Online psychotherapy practice in public teachers training colleges in the lake region, Kenya

Introduction of Information Communication and technology in particular internet aimed at widening access to flexible distance education in institutions of learning. This included the practice of online psychotherapy in learning institutions. In developed countries online psychotherapy has been practiced for many years. However there is less information on whether it has taken root in public teacher training colleges in Kenya. The purpose of this study was to examine Online Psychotherapy practice in Public Teacher Training Colleges in the Lake Region, Kenya. The Objectives of this study were to establish the attitude of tutors and trainees towards online psychotherapy practice, identify resources available for online psychotherapy practice, determine the trainees’ level of usage of online services, to find out advantages and disadvantages of online psychotherapy practice and to find out the factors that contribute to online psychotherapeutic relationship in teacher training colleges in the Lake Region, Kenya. The study utilized the Person Centered Theory and Technology Acceptance model for conceptual framework. Questionnaire for the tutors and trainees and in depth interview for lead counselors based on the objectives were used to collect data. The study population comprised 2200 and a sample size of 327 from the five teachers training colleges. The study adopted purposive sampling procedure to select 40 tutor counselors from the five teacher training colleges. Sampling techniques used to select trainees were stratified and simple random sampling procedures. Streams were identified as strata and 287 trainees were selected from the eight streams from each of the five colleges. The streams were further sub divided according to gender then followed by simple random sampling procedure for each gender to obtain averagely 7 cases from each second year class totaling to 57 trainees from each college and 287 from the five teachers training colleges. The research supervisors of Rongo University viewed the instruments of research to ascertain their validity. Reliability of the instrument was established by test retest procedure and a reliability co-efficient of +0.6 was reported. The study utilized descriptive survey design and data was analyzed using descriptive statistics with the aid of computer program that is Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. The findings of the study revealed that the respondents had a positive attitude towards online psychotherapy practice. The study also established that online resources are available and this provides a platform for online psychotherapy practice in teachers training colleges. The results further found that there was high level of usage of online services among tutors and trainees. The study findings challenged trainees and tutor counselors to embrace technology integration policy in teachers training colleges. Therefore, the Ministry of Education should allocate more resources for the development of online psychotherapy practice in Teachers Training Colleges. There is also need for the Ministry of Education to ensure that similar future research is carried out in all the teachers training colleges in Kenya

Practices of Luganda Language Educators in Using Emerging Technologies at the School of Education, Makerere University

The study explored practices of Luganda language educators at the School of Education, Makerere University in using emerging technologies. The study analyzed the practices of Luganda language educators in using emerging technologies; identified the emerging technologies used in Luganda language instruction; and established the factors influencing the practices of Luganda language educators in emerging technologies. The study paradigm was interpretivism with a case design. The study participants were purposively selected Luganda language teacher educators and conveniently sampled students specializing in Luganda Language as one of the teaching subjects. Data were collected using interview guide, focused group discussion guide and observation check list and analyzed using thematic content data analysis technique. Findings revealed that Luganda language educators practiced use of emerging technologies, such as Zoom and Google meet apps, MUELE platform, mails, Telegrams, WhatsApp, laptops, smart phones as well as computers, among others for lectures through sharing learning material with learners, providing feedback, conducting online assessment, and conducting lectures via the online platforms. The study concluded that Luganda teacher educators practiced emerging technologies to teach, send materials, course works, and submission of course works and assessment and grading of learners. Luganda teacher educators practiced emerging technologies through preparation for teaching, selection of Luganda content and teaching aids. The study concluded that the most practiced emerging technologies during Luganda language teaching were the moodle system in form of MUELE, video conferencing, Zoom, and Google meet and WhatsApp, Facebook, and Youtube, among others. The study also concluded that the factors influencing practices of Luganda language teachers were; favorable University policy, availability of electric power, internet connectivity, availability of merging technological tools such as smart mobile phones, pads, laptops and or computers, among others, as well as use of offline platforms, such as distributing class notes via CDs and flash disks for use on online computers. From the study findings, the study recommends that Luganda language educators should adopt, apply and maintain excellent practices with use of the emerging technologies. This could be done through encouragement of online lectures via platforms such as MUELE; they should also continuously upload academic material on online platforms such as Whatsapp, hold academic engagements / sessions via google meet, conduct online assessment and provide feedback to learners online. Such practices will not only improve their skills with emerging technologies, but shall also deepen their knowledge as well as shape a positive attitude and adoption of emerging technologies for effective Luganda language teaching and learning. Keywords: Practices, Emerging Technologies, Luganda Language Educators DOI: 10.7176/JEP/14-2-07 Publication date: January 31st 202

