53,339 research outputs found

    (Re)defining learning design: a framework fit for the twenty-first century

    Get PDF
    Learning design as we know it is at a crossroads. Based on learning theories published almost a hundred years ago, it is designing for in-person learning and a student demographic that hasn’t been seen since the 1950s. In the twenty-first century, and particularly post Covid-19, the field is long overdue for an update that puts blended and online learning at the forefront, addresses the inevitable link between the internet and education and responds to the changing demographics of learners in higher education. This paper will look at pedagogy and learning design through a modern lens with an aim to redefine the field and develop a new framework for learning design that is intuitive, inclusive, and grounded in the current century

    What's New? Reaching Working Adults with English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Instruction, A Best Practices Report

    Get PDF
    In July 2001 the Center for Impact Research (CIR) completed a needs assessment, Barriers to English Language Learners in the Chicago Metropolitan Area, which detailed the needs of immigrant working adults for English instruction and determined the barriers they faced in learning English. CIR's 2001 report documented the fact that many of these employed immigrants take advantage of overtime, hold down two jobs, and are often subject to changing or rotating work schedules that make attendance at regularly scheduled classes difficult. Evening English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes that occur twice a week lasting between one-and-a-half to three hours also present difficulties, because they interfere with parenting and family duties; fatigue of the attendees after a long day's work also makes learning problematic. Some Friday evening and Saturday morning classes are available, but seldom are there any classes on Sundays. ESOL providers report that they are unable to schedule weekend classes because of the lack of trained and qualified teachers who are willing to work on Saturdays and Sundays. Volunteer tutors could assist ESOL learners, but they too are reluctant to make commitments for weekend hours. The metropolitan Chicago ESOL system faces an additional problem in that it cannot meet the needs of those immigrants who are interested in, and able to attend ESOL classes. CIR's analysis of demographic data finds an estimated total population of potential English Language Learners 18 years of age or older in the Chicago metropolitan area in 2000 at 277,700. According to the Illinois Community College Board, in Fiscal Year 2001 68,815 adults in the Chicago metropolitan area received some ESOL instruction through programs funded by the Board, meaning that only about one-quarter of the need was able to be met. Sixty-two percent of these learners were in beginning ESOL classes. Many area ESOL providers report long waiting lists for ESOL classes, and some say they are implementing lotteries for classroom places. How then, can ESOL learning be reorganized to enable adult learners who are employed to upgrade their English language skills? Can ESOL services be offered along a continuum, with systems providing various services, geared to immigrants with differing levels of commitment to learning English, as well as changing or rotating schedules and time limitations? How can effective learning opportunities be offered in the home, at the workplace, and in accessible community locations, such as shopping centers and churches

    Smart education for smart textiles

    Get PDF
    The aim of this paper is to present the main objectives and achievements of the Skills4Smartex project, according to its declared goals. The Erasmus+ project "Smart textiles for STEM training" is funded with support from the European Commission and it is a Strategic partnership - KA2 / Vocational Education and Training (VET), in the field of transfer of innovation from research providers towards textile enterprises & VET schools. The students within technical education acquire basic disciplines, such as mathematics, physics, technical drawing, chemistry, biology, mechanics, but the horizon of the end applications and usefulness of such basic disciplines is often not touchable. In correlation with these facts, the Skills4Smartex project is centred on improving knowledge, skills and employability of VET students in the STEM related fields, by providing the adequate training instruments to understand multidisciplinary working

    Jam To-morrow and Jam Yesterday, but Never Jam To-day: The of Theology Libraries Planning the Twenty-first Century

    Full text link
    The future of theology libraries is far from clear. Since the nineteenth century, theology libraries have evolved to support the work of theological education. This article briefly reviews the development of theology libraries in North America and examines the contextual changes impacting theology libraries today. Three significant factors that will shape theology libraries in the coming decade are collaborative models of pedagogy and scholarship, globalization and rapid changes in information technology, and changes in the nature of scholarly publishing including the digitization of information. A large body of research is available to assist those responsible for guiding the direction of theology libraries in the next decade, but there are significant gaps in what we know about the impact of technology on how people use information that must be filled in order to provide a solid foundation for planning

    Bridging the Digital Divide: Using Ecological Modeling to Enhance Adult Student Recruitment and Retention in Higher Education

