Applying A Methodology For Educating Students With Special Needs: A Case Study

The introduction of innovative educational technologies opens up new ways of interacting with students. We propose to exploit this potential to help in the education of children with special needs. We analyze the state of the art of tools supporting the teaching process, focusing on the omissions of existing research. We propose a new framework to help throughout the whole teaching process and describe its application to Proyecto Aprender (Learn Project), an educational resource targeting children with learning difficulties. Finally, we outline some conclusions and current/future research lines

A Framework to Support Development of Learning Applications for Disabled Children

Multimedia resources are an important tool that can be used by teachers in the classroom as a learning aid for learners with disabilities or by parents and children at home. However, disabled children are not always able to use existing assistive technologies because they are not experienced enough, suffer from medium/profound disability, or simply do not have the financial resources to buy commercial tools. Additionally, today’s adapted tools are not always valid for a broad spectrum of disabled users and often focus on a user group. We claim that potential applications and resources for people with special needs must self-adapt to user capabilities and skills, reducing the use of external assistive technologies. In this paper, we present a guide for developers to create accessible applications and resources that reduce workload

Developing NQTs e-pedagogies for inclusion

Report of a project to develop e-pedagogies for inclusion

Teaching and learning in virtual worlds: is it worth the effort?

Educators have been quick to spot the enormous potential afforded by virtual worlds for situated and authentic learning, practising tasks with potentially serious consequences in the real world and for bringing geographically dispersed faculty and students together in the same space (Gee, 2007; Johnson and Levine, 2008). Though this potential has largely been realised, it generally isn’t without cost in terms of lack of institutional buy-in, steep learning curves for all participants, and lack of a sound theoretical framework to support learning activities (Campbell, 2009; Cheal, 2007; Kluge & Riley, 2008). This symposium will explore the affordances and issues associated with teaching and learning in virtual worlds, all the time considering the question: is it worth the effort

Transforming pre-service teacher curriculum: observation through a TPACK lens

This paper will discuss an international online collaborative learning experience through the lens of the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework. The teacher knowledge required to effectively provide transformative learning experiences for 21st century learners in a digital world is complex, situated and changing. The discussion looks beyond the opportunity for knowledge development of content, pedagogy and technology as components of TPACK towards the interaction between those three components. Implications for practice are also discussed. In today’s technology infused classrooms it is within the realms of teacher educators, practising teaching and pre-service teachers explore and address effective practices using technology to enhance learning

Teaching and learning in information retrieval

A literature review of pedagogical methods for teaching and learning information retrieval is presented. From the analysis of the literature a taxonomy was built and it is used to structure the paper. Information Retrieval (IR) is presented from different points of view: technical levels, educational goals, teaching and learning methods, assessment and curricula. The review is organized around two levels of abstraction which form a taxonomy that deals with the different aspects of pedagogy as applied to information retrieval. The first level looks at the technical level of delivering information retrieval concepts, and at the educational goals as articulated by the two main subject domains where IR is delivered: computer science (CS) and library and information science (LIS). The second level focuses on pedagogical issues, such as teaching and learning methods, delivery modes (classroom, online or e-learning), use of IR systems for teaching, assessment and feedback, and curricula design. The survey, and its bibliography, provides an overview of the pedagogical research carried out in the field of IR. It also provides a guide for educators on approaches that can be applied to improving the student learning experiences

Innovation in literacy and numeracy using e-learning technologies in Australian primary schools 2002

The 2002 Commonwealth Bank e-Learning Grants program provided $350,000 in additional funding to primary schools across all states and territories and education sectors. The grant application process provided the data for this study. The 2002 e- Learning Grants program, through the grant application process, has provided an invaluable opportunity to gain an insight into the way in which teachers and construct innovative e-learning projects within the context of their school. It has also provided a national ‘snapshot’ of the levels of school ICT infrastructure in primary schools. Implicit in government policies and the significant investment in technology is the belief that integration of ICT into Australian schools will have a ’transforming’ effect on education. By 2002 the average ratio of computers to students in state and territory government schools was 1 to 5.3. Achieving such ratios has been a direct result of the policies of state and territory governments and individual schools. While the impact of ICT on curriculum is at an early stage the 2002 e-Learning Grant applications indicate that they have the potential to challenge the structure of schools, the curriculum and the pedagogies employed by teachers as they integrate ICT’s into their classrooms. A Report funded by and prepared for the Commonwealth Bank Foundation

Formation of developmental educational environment at Primary School in the XXI century: information and communication discourse

The article deals with features of formation of developmental educational environment in the XXI century. Grounded possibilities of use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the development of individual of junior student. The problem of the negative influence of the Internet on the younger student's personality that often is his depression, social isolation, aggression, cynicism, arrogance and more. In this regard is stressed the importance of forming of students' media-immunity (the ability to do an aggressive opposition on the media sphere, the ability to select some personally useful information in the virtual world, media literacy (ideological guidance in mastering virtual knowledge, skills and behaviors in the media sphere, culture communication in the network) and mediareflection (your own understanding of medianeeds, critical perception of Internet information, selecting of the personally meaningful social contacts, etc.)