Māori & Psychology Research Unit annual report 2011

Annual report of the Māori and Psychology Research Unit (MPRU) 2011. The unit was established in August of 1997. The unit is designed to provide a catalyst and support network for enhancing research concerning the psychological needs, aspirations, and priorities of Maori people. The MPRU is well situated to draw together skilled and experienced interdisciplinary research groups by networking and establishing working relationships with staff and students within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, the University, and the wider community

Maori & Psychology Research Unit annual report 2004

Annual report of the Maori and Psychology Research Unit (MPRU) 2004. The unit was established in August of 1997. The unit is designed to provide a catalyst and support network for enhancing research concerning the psychological needs, aspirations, and priorities of Maori people. The MPRU is well situated to draw together skilled and experienced interdisciplinary research groups by networking and establishing working relationships with staff and students within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, the University, and the wider community

Maori & Psychology Research Unit annual report 2009

Annual report of the Maori and Psychology Research Unit (MPRU) 2009. The unit was established in August of 1997. The unit is designed to provide a catalyst and support network for enhancing research concerning the psychological needs, aspirations, and priorities of Maori people. The MPRU is well situated to draw together skilled and experienced interdisciplinary research groups by networking and establishing working relationships with staff and students within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, the University, and the wider community

Maori & Psychology Research Unit annual report 2006

Annual report of the Maori and Psychology Research Unit (MPRU) 2006. The unit was established in August of 1997. The unit is designed to provide a catalyst and support network for enhancing research concerning the psychological needs, aspirations, and priorities of Maori people. The MPRU is well situated to draw together skilled and experienced interdisciplinary research groups by networking and establishing working relationships with staff and students within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, the University, and the wider community

Nothing Could Be Finer

You will not want to m1ss the 49th annual conference of the Association of Christian Librarians, June 13-15, 2005 in Columbia, South Carolina. The planning team has pulled together a strong program of expert speakers and workshops led by your ACL colleagues. Excellent pre-confe rences will provide more in-depth educational opportunities. T he schedule is organized to increase time for fellowship and spiritual enrichment and the Christian networking that makes ACL conferences unique. Our hosts, the staff of the G. Allen Fleece Library at Columbia International University, are preparing to provide for your every need

‘Twitter ye not?’ 23 Things that helped Warwick University Library staff to develop their Web 2.0 skills

Warwick University Library recently ran a ‘23 Things’ programme for library staff to help them develop their skills and understanding around Web 2.0 technologies. This approach, first developed by Charlotte Mecklenburg Library2 and subsequently run in many libraries, breaks the sometimes daunting world of social networking applications into bite-sized chunks (or Things) that are easier to manage and absorb. Some of the Things are ‘doing’ Things – using tools we have all heard of and many have never dared touch – whilst other Things are ‘reflecting’ Things, using blogging to capture personal observations on new technologies tried and new skills developed. In the Warwick programme ‘Thing 23’ required staff from across the library, at different levels and with different experiences of Web 2.0, to reflect on their experience of the programme as a whole. This article captures together some of those reflections. One of us (Antony) was sponsor of the programme, a Digital Adventurer who has travelled a distance to embrace new Web 2.0 tools. The other (Emma) was the programme organiser, a Digital Native who regularly blogs, tweets and collaborates online. Both of us got a lot out of the 23 Things Warwick programme

Learning from Digital Natives: Bridging Formal and Informal Learning. Final Report

