Reviews

Steve McDowell and Phil Race, 500 Computing Tips for Trainers, London: Kogan Page, ISBN: 0–7494–2675–6. Paperback, 160 pages, £15.99

Key competency development and students use of digital learning objects

The inclusion of key competencies in the New Zealand Curriculum (2007) has presented challenges for teachers in their efforts to gather evidence and detail student progress for reporting purposes. Research identifies the need to adopt different evaluation processes and systems, as outcomes and progression in key competencies is fundamentally different from those associated with more conventional learning. It also suggests the use of digital tools may assist in this process, but offers few suggestions as to how this might take place. This article introduces and describes a current research project utilising a thinking skills framework and screen-recording software to map students’ interaction with digital learning objects, and explore the extent to which they provide opportunities to develop thinking and relating to others competencies. It suggests the approach offers potential to make explicit for reporting purposes the nature and quality of students’ thinking, and how their interaction with others in groups, influences their ability to solve problems presented by the objects. However, it also suggests the approach may suffer from manageability challenges, and that student-led administration systems need to be developed to ensure its viability in whole class context

Methodology of the health economic evaluation of the Feel4Diabetes-study

Background: The clinical and economic burden of type 2 diabetes mellitus on society is rising. Effective and efficient preventive measures may stop the increasing prevalence, given that type 2 diabetes mellitus is mainly a lifestyle-driven disease. The Feel4Diabetes-study aimed to tackle unhealthy lifestyle (unhealthy diet, lack of physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and excess weight) of families with a child in the first grades of elementary school. These schools were located in regions with a relatively low socio-economic status in Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, Greece, Hungary and Spain. Special attention was paid to families with a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods: The aim of this paper is to describe the detailed methodology of the intervention’s cost-effectiveness analysis. Based on the health economic evaluation of the Toybox-study, both a decision analytic part and a Markov model have been designed to assess the long-term (time horizon of 70 year with one-year cycles) intervention’s value for money. Data sources used for the calculation of health state incidences, transition probabilities between health states, health state costs, and health state utilities are listed. Intervention-related costs were collected by questionnaires and diaries, and attributed to either all families or high risk families only. Conclusions: The optimal use of limited resources is pivotal. The future results of the health economic evaluation of the Feel4Diabetes-study will contribute to the efficient use of those resources.Publication of this supplement was funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement n° 643708

Integration of Information & Communication Technology in Public Secondary Schools in Metro-Manila, Philippines

The purpose of the study was to examine integration of ICT in selected public secondary education schools in Metro Manila, Philippines. The parameters used included a)availability of ICT resources b)level of skills, c)extent of usage d)problems inhibiting adoption, and e)perceptions and goals. Samples of the study included 431 teachers, 1001 students and 17 principals representative of the divisions of schools in Metro Manila. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative research design. Methods used included researcher-prepared questionnaire,interview, focus group discussion, and document review.Major Findings The lack of hardware remains to be the most pressing and persistent problem. Relative to student population, the computer-to-student ratio is dismally low at 1:63. Access to computers is limited to those taking computer education subjects. Almost half of the schools do not have computer maintenance due to lack or low budget. While 88 percent of schools have internet connections, yet half of the students claimed that they do not use it. Almost half of the teachers never attended ICT-related trainings. Trainings conducted were generally on computer literacy like basic operations, word processing, and spreadsheet. Critical applications using educational games, CAI, simulations registered lower usage. Most of the teachers do not use ICT in the classroom. The study revealed that ICT is used few times a year and type of use is concentrated on lesson preparation and class management. Majority of teachers accept that students know more about computer and internet and the result of data analysis confirmed this view. Most students underscored the importance of education. With ICT, they believed it can facilitate and improve their learning achievements. Students indicated that they be given more responsibility for their learning. Their problems are primarily on lack of computer, time, internet, and software. Students’ awareness in the relevance of ICT to their future employment is very high. Conclusion The benefits of ICT have not trickled in the classroom. ICT integration remains to be learning about, rather than learning with ICT tools. A policy review is needed for equitable distribution of sparse ICT resources across all learning areas. Public-Private Partnership program have to be strengthened given governments limited resources. A clear strategic plan, concrete actions,continuous measurement & evaluation, and strong leadership are needed to make ICT atransformative tool in teaching and learning

Socio-cultural factors influencing the use of ICT in intermediate schools in Saudi Arabia

Culture has been widely reported as a major factor affecting teachers’ use of information and communication technology (ICT). However, culture cannot be analysed at a single level . This study used three levels of culture, classroom, school and national levels, to analyse teachers’ use of ICT. The study investigates the socio-cultural factors that influence students’ and language teachers’ usage of ICT in their schools and how students and language teachers use ICT in their schools. The study was undertaken within the interpretive paradigm and adopted and integrated several theories: socio-cultural theory, ecological perspective, Hofstede’s model, and a metaphor from the Concern Based Adoption Model (CBAM). A multiple case study design was employed to yield detailed data to assist in understanding the use of ICT in schools. Classroom observation, teachers’ semi-structured interviews, and focus groups were conducted to collect data. The sample was composed of six English teachers, five Arabic teachers, three school leaders, three supervisors, and twenty students aged between thirteen to fifteen years old taking part in four focus groups. Participants were selected from three intermediate boys’ schools in Arrass city in Saudi Arabia. The study suggested a new framework that helps determine the level of teachers’ use ICT based on the type of concerns. In teachers’ decisions to use ICT in their classrooms, three types of concern ‘self-concern, task concern and impact concern’ emerged from the data analysis as influential factors. Self-concerns had the strongest effect in that teachers who had more self-concerns tended not to use ICT. Recommendations for policymakers and institutional practices are mad

THE ROLE OF THE CISG AND INTERNATIONAL LEGAL EDUCATION: A MODEL FOR FUTURE PROMOTION OF THE CISG

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Poverty: legal and constitutional implications for human rights enforcement in Nigeria

This work ventilates the problem of poverty in Nigeria, where over 70 percent of the population is living below the poverty line, and the theoretical and practcal implications of this for the enforcement of the human rights of the poor, woh are completely absorbed in the daily rigours of the struggle for survival in Nigeria