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

Collaboration between Librarians and Learning Technologists to enhance the learning of health sciences students.

Collaboration between Librarians and Learning Technologists at Bournemouth University (BU) has been stimulated and cemented by Pathfinder funding from the Higher Education Academy. This paper will consider four case studies collected as part of the eRes Project that describe the use of Web 2.0 technologies in the School of Health and Social Care at BU. The project aimed to enhance the student learning experience in an increasingly electronic environment. This was achieved by developing and disseminating innovative pedagogical frameworks, bringing together learning activities and academically led quality e-resources within the unit of study. An e-reading strategy which encompasses models for resource discovery and e-literacy was developed, drawing on the experiences and findings of the case studies. Issues considered in this paper will include accessing academic electronic reading materials and using a social bookmarking tool integrated within BU’s virtual learning environment with students studying away from the main campus. Additionally the paper will consider how technology can be used to motivate students, especially in large groups and how it can be used to engage students with a subject perceived as “dry” or “difficult”. The rich possibilities of health science materials can be exploited more fully using new technologies embedded within the curriculum

Computer science (CS) in the compulsory education curriculum:implications for future research

The subject of computer science (CS) and computer science education (CSE) has relatively recently arisen as a subject for inclusion within the compulsory school curriculum. Up to this present time, a major focus of technologies in the school curriculum has in many countries been on applications of existing technologies into subject practice (both software such as office applications, and hardware such as robots and sensors). Through uses of these applications, information and communications technologies (ICT) have focused on activities to support subject and topic learning (across wide age and subject ranges). Very recently, discussions for including computers in the curriculum have shifted to a much greater focus on computing and CS, more concerned with uses of and development of programming, together with fundamental principles of problem-solving and creativity. This paper takes a policy analysis approach; it considers evidence of current implementation of CSE in school curricula, the six main arguments for wider-scale introduction of the subject, the implications for researchers, schools, teachers and learners, the state of current discussions in a range of countries, and evidence of outcomes of CSE in compulsory curricula. The paper concludes by raising key questions for the future from a policy analysis perspective

The Techno-Numerate Nurse: Results of a Study Exploring Nursing Student and Nurse Perceptions of Workplace Mathematics and Technology Demands

In this paper, we report on the findings of a research study that sought to answer the following questions: (i) How do current nursing students’ perceptions compare with those of actual working nurses regarding the mathematics and technology demands involved in nursing?; and, (ii) What types of course structures, content, pedagogy, or other recommendations could more effectively prepare nurses for the realities of the workplace in light of mathematics and technology demands? The study involved online open-response questions and semi-structured interviews. Seventy-six participants, including both 4th-year nursing students (n = 8) and working nurses (n = 68), completed the online component. Three of the practicing nurses, each working in very different healthcare contexts (mental health, neo-natal intensive care, acute care), volunteered to take part in subsequent in-depth interviews to share further insights. No statistically significant differences were found between nursing students’ and working nurses’ perceptions of mathematics and technology preparation for nursing within their undergraduate experiences. Based on the analysis of open-response item data and interview transcripts, we discuss the following emergent themes: math skills required for practice; math admission requirements; math-related course offerings and instructional strategies; technology skills required for practice; technology addressed in nursing programs; and, issues surrounding evidence-based practice and Internet access. The paper concludes with a list of seven recommendations for nurse education programs, as well as suggested directions for future research. _ Résumé Dans cet article, nous rapportons les résultats d\u27une recherche menée pour répondre aux questions suivantes : (i) quelle est la différence entre la perception des étudiantes en sciences infirmières et celle des infirmières sur le marché du travail concernant les exigences liées aux mathématiques et à la technologie dans le domaine des sciences infirmières? (ii) Quels types de structures de cours, de contenu, de méthodes pédagogiques ou quelles autres recommandations permettraient de mieux préparer les infirmières aux réalités du milieu du travail à la lumière des exigences liées aux mathématiques et à la technologie? La recherche a été réalisée à l\u27aide d\u27entrevues semi-structurées et de questions à réponses ouvertes accessibles en ligne. Soixante-seize participantes, dont des étudiantes de 4e année en sciences infirmières (n=8) et des infirmières en milieu de travail (n=68) ont répondu aux questions en ligne. Trois des infirmières en milieu de travail, toutes travaillant dans des contextes de soins de santé très différents (santé mentale, soins intensifs en néonatalogie, soins aigus), ont accepté de participer aux entrevues en profondeur pour partager davantage sur le sujet. Aucune différence statistiquement significative n\u27a été observée entre les perceptions des étudiantes en sciences infirmières et des infirmières en milieu de travail relativement à la préparation dans les domaines des mathématiques et des technologies pour les sciences infirmières dans le cadre de leurs études de premier cycle. D\u27après l\u27analyse des données issues des questions à réponses ouvertes et des transcriptions d\u27entrevues, nous discutons des thèmes émergents suivants : habiletés en mathématiques requises pour la pratique; exigences d\u27admission en mathématiques; offre de cours et stratégies d\u27enseignement touchant les mathématiques; habiletés en technologie requises pour la pratique; technologie abordée dans les programmes de sciences infirmières; et les questions concernant la pratique fondée sur des résultats probants et l\u27accès à Internet. Cet article se conclut par une liste de sept recommandations pour les programmes de formation en sciences infirmières, ainsi que par un ensemble d\u27orientations proposées pour les recherches futures

