The Need for E‐Learning Strategies: Higher Education Institutions and Their Responses to a Changing Environment

Integrating e‐Learning in their educational delivery and support processes is one way of strategy formation higher education institutions can deploy to respond to their changing environment. In this article, the focus of such a strategy formation is on three strategic choices: traditional, face‐to‐face, campus‐based education (back‐to‐basics), flexible on‐campus delivery of education (stretching‐the‐mould) or anytime, anywhere education (worldcampus). Results of a quantitative study showed that higher education institutions with a worldcampus strategy differ from higher education institutions with a back‐to‐basics strategy because they have a stronger focus on ‘increasing access,’ ‘offering logistic flexibility,’ and ‘use of ICT for income generation.’ By doing so, these higher education institutions aim to respond to an environment that is becoming increasingly market‐oriented and competitive.     

The Learning is In‐between: The search for a metalanguage in Indigenous education

Following the first significant research into Indigenous methods of learning, it was argued that Indigenous students could learn western knowledge using Indigenous ways of learning. Subsequent research contradicted this finding to take the position that Indigenous students must learn western knowledge using western methods and so this set the scene for the development of a pedagogy where Indigenous students could learn how to learn. Theorists in Indigenous education began to search for a metalanguage. Crosscultural theorists have perceived this metalanguage in terms of an explicit and transparent pedagogy while critical theorists want Indigenous students to develop their own ways of speaking and writing and to be conscious of how they do this. However, I take the position in this paper that there is already a metalanguage at work in‐between the student and the teacher in the classroom although it is often obscured from consciousness in the effort to articulate valid, quantifiable outcomes.     

Students’ Learning Processes during School-Based Learning and Workplace Learning in Vocational Education: A Review

Learning in vocational schools and workplaces are the two main components of vocational education. Students have to develop professional competences by building meaningful relations between knowledge, skills and attitudes. There are, however, some major concerns about the combination of learning in these two learning environments, since vocational schools are primarily based on the rationales of learning and theory, while workplaces are based on the rationales of working and practice. This study therefore aims to structure empirical insights into students’ learning processes during the combination of school-based learning and workplace learning in vocational education. A review-study has been conducted in which ultimately 24 articles were analyzed thoroughly. The review shows that students’ learning processes in vocational schools and workplaces are related to six main themes: students’ expertise development, students’ learning styles, students’ integration of knowledge acquired in school and workplace, processes of knowledge development, students’ motivations for learning and students’ professional identity development. Our results show that students are novices who use specific and different learning styles and learning activities in vocational schools and workplaces. It is concluded that the enhancement of students’ learning processes needs to be adaptive and differentiated in nature. Recommendations for further research are elaborated and suggestions for the enhancement of students’ learning processes are discussed using insights from hybrid learning environments and boundary crossing via boundary objects.     

Learning for Life: A Hermeneutical–Communicative Model for Worldview Education in Light of White Normativity

Abstract

In the project Learning for Life we developed a hermeneutical–communicative model for worldview education that answers the European challenges of worldview diversity and worldview illiteracy. We implemented the model in a participatory action research project at nine schools for primary education in the Netherlands and monitored the outcomes. A meta-analysis shows that the model can be fruitfully applied in confessional and public schools, as well as in cooperation schools, which are a merger of confessional and public schools. The model is demanding with regard to the skills and attitude of worldview teachers. We suggest improvements for two aspects of the model from the perspective of white normativity.     

The Implications of School‐Leaver Unemployment for Careers Education in Schools

’In particular I would urge that the Irish school system of the future should give freedom—freedom to the individual school, freedom to the individual teacher, freedom as far as may be to the individual pupiV. (Padraig H. Pearse [1916] Irish patriot, poet and educationist.)     

The UNESCO‐UNEP Programme in Environmental Education

A shortage of qualified science teachers has been recognized as a serious problem in the field of education in many countries. Taiwan, however, has successfully recruited graduate-level science students into teaching through newly established teacher education programs at universities in recent years. This study seeks to examine why such students are motivated for entry into teaching. In-depth interviews of 33 graduate science students from one teacher education program and a survey of 101 students from nine teacher education programs at universities in Taiwan were conducted. Results show that these students were attracted to teaching by an early exposure to science teaching in informal settings and their perceptions of handsome material rewards, favorable working conditions, and relatively high social status of teaching. The cultural roots of these factors are discussed; implications and limitations of the results are suggested.     