    Get PDF
    Higher education is at a crossroads. An enrollment cliff (Kline, 2019) looms and global instability only exacerbates the need for higher and continuing education. The global COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 highlighted the problem, and despite the evolutions in technology and Internet connectivity, there is still a chasm regarding equity of digital access. This applied dissertation study examined the barriers that exist for returning adult students to higher education and the digital divide in Louisiana. The study focused on the potential adult student population of Louisiana who have some college experience but no bachelor’s degree. Designed using archival research methods, the study uses maps for ecological modeling. The extent to which the digital divide impacts the potential adult student population of the state of Louisiana was explored through ecological models in the form of maps created using openly sourced government data (the ACS and the FCC Form 477). The theoretical considerations of population ecology and a theory about the digital divide, van Dijk’s resources and appropriation theory were explored. As well as two conceptual frameworks, the Spatially Aware Technology Utilization Model (SATUM) and the Three Domains of Sustainability used to frame the interpretation that conclude that access, ability, and affordability are the three domains required for stability and use of the Internet. The results from the study found that both geographic location and socio-economic characteristics do seem to impact access to the Internet. The analysis includes recommendations for addressing barriers to adult student recruitment and retention through the three components needed to create organizational stability: environmental factors, social factors, and economic factors

    Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America's Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads

    Get PDF
    Recommends investing in research, innovation, and a dynamic science and engineering workforce with the participation of underrepresented minorities. Suggests ways to improve access, motivation, affordability, and supports to raise degree completion rates

    Sub-Saharan Africa at a crossroads: a quantitative analysis of regional development

    Full text link
    This repository item contains a single issue of The Pardee Papers, a series papers that began publishing in 2008 by the Boston University Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future. The Pardee Papers series features working papers by Pardee Center Fellows and other invited authors. Papers in this series explore current and future challenges by anticipating the pathways to human progress, human development, and human well-being. This series includes papers on a wide range of topics, with a special emphasis on interdisciplinary perspectives and a development orientation.Sub-Saharan Africa is at a crossroads of development. Despite a quarter of a century of economic reforms propagated by national policies and international financial agencies and institutions, sub-Saharan Africa is still lagging in development. In this paper, the authors adopt two techniques using both qualitative (e.g. governance) and quantitative factors (e.g., GDP) to examine regional patterns of development in sub-Saharan Africa. More specifically, they examine and analyze similarities and differences among the countries in this region using a multivariate statistical technique, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and a unsupervised neural network called Kohonen’s Self-Organizing Map (SOM) to cluster levels of development. PCA serves as a tool for determining regional patterns while SOM is more useful for determining continental patterns in development. Both PCA and SOM results show a “developed” cluster in Southern Africa (South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, and Gabon). SOM exhibits a cluster of least developed countries in southern Western Africa and western Central Africa. The results demonstrate that the applied techniques are highly effective to compress multidimensional qualitative and quantitative data sets to extract relevant information about development from a policy perspective. Our analysis indicates the significance of governance variables in some clusters while a combination of variables explains other regional clusters. Zachary Tyler works for a consulting firm in Massachusetts that conducts program evaluations for energy efficiency programs, and he continues to work on statistical and geospatial analyses of human development issues. In 2010, he will receive a master’s degree in energy and environmental analysis from Boston University. Sucharita Gopal is Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Geography and Environment and a member of the Cognitive & Neural Systems (CNS) Technology Lab at Boston University. She teaches and conducts research in geographical information systems (GIS), spatial analysis and modeling, and remote sensing for environmental and public health applications. Her recent research includes the development of a marin integrated decision analysis system (MIDAS) for Belize, Panama, and Massachusetts, and a post-disaster geospatial risk model for Haiti. This paper is part of the Africa 2060 Project, a Pardee Center program of research, publications, and symposia exploring African futures in various aspects related to development on continental and regional scales. For more information, visit www-staging.bu.edu/pardee/research/

    Culture and Commerce

    Get PDF
    Illustrates the possibilities and challenges of making partnerships between economic development agencies and traditional arts organizations work. Examines the outcome of eight collaborations that were formed as part of a partnership funding initiative

    Carers as partners in social work education

    Get PDF
    This report explores the extent and nature of participation by caregivers in the education of social work students in England. A national survey gave rise to a series of telephone interviews with education providers; regional workshops then brought together for discussion representives of carers' organisations, individual caregivers and educators. The study identified the ways in which caregivers are involved in educating social work students, the challenges experienced, the factors that facilitate positive involvement, and the outcomes experienced by those involved. The report makes a series of recommendations designed to facilitate good practice in caregiver participation in social work education
    corecore