Good Teaching and Learning in the Academy

This paper is based on original research at five Queensland Universities. It compared the teaching strategies of law, education and science academics in an attempt to discover any relationship between teaching strategies and subject matter. It also examined the teaching policy at each university, specifically university definitions of good teaching and its relationship to use of technology. The purpose of this research was to determine whether or not specific understandings of good teaching in the academy prevailed, and whether or not this (dis)advantaged certain faculties. From an initial case study of QUT, the basic findings from our research were as follows: • good teaching was found to have two central features: it was student centred and technologically innovative, • irrespective of discipline, all lecturers espoused the importance of student centred learning as integral to good teaching, even though, in practice, teaching style appeared to be largely determined by subject matter, • the most innovative and technological units were the least student centred We conclude that what counts as good teaching is both contested and context bound. This has major implications for monolithic definitions of good teaching as espoused by university policy and teaching units. It also has clear ramifications for university measures of effective and innovative teaching and thus standardised procedures for both academic promotion and teaching practices across the university

Spatial audio in small display screen devices

Our work addresses the problem of (visual) clutter in mobile device interfaces. The solution we propose involves the translation of technique-from the graphical to the audio domain-for expliting space in information representation. This article presents an illustrative example in the form of a spatialisedaudio progress bar. In usability tests, participants performed background monitoring tasks significantly more accurately using this spatialised audio (a compared with a conventional visual) progress bar. Moreover, their performance in a simultaneously running, visually demanding foreground task was significantly improved in the eye-free monitoring condition. These results have important implications for the design of multi-tasking interfaces for mobile devices

Broadcast International, Inc. v. Utah State Tax Commission : Brief of Respondent

Brief of Respondent Utah State Tax Commission APPEAL FROM DECISION OF THE UTAH STATE TAX COMMISSION ISSUED JUNE 10, 199

Universal Robots as ‘Solutions’ to Wicked Problems: Debunking a Robotic Myth, Late breaking abstract, HRI’11, Lausanne, Switzerland.

Mobile Life CentreLIRE

Peer-Group Intimacy and Video-Teleconferencing: A Response and Reflection by a CPE Supervisory Education Peer-Group

The four authors were part of a supervisory education peer group which met for their peer and group support utilizing online technology. Each reflects on their own experience as it informed their educational and personal process

The University of Alaska, Juneau Campus Newspaper

Fields answers budget request and accreditation status questions -- ASSA director elected -- UAJ University Center contract awarded -- Editorials -- Guest editorial by Lyle Hubbard: The titanic or reorganization at UAJ -- Channels -- University of Alaska, Juneau provides continuing education and public services -- University within walls offers innovative programs -- Forms available for student aid -- In the wind -- UAJ student regent nominee chosen -- University faculty gets ok to organize -- The pod presents -- Baleen cuisine -- Weather whale -- Scholarship deadlines near -- Whale's tail classifie

Smarter choices - changing the way we travel

Summary: In recent years, there has been growing interest in a range of initiatives, which are now widelydescribed as 'soft' transport policy measures. These seek to give better information and opportunities,aimed at helping people to choose to reduce their car use while enhancing the attractiveness ofalternatives. They are fairly new as part of mainstream transport policy, mostly relativelyuncontroversial, and often popular. They include:. Workplace and school travel plans;. Personalised travel planning, travel awareness campaigns, and public transport information andmarketing;. Car clubs and car sharing schemes;. Teleworking, teleconferencing and home shopping.This report draws on earlier studies of the impact of soft measures, new evidence from the UK andabroad, case study interviews relating to 24 specific initiatives, and the experience of commercial,public and voluntary stakeholders involved in organising such schemes. Each of the soft factors isanalysed separately, followed by an assessment of their combined potential impact.The assessment focuses on two different policy scenarios for the next ten years. The 'high intensity'scenario identifies the potential provided by a significant expansion of activity to a much morewidespread implementation of present good practice, albeit to a realistic level which still recognisesthe constraints of money and other resources, and variation in the suitability and effectiveness of softfactors according to local circumstances. The 'low intensity' scenario is broadly defined as aprojection of the present (2003-4) levels of local and national activity on soft measures.The main features of the high intensity scenario would be. A reduction in peak period urban traffic of about 21% (off-peak 13%);. A reduction of peak period non-urban traffic of about 14% (off-peak 7%);. A nationwide reduction in all traffic of about 11%.These projected changes in traffic levels are quite large (though consistent with other evidence onbehavioural change at the individual level), and would produce substantial reductions in congestion.However, this would tend to attract more car use, by other people, which could offset the impact ofthose who reduce their car use unless there are measures in place to prevent this. Therefore, thoseexperienced in the implementation of soft factors locally usually emphasise that success depends onsome or all of such supportive policies as re-allocation of road capacity and other measures toimprove public transport service levels, parking control, traffic calming, pedestrianisation, cyclenetworks, congestion charging or other traffic restraint, other use of transport prices and fares, speedregulation, or stronger legal enforcement levels. The report also records a number of suggestionsabout local and national policy measures that could facilitate the expansion of soft measures.The effects of the low intensity scenario, in which soft factors are not given increased policy prioritycompared with present practice, are estimated to be considerably less than those of the high intensityscenario, including a reduction in peak period urban traffic of about 5%, and a nationwide reductionin all traffic of 2%-3%. These smaller figures also assume that sufficient other supporting policies areused to prevent induced traffic from eroding the effects, notably at peak periods and in congestedconditions. Without these supportive measures, the effects could be lower, temporary, and perhapsinvisible.Previous advice given by the Department for Transport in relation to multi-modal studies was that softfactors might achieve a nationwide traffic reduction of about 5%. The policy assumptionsunderpinning this advice were similar to those used in our low intensity scenario: our estimate isslightly less, but the difference is probably within the range of error of such projections.The public expenditure cost of achieving reduced car use by soft measures, on average, is estimated atabout 1.5 pence per car kilometre, i.e. £15 for removing each 1000 vehicle kilometres of traffic.Current official practice calculates the benefit of reduced traffic congestion, on average, to be about15p per car kilometre removed, and more than three times this level in congested urban conditions.Thus every £1 spent on well-designed soft measures could bring about £10 of benefit in reducedcongestion alone, more in the most congested conditions, and with further potential gains fromenvironmental improvements and other effects, provided that the tendency of induced traffic to erodesuch benefits is controlled. There are also opportunities for private business expenditure on some softmeasures, which can result in offsetting cost savings.Much of the experience of implementing soft factors is recent, and the evidence is of variable quality.Therefore, there are inevitably uncertainties in the results. With this caveat, the main conclusion isthat, provided they are implemented within a supportive policy context, soft measures can besufficiently effective in facilitating choices to reduce car use, and offer sufficiently good value formoney, that they merit serious consideration for an expanded role in local and national transportstrategy.AcknowledgementsWe gratefully acknowledge the many contributions made by organisations and individuals consultedas part of the research, and by the authors of previous studies and literature reviews which we havecited. Specific acknowledgements are given at the end of each chapter.We have made extensive use of our own previous work including research by Lynn Sloman funded bythe Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 on the traffic impact of soft factors and localtransport schemes (in part previously published as 'Less Traffic Where People Live'); and by SallyCairns and Phil Goodwin as part of the research programme of TSU supported by the Economic andSocial Research Council, and particularly research on school and workplace travel plans funded bythe DfT (and managed by Transport 2000 Trust), on car dependence funded by the RAC Foundation,on travel demand analysis funded by DfT and its predecessors, and on home shopping funded byEUCAR. Case studies to accompany this report are available at: http://eprints.ucl.ac.uk/archive/00001233

