The danger of impersonalisation in mass personalised learning

This paper discusses the dichotomy between socialisation and personalisation, and questions whether the two can coexist. It presents evidence that socialisation does lead to improved student achievement and that there is a significant issue with personalisation, in that it limits social discovery because it does not cater for the development of an energetic learning community to share and exchange information. This is particularly relevant in the context of mass personalisation and must be a key consideration when developing personalised learning environments

A Critique of the Ambitions and Challenges of the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE) from a Lifelong Learning Perspective

In 2025, the English government will commence the roll out of a transformative new funding system for post-18 learners entitled the ‘Lifelong Learning Entitlement’ (LLE). This will be a single funding system for both higher and further education, which the government argues, will enable learners to pay for courses to develop new skills and gain new qualifications at a time that is right for them through full-time degree programmes, flexibly through part-time study, or by undertaking individual modules as and when they are needed. The focus is on training, retraining and upskilling at levels four to six (i.e., the first three years of a degree programme) and on high-value technical courses at levels four and five. Essentially, the LLE is a lifelong entitlement to access a loan fund to support higher level/higher education studies up to age 60. Some targeted maintenance grant funding will be provided to some students who require it to age 60 and beyond. The authors will provide a critical review of the LLE from a lifelong learning perspective. They will explore the complex multifaceted discourse embedded in LLE intentions, as presented in policy statements, some of which appear to be at odds with the claims made about the role of LLE, and identify the ways that it will need to be shaped to achieve the benefits sought by government. Using the critical themes underpinning this special edition of the journal, they will consider the role that education provided through the LLE ‘transformative agenda’ can play in enabling access by adult learners of all types and for multiple reasons. They will consider the interplay between these and neo-liberal values relating to the role of higher education in employment, training and skills-focused priorities. They will also reflect on the role that the HE sector will inevitably need to play in shaping course design and delivery to ensure that the LLE can deliver both the government’s goals and those of lifelong learners, particularly those from disadvantaged communities and backgrounds

Exercises for word analysis in grade II.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University N.B.: the following pages are missing: cover page; pages 374-376 at end of text

The Challenges of using disruptive technologies/innovations in a cyber-landscape

DisruptiveTechnologies was a term coined by Clayton Christensen, in his 1997 book TheInnovators Dilemma. Disruptivetechnologies are about new technologies that even though they often lackrefinement and performance unexpectedly replace an established technology. One example of this is Minecraft which wascreated by Markus Persson through a gaming website for his friends. Minecraft is a game about breaking andplacing blocks. At first, people built structures to protect against nocturnalmonsters, but as the game grew players worked together to create wonderful,imaginative things. (minecraft.net) Thegraphics are not very good and it uses pixelated blocks as building blocks thatyou move around by pressing the cursor keys.However it is very easy to use. Minecraftis, in essence, an online Lego kit and has effectively taken over the onlineLego market. Lego did produce theonline Lego Universe. They listened totheir customers who wanted everything included and Lego produced a high qualityproduct with over 80,000 blocks and contained all of the complexities ofLego. It did attract enough users andit was withdrawn in 2012

A serious game for developing computational thinking and learning introductory computer programming

Owing to their ease of engagement and motivational nature, especially for younger age groups, games have been omnipresent in education since earliest times. More recently, computer video games have become widely used, particularly in secondary and tertiary education, to impart core knowledge in some subject areas and as an aid to attracting and retaining students. Academics have proposed a number of approaches, using games-based learning (GBL), to impart theoretical and applied knowledge,especially in the computer science discipline. Our research is concerned with the design of an innovative educational game framework focused on the development of Computational Thinking (CT) skills, and herein we introduce a serious game, based on our framework, which encourages the development of CT skills to facilitate learning introductory computer programming. We describe how a limited number of key introductory computer programming concepts have been mapped onto the game-play, and how an equivalent set of skills characterising CT can be acquired through playing the game. A survey response group of 25 students, following computer science and related degree programmes but with very diverse backgrounds and experience, provided initial usability feedback on the game. Their feedback confirmed that they found the game enjoyable, and also universally believed that this approach would be beneficial in helping students learn problem-solving skills for introductory computer programming. Feedback from this group will be incorporated in a revised version of the game, which will now be subject to rigorous experimental evaluation and analysis, to provide structured empirical evidence in support of our approach

Developing an educational game to support cognitive learning

This paper outlines how an educational game can be used to support the learning of programming within the Computer Science (CS) discipline and reports on the qualitative results of a series of rigorous studies of the use of this game by first-year introductory programming students. Although this paper applies to the CS discipline, computational thinking (CT) as an intrinsic part of the games process is applicable to any discipline. This is because CT combines logical thinking with CS concepts to produce a recipe for solving problems, regardless of where a problem lies. Many studies indicate that learning through educational games appeals widely to students, regardless of their backgrounds (Liu et al, 2011; Papastergiou, 2009). However, though many of these studies demonstrate enthusiasm for educational games and indicate that games can enhance motivation for learning, they offer very few conclusions about what students learn from playing them or whether or not they acquire cognitive abilities thereby (Denner et al, 2012; Connolly et al, 2011)

