Offering Adequate Pedagogical Progression via Mobile Equipments—— Experiment of a French Engineering School

Students may enter our 5-year engineering school in France at two levels ： first and third year. However, due to their quite different backgrounds （ this is especially true for third year students ）, we need to provide newcomers with a 6-week training period during which they follow classes in the fields where they particularly feel weak. Unfortunately, depending on the student＇s background, this is not always possible to bring him/her to the expected level. Another aspect one needs to mention is that these students may not have the same weaknesses in a given field. However, for economical reasons, those classes follow a uniform program as it is not feasible to provide a customized progression. In this paper we discuss how to redesign a mathematics course so as to offer tailored exercise sequencing. Groups of 20 students could then draw their exercises from an intranet database according to their previously completed work, try to solve it by themselves, request additional hints and even ask for some direct help from the teacher. Such a database is currently under development. If it turns out several students stumble against the same difficulty the teacher could show the whole class room how to solve it using the digital projector. This project goes one step further than our initial mobile education project （ 2003 - 2004 ）. Until recently, we had used the equipment in a unique direction, from the instructor toward the students. Here, in this new project we are focusing on the whole loop in order to offer a more adequate （personalized） pedagogical progression ： from the student to the teacher （when the tablet PCs are monitored by the teacher）, and back toward the students （when a direct help is provided by the teacher）.     

信息技术如何改变着教育

本文主要就信息和通讯技术(ICT)发展对教育的影响进行了一些反思,并尝试对远程教育在未来几年的发展方向作了一些探讨。     

Perceived benefits and barriers to the use of high-speed broadband in Ireland's second-level schools

As part of Ireland's National Digital Strategy, high-speed broadband is being rolled out to all second-level schools to support greater use of information and communication technology (ICT) in education. This programme signals a move from slow and unreliable broadband connections for many schools to a guaranteed high-speed connection with technical support. Theoretically, this should allow for behaviours and pedagogies to adapt, incorporating ICT into education. Research shows that integrating ICT into teaching and learning is a gradual process for most teachers and is influenced by a complex mix of socio-technical factors. Our data set consists of survey data from teachers and principals from a sample of second-level schools. The survey collected factual and attitudinal variables including attitudes towards ICT integration, current availability of infrastructure and barriers to ICT use, before schools received high-speed broadband connectivity. We examine the factors influencing teachers’ attitudes to ICT and their perceived barriers in adopting new technologies in their day-to-day teaching. Analysis of this baseline period is essential in an iterative digital strategy, informing future strategies, targeting policy most effectively and achieving policy objectives. While attitudes towards the potential of high-speed broadband and use of ICT are consistently positive across sub groups of schools and teachers, perceived barriers to ICT usage differ.     

国内外信息素质教育研究现状及实践情况

文章以信息素质的定义、内涵和标准为基础,介绍了国内外信息素质教育理论研究与实践进行的情况。     

India: Demographics for Publishers

The essential demographic data and related information for India is provided specifically for the publishing industry. The focus has been placed on the economics, education and computer industry in relation to the complex cultural factors of different languages and religions. The role of India in relation to the other three BRIC countries or Brazil, China and Russia is explored.     

School entry age and reading achievement in the 2006 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)

Evidence regarding the effect of early reading instruction on later reading achievement is unusually sparse, given the emphasis often placed on early and intensive reading instruction. Capitalising on international differences in school entry age (SEA), international reading studies may provide such evidence; however, only one quantitative analysis has been conducted that looked at nine-year olds over 17 years ago. Therefore, data from the reading portion of the 2006 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study were re-analysed. The relative reading achievement—as a function of SEA—of 15-year-old students across 55 countries was investigated, controlling for social and economic differences. Results suggested no significant association between reading achievement and SEA. Theoretical explanations for these findings are discussed.     

An examination of the construct of legitimate peripheral participation as a theoretical framework in literacy research

This review critically examines the use in literacy research of Lave and Wenger's (1991) construct of legitimate peripheral participation (LPP), a view of learning as participation by which newcomers adopt a group's ways, moving from periphery to the center of a practice. From a search through 10 literacy-relevant journals from 1991 to the present, we purposively selected 20 pieces that relied centrally on LPP and analyzed these for ways in which practice and apprenticeship were instantiated. Regarding practice, we inquired about legitimacy and engagement; regarding apprenticeship, we asked about the deployment of experts' attention and the cost of newcomers' mistakes. Using the benefit of the 20+ years since the original publication, our critique offers six principles to evaluate researchers' use of LPP and community of practice as constructs to describe learners' experience, and summarizes how some of our 20 studies made felicitous use of the constructs and others less so.     

Ugandan health libraries in the 21st century: key initiatives and challenges

This article is part of a series in this regular feature which looks at new directions in health science libraries. This paper highlights new initiatives aimed at ensuring health libraries can contribute to the development of Uganda in the 21st century and the challenges facing libraries. It stresses that for libraries to be successful they need to form networks and collaborations for resource sharing; take advantage of the benefits of information technology; computerise their library systems; as well as invest in the development of staff. The paper highlights the main challenge facing the library service as inadequate funding both from government for public‐funded health libraries and the private sector (for privately funded health libraries). The paper concludes that, despite the bottlenecks brought about by inadequate funding, Ugandan health libraries have taken positive steps to support health research and education, as well as patient care, not just for Uganda, but for the whole of the East African region. J.M.     

Using the multimodal affordances of the interactive whiteboard to support students’ understanding of texts

The purpose of the study reported on here was to explore ways in which the interactive whiteboard (IWB) can support students’ understanding of texts. A Year 3 and a Year 4 primary school class in New South Wales, Australia, is the focus of the research. A qualitative case study was carried out using multimodal analysis focusing on the use of an e‐book displayed via the IWB. The results of the study indicate that the IWB can support students’ understanding of a narrative to prepare them to write a whole‐class response through providing increased access to a range of resources that are multimodal in nature. The way the interactive features of the IWB can facilitate access to multimodal resources to cater for student needs is also discussed.     

中小学教师信息技术应用能力现状及培训建议

信息技术能力已成为信息化社会教师必备的专业能力,2014年6月,教育部颁布了《中小学教师信息技术应用能力标准(试行)》,开启了中小学教师新一轮信息技术应用能力提升培训。为了了解现阶段中小学教师信息技术应用能力水平,为能力提升培训的实施提供依据。该文以湖北、河南、安徽和广西四个省市中35个市区的414名中小学教师为调研对象,从标准的角度对其信息化应用能力现状开展较为全面的调研。结果表明中小学教师应用信息技术优化课堂教学能力的达标情况优于转变学习方式的能力。根据测评结果对中小学教师信息应用能力培训提出建议,也为我国推进信息化环境下教师队伍的建设提供借鉴。