E-learning-based Training Model for Accounting Teachers

: E-Learning-Based Training Model for Accounting Teachers. To improve the competencies of teachers located on remote and diverse areas, it is viable and commendable to implement e-learning-based training. In view of this purpose, the present action research examines the effectiveness of e-learning-based training for accounting teachers. The findings reveal that teachers with poor ICT skills need to take orientation around online class first in order to get familiar with the use of ICT for learning purposes. Meanwhile, teachers with good ICT skills are able to engage directly in the training. The re­search project also shows that the effectiveness of training can be achieved through sequentially organ­ized materials and accessed through the learning progress of the trainees. Encouragement to the trainees for active involvement in the discussion forums during the training results in high final scores at the end of the training session

An Innovative, Multidisciplinary Educational Program in Interactive Information Storage and Retrieval

There exists a large number of large-scale bibliographic Information Storage and Retrieval Systems containing large amounts of valuable data of interest in a wide variety of research applications. These systems are not used to capacity because the end users, i.e., the researchers, have not been trained in the techniques of accessing such systems. This thesis describes the development of a transportable, university-level course in methods of querying on-line interactive Information Storage and Retrieval systems as a solution to this problem. This course was designed to instruct upper division science and engineering students to enable these end users to directly access such systems. The course is designed to be taught by instructors who are not specialists in either computer science or research skills. It is independent of any particular IS and R system or computer hardware. The project is sponsored by NASA and conducted by the University of Southwestern Louisiana and Southern University

Scaling-up Early Learning in Ethiopia: Exploring the Potential of O-Class

SDG Target 4.2 identifies ‘pre-primary education’ as a strategy to strengthen school readiness and contribute to the quality and outcomes of education, which is supported by the powerful evidence from evaluation research. The challenge faced by many countries is to deliver the proven potential of well-planned, quality programmes to scale. This working paper summarises Ethiopia’s growing commitment to pre-primary education and reports recent Young Lives engagement with the Ministry of Education in Ethiopia and other partners to support scale-up. Ethiopia’s most recent ambitious targets for early learning have been set out in the Fifth Education Sector Development Programme (ESDP V 2015), with pre-primary classes (known as O-Class) within primary schools being seen as the most rapid route to scale-up. The paper reports on the progress and the challenges in delivering ambitious targets. We report key findings from exploratory fieldwork on two key themes, namely the response of Regional Education Bureaus in planning, financing, management and ensuring human capacity for scale-up; and the potential of Ethiopia’s Colleges of Teacher Education to supply sufficient trained teachers to work with young children, especially in the rapidly expanding O- Classes. The final section draws on parallel experiences of other countries, notably Grade R in South Africa, and reports on six key challenges for scale-up; equity; age-appropriateness; cross- sectoral coordination; capacity building; and research and evidence. Other key challenges go beyond the scope of this working paper, notably the models for governance and financing that can deliver quality early education for all. While Ethiopia’s initiative to scale-up O-Class is a welcome indicator of policy commitment to SDG Target 4.2, we conclude that there is a risk that low quality pre-primary programmes will not deliver on the potential of early childhood education and that children (especially poor children) will be the losers

Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) provision in Nigerian technical colleges: exploring the relevance, effectiveness and efficiency (REE) of stakeholder partnerships using community-based participatory action research (CBPAR).

Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.This thesis explored Technical and Vocational Education and Training provision in Nigerian technical colleges with the specific focus on establishing the relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of stakeholder partnerships. It used Community-based participatory action research. The study was guided by three research questions in the preliminary, and two for the main study. These research questions are outlined as follows: Preliminary Study 1. What is the extent of TVET provision across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria? 2. How does the TVET provision within these six geographical zones compare to the provision of general education schools? 3. What is the level of efficiency of a selected few TVET institutions across these geographical zones in Nigeria? Main Study 1. Are the selected TVET institutions surveyed in any form of partnership with any organisation? If so, what types of partnership are they involved in? 2. Using CBPAR, how do we strengthen and develop a new model of partnership for REE TVET provision in Nigerian technical colleges? In order to address these research questions, an explanatory sequential mixed method design involving a Community-based participatory action research was used. Data was collected for the preliminary study through desk review, document analysis and closed-ended questionnaires for the first, second and third research questions respectively. For the main study, data was generated through semi-structured questionnaires for research question one, whilst that of two was generated through pre- and post-intervention minutes of meetings, personal interviews and focus group discussions. Four frameworks were employed in the study. An analytical framework for evaluating TVET provision in terms of relevance, effectiveness, and efficiency was used to gauge the internal efficiency of selected technical colleges in research question three of the preliminary study. The Triple Helix (TH) and the Quadruple Helix Innovation Models (QHIM) were used to explore partnerships in the main study. The last framework – the Ecological System Theory (EST) – was used in understanding the development of a new relevant, effective and efficient (REE) partnership in TVET provision. The last theory, EST, was applied due to the limitations of the THM and the QHIM in describing the levels of interaction between different stakeholders in quality TVET provision. The EST however, allowed for the discovery of the different levels of interaction amongst stakeholders required to collaborate for REE TVET provision in Nigerian technical colleges. For research question one, the preliminary study results revealed 155 TCs across the six geopolitical zones. In addition, the provision was not evenly distributed because there is no technical college in Zamfara State in North-West. Research question two indicated a highly disproportionate ratio of TCs versus general education schools – ranging from 1: 138 to 1:70. For research question three the results showed that amongst the 22 technical colleges surveyed across the four geopolitical zones, only two colleges had their overall index of efficiency above 50%, with North-Central at 56% and South-West at 54%. Findings from the main study revealed, for research question one, that only 32% of TCs were involved in partnerships, that is, seven out of 22. However, it was significant to note that five out of the seven colleges were involved not only in one-to-one, but in multiple stakeholder partnerships. With regard to the prelude to research question two, using CBPAR, 26 factors were elicited to explain the low efficiency experienced by GTC-Port Harcourt. Thus, to strengthen and develop a new model of partnership for REE TVET provision in Nigerian technical colleges a new type of collaboration that portrays the characteristic features of the QHIM needed to be established – in other words, a new partnership arrangement that incorporates technical colleges, industry, government, and other stakeholders from civil society/NGOs, World Bank (IFC), community, Parents Teachers’ Associations (PTA), philanthropic individuals, and volunteers. Furthermore, the use of a social ecological lens on the new model of REE partnerships enabled the illumination of different interactions and impact levels among the various stakeholders. As opposed to other studies where government is the propelling force within the TVET system, this study shows that industry is key to the production of skilled graduates. The findings of this study have implications for policy, practice and research. Nigerian education policy acknowledges the need for the government to partner with other stakeholders in producing the skilled workforce needed in the country. However, findings in this study reveals a paradigm shift from government to the industry as the key stakeholder needed to produce a competent and skilled workforce needed for industrial development in Nigeria. Significantly, the implications of this study for practice is such that, having industry as the key stakeholder would boost the production of skilled graduates thereby reducing the skills mismatch that are the major cause of unemployment amongst secondary school leavers in Nigeria. It will also create room for gainful employment amongst the youths, thereby reducing the problem of unemployment. Industry provides inputs such as delivering workplace training to TVET trainers, contributing financially to national training funds, providing opportunities for teachers to regularly update themselves through workplace experiences, and contributing to development of the curriculum for economic relevance. The findings of this study also have implications for research, in that it has extended the debate on stakeholder partnerships in TVET provision through the application of the social ecological lens, which illuminates the different levels of interactions and impact amongst various stakeholders required for quality TVET provision

Development and Viability of an Alternative Virtual-Contextual Model in Teacher Training: Continuity Initiative in Laid-back Settings