DISTANCE EDUCATION AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES IN ADULT EDUCATION DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: VIEWS OF POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS IN HELLENIC OPEN UNIVERSITY, GREECE

Distance education has always been an important pillar of Hellenic Open University, through which undergraduate, postgraduate, and short programs’ students participate in. Before the pandemic crisis education in HOU had been characterized as synchronous and asynchronous with a choice of face-to-face classes. Under the new circumstances, due to the pandemic crisis, a lot of educational institutes all over the world had to adjust and offer a flexible synchronous and asynchronous electronic way of learning. This new, unprecedented situation came up as an emergency, as well as an opportunity, not only for the students, but also for the institutions so that they could evolve electronic distance education with the use of communication and collaboration online platforms. In this regard, HOU modulated the teaching in electronic form with the basic tool of teleconference for the group meetings and exams electronic platform. In this paper, there has been an attempt to research about the students’ satisfaction level, concerning the group meetings and exams changes, the main difficulties they dealt with, in which way their smooth attendance was influenced, and finally their agreement level about ways to reinforce their digital education in HOU with suggested ways deriving from literature. The conducted survey was quantitative out of 125 participants’ sample, with the use of a personal online questionnaire. It was found that the majority of participants had been satisfied with the changes in HOU, mainly with the communication they had with the counselor-teacher in online group meetings. Moreover, their attendance remained undisturbed, not only to their assignments, but also to their success in the exams, and regarding the difficulties they faced, their main ones were a feeling of stress or insecurity due to the unanticipated changes, a problem with their online connection and with the available time to answer the exams’ questions. It is also interesting their high level of agreement with the suggested ways to reinforce their digital education since the majority of the participants are in favor of those mentioned.  Article visualizations

Teleconference training within commercial customer service at US Bank

Research suggests that effective employee training methods are of key importance in the service industry today. The service industry uses customer service as a means of differentiating its product (Davis, 2005; Farrell, 2005; Feiertag, 2005; Furunes, 2005; Higley, 2004a; Jenkins, 1984; Simons, 2005; Walsh, 2004). “Friendliness and a willingness to serve others are the tools of the hotel trade, and training is the sharpener that refines the tools into hospitality machines” (Higley, 2004b). Training is integral in creating a positive environment for customers. If organizations want to ensure customers have this type of environment, employees must have both service and technical knowledge; the employee must know what he or she is doing (Higley, 2004a). The service industry uses various forms of training in order to ensure employees have the required knowledge and skills needed to create a high level of customer service. In many organizations, employees are spread nationwide making traditional classroom based training ineffective and expensive (Roeder, 1986). Large organizations, in particular, have difficulty reaching thousands of employees consistently and in a short amount of time can be a “logistical nightmare” (Burns, 2005). In order to accommodate the distance gap, companies have created extensive training sessions based both on the computer and the telephone. Research has shown both methods to be cost effective and to have the capability to train a large number of people in different locations simultaneously (Off the road again: Training through teleconferencing. 1992; Reach out and train someone: The many faces of distance learning.2002; Teleconferencing fundamentals.2002; Davis, 2005; Eisinger & Smith, 2000; Gentry, 2005; Higley, 2004a; Jenkins, 1984; Pollitt, 2004; Suttell, 2005). Teleconferencing, computer-based, web-based, and videoconferencing are some common training methods currently employed (Teleconferencing fundamentals.2002)