Rethinking sport teaching in physical education: A case study of research based innovation in teacher education

This paper focuses on the significance of physical education teacher education (PETE) in the diffusion of 'new' thinking about sport teaching in physical education. It explores issues arising from a case study investigation that sought to respond to the critical commentary about the form and substance of sport teaching in physical education by supporting innovation in school curriculum and pedagogy through pre-service teacher education. The study was designed to challenge PETE pre-service teachers' thinking about sport curriculum and pedagogy in physical education, introduce them to new thinking about models and specifically, the sport literacy model (Drummond & Pill, 2011; Pill, 2009, 2010). Details of the research design are presented and the insights that the data have provided in relation to challenges and opportunities that teacher educators and teacher education courses confront in seeking to promote and support curriculum and pedagogical innovation are discussed

A Framework to Democratise the Design of Educational Games on Social Issues during Game Jams

Game Jams are events organised to create computer games, usually taking place during weekends. These events have become a popular way to enable participants to experience processes and practices of game development as well as to offer multidisciplinary learning opportunities, accessed through the variety of skills involved in game design. However, these events tend to be attended predominantly by male game developers and present barriers to participation for more diverse groups. This thesis investigates how to support diverse group participation in Game Jams, including people from different ethnicities, genders, ages, sexual orientations and who do not have any prior experience of designing games; and explores Game Jam participation as an opportunity to discuss social issues. To this end, a framework to democratise the design of educational games on social issues in Game Jams is proposed. The framework consists of a process with structured resources and activities to enhance learning by supporting egalitarian participation and agency. It offers collaborative learning opportunities for groups to engage with a social issue, relying on storytelling and on the exchange of perspectives and experiences. It also provides support and access to research-based principles to design games for education, and egalitarian opportunities to acquire game development skills, considered relevant opportunities given the wide-spread use of games and increasing interest in games as engaging tools for online education. The development of the framework is grounded in Critical Pedagogy, an educational approach providing principles and processes to democratise learning initiatives based on egalitarian participation and agency. Following a Design-Based Research methodology, the framework is developed through a case study on creating educational games on everyday sexism. A set of formative design studies are undertaken to co-design resources and activities that enable participants to elaborate solutions to the social issue and create educational games themselves. An evaluative study is then presented with the realisation of two Game Jams to assess and validate the proposed framework. The theoretical contributions of this work validate two new applications of Critical Pedagogy. The first one is to apply Critical Pedagogy to shape Game Jams to enhance learning through the active involvement of participants as equal learners and agents of social change. The second one applies Critical Pedagogy to democratise knowledge of design principles to create educational games on social issues. Lastly, access to a co-created tool for raising awareness of everyday sexism and insights on how to enable broad audiences to acquire games development skills are some of the practical contributions of this thesis

Innovating Pedagogy 2015: Open University Innovation Report 4

This series of reports explores new forms of teaching, learning and assessment for an interactive world, to guide teachers and policy makers in productive innovation. This fourth report proposes ten innovations that are already in currency but have not yet had a profound influence on education. To produce it, a group of academics at the Institute of Educational Technology in The Open University collaborated with researchers from the Center for Technology in Learning at SRI International. We proposed a long list of new educational terms, theories, and practices. We then pared these down to ten that have the potential to provoke major shifts in educational practice, particularly in post-school education. Lastly, we drew on published and unpublished writings to compile the ten sketches of new pedagogies that might transform education. These are summarised below in an approximate order of immediacy and timescale to widespread implementation

Mathematics primary teacher training in the context of the european higher education area

The future implementation of the European Higher Education Area requires thorough reflection on how to design and develop teacher training courses. In this reflection, it is important to reconsider, among other issues, (a) the role of prospective teachers in their own learning process and (b) the professional competencies that they must develop in the course of their higher education. Since 2003, the University of Granada has undertaken the development of pilot experiences to adapt some degree programs to this new framework. One of these degrees is Teacher in Primary Education degree, which includes several courses that focus on promoting prospective teachersÕ development of mathematical and pedagogical knowledge. In this paper how to organize future teachersÕ learning through practical activities in one of these courses is described. Firstly, the general process of adapting the course is analysed. Secondly, its theoretical and practical structure, with some examples of practical activities, are described. Finally, some results of the implementation are discussed