Initiatives to ensure the continuity of training programs within the COVID-19 environment had been regarded emergent and discretionary particularly in laid-back settings. The training initiative to improve the professional practice of 35 public primary school teachers in Sumba, one of the remotest islands of Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia fitted this mold. The call for a responsive training that grounds teachers’ teaching and the context of their professional training remained a vantage point for systemic exploration. Qualitatively designed, this study explored the practicality of combining the virtual and the conventional teacher training mode. It hinged on a 1-year training period, of which five months charted the implementation of the face-to-face or conventional mode and the next seven months spanned the implementation of both virtual and conventional training modes. Guided by the systemic analysis approach, data collection emerged into two timelines. Phase 1 data collection framed the conceptualization of the virtual-contextual model and Phase 2 data collection grounded the operational features of the alternative-virtual framework. For validity triangulation, three external master trainers of trainers (MTOT) scrutinized the frameworks and a school site mentor, the overseer of the training program. Likewise, data from related trial studies formed integral part in the revisions of the training models. Formative and summative trainee artifacts such as lesson plans, teaching and learning materials, reflection notes, self- and peer reviews as well as interview typescripts were pooled, thematically coded, and inductively analyzed. Moreover, demonstration teaching tasks were assessed and were used to explain teacher practice orientations and improved changes. The findings yielded four (4) combined delivery strategies featuring the virtual-contextual model: (1) virtual synchronous training and asynchronous training; (2) teacher and peer interactive activities and formative support from the school-based mentor; (3) online and direct feedback from virtual trainers and school-based mentor; and (4) workplace formative-summative assessment and intermittent incentives with parallel extrinsic reinforcement. In conclusion, the combined outcomes of these four strategies propelled a layered yet mutable or alterable teaching attributes in the aspects of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), namely: curriculum knowledge, learning instruction, understanding how students learn, and specific content mastery

Evaluation of a blended learning model for pre-service teachers.

This study aims to determine the predictive factors for effective teaching in blended learning contexts. A Blended Learning Evaluation Scale was devised. The participants were 145 first-year students studying for education degrees using a blended learning model. An exploratory factorial analysis revealed five factors for establishing a good model of blended teaching and learning: student expectations on their learning subjects, the use of web 2.0 tools, feedback from teachers, collaborative work among fellow classmates, and the social relations among students themselves and with their professors.post-print368 K

Learning in an age of digital networks

The final years of the twentieth century and early years of the twenty first century have been marked by the rapid rise of digital and networked technologies. Some have even called it a paradigm shift and suggested that it will lead to a dramatic change in the way young people learn (Tapscott and Williams, 2010). As with all commentary on new technologies we should beware of being carried away with the excitement of the new. There is a recurrent innovation cycle beginning with over excitement followed by disappointment and once the reaction has set in against the new it is followed by a move away to yet another new technology, often before a proper assessment and evaluation of the previous cycle can take place. Equally we must be careful not to ignore the profound changes that are taking place and how they may affect universities and learning in society more generally. A recent description by a UK based think tank Demos characterized the kind of university that is emerging from the engagement with new digital and networked technologies as the 'edgeless university' (Bradwell, 2009). The term edgeless is borrowed from work on the city that suggests edgeless cities have the function of cities without being organized in their classic form. In the same way the Demos pamphlet suggests that the university retains an identifiable function but the functions of the university are no longer confined to a single institution nor are they confined to higher education institutions more broadly. Over a decade ago Brown and Duguid (2000) identified the core functions of universities as the capacity to grant degrees, to accredit students and to provide the warrant that guaranteed the credentials obtained by the students from the university. They also suggested that the introduction of what were then new technologies would lead to an increased focus on these core functions. The core role remains in the edgeless university but the boundaries to these may alter. This article tries to provide a way of thinking about new technologies that manages to balance these two conflicting needs. It identifies some current ways of thinking about the changes taking place in universities that are related to digital and networked technologies and to assess their impact. It then goes on to suggest the kinds of choices we may have to make in relation to new technologies at a variety of levels, the personal, the institutional and in terms of society in general. The edgeless university is associated with broad technological change but whether such change is inevitable is still an issue that needs to be discussed

Developing sustainable business models for institutions’ provision of open educational resources: Learning from OpenLearn users’ motivations and experiences

Universities across the globe have, for some time, been exploring the possibilities for achieving public benefit and generating business and visibility through releasing and sharing open educational resources (OER). Many have written about the need to develop sustainable and profitable business models around the production and release of OER. Downes (2006), for example, has questioned the financial sustainability of OER production at scale. Many of the proposed business models focus on OER’s value in generating revenue and detractors of OER have questioned whether they are in competition with formal education. This paper reports on a study intended to broaden the conversation about OER business models to consider the motivations and experiences of OER users as the basis for making a better informed decision about whether OER and formal learning are competitive or complementary with each other. The study focused on OpenLearn - the Open University’s (OU) web-based platform for OER, which hosts hundreds of online courses and videos and is accessed by over 3,000,000 users a year. A large scale survey and follow-up interviews with OpenLearn users worldwide revealed that university provided OER can offer learners a bridge to formal education, allowing them to try out a subject before registering on a formal course and to build confidence in their abilities as learners. In addition, it was found that using OER during formal paid-for study can improve learners’ performance and self-reliance, leading to increased retention and satisfaction with the learning experience