Blended learning in higher education: professional development in a Hong Kong university

ABSTRACT

Online learning has become a ubiquitous part of the educational landscape and how teachers are supported in developing approaches to teaching online is a fundamental aspect of the students’ learning experience. Based on the implementation of a professional development course on becoming an online teacher offered in a blended learning mode at one university in Hong Kong, this article proposes that offering this type of professional development in a blended mode is very effective in facilitating enhanced usage of the university’s learning management system. In a blended mode, teachers are actively engaged with blended learning and were found to make more extensive use of features/tools in Blackboard after they attended the professional development course. Results support that offering professional development in a blended mode provides teachers with an authentic student perspective, at the same time as they take guided steps in the teacher’s role in blended learning.     

电机学精品在线开放课程校企合作初探

工程教育专业认证背景下,电机学省级精品在线开放课程注重校企合作,收集丰富的生产现场教学资源,聘请企业专家录制教学视频,开展网上讨论、网上直播课等。下阶段校企合作重点是编写理论和实践教材、共建电机科技活动实训室、企业专家指导网上PBL项目、指导学生选取企业真题申报大创项目。     

Children's responses to the interactivity of storybook apps in family shared reading events involving the iPad

This paper reports on some data on the effects of screen‐based interactivity on children's engagement with storybook apps during family shared book reading that were gathered in a 2‐year, small‐scale ethnographic case study in Spain. Data analysis focuses on the complex interplay between the storybook app's interactive features and the children's responses to them. Our findings show that interactive elements increase the child's autonomy, as they tend to promote the importance of the reader, positioning him or her as a collaborator, storyteller, an author or an internal character in the fiction; something that can materialise in exciting narrative strategies that can trigger powerful responses to digital literary texts in emergent readers, including playing, creating new fictions or engaging emotionally with the story. Finally, we argue that the Reader Response models that have been used over recent decades to understand children's reading experiences with storybooks need to be revised to better understand their current experiences with interactive texts.     

Exploring the work and learning stories of para‐teachers in a college for further education in England

This paper reports findings from a research project which developed and introduced the Enhanced Learning Support Assistant Programme (ELSAP). This was a source of professional development for learning support assistants who were supporting students with additional learning needs in a college for further education in England. The purpose of this paper is to share findings from the project and to report on how learning support assistants experienced their work in inclusive college classrooms. The research project was a mixed methods study with participants drawn from learning support assistants within one college for further education in England. Data was collected throughout the 14‐week intervention. Findings indicate that issues exist around the uniqueness of the vocational curriculum and the implications this has for classroom support. It also shows how conflicting classroom procedures can generate feelings of confusion and how learning support workers often feel lonely in their role with no natural opportunity to mix with others. Furthermore, it indicates how a general lack of knowledge about teaching and learning contribute to them experiencing difficulty when performing their role which feed their views that a college for further education can be a complex and hostile environment to work in.     

新世纪文学家的失约与失信

文学作为一种话语权,最早被视为神意的表达,因此文学家的委托人是神。启蒙主义兴起之后,文学是民意的表达,因此文学家的委托人是人民,文学成为文学家与人民之间的一种契约。但是由于委托人的身份不明和在权力转赠过程中的被遗忘造成了委托人的死亡,致使新世纪文学家将话语权向政治、金钱、自身寻租,从而造成了文学家对人民的失约。文学家的失约导致了失信,使文学面临着遭公众讨伐的厄运,也造成了文学日益边缘化的现实,新世纪文学只有依托守约的文学家才能改变这种现状。     

化学实验教学中的探究教学

通过教学实例分析了化学实验探究教学的一般步骤,指出了实际教学过程中应注意的问题。     

内地新《纲要》与香港地区《表现指标》之比较研究

本文主要分析比较了我国内地2001年颁布的《幼儿园教育指导纲要(试行)》和香港地区《表现指标(学前机构适用)》的异同。通过对两份最新幼教指导文件的分析比较,找出两地可以相互参考、借鉴的地方,以进一步推动内地《幼儿园教育指导纲要(试行)》的真正落实。     

美国"新帝国战略"评析

在反恐战争的直接推动下,布什政府推行一项以单极世界为目标,反恐为旗帜,军事强权主义为对外政策手段,单边主义为对外政策主要行为方式的“新帝国战略”。这一战略迎合了美国国内泛滥的“新帝国主义”的要求,表明了其追求全球独霸的意图和决心,但由于这一战略自身存在诸多盲点和缺陷,并受到种种国际国内因素的制约,难以顺利实现。     

高职机械类专业学生学习兴趣的培养

高职院校机械类专业学生的学习兴趣普遍较弱,影响了学习成效。应从激发学生的奇异感和快乐感、创设知识的应用情景、发挥教学评价的激励功能等途径来发展并保护他们的学习兴趣。     

专业性市属高校开展师资博士后工作的可行性分析研究

本文以天津中医药大学开展的师资博士后可行性分析调查研究为例,探讨专业性市属高校开展师资博士后工作的可行性和注意问题,认为专业性市属高校开展师资博士后工作可以促进学校在博士后、人才引进、人才培养等工作的全面发展。同时建议专业性市属高校在首次实施时,应以试点部门招收少量师资博士后的模式进行,不断探索相关经验、完善管理制度,使师资博士后制度真正成为学校全面发展的助推器和创新平台。