47,178 research outputs found
Examining learning in relation to the contexts of use of ICT
Although ICT resources are commonly expected to produce uniform benefits, they are necessarily employed within pre-existing contexts of educational and social activity, and the outcome in terms of both pattern of use and learning depends on how they fit in with these. As a result, the same technology or software may have unexpectedly diverse effects, according to specific setting. If the object is to exercise control over outcome, then the conditions of use need to be planned for within the design and implementation of the technology. In order to do this, it is crucial that research gathers data on how outcomes are affected by the interplay between technology and context. This raises questions about the methods that would be appropriate for the conduct and dissemination of such research. These points are discussed in relation to three studies, one each at primary, secondary and university levels of education
Adaptation for a Changing Environment: Developing learning and teaching with information and communication technologies
This article examines the relationship between the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) and learning and teaching, particularly in distance education contexts. We argue that environmental changes (societal, educational and technological) make it necessary to adapt systems and practices that are no longer appropriate. However, the need to adapt can be perceived as being technology-led and primarily concerned with requiring academic staff to develop their skills in using ICT. We provide a critique of continuing professional development (CPD) for using ICT in teaching and learning that does not entail examining the impact of environmental changes upon the assumptions, goals and strategies which underlie and shape an organisation's educational practices. In particular, we oppose CPD that concentrates on the individual teacher and their use of ICT. Instead, we contend that professional development should focus upon the scholarship of teaching and learning and must also reflect the wider organisational context within which ICT is managed and used
Literacy practices in the learning careers of childcare students
This paper draws from the Literacies for Learning in Further Education research project, funded through the Teaching and Learning Research Programme. Drawing on the empirical study of literacy practices in eight Childcare courses in Scotland and England, we seek to demonstrate that, integral to the learning careers of students are literacy careers through which their learning is mediated. In the process, by drawing upon the lens of literacy, we also challenge some of the common sense understandings of learning in childcare. In particular we suggest that the literacy practices of lower level courses can be more diverse than those of higher level courses, producing confusing literacy careers for the students involved. We also point to the complexity of the literacy careers in childcare, given that students are required to mediate different aspects of their experience through literacy. In particular there are the mediations made possible by the use of information technology and those entailed in relating work placements to classroom practice. We argue that students on vocational courses have complex literacy careers and that a literacies approach to learning helps to reveal this complexity
ICT, cultural knowledge, and teacher education in\ud Africa
In this paper, we make a case for the need to carry out more culturally\ud
appropriate research on ICT and teacher education in Africa generally and in\ud
Uganda more specifically. We begin by examining the promise of ICTs and digital\ud
literacies, and highlight the importance ascribed to ICTs for national development\ud
and educational change. While agreeing that ICTs may have transformative\ud
potential in developing countries, we argue that the much-hyped potential may not\ud
be realized if the major focus of promoting ICTs in a developing country like\ud
Uganda is merely to provide greater access to global information, rather than\ud
encouraging local knowledge production for wealth creation. We frame our\ud
argument with reference to the New Literacy Studies perspective of viewing\ud
literacy as a social practice situated in a specific sociocultural context
Editorial
An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including electronic learning tools, mathematical tasks of children in primary school settings, and teacher education
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The new shape of the student
This chapter critically examines student characteristics in light of the popular dis-course which describes students as part of a net generation of digital native young people. Digital and networked technologies have clearly changed the possibilities for students to learn and the ways in which teaching and learning can be conducted. It is also claimed that new technologies change what students are able to learn. However the claim that there is a new generation of learners characterized by a new mentality has to be careful assessed in the light of recent empirical evidence. The idea of a generation gap between digitally native students and their digitally immigrant teachers is challenged, as are claims that pressure from this new generation forces radical institutional change on educational institutions. The chapter argues against the generational nature of the argument and separates the technological changes that are taking place from the determinist rhetoric they have been couched in. This rhetoric suggests that changes amongst students are already well understood and that their educational implications are already known and lead to generally applicable if not universal consequences. The chapter concludes by arguing that there is no one shape for students and that digital technologies open up a range of opportunities and choices at all levels of education
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Trajectories of learning across museums and classrooms
This paper explores the use of social and mobile technologies on school field trips as means of enhancing the visitor experience. It employs the notion of a âtrajectoryâ (Ludvigsen et al. 2010; Pierroux et al., 2010; Littleton & Kerawalla, 2012) as appropriate means of connecting learners temporal experiences with informal and formal learning contexts. The focus of the analysis is on a groupâs trajectory with an aim to examine the meanings made and represented in multimodal âensemblesâ and further, to explore whether artefacts and tools encountered or used inform studentsâ ensembles and assist them in making connections across the settings. This paper aims to contribute to contemporary discourse on technology-enhanced museum learning by exploring aspects of the visitor experience, such as meaning making across and between contexts
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