Learning in and for cross‐school working

In this study we report some of the outcomes of a study of professional learning that took place in cross school partnerships as they worked towards promoting creativity in schools. The methodology developed by Engeström and his colleagues at The Centre for Developmental Work Research in Helsinki was adopted. This form of intervention involves the preparation and facilitation of workshops in which the underlying structural contradictions that are in play in emergent activities are highlighted and articulated in such a way that participants may engage with what may otherwise remain hidden and unexamined tensions. This approach is based on the writings of the early 20th‐century Russian school of social scientists—Vygotsky, Luria and Leontiev. A principal claim is that the development of creativity requires tools and contexts for such innovatory forms of practice. This study suggests that this claim is a partial representation of the development of creative activity.     

Programmed Learning in Engineering Education?A Preliminary Study

A recent study of programmed learning, including experimental use in an electrical engineering department, indicated that the most fruitful application of teaching machine methods is in the presently nonprogrammed or loosely programmed hours spent by students outside classroom or laboratory periods. Programs already developed for use in this study have been concerned with analytical skills; further programs under development are concerned with concepts. Larger scale experiments are planned in which additional questions can be answered, particularly as to whether exposure to programmed instruction adversely affects the capacity of the student to learn independently.     

Prospects and pitfalls: A review of post‐apartheid education policy research and analysis in South Africa

The 10‐year anniversary of the first democratic elections in South Africa in 2004 provoked much reflection and fuelled new policy debates on both the progress and failures of educational reform. While a myriad of achievements have been touted and are well‐known to international audiences, a swelling critique from inside South Africa shows that much work remains to be done. By glancing backward as a way to understand how to move forward, we review several important recently published books on post‐apartheid education policy to learn how policies were conceived, what went well and what went seriously wrong. In engaging this extended analysis we provide a glimpse into the unique set of circumstances and challenges faced by the South African government over the last 15 years (namely the tensions between equity and redress and global competitiveness), while offering a sustained critique of the resulting policy outcomes through a social justice lens.     

Rethinking Flexible Learning in a Distributed Learning Environment: A University‐Wide Initiative

This paper is a case study of the impact of ICT on the teaching and learning environment at Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia, where the convergence of distance and campus‐based education is changing the teaching environment in ways impossible prior to the development of ICT. Specifically, the paper will explore issues which have arisen from the implementation of a new flexible unit model which focuses on student access to rather than delivery of unit materials. The issues identified in a pilot of the new approach include: rethinking how students access learning resources; streamlining print materials provided to students; implementing an online lecture recording and streaming solution; and providing assessment which is equivalent whether taken on‐campus or online. These issues are not unique to Murdoch, but the integrated approach to resolving them offers a financially attractive means to achieve both reform and improved quality.

Reconsidération de la formation flexible dans un environnement de formation décentralisée. Une initiative dans toute l'université Cet exposé représente une étude de cas sur l'impact du ICT de l'environnement d'enseignement et de formation à l'université Murdoch à Perth en Australie de l'Ouest, où la convergence de la formation par correspondance et de la formation sur le campus change l'environnement d'enseignement ce qui était impossible avant le développement du ICT. Specifiquement, l'exposé s'occupe de problèmes qui résultent de l'implémentation d'un nouveau modèle d'enseignement flexible qui se concentre sur l'accès des étudiants plutôt que sur la diffusion de matières d'enseignement. Les problèmes identifiés dans un premier approche comprennent: Reconsidération de l'accès aux ressources de formation pour les étudiants; Rationalisation des matières imprimées prévues pour les étudiants; Réalisation d'une consignation de cours en ligne et présentation de solutions réactualisées; Evaluation équivalente soit considérée sur le campus ou en ligne. Ces problèmes ne sont pas unique à Murdoch mais un essai intégré de les résoudre offre un moyen financier intéressant pour atteindre une réforme et une qualité améliorée.

Überdenken des flexiblen Lernens in einem dezentralisiertem Lernumfeld: Eine universitätsweite Initiative Es handelt sich bei diesem Bericht um eine Fallstudie über den Einfluss von ICT auf die Lehr- und Lernumgebung an der Murdoch Universität in Perth in West Australien, wo das Zusammentreffen von Fernstudium und klassischer Hochschulbildung das Unterrichtsumfeld in einer Weise verändert, wie sie vor der Entwicklung von ICT unmöglich erschien. Es werden insbesondere Fragen untersucht, die durch die Einführung eines neuen, flexiblen Unterrichtsmodells entstehen, welches sich eher auf die studentischen Zugriffsmöglichkeiten auf Unterrichtsmaterialien fokussiert als auf die Versorgung des Studenten mit diesen Materialien. Die Fragen, die in einem neuen Pilotansatz aufkommen, beinhalten folgende Punkte: Überdenken, wie Studenten an Lernressourcen gelangen; Rationalisierung der für die Studenten vorgesehenen Printmaterialien; Einführung einer Aufzeichnung von Online Vorlesungen und laufend aktualisierte Anwendungen; Anwendung von einheitlichen Bewertungsmaßstäben, gleichgültig ob online oder an der Hochschule. Diese Fragen stellen sich nicht nur an der Murdoch Universität, aber der integrierte Ansatz sie zu beantworten, stellt eine finanziell attraktives Mittel dar, sowohl eine Reform als auch eine verbesserte Qualität zu erreichen.     

