Literature of broadcasting: Books in review

Two books have recently crossed this desk which are deserving of comment. The first of these is My First 10,000,000 Sponsors,by Frank Edwards (New York: Ballantine Books, Inc. 1956. 185 pp. 35c). Edited by Bernard Rosenberg and David Manning White

One book, for which it is possible to predict an important future is Mass Culture, subtitle The Popular Arts in America. (Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press, 1957. 561 pp. $6.50.)

Three from Hastings

HOW TO ANNOUNCE FOR RADIO AND TELEVISION. Edited by William I. Kaufman. New York. Hastings House, 1956. 95 pp. $2.50.

AN AD MAN AD‐LIBS ON TV. By Bob Foreman. New York. Hastings House, 1957. 173 pp. $4.50.

HOW TO USE A TAPE RECORDER. By Dick Hodgson and H. Jay Bullen. New York. Hastings House, 1957. 216 pp. $4.95.

THE FUNNY MEN. By Steve Allen. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1956. 280 pp. $3.95.     

Instructional Rounds as a professional learning model for systemic implementation of Assessment for Learning

The purpose of this research was to examine the implementation of a professional learning project aimed at building educators’ knowledge and skills in assessment for learning (AfL) within two school districts in Ontario, Canada. Specifically, the research examined the value of a two-tier Instructional Rounds (IR) professional learning model. This professional learning model was unique because it engaged both teachers and principals in collaboratively learning and implementing AfL strategies in order to develop systemic capacity in assessment. In total, 12 principals, 48 teachers, two superintendents and two school district assessment consultants participated in the study. Data were collected through observations of IR sessions, classroom observations, interviews, IR session reflections and a post-project survey. Findings from this study report on positive changes in teachers’ and principals’ conceptions and implementation of AfL as well as on the value and challenges of IR as a professional learning model. The paper concludes with a discussion on developing systemic capacity in AfL through an IR model of professional learning.     

The role of language and culture in open learning in international collaborative programmes

In the context of internationalisation, the delivery of higher education programmes increasingly combines open learning with collaborations among people of diverse languages and cultures. In this paper we argue that while the literature on international education focuses on mapping modes of delivery in international education, there is also a need to recognise that it is these modes, together with language and culture, which mediate the delivery of programmes. Drawing on data from a case study of collaboration between an Australian university and an educational institution in Malaysia, we argue that international education per force involves collaboration and that this collaboration is mediated.