associated with technology integration have been the subject of research for over a decade. However, the conditions which sustain technological developments have been less frequently investigated. This paper explores this issue in the context of the use of videoconferencing in schools in England. The research took a multiple case-study approach by returning to schools with a reputation for demonstrating innovative policy and practice in videoconferencing, which were the subject of an earlier investigation. Analysis of developments in the interim five-year period led to the construction of a five-level typology of change. Further analysis identified critical dimensions associated with the sustainability of videoconferencing. These included technical and structural factors, as well as policy frameworks and personnel status. The perceived usefulness and relevance of videoconferencing as a learning technology emerges as a central determinant of sustainability, with the conclusion that for policymakers and schools, videoconferencing has become an ‘orphan’ technology.     

Pupil Speech during Morning News: the effects of reducing teacher questions and increasing pauses and praise

Classroom discourse patterns were examined in the morning news sessions of a primary school classroom. The effects of reducing teacher questions and increasing rates of teacher pauses, praise and directives were investigated. Child words spoken and child expansions were recorded, as well as class call‐outs and teacher control statements. Frequencies of child words spoken showed no significant changes across the phases of the study. However, reducing teacher questions and increasing teacher pauses significantly decreased child expansions, while reducing teacher questions and increasing teacher praise significantly increased child expansions. Replacing teacher questions with directives had no significant effect upon child expansions. Class call‐outs and teacher control statements showed no significant changes across the intervention phases. The results of this study suggest that, for this teacher and class, teacher questions may be decreased without adversely affecting either child utterances or class behaviour, and that replacing questions with praise may increase children's contributions — particularly in the form of verbal expansions — to morning news talks.     

Problem solving in mathematics: the significance of visualisation and related working memory

The importance of educational psychologists’ (EPs’) skills to the formulation of evidence-based educational strategies, as well as in response to learning difficulties, is demonstrated here in relation to mathematical problem solving. Initiatives to improve the link between mathematical skills from school to everyday life have drawn significantly on problem solving tasks. Through critical evaluation of research, the relevance of visualisation methods and working memory to problem solving is considered within this article. Studies suggest that differences exist in the effectiveness of particular visualisation methods, but that training can improve their utility and thereby problem solving performance. Additionally, differences between individuals and contexts can influence visualisation use, and some pupils experience specific difficulties in this area. Recommendations are made to enhance the teaching of visualisation as a strategy for problem solving, and to support those pupils with specific difficulties.     

A Fresh Theoretical Perspective on Practice‐Led Research

Practice‐led research in art and design has now come of age and can take its place alongside other forms of research at the academic ‘high table’. It no longer needs to be treated with ‘special consideration’ as a new form of intellectual enquiry. The research craft developed by those involved in practice‐led research admits them to a broader community of practice engaged in questioning the conceptual basis of how we perceive and make sense of the world around us. The objective/subjective divide that preoccupied an earlier generation of academics has eventually been replaced by a more nuanced epistemological framework able to embrace PhDs that include non‐textual artefacts as part of their exposition. An increasing number of academic institutions around the world have taken up the debate and now participate in practice‐led research programmes. However, for early‐career researchers in these fields there are still many hurdles to overcome, some of which are unique to this form of endeavour, as we outline. This article has been developed from a series of seminars and workshops presented by the authors to early‐career practice‐led researchers as part of their Project Dialogue programme which seeks greater engagement between the arts and sciences.     

批判理论视角下的语言教师教育研究

批判性教师教育强调提升教师学习者的批判意识、进行批判性地自我反思和形成与批判性教学法相联系的能力.在语言教学中,充分认识到不同族群在教育机构和社会交往中的权力关系以及它们对学习者自我认知方式的影响.通过教育培养少数族裔学生的批判意识和反抗现存社会中不公平的能力.     

And Robins I have Never Seen...

A group of children aged 9 and 10 were asked what signified Christmas to them. The children had all English as a mother tongue and were in the traditional mainstream English culture pattern. The children were asked: (1) to write random ideas on Christmas; (2) to define certain terms used in the nativity story, otherwise seldom used; (3) to identify unmarked greetings cards, isolating if possible reasons for their identification.

Afterwards, they heard a reminiscence of Christmas in another land, and applied their imagination to drawing cards appropriate to that.

The whole exercise was in the context of trying to give explicit reasons for signs which have implicit basic cultural significance, and the authors raise the question of whether at least partial knowledge of reasons is important in this type of semiological context, and whether making intuitive knowledge explicit could make a difference to learning.