Industry‐Related Activities in Initial Teacher Education: A Survey

Abstract

This paper discusses research which was stimulated by the controversial question of the educability of entrepreneurial characteristics and the economic value of enterprise training. The research focuses on participants on enterprise training courses within the Irish Republic which aim to help people to set up and run businesses. An attempt was made to develop a technique, that is an adapted Osgood's Sematic Differential Technique, for use in the exploration of participants’ perceptions of entrepreneurial characteristics. This technique could represent a useful assessment technique for appraising participants’ attitudes to themselves as entrepreneurs and any changes over the duration of a training course in participants’ identification with entrepreneurial characteristic. Although, this technique would require self assessments, it could be used to establish the conditions for the development of entrepreneurial characteristics and explore questions of whether entrepreneurial characteristics may be developed. Despite methodological limitations, the reported study lends support to the thesis that many entrepreneurial characteristics may be developed over the duration of enterprise training courses in the view of participants.     

The Human‐Technology Interface: Designing for Open and Distance Learning∗

Abstract

Much attention has been focused on the application of computer technology to the delivery of education, through open and distance learning. Within this framework, however, emphasis appears to have been placed on ideal human characteristics rather than on the reality of adult human nature and experience. Using some examples from higher education and continuing education in Australia, this paper discusses technology in relation to the management of open learning; the characteristics, expertise and experience of the instructional developer and the learner. The authors suggest that the design considerations for technology‐based delivery systems for adults should employ a conceptual organization based upon four types of teaching and learning activities.

     

Anger Management Using a Cognitive‐behavioural Approach for Children with Special Education Needs: A literature review and meta‐analysis

This review examines the use of a cognitive‐behavioural approach to anger management in children with special needs in community settings. Eighteen experimental studies involving a total of 408 children were located. The participants were mainly of high school age, with an IQ above 80, and with behavioural or emotional disorders. A moderate effect was observed for improvement in the three dimensions of anger: behaviour, cognition and emotion – although conclusions need to be very tentative. The interventions employed varied greatly in their characteristics and there were concerns about the quality of many studies. Further research is needed to investigate the interaction between intervention features and participant characteristics.     

Assessment of Morale in Further Education Students Studying for A‐level Examinations

This paper reports the results of an empirical study of psychological morale in further education students. Success in A‐level examinations is dependant on a number of factors, not only intellectual ability but also morale and other personality factors. This investigation aimed to assess the influence of these factors in the 16–18 years age range. The sample consisted of 357 A‐level students (156 male and 201 female). Students were asked to complete a number of inventories measuring various dimensions of personality, including morale, self‐esteem, extraversion, neuroticism, psychoticism and state and trait anxiety. Significant and positive correlations of morale with self‐esteem and extraversion were reported. Significant but negative correlations of morale with neuroticism and state and trait anxiety were reported. A factor analysis of the Well‐being Inventory revealed that the most significant factor was student optimism and belief in their future, but this was often moderated by the influence of anxiety. These findings have implications not only for the students who were participants in this investigation but also managers and teachers in further education colleges.     

Virtual K–12 Learning: New Learning Frontiers for State Education Agencies

This article explores the role of state education agencies in three states that have embarked on ambitious kindergarten through Grade 12 (K–12) virtual learning initiatives: Alabama, Florida, and Idaho. Subject to a rapidly changing environment influenced by factors beyond the jurisdiction of many state departments of education, the world of virtual K–12 education is relatively unregulated and fluid. Case studies describing the virtual learning initiatives of several states suggest that few, if any, state education agencies are currently equipped to regulate the rapidly growing number of independent for-profit and nonprofit organizations delivering online learning options.     

The National Grid for Learning: A curriculum without walls?

The aim of the British Government's National Grid for Learning policy is to harness the power of information and communications technology (ICT) in order to create a 'curriculum without walls', where the riches of the world's intellectual, cultural and scientific heritage are available to all. Central to this vision are the assumptions that: all pupils will in the future have appropriate access to computers at home and at school; that there is a common conception between home and school as to what actually constitutes learning. In this paper the authors draw on preliminary findings from a 2 year study of how young people actually utilise ICT at home and at school to raise important questions about the realisation of the Government's policy objectives.