Can electronic textbooks help children to learn?

Purpose – This paper investigates the potential electronic textbooks (e-textbooks) have to augment the learning and education of children. Design/methodology/approach – The study consisted of a total of 60 pupils, split into five groups of 12 participants (six boys and six girls). Each of the five groups were in turn split into two sub-groups of six (three boys and three girls): one sub-group used the printed textbook, while the other used a CD-ROM on a laptop computer. The pupils completed a group test and an individual multiple choice test on information found in the textbooks. Findings – The study showed that the e-textbook was widely accepted by the participants, and motivated group participation. Those using the e-textbook achieved significantly higher test results on average in the group test. Higher (but not significant) average results were achieved by e-textbook users in the individual test. Research limitations/implications – An acknowledged limitation of the study is that the textbooks used for the study were not identical in content. They were equivalent according to subject and recommended age range, but did not contain specifically the same information. Further studies would benefit from making use of an electronic version which is identical, or more similar, to a printed textbook. It would also be worthwhile to investigate the effects of long-term use once the novelty value of the electronic book has subsided. Originality/value – The paper aims to fill the gap in the original literature on the subject of how children relate to and learn from electronic textbooks. The research is of particular interest to teachers, librarians and parents

Pedagogy, curriculum, teaching practices and teacher education in developing countries

This rigorous literature review focused on pedagogy, curriculum, teaching practices and teacher education in developing countries. It aimed to: 1. review existing evidence on the review topic to inform programme design and policy making undertaken by the DFID, other agencies and researchers 2. identify critical evidence gaps to guide the development of future research programme

Expectations eclipsed in foreign language education: learners and educators on an ongoing journey / edited by Hülya Görür-Atabaş, Sharon Turner.

Between June 2-4, 2011 Sabancı University School of Languages welcomed colleagues from 21 different countries to a collaborative exploration of the challenging and inspiring journey of learners and educators in the field of language education.\ud \ud The conference provided an opportunity for all stakeholders to share their views on language education. Colleagues met with world-renowned experts and authors in the fields of education and psychology, faculty and administrators from various universities and institutions, teachers from secondary educational backgrounds and higher education, as well as learners whose voices are often not directly shared but usually reported.\ud \ud The conference name, Eclipsing Expectations, was inspired by two natural phenomena, a solar eclipse directly before the conference, and a lunar eclipse, immediately after. Learners and educators were hereby invited to join a journey to observe, learn and exchange ideas in orde

Birds, Bees and Bias: How Absent Sex Ed Standards Fail New York's Students

Many public school districts across New York State provide sex-ed instruction that is inaccurate, incomplete and biased, according to Birds, Bees and Bias: How Absent Sex Ed Standards Fail New York's Students. This report examines sex-ed materials used during the 2009-2010 and 2010-11 school years from across New York State

Reconceptualising teacher education in the sub-saharan African context

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Peer mediation for conflict management: a Singaporean case study

The burgeoning interest in conflict and its management has recently begun to impact on schools and school systems worldwide. Motivated by a concern for increasing levels of violence in schools and student�student conflict, many school administrators are looking at conflict management programs as a means of dealing with the problem. Most of the more widely used programs have their origins in the United States; their appropriateness and effectiveness in other countries and cultures is, at best, unknown, and in some respects open to conjecture. In this paper the cultural appropriateness of a peer mediation program in a primary school in Singapore is the subject of investigation. The study also addresses, in an exploratory manner, the effectiveness of peer mediation as a mechanism for student�student conflict management