Role of Information Communication Technology in Literacy Education in Kenya

The use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in literacy education is critical to ensuring that Kenya is able to create individuals with raised self-esteem, equipped with skills that will enable them to derive socio-economic benefits of greater workforce productivity as well as those associated with lifelong learning. Consequently, incorporating ICT in literacy education may help to develop the kind of citizenry required in the information society; improve learning outcomes in education; and enhance the quality of life in general. However, despite the enthusiasm exhibited in exploiting ICTs potential in education use in Kenya, the acquisition of learning outcomes in literacy are still low. Key impediments include access, funding, inadequate ICT facilities, high cost of development of interactive e-learning content, high Internet costs in the region, as well as unaffordable infrastructural maintenance costs occasioned by the dynamic natures of ICTs. In addition, the inadequate capacity of teachers has been an obstacle to making ICT a medium of instruction or a tool to support management processes. As well, the absence of ICT Curriculum at Early Childhood Development (ECD) and primary levels does not help cultivate a computing culture early in life. Thus, in order for meaningful impact on literacy education to be realized, the ICT investment programmes in education in the country should be refocused and redirected to the ECD and primary levels of education as the starting point, and henceforth be concentrated on some five variables identified widely as likely to create the desired results, namely: enhancement of teaching and learning; raising access to literacy education; training of teachers; localizing content; and creating a literacy-conducive environment. This paper explores how ICT can contribute to making literacy education more effective and the challenges that require to be overcome in order to achieve this

Pregled literature o empirijskim istraživanjima o utjecaju digitalnih igara na stilove učenja i višestruke inteligencije

The paper presents a review of literature resources that studied the effects of digital games on students\u27 learning and intelligence. The research included 5,740 scientific papers from 11 electronic repositories that presented various evidence of multidimensional impact of digital games on students. Categorization and application of multiple qualitative criteria identified 36 representative papers that presented empirical evidence. Various indicators and benchmarks used in papers were analysed, taking into account the methodological limitations. The results confirm the complex relations between digital games andlearning styles and multiple intelligences on which the recommendations and questions for future research are created.U radu se daje pregled literature koja prikazuje rezultate istraživanja o utjecaju digitalnih igara na učenje i inteligencije učenika. Istraživanje je obuhvatilo 5740 znanstvenih radova iz 11 elektroničkih repozitorija, a koji su pružili raznolike dokaze o višedimenzionalnom utjecaju digitalnih igara na učenike. Kategorizacijom i primjenom višestrukih kvalitativnih kriterija pronađeno je 36 odgovarajućih radova koji su sadržavali empirijske dokaze. U radovima su analizirani raznovrsni indikatori i referentne točke, uzimajući u obzir metodološka ograničenja. Rezultati potvrđuju kompleksne veze između digitalnih igara i stilova učenja, kao i višestrukih inteligencija, na temelju kojih se stvaraju preporuke i pitanja za buduća istraživanja

SURPRISING ENERGY FUTURES : Neo-Carbon Energy Futures Clinique V

This report describes the process and results of futures clinique Surprising Energy Futures: Anticipating Discontinuities and Testing Resilience of Renewable Energy World with Black Swans, held on 17 May 2017 at Sitra, Helsinki. The event was the fifth futures clinique within the foresight part of the research project Neo-Carbon Enabling Neo-Growth Society – Transformative Scenarios 2050, conducted by Finland Futures Research Centre. The aim of the event was to contribute to the four transformative societal scenarios of Neo-Carbon Energy project. The event consisted of presentations and intermittent working sessions. Dr. Karlheinz Steinmüller discussed the topic of Black Swans and VUCA World, with comments by Prof. Jarno Limnéll

Issues of recognition and participation in changing times: the inclusion of refugees in higher education in the UK

Higher Education has become and an increasingly diverse and globalised system in which the binaries between ‘traditional’ and ‘non-traditional’ students, exclusion and inclusion have less resonance and analytical purchase. Drawing on longitudinal, empirical research with a group of refugees in higher education, this paper will argue that higher education can be marked simultaneously by belonging and recognition, deficit and exclusion. Complex differences and inequalities remain hidden and unspoken, raising new questions and challenges for pedagogy and for equal participation of students

Practical Brain Computer Interfacing

A brain-computer interface (BCI) is a communication system that enables users to voluntary send messages or commands without movement. The classical goal of BCI research is to support communication and control for users with impaired communication due to illness or injury. Typical BCI applications are the operation of computer cursors, spelling programs or external devices, such as wheelchairs, robots and neural prostheses. The user sends modulated information to the BCI by engaging in mental tasks that produce distinct brain patterns. The BCI acquires signals from the user's brain and translates them into suitable communication. This dissertation aims to develop faster and more reliable non-invasive BCI communication based on the study of users learning process and their interaction with the BCI transducer. To date, BCI research has focused on the development of advanced pattern recognition and classification algorithms to improve accuracy and reliability of the classified patterns. However, even with optimal detection methods, successful BCI operation depends on the degree to which the users can voluntary modulate their brain signals. Therefore, learning to operate a BCI requires repeated practice with feedback that engages learning mechanisms in the brain. In this work, several aspects including signal processing techniques, feedback methods, experimental and training protocols, demographics, and applications were explored and investigated. Research was focused on two BCI paradigms, steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEP) and event-related (de-)synchronization (ERD/ERS). Signal processing algorithms for the detection of both brain patterns were applied and evaluated. A general application interface for BCI feedback tasks was developed to evaluate the practicability, reliability and acceptance of new feedback methods. The role of feedback and training was fully investigated on studies conducted with healthy subjects. The influence of demographics on BCIs was explored in two field studies with a large number of subjects. Results were supported through advanced statistical analysis. Furthermore, the BCI control was evaluated in a spelling application and a service robotic application. This dissertation demonstrates that BCIs can provide effective communication for most subjects. Presented results showed that improvements in the BCI transducer, training protocols, and feedback methods constituted the basis to achieve faster and more reliable BCI communication. Nevertheless, expert assistance is necessary for both initial configuration and daily operation, which reduces the practicability of BCIs for people who really need them

Attention and Social Cognition in Virtual Reality:The effect of engagement mode and character eye-gaze

Technical developments in virtual humans are manifest in modern character design. Specifically, eye gaze offers a significant aspect of such design. There is need to consider the contribution of participant control of engagement. In the current study, we manipulated participants’ engagement with an interactive virtual reality narrative called Coffee without Words. Participants sat over coffee opposite a character in a virtual café, where they waited for their bus to be repaired. We manipulated character eye-contact with the participant. For half the participants in each condition, the character made no eye-contact for the duration of the story. For the other half, the character responded to participant eye-gaze by making and holding eye contact in return. To explore how participant engagement interacted with this manipulation, half the participants in each condition were instructed to appraise their experience as an artefact (i.e., drawing attention to technical features), while the other half were introduced to the fictional character, the narrative, and the setting as though they were real. This study allowed us to explore the contributions of character features (interactivity through eye-gaze) and cognition (attention/engagement) to the participants’ perception of realism, feelings of presence, time duration, and the extent to which they engaged with the character and represented their mental states (Theory of Mind). Importantly it does so using a highly controlled yet ecologically valid virtual experience