How can I use video to improve teacher engagement with my school’s abundant ICT equipment?

This paper examines how video can be used to enhance teacher engagement with ICT as a teaching tool. The Connect School Project, South Dublin County Council’s ubiquitous computing initiative, equipped St. Aidan’s with a vast amount of information and communication technologies (ICT). A review of appropriate literature indicated that the use of such technologies in class could lead to effective teaching and learning environments, increase student self-esteem and could bridge the ‘digital-divide’ that might exist between students in disadvantaged areas and those in more affluent communities. Through two cycles of enquiry, I planned and produced a video which modelled how the laptops and associated hard and software could be used effectively in class. The video aimed to represent all stakeholders in the school: management, teachers and students. In this way a top-down endorsement of the use of ICT as a teaching and learning tool was communicated. I feel that if teachers are to embrace the use of technology in class, pedagogical as well as technical support must be provided. Using video to model effective practice could be an ideal way to provide such support

Simulation modelling: Educational development roles for learning technologists

Simulation modelling was in the mainstream of CAL development in the 1980s when the late David Squires introduced this author to the Dynamic Modelling System. Since those early days, it seems that simulation modelling has drifted into a learning technology backwater to become a member of Laurillard's underutilized, ‘adaptive and productive’ media. Referring to her Conversational Framework, Laurillard constructs a pedagogic case for modelling as a productive student activity but provides few references to current practice and available resources. This paper seeks to complement her account by highlighting the pioneering initiatives of the Computers in the Curriculum Project and more recent developments in systems modelling within geographic and business education. The latter include improvements to system dynamics modelling programs such as STELLA®, the publication of introductory textbooks, and the emergence of online resources. The paper indicates several ways in which modelling activities may be approached and identifies some educational development roles for learning technologists. The paper concludes by advocating simulation modelling as an exemplary use of learning technologies ‐ one that realizes their creative‐transformative potential

Connecting British Columbia (Canada) school libraries and student achievement: A comparison of higher and lower performing schools with similar overall funding

Research over time has established associations between components of the school library and student achievement. This study was designed to investigate these associations in schools in British Columbia (Canada) where the government provides equitable funding of public schools while allowing individual school districts and schools to determine individual funding priorities. Findings replicated what numerous previous studies have shown: higher student standardized test scores were associated with a school library that is more accessible, better funded, professionally staffed, managed, stocked, integrated and used. Findings moreover pointed to higher student achievement in those schools where greater resources, from the same limited allocation were assigned to school libraries. Results of this study are of practical interest to policy makers, school and library administrators, and educators with a vested interest in student achievement and the future of school libraries. Reprinted by permission of the publisher

The Role of Technology in Music Education: a Survey of Computer Usage in Teaching Music in Colleges of Education in The Volta Region, Ghana

The study sought to find out the role of computer technology in music education in Colleges of Education in the Volta Region of Ghana. It aimed at surveying the use of computer technology for teaching music and exploring the instructional prospects for computer technology usage in music in Colleges of Education. The study employed Rogers’ Diffusion Innovation theory and descriptive survey research method. Data was collected from the respondents using questionnaire, interview, and observation. The study revealed that even though about 90% of the music tutors have good academic qualification and over five years teaching experience, lack of competence in handling computer technology in teaching music among some music tutors and incoherent ICT initiatives hindered proper application of computer technology in the field of music education. It is however envisaged that increasing access and coherent computer technology initiatives will be paramount for the teaching of music in the Colleges of Education

CAL and FE: A Welsh perspective

The core of this paper is the result of an investigation into the use of computer‐aided learning (CAL) in further education (FE) colleges in Wales: All institutions surveyed used CAL to some extent in teaching or learning, and academic staff were in some way involved in producing CAL materials in almost all. However, student numbers were found not to be a good indicator of the degree to which CAL is used Furthermore, only two‐thirds of colleges approached claimed to have received any external funding for CAL and distance learning involved only a small proportion of FE students. Nevertheless, the general conclusion drawn is that all FE colleges in Wales use ICTs (information and communication technologies) extensively, although there are significant differences in the equipment/student ratios, and there appears to be little strategic college‐wide planning concerning such developments

Cross‐curricular IT tools for university students: Developing an effective model

Information technology is now recognized as a key study‐enhancement measure in higher education, and there is increasing demand for the provision of basic IT awareness and skills across the whole range of subject departments. One response to this demand is the central provision of a generic IT course or programme of courses. We draw upon the experience of such courses at the Universities of Glasgow and York to identify some of the significant dimensions in the development and operation of generic IT programmes. These include the policy context, the structure, content and educational stance of the programme, relationship of the programme to existing curricula, and the extent and nature of resourcing, assessment and certification. Operation of such courses raises important issues, such as questions of compulsory IT preparation, study skills, staff development, standardization, institutional policy and evaluation. This discussion is set within current trends in higher education

Reviews

Anne Brockbank, Ian McGill and Nic Beech, Reflective Learning in Practice, Aldershot: Gower Publishing, ISBN: 0 566 08377 9. £49.50

From the sage on the stage to what exactly? Description and the place of the moderator in co‐operative and collaborative learning

This paper reports a significant finding from a two‐year study of computer conferencing used to deliver a course unit at a UK university. Computer conferencing has been applied to education alongside a concern to develop co‐operative and collaborative learning strategies. The technology of computer conferencing has been identified as especially appropriate to a co‐operative style of work. This study found that far from collaboration being an outcome of the deployment of computer conferencing it became in some sense the problem. A common ‘gloss’ on the educational changes that are taking place, with the introduction of new technologies for teaching and learning, is that the ‘sage on the stage’ is being replaced by ‘the guide on the side’. This paper argues that this opposition rests on little substantial evidence or research. The moderator/facilitator role advocated as suitable for computer conferencing is shown to be deeply embedded in wider social actions. The orientations of the tutor are heavily inclined towards the demands of assessment. Successful computer‐supported collaborative learning (CSCL) is the outcome of the co‐operative work of all the members of the conference. The application of CSCL relies upon timely interventions by the tutor