Investigating Continuing Professional Development Provided for Egyptian Higher Education Online Tutors

Tutors confront great challenges in their teaching practices, including changes in subject content, new instructional methods, changes laws and procedures and students’ needs. In online learning (OL), more changes can be added, namely, the massive and accelerated advance in technology. Therefore, online tutors need to be provided with CPD that develops their skills and experience to improve the effectiveness of their distance learning courses. This paper investigates how Egyptian Higher Education (HE) online tutors are provided with Continuing Professional Development (CPD) to pursue their work. Data for this paper was collected form 20 online tutors from two major Egyptian universities. This paper explores the current situation of CPD provided for HE online tutors with its affordances, limitations, and proposed recommendations that can help to overcome these challenges

Au fait law placements:an emerged reality or a popular trend in contemporary education?

PurposeEnhancing student employability and bridging the gap between theory and practice in law education requires a more multifaceted approach than the traditional mix of lectures, tutorials and simulations. Law placements also provide an opportunity to reinforce the importance of the professional practice standards and requirements laid down by the Law Society of Scotland. The design and implementation of law placements is analysed from the point of initiation to becoming a regular practice. The emphasis is on placements embedded in the programme of study offered to Stage 3 students to facilitate their career choices prior to specialisation in the final year.Design/methodology/approachThis study utilises a longitudinal multi-method approach, allowing the analysis of various aspects the development and practical implementation of law related placements. The views of students, academic staff and representatives of local employers are gathered by in-depth interviews. A reflective workbook method is also used to analyse the ‘integration’ of learning and to support the ‘demonstration’ and assessment of personal and professional capabilities which are difficult to assess by other means.FindingsThe paper presents the challenge faced by a higher education institution in organising meaningful placements and looks at the other avenues explored, particularly in the Third Sector. There are differences in the expectations of law placement providers (law firms and Third Sector organisations) in respect of students’ skill and knowledge base. The students were explicit about the need to demystify the profession and are appreciative of experience with atypical law placement providers which expands their perceptions of the choices within a law career. Students have also indicated a positive alteration in their attitude to the role of reflective practice, which stimulated changes in their behaviour with respect to professional development.Practical implicationsThe outcomes of the initial stage of this study have implications for law departments in higher education in the context of organising law placements, evaluating their effectiveness and their impact on student employability.Originality/valueTeaching law has its specifics and already employs a number of methods: simulations, negotiation exercises, moots and debates. This paper explores ways of providing a more meaningful practical experience for undergraduate students by placing an emphasis on such elements of professional practice as drafting legal documents and preparing professional opinions, while introducing the complexity of the law profession. Solutions to the challenges faced by the institution in organising those placements are analysed. The study provides an analytical view on the effectiveness of law placements in relation to other widely used approaches to bridging the gap between the theory and practice of law

Towards a framework for university-wide postgraduate programmes in sustainability

The role of Higher Education Institutions in addressing social, environmental, and economic challenges and opportunities in today's world is immense, complex, and vital (GUNI, 2008). Traditionally responses to sustainable development (SD) have been concentrated within specific subjects, however there has been a gradual penetration of sustainability issues into a wide spectrum of disciplines (HEA, February 2009. The definition and priorities of SD are complex and multi-layered and the challenges presented, being inherently holistic, require equal responses from all disciplines. This requires the development of a framework for University-wide, cross disciplinary teaching. The University of Strathclyde has been ranked first in the Engineering Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Observatory Report 2008. Building on this success, work is underway to develop a university-wide, interdisciplinary Strathclyde Masters programme in Sustainability (SMS, aimed at articulating a framework for integrating flagship postgraduate courses & classes, sustainability literacy & skills training workshops. This paper summarises the theories of sustainability and its inherent interdisciplinary nature by examining current thinking in ESD. This has highlighted the need to review the current curriculum, identifying current interdisciplinary provision aligned with ESD, and implement a multistakeholder consultation process. The paper describes how these theories might be put into practice, detailing the conclusions drawn from the initial consultation process involving external organisations, students, academic staff and the university's professional services. In addition, a model 'Sustainability Map' is presented offering an overview of postgraduate provision of ESD within the institution as a whole, alongside details of the courses offered and contributing departments. The outcome of the multistakeholder consultation process, in conjunction with the 'Sustainability Map', will help inform future consultation focusing on structural refinement and the academic content of the interdisciplinary programme

New creative careers: the problems of progression and uncertainty

This chapter presents findings from research which we conducted with participants who were current and former art college students, practitioners in different areas of creative arts and design, and therefore workers in a relatively newly named part of the economy, the ‘creative industries’. Originally identified by New Labour as a significantly successful new sector, they have subsequently received considerable attention from policy-makers and also academic commentators, in the UK and elsewhere. The list of creative industries cited by New Labour (DCMS 2001) also corresponds closely to the subject areas and activities of many art college courses, indicating how these institutions function as a vocational training ground and entry point for the creative industries. In this chapter, we discuss special issues which our research raised in relation to creative working; the implications of our research findings for vocational learners themselves and for course providers, teachers and institutions; sources of advantage and disadvantage for learners, as indicated by our research, and some further implications for those aiming to assist and expand lifelong learning opportunities

A tale of one city: intra-institutional variations in migrating VLE platform

City University London committed in 2009 to make Moodle the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) at the core of a new Strategic Learning Environment (SLE) comprised of VLE, externally facing website and related systems such as video streaming and virtual classrooms. Previously, the WebCT VLE had been separate from most of the other systems at the institution with very limited connections to other tools. Each of the schools within the institution was able to pursue their own strategy and timeframe for the migration and embedding of Moodle within their subject areas, within an absolute limit of 2 years. This paper outlines the approaches taken by the various schools, highlighting similarities and differences, and draws out common aspects from the project to make recommendations for institutions seeking to undertake similar migrations

Ethics – research, engineering, design… they’re all the same aren’t they?

This paper considers how and to what extent product design ethics is understood by professionals in design practice and undergraduate students of product and engineering design and how, if at all, design ethics differ from engineering and/or research ethics. This paper reports on a study carried out at Bournemouth University with undergraduate students of Engineering Design and Product Design and with design professionals via the Institution of Engineering Designers. As part of their final year project work all undergraduate students at Bournemouth University are required to comply with the Bournemouth University Research Ethics Code of Practice [9] which means that students are aware of ethical principles in general and the study explored the extent to which students understand them in relation to design. The study also used the ‘LinkedIn’ discussion forum to get the perspective of design practitioners. The paper concludes that designers do seem to share a broadly common understanding of design ethics and that the main difference with design ethics is in the scope, complexity and the human interface. A definition of product design ethics is presented and the essence of a Statement of Principles for product design ethics proposed