The teacher as action researcher : Using technology to capture pedagogic form

The paper argues that we make best use of learning technologies if we begin with an understanding of educational problems, and use this analysis to target the solutions we should be demanding from technology. The focus is to address the issue from the perspective of teachers and lecturers – the 'teaching community', and to consider how they could become the experimental innovators and reflective practitioners who will use technology well. Teachers could become 'action researchers', collaborating to produce their own development of knowledge about teaching with technology. For this to be possible, they must be able to share that knowledge, and the paper proposes the use of an online learning activity management system (LAMS) as a way of capturing and sharing the pedagogic forms teachers design. An action research approach, like all research, needs a theoretical framework from which to challenge practice, and paper shows how teachers could use the Conversational Framework to design and test an optimally effective learning experience. Examples of 'generic' learning designs illustrate how such approach can help the teaching community rethink their teaching, collectively, and embrace the best of conventional and digital methods. In this way they will be more likely to harness technology to the needs of education, rather than simply search for the problems to which the latest technology is a solution

Prince Charming has Perfect White Teeth: Performativity and Media Education

This paper argues that Judith Butler’s post structuralist theory of performativity provides a valuable tool for understanding how students might contest prevailing hegemonic gender discourses in media education classrooms. It suggests an alternative to structuralist "empowerment" and "critical pedagogy" approaches, which continue to motivate many media educators, despite serious questions being asked about their effectiveness. The paper draws on data collected from a unit of work about video games, completed by year ten students at an all boys’ secondary school in Brisbane. It argues that many media related activities fail to elicit genuinely "critical" responses because they are complicit in the regulation of hegemonic discourses. It suggests that teachers are more likely to create the potential for variation in their students’ gender performances if activities are dialogic and open-ended and avoid placing emphasis on discourses of excellence and competition

A Pedagogy for Original Synners

Part of the Volume on Digital Young, Innovation, and the UnexpectedThis essay begins by speculating about the learning environment of the class of 2020. It takes place entirely in a virtual world, populated by simulated avatars, managed through the pedagogy of gaming. Based on this projected version of a future-now-in-formation, the authors consider the implications of the current paradigm shift that is happening at the edges of institutions of higher education. From the development of programs in multimedia literacy to the focus on the creation of hybrid learning spaces (that combine the use of virtual worlds, social networking applications, and classroom activities), the scene of learning as well as the subjects of education are changing. The figure of the Original Synner is a projection of the student-of-the-future whose foundational literacy is grounded in their ability to synthesize information from multiple information streams

Issues for consideration to adopt educational computer games for learning and teaching

Computer games have started to gain attention in the domain of learning and teaching. The integration of computer games for education in the classroom has starting to gain acceptance in some countries. However, for schools which have never used computer games in the classroom, study still need to be conducted to investigate the teachers' belief and attitude toward the usage. The purpose of this paper is to examine issues for consideration when adopting educational computer games for learning and teaching. This paper also examines the concepts that related to educational computer games and aspects of learning and teaching. In addition, the theories of technology acceptance which use to assess the perception, belief and attitude of teachers and students have also been investigated

Enhancing apprentice-based learning of Java

Various methods have been proposed in the past to improve student learning by introducing new styles of working with assignments. These include problem-based learning, use of case studies and apprenticeship. In most courses, however, these proposals have not resulted in a widespread significant change of teaching methods. Most institutions still use a traditional lecture/lab class approach with a strong separation of tasks between them. In part, this lack of change is a consequence of the lack of easily available and appropriate tools to support the introduction of new approaches into mainstream courses.In this paper, we consider and extend these ideas and propose an approach to teaching introductory programming in Java that integrates assignments and lectures, using elements of all three approaches mentioned above. In addition, we show how the BlueJ interactive programming environment [7] (a Java development environment aimed at education) can be used to provide the type of support that has hitherto hindered the widespread take-up of these approaches. We arrive at a teaching method that is motivating, effective and relatively easy to put into practice. Our discussion includes a concrete example of such an assignment, followed by a description of guidelines for the design of this style of teaching unit

Piloting mobile mixed reality simulation in paramedic distance education

New pedagogical methods delivered through mobile mixed reality (via a user-supplied mobile phone incorporating 3d printing and augmented reality) are becoming possible in distance education, shifting pedagogy from 2D images, words and videos to interactive simulations and immersive mobile skill training environments. This paper presents insights from the implementation and testing of a mobile mixed reality intervention in an Australian distance paramedic science classroom. The context of this mobile simulation study is skills acquisition in airways management focusing on direct laryngoscopy with foreign body removal. The intervention aims to assist distance education learners in practicing skills prior to attending mandatory residential schools and helps build a baseline equality between those students that study face to face and those at a distance. Outcomes from the pilot study showed improvements in several key performance indicators in the distance learners, but also demonstrated problems to overcome in the pedagogical method