An Introduction and Overview to Google Apps in K12 Education: A Web-based Instructional Module

An instructional module to familiarize K12 teachers with the features and uses of Google Docs and AppsThe question of how to provide K12 teachers with “just-in- time” professional development opportunities during a time when the need for fiscal restraint has cut the time available for professional development is a vexing one for educators. A key to preparing K12 students for success in the 21st century is to provide them with the skills and aptitudes that will enable them to be digital producers and collaborators in higher education and in the workplace. This will not happen until teachers in K12 institutions themselves develop these skills. A preliminary survey indicated that participants in this instructional module were consumers of digital technology; that is, they utilized smartphones, cloud services, and web-based mail. The survey also indicated a lower familiarity with the use of Google tools for production and collaboration. This was more pronounced for the K12 educators who responded. An Introduction and Overview to Google Apps in K12 Education utilized web-based instruction to provide an brief survey of the capabilities of Google Apps for K12 education and is designed to be a precursor to specific content-based instructional modules for the use of Google Apps by teachers. The data collected through the post-module survey as well as through open-ended responses in some of the sections provided information about the respondents’ impressions concerning the efficacy of providing “just-in- time” instruction via website, impressions about the usability of the module, and recommendations for improving the module.TCC 2013 2013-4-1

Internet Use in Teacher Preparation Programs: The Relationship between Pedagogy and Practice in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education

The overall purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) teacher educators\u27 pedagogical beliefs and their use of telecollaborative Internet activities in practice. The goal of this examination was to address the U.S. Department of Education\u27s Office of Educational Research and Improvement (April 2002) call for collecting data about how digital content is being used and to make recommendations for action. The study collected data, via a web-based survey, about pedagogical beliefs and practices of PASSHE teacher educators. The analysis of descriptive statistics, rankings, Spearman rho correlations, and ANOVA calculations revealed a gap between constructivist pedagogical beliefs and actual instructional practice. Using a typology of constructivist telecollaborative activities, the study pinpointed areas of Internet-specific Pedagogical Knowledge and Technological Knowledge to be developed in PASSHE teacher educators. Recommendations were made for PASSHE programs to collaboratively create telecollaborative inquiry and communication activities, provide professional development in the use of telecollaborative activities, and support integration into teacher preparation programs

A literature review of the use of Web 2.0 tools in Higher Education

This review focuses on the use of Web 2.0 tools in Higher Education. It provides a synthesis of the research literature in the field and a series of illustrative examples of how these tools are being used in learning and teaching. It draws out the perceived benefits that these new technologies appear to offer, and highlights some of the challenges and issues surrounding their use. The review forms the basis for a HE Academy funded project, ‘Peals in the Cloud’, which is exploring how Web 2.0 tools can be used to support evidence-based practices in learning and teaching. The project has also produced two in-depth case studies, which are reported elsewhere (Galley et al., 2010, Alevizou et al., 2010). The case studies focus on evaluation of a recently developed site for learning and teaching, Cloudworks, which harnesses Web 2.0 functionality to facilitate the sharing and discussion of educational practice. The case studies aim to explore to what extent the Web 2.0 affordances of the site are successfully promoting the sharing of ideas, as well as scholarly reflections, on learning and teaching

Teacher competence development – a European perspective

This chapter provides an European perspectives on teacher competence development

Guidelines for Selecting Professional Development for Early Childhood Teachers

Engaging teachers of young children in effective in-service professional development is a critical component of establishing high quality early childhood education. However, not all professional development offerings are effective in imparting new knowledge, enhancing teacher practice, or improving child outcomes, making it difficult for teachers and directors to select professional development that will benefit their centers. This paper critically reviews the research literature on professional development for early childhood education to identify what features of professional development make a difference for teacher interactions and children’s learning and development. Guidance is provided for selecting professional development opportunities which meet the needs of children and teachers. Recommendations for how to create an ongoing professional development program within an early childhood center by creating a professional learning community are also made. Such an approach supports the center to become a place that values learning and continued education for all professionals