Learning programming at the computational thinking level via digital game-play

This paper outlines an innovative game model for learning computational thinking (CT) skills through digital game-play. We have designed a game framework where students can practice and develop their skills in CT with little or no programming knowledge. We analyze how this game supports various CT concepts and how these concepts can be mapped to programming constructs to facilitate learning introductory computer programming. Moreover, we discuss the potential benefits of our approach as a support tool to foster student motivation and abilities in problem solving. As initial evaluation, we provide some analysis of feedback from a survey response group of 25 students who have played our game as a voluntary exercise. Structured empirical evaluation will follow, and the plan for that is briefly described

Learning Strategies and Academic Difficulty in Occupational and Physical Therapy Online Education

As occupational therapy (OT) and physical therapy (PT) programs expand across the United States to address a shortage in the health workforce there is a limited understanding of the relationship between learning strategies and academic success in these professions. The purpose of this study was to explore the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) in relation to hybrid-online clinical neuroscience course outcomes in OT and PT students. Thirty-four students (n=14 OT; n=20 PT) self-administered the LASSI during the spring of 2019. The scales of Information Processing (r = -0.43; p\u3c0.01), Self-Testing (r = -0.36; p\u3c0.05), and Test Strategies (r = 0.32; p\u3c0.05) displayed modest statistically significant relationships to final neuroscience grade and cumulative professional grade point average (r = -0.43; p\u3c0.01), (r = -0.30; p\u3c0.05), (r = 0.29; p\u3c0.05), respectively. Some scales of the LASSI appeared to be modestly related to academic difficulty in this sample, however scales were not significantly related to academic achievement. Students who scored highly on the LASSI scale of Test Strategies tended to have higher course performance compared to their peers. Students who rely on certain learning strategies may be at risk for academic difficulty in hybrid-online coursework. Those who scored highly on the LASSI scales of Information Processing and Self-testing tended to have lower course performance compared to their peers. The LASSI may provide OT and PT students a better understanding of learning and study strategies that are related to academic difficulty in online learning

Women Farmers: Pulling Up Their Own Educational Boot Straps with Extension

Women comprise a rapidly growing segment in agriculture. In this article, we examine how a network of women farmers, Extension educators, and researchers responded to the significant increase in women farmers in one state by creating a membership organization that draws on the expertise and resources of the land-grant university and Extension in Pennsylvania to create educational events with networking opportunities. We report 4 years of evaluation data for 37 events indicating educational impact, expansion and enhancement of the network, and marketing strategies for Extension to improve participation of women

Third National Survey of Cardiac Rehabilitation Service Provision in Ireland: progress on the 1999 National Cardiovascular Health Strategy Recommendations

Background: The National Cardiovascular Health Strategy, including specific plans for cardiac rehabilitation, was launched in Ireland in 1999. A survey of cardiac rehabilitation services was conducted in 2006 to evaluate progress on service provision. Aim: To establish levels of service provision and service formats of cardiac rehabilitation services in 2005, compare them with the status pre-Strategy (1998) and to ascertain areas in which additional resources may be needed to achieve the 10 national recommendations for cardiac rehabilitation. Method: All hospitals in Ireland (n=37) admitting cardiac patients to a coronary or intensive care unit completed surveys by postal questionnaire or telephone follow-up. Results: All hospitals provided Phase I, 97% (36 hospitals) provided Phase II and 95% (35 hospitals) provided Phase III outpatient programmes. Forty–three percent (16 hospitals) provided a formal phase IV programme. Lack of staff (66%) and lack of available space (23%) were cited as the greatest barriers to programme development. Expanding the service to provide cardiac rehabilitation to other types of patient was deemed the most important area for development by 34% of centres. The development and provision of Phase III was prioritised by 39% while 18% prioritised the provision of Phase IV. Although professional input has increased substantially since 1998 (from a mean of 45.9 hours per week in 1998 to a mean of 135 hours per week in 2005, centres reported several concerns with staffing levels. Eleven cardiac rehabilitation centres were being run single-handedly by cardiac rehabilitation coordinators. There was also great variation in recommended multidisciplinary input across centres. Twenty-four centres had dedicated facilities with 10 sharing facilities. Thirty-one centres had an exercise area and 19 had a separate education area. Conclusions: There have been substantial achievements towards the Cardiovascular Health Strategy target of providing cardiac rehabilitation services for all relevant hospitals in Ireland over the past seven years. The next challenge is to ensure that all those who could benefit in each centre is provided with the opportunity to take part in all phases of Cardiac Rehabilitation