Using electronic resources to support dialogue in undergraduate small‐group teaching: The ASTER project

Learning through dialogue is an important element of UK higher education, supported by tutorial, seminar and workshop classes. Since 1998, the ASTER project has been exploring how Information and Communication Technologies support learning in small groups (http://cti‐psy.york.acuk/aster/). Electronic resources are developed and used in courses to support a wide range of learning needs, from delivery of content to interactive teaching tools and assessment. The manner in which they are integrated into a course dictates the extent to which they support and extend learning. The ASTER survey has identified the use of a range of new technologies to support learning through dialogue in a variety of contexts. Many of the uses are common across disciplines, though we have observed some differences in the range of tools used, and how they are implemented in and beyond the classroom. These differences are partly determined by the subject content of resources, and by the activities that ICT tools support. Another factor influencing this variation seems to be traditions of academic discourse. The findings suggest that educational technology needs to support both generic education practice, and the special needs of particular disciplines

Evaluation of Legislative Drafting Program Boston University, Fall Term, 1995

An evaluation of the Fall 1995 Legislative Drafting program offered at Boston University to leaders from foreign universities

Restart: The Resurgence of Computer Science in UK Schools

Computer science in UK schools is undergoing a remarkable transformation. While the changes are not consistent across each of the four devolved nations of the UK (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), there are developments in each that are moving the subject to become mandatory for all pupils from age 5 onwards. In this article, we detail how computer science declined in the UK, and the developments that led to its revitalisation: a mixture of industry and interest group lobbying, with a particular focus on the value of the subject to all school pupils, not just those who would study it at degree level. This rapid growth in the subject is not without issues, however: there remain significant forthcoming challenges with its delivery, especially surrounding the issue of training sufficient numbers of teachers. We describe a national network of teaching excellence which is being set up to combat this problem, and look at the other challenges that lie ahead

Enthusing and inspiring with reusable kinaesthetic activities

We describe the experiences of three University projects that use a style of physical, non-computer based activity to enthuse and teach school students computer science concepts. We show that this kind of activity is effective as an outreach and teaching resource even when reused across different age/ability ranges, in lecture and workshop formats and for delivery by different people. We introduce the concept of a Reusable Outreach Object (ROO) that extends Reusable Learning Objects. and argue for a community effort in developing a repository of such objects

The wordpress project :|bapractical action research experience

Tesis (Profesor de Inglés para la Enseñanza Básica y Media y al grado académico de Licenciado en Educación)The aim of this study is to promote and implement the use of social media resources in English-as-foreign-language (EFL) classrooms. In addition, the investigation intends to advance our understanding of this issue through examining the perspectives and a digital-immigrant teacher experiences. According to identity and the socio-cultural theory literature, we realized that there are teachers who are seeking to be innovative in their practices by using social media tools. This study pretends to portray that Internet and different social media tools, especially WordPress, are becoming essential for teaching purposes. The results reflect that social media tools were helpful for this teacher and what were her perceptions about the process and the implementation of Social media tools (SMT), in her EFL classroom.El objetivo de este estudio es promover e implementar el uso de los medios de comunicación social en las clases de inglés como lengua extranjera. Además, esta investigación pretende avanzar en nuestra comprensión de este tema a través del examen de las perspectivas de una maestra considerada como inmigrante digital, y sus experiencias. De acuerdo con la literatura sobre identidad y la teoría sociocultural, nos dimos cuenta de que hay maestros que buscan ser innovadores en sus prácticas mediante el uso de herramientas en línea. Este estudio pretende retratar que Internet y sus diferentes herramientas, especialmente WordPress, se están volviendo imprescindibles para propósitos docentes. Los resultados reflejan que las herramientas de los medios de comunicación social fueron útiles para esta profesora y cuáles son sus percepciones sobre el proceso y la implementación del proyecto en su clase

Cybersecurity in the Classroom: Bridging the Gap Between Computer Access and Online Safety

According to ISACA, there will be a global shortage of 2 million cybersecurity professionals worldwide by 2019. Additionally, according to Experian Data Breach Resolution, as much as 80% of all network breaches can be traced to employee negligence. These problems will not solve themselves, and they likewise won’t improve without drastic action. An effort needs to be made to help direct interested and qualified individuals to the field of cybersecurity to move toward closing this gap. Moreover, steps need to be made to better inform the public of general safety measures while online, including the safeguarding of sensitive information. A large issue with solving the problems at hand is that there seems to be no comprehensive curriculum for cybersecurity education to teach these basic principles. In my paper, I review and compare several after- and in-school programs that attempt to address this problem. I’ve also interviewed teachers from Montgomery County Public Schools, a relatively ethnically diverse school district outside of Washington, D.C. These issues need to be addressed, and while private organizations and local schools are attempting to tackle the problem, wider action may need to be taken at a national level to come to a resolution