Overview This report suggests that students are increasingly making use of a variety of etools (such as mobile phones, email, MSN, digital cameras, games consoles and social networking sites) to support their informal learning within formalised educational settings, and that they use the tools that they have available if none are provided for them. Therefore, higher education institutions should encourage the use of these tools. Aims and background This study aimed to explore how e-tools (such as mobile phones, email, MSN, digital cameras, games consoles and social networking sites) and the processes that underpin their use can support learning within educational institutions and help improve the quality of students’ experiences of learning in higher education (pgs 9-11). Methodology The study entailed: (i) desk research to identify related international research and practice and examples of integration of e-tools and learning processes in formal educational settings; (ii) a survey of 160 engineering and social work students across two contrasting Scottish universities (pre- and post-1992) – the University of Strathclyde and Glasgow Caledonian University – and follow-up interviews with eight students across the two subject areas to explore which technologies students were using for both learning and leisure activities within and outside the formal educational settings and how they would like to use such technologies to support their learning in both formal and informal settings; and (iii) interviews with eight members of staff from across the institutions and two subject areas to identify their perceptions of the educational value of the e-tools. (pgs 24-27). Key findings • Students reported making extensive use of a variety of both e-tools (such as mobile phones, email, MSN, digital cameras) and social networking tools (such as Bebo, MySpace, Wikipedia and YouTube) for informal socialisation, communication, information gathering, content creation and sharing, alongside using the institutionally provided technologies and learning environments. • Most of the students owned their own computer or had access to a sibling or parent’s computer. Many students owned a laptop but preferred not to bring it onto campus due to security concerns and because they found it too heavy to carry about. • Ownership of mobile phones was ubiquitous. • Whilst the students’ information searching literacy seemed adequate, the ability of these students to harness the power of social networking tools and informal processes for their learning was low. Staff reported using a few Web 2.0 and social software tools but they were generally less familiar with how these could be used to support learning and teaching. There were misconceptions surrounding the affordances of the tools and fears expressed about security and invasion of personal space. Considerations of the costs and the time it would take staff to develop their skills meant that there was a reluctance to take up new technologies at an institutional level. • Subject differences emerged in both staff and student perceptions as to which type of tools they would find most useful. Attitudes to Web 2.0 tools were different. Engineers were concerned with reliability, using institutional systems and inter-operability. Social workers were more flexible because they were focused on communication and professional needs. • The study concluded that digital tools, personal devices, social networking software and many of the other tools explored all have a large educational potential to support learning processing and teaching practices. Therefore, use of these tools and processes within institutions, amongst staff and students should be encouraged. • The report goes on to suggest ways in which the use of such technologies can help strengthen the links between informal and formal learning in higher education. The recommendations are grouped under four areas – pedagogical, socio-cultural, organisational and technological

Māori & Psychology Research Unit Annual Report 2012

Annual report of the Māori and Psychology Research Unit (MPRU) 2012. The unit was established in August of 1997. The unit is designed to provide a catalyst and support network for enhancing research concerning the psychological needs, aspirations, and priorities of Maori people. The MPRU is well situated to draw together skilled and experienced interdisciplinary research groups by networking and establishing working relationships with staff and students within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, the University, and the wider community

The Face of Facebook: How Teens are Using Social Networking Services

Facebook is just one of many social networking sites that has teens (and adults!) flocking around public access and personal computers, laptops and cell phones to view who-knows-what. Learn the good, the bad and the ugly about what teens are REALLY doing on these sites; discover data you can use to convince staff or administrators about the value of social networking; gain information about other types of social networking services and how your library can plug into these services to the benefit of your library and its patrons. This session is based on the presenter\u27s published work and will help participants walk away with a deeper understanding of the value of social networking sites, a better grasp of the extent of such sites, and a new (or renewed) enthusiasm for incorporating these sites into educational and beneficial uses at libraries. ABOUT THE PREENTER: Maryann Mori is the Library Director at the Waukee (Iowa) Public Library

Social networking and open educational resources: updating quality assurance for e-learning excellence

Quality assurance approaches in higher education are well-established, but it is important to develop methods which are applicable to the domain of e-learning. The E-xcellence methodology (EADTU, 2009a) was therefore designed to assess the quality of e-learning in distance learning and blended learning contexts. The methodology is based around a set of benchmarks, supported by a practitioner handbook and a web-based ‘QuickScan’ self-evaluation tool. Experience shows that the E-xcellence methodology is particularly valuable for the process of improvement through collaborative internal review. E-learning has evolved since the E-xcellence methodology was first developed. In particular, there is increasing awareness and use of open education resources (OERs) and social networking. However, these aspects were not explicit in the original E-xcellence resources. The E-xcellence Next project was therefore established to update the resources, incorporating these developments. To begin this process, a consultation was carried out among E-xcellence Next project members, followed by a participatory workshop on the themes of social networking and OERs. The E-xcellence resources were also used in a series of self-evaluation seminars held at European higher education institutions. Experience and feedback from these activities has been used to update the manual, the benchmarks and the QuickScan tool. The result is a set of quality assurance resources which encompass social networking, OERs and other recent developments in e-learning