Teaching Data Science

We describe an introductory data science course, entitled Introduction to Data Science, offered at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The course introduced general programming concepts by using the Python programming language with an emphasis on data preparation, processing, and presentation. The course had no prerequisites, and students were not expected to have any programming experience. This introductory course was designed to cover a wide range of topics, from the nature of data, to storage, to visualization, to probability and statistical analysis, to cloud and high performance computing, without becoming overly focused on any one subject. We conclude this article with a discussion of lessons learned and our plans to develop new data science courses.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, International Conference on Computational Science (ICCS 2016

Education today: 12 + 5 < 4 - lessons of education reforms in Portugal and beyond

Since the adoption of the ‘Lei de Bases…’ of 1984, the quality of education in Portugal is declining, undermined by ‘critical, creative and independent thinking’, implemented by neglecting memorization as a learning tool, as supposedly students should understand things without knowing them. As a consequence, vast majority of students can’t retain any abstract knowledge. They prepare from scratch for their tests and forget everything afterwards. The students never acquire essential primary-school skills such as capacity to do mental calculations, hence the title of this report, comparing contemporary school + university education to pre-1984 primary school of 4 years. The quality of education is further degraded by ‘evaluation’ of teachers at school and university, judged by academic success and degree of satisfaction of their students. With the students objectively incapable to learn, understand or remember, the teachers have a dilemma of either letting such students pass without retained knowledge, skills and competences, or else have their own ‘evaluation’ suffer. As the generations change, students who were ‘passed’ become teachers themselves, still with no retained knowledge and thus no moral authority to fail their own students. Thus, the level of requirements monotonously degrades, with the educational fraud perpetuated in the new generations.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Using design-based research to develop a Mobile Learning Framework for Assessment Feedback

Students’ lack of engagement with their assessment feedback and the lack of dialogue and communication for feedback are some of the issues that affect educational institutions. Despite the affordance that mobile technologies could bring in terms of assessment feedback, research in this area is scarce. The main obstacle for research on mobile learning assessment feedback is the lack of a cohesive and unified mobile learning framework. This paper thus presents a Mobile Learning Framework for Assessment Feedback (MLFAF), developed using a design-based research approach. The framework emerged from the observation of, and reflection upon, the different stages of a research project that investigated the use of a mobile web application for summative and formative assessment feedback. MLFAF can be used as a foundation to study the requirements when developing and implementing wide-scale mobile learning initiatives that underpin longitudinal practices, as opposed to short-term practices. The paper also provides design considerations and implementation guidelines for the use of mobile technology in assessment feedback to increase student engagement and foster dialogic feedback communication channels