An overview of the nature of the preparation of practice educators in five health care disciplines

Practice education is a core element of all educational programmes that prepare health care professionals for academic award and registration to practice. Ensuring quality and effectiveness involves partnership working between Higher Education Institutions (HEI’s) and health care providers, social care communities, voluntary and independent sectors offering client care throughout the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. Clearly practitioners who support, supervise and assess learners for entry to their respective professions need to be well prepared and supported in their roles as practice educators. However it would appear that the nature of this support and preparation varies across disciplines and that good practice is not easily shared. With this in mind, the Making Practice Based Learning Work (MPBLW) project aims to make practitioners more effective at supporting and supervising students in the workplace across a range of health care disciplines namely Dietetics, Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and Radiology. The Department of Employment and Learning (Northern Ireland) and the Higher Education Funding Council for England has funded this collaborative project involving staff from Ulster, Northumbria and Bournemouth Universities. The outcomes for each phase of the project are: Phase One: • Identify and document good practice on how practitioners are prepared for their educational role. Phase Two: • Develop and evaluate learning materials for use by practitioners across five health care disciplines. • Make learning materials available in a number of efficient media, e.g. paper, electronic, CD-ROM and web-based. • Develop a programme applicable to interprofessional and uniprofessional contexts. • Widen access for a multicultural workforce. Phase Three: • Embed best educational practice through the establishment of an academicpractitioner network. • Disseminate a range of materials and processes across the wider academic and health and social care communities

Community-based mentoring and innovating through Web 2.0

The rise of social software, often termed Web 2.0, has resulted in heightened awareness of the opportunities for creative and innovative approaches to learning that are afforded by network technologies. Social software platforms and social networking technologies have become part of the learning landscape both for those who learn formally within institutions, and for those who learn informally via emergent web-based learning communities. As collaborative online learning becomes a reality, new skills in communication and collaboration are required in order to use new technologies effectively, develop real digital literacy and other 21st century skills

To be or not to be, the importance of Digital Identity in the networked society

The emergence of the web has had a deep impact at different levels of our society, changing the way people connect, interact, share information, learn and work. In the current knowledge economy, participatory media seems to play an important part in everyday interactions. The term “digital identity” is becoming part of both our lexicon and our lives. This paper explores some of the aspect s regarding approaches and practices of educators, using web technologies to foster their digital identity within their networks and, at the same time, developing a social presence to complement their professional and academic profiles. In fact, we think it is imperative to discuss the relationship between our social presence and our professional life, as online the two are often intertwined. We present the issues the web poses through dichotomies: open or closed, genuine or fake, single or multiple. We also comment on different approaches to these dichotomies through examples extracted from recent projects, drawing from user’s experiences in building their digital identities. This paper looks at the importance of digital identity in the current networked society, by reviewing the contemporaneous scenario of the participatory web, raising a set of questions about the advantages and implication of consciously developing one’s digital identity, thus opening the discussion regarding openness, uniqueness and integrity in connection with one’s digital identity. This paper is also a reflection of thinking and practice in progress, drawing from examples and real-life situations observed in a diversity of projects. The issue could be reduced, perhaps, to whether one consciously becomes a part of the digital world or not, and how that participation is managed. It is up to us to manage it wisely, and guide knowledge workers in their journey to create theirs

Digital Media and Youth: Unparalleled Opportunity and Unprecedented Responsibility

Part of the Volume on Digital Media, Youth, and Credibility This chapter argues that understanding credibility is particularly complex -- and consequential -- in the digital media environment, especially for youth audiences, who have both advantages and disadvantages due to their relationship with contemporary technologies and their life experience. The chapter explains what is, and what is not, new about credibility in the context of digital media, and discusses the major thrusts of current credibility concerns for scholars, educators, and youth

Digital and Media Literacy: A Plan of Action

Outlines a community education movement to implement Knight's 2009 recommendation to enhance digital and media literacy. Suggests local, regional, state, and national initiatives such as teacher education and parent outreach and discusses challenges