Mobile ‘Comfort’ Zones: Overcoming Barriers to Enable Facilitated Learning in the Workplace.

The affordances of mobile technologies are well documented (cf Sharples, Vavolua, Wali, Cook, Pachler). Linked with the rapid expansion of the ‘SMART’ phones, where users access fast/high quality information, new opportunities are offered to engage students at a time/place of their own choosing. This small-scale study is located within the dominant discourse of mobile learning literature of context specific learning; it explores the attitudes and habits of trainee teachers using their own mobile devices when working full time in a school setting. We present a conceptual model for looking strategically at mobile learners in different personal/ professional contexts. This highlights the design barriers to be overcome before the full potential of mobile learning can be successful with our own students when isolated on placement and juggling busy, complex lives. Our findings indicate that students have complex/interwoven narratives that relate to issues of identity, personal/private space and their involvement in an emergent community of practice

Online teacher training in a context for forced immobility: the Case of Gaza, Palestine

This article discusses an action research study that involved the design and delivery of an online training course for teachers of Arabic to speakers of other languages in the Gaza Strip (Palestine). Grounded in Freirean pedagogy, the course aimed to respond to the employment needs of university graduates by creating opportunities for online language teaching. The action research study explored the dynamics at play within the online educational environment, to evidence elements that challenged and/or facilitated effective collaboration between trainers and trainees. This article retraces and discusses the processes through which the course moved from didacticism to engaged critical pedagogy

Internal communication and employee engagement: Integration plan for do it better

Nowadays, companies have started to pay more attention to their human resources, looking at them as an internal market, which they should seek to satisfy in the first place. Thus, they should use internal marketing and communication techniques that will help them build an employer branding strategy, with the intention of creating a positive image of the organizational environment in the employees’ perspective, as well as generating greater commitment and involvement between both parties. These strategies should be implemented from the first contact employees have with their company, during their onboarding process. In this context, this project aims to develop an integration plan for new employees at Do It Better, a certified professional training center. Therefore, we used different methods for collecting information, including a semi-structured interview, two survey questionnaires (internal and external), and the analysis of internal and external statistical data. In the services marketing-mix, a six-step integration plan was proposed, defining the items that would be included in it, as well as how it would be implemented in the company.Atualmente, as empresas têm vindo a dar maior importância aos seus recursos humanos, olhando para estes como um mercado interno que devem procurar satisfazer em primeiro lugar. Deste modo, devem usar técnicas de marketing e comunicação interna que as ajude a estabelecer uma estratégia de "employer branding", tendo como objetivo criar uma imagem positiva da empresa na perspetiva dos colaboradores, bem como de gerar um maior compromisso e envolvimento entre ambas as partes. Estas estratégias devem ser implementadas desde o primeiro contacto que os colaboradores têm com a empresa, durante o processo de integração. Neste âmbito, o presente projeto tem como objetivo desenvolver um plano de integração para novos colaboradores para a Do It Better, centro de formação certificada profissional. Para tal, recorreu-se a diferentes métodos para a recolha de informação, entre os quais uma entrevista semiestruturada, dois questionários por inquérito (um interno e um externo) e a análise de dados estatísticos internos e externos. No marketing-mix de serviços, foi proposto um plano dividido em seis passos, onde se definiram os itens que seriam incluídos, bem como a forma como este seria implementado na empresa

Formación de profesores e identidad profesional: la contribución del trabajo colaborativo en educación

Within the scope of teacher training, we present the perception of students who attend the masters of arts in teaching about the contribution of collaborative work networks in the process of creating their professional identity. The data collected from reflective narratives on which we focused reflect the perceptions of 44 students after their first experience of supervised teaching practice, which we consider to be elucidative of a true network work. The content analysis of the narratives focuses on five levels of analysis: i) role of Higher Education supervising teachers in the implementation of Supervised Teaching Practice (STP); ii) role of cooperative counsellors in the implementation of STP; iii) acquisition / development of competences related to the professional, social and ethical dimension; iv) acquisition / development of competences regarding the dimension of school participation and the relationship with the community; and (v) acquisition / development of reflective skills on the practice of teaching. We believe this work to be a constructive process in the sense that the trainee sets himself up as a professional through the way he reflects, autonomously, but also from the dialogical reflection either with the pedagogical pair / group from the teacher training institution, or with the supervisor and cooperative counsellor, in the context of the educational community in which he/she operates

Social Media and Workplace Practices in Higher Education Institutions: a Review

This literature review investigates how the impact of social media has been studied with regard to a broad range of higher education workplace practices, that extend beyond teaching and learning, into areas such as research, administration, professional development, and the development of shared academic cultures and practices. Our interest is in whether and how the educational research community, through its research and publication practices, promotes particular views of social media in education at the expense of others. A thematic analysis of a sample of recent (2010-17) research on social media in education finds the field influenced by perspectives, particularly the managerial, that are prominent in the institutionalized discourses around which HE is structured.  These discourses are largely shaping practice in 21st century education, despite their lack of attention on how social media alter the processes of knowledge development within education, changing practice at deeper, institutional levels. We hypothesize that the implication of such research failing is that the academic community fails to reflectively and critically address how academic practices and the classroom itself are being shaped by certain “institutionalized” uses and conceptions of social media

Teacher training and professional identity: the contribution of collaborative work in education

Resumen:En el ámbito de la formación de profesores, presentamos la percepción de los estudiantes de los cursos de maestría de habilitación para la docencia sobre la contribución del trabajo colaborativo en el proceso de construcción de su identidad profesional. Los datos recogidos a partir de narrativas reflexivas sobre los que nos centramos reflejan las percepciones de 44 estudiantes a la salida de la primera experiencia de práctica de enseñanza supervisada que consideramos ilustrativa de un verdadero trabajo en red. El análisis de contenido de las narrativas se centra en cinco categorías de análisis: i) papel de los profesores supervisores de la IES en la realización de la PES; ii) el papel de los orientadores cooperantes en la realización de la PES; iii) adquisición / desarrollo de competencias relativas a la dimensión profesional, social y ética; iv) adquisición / desarrollo de competencias relativas a la dimensión de participación en la escuela y de relación con la comunidad; y v) adquisición / desarrollo de competencias reflexivas sobre la práctica. Entendemos que este es un proceso constructivo en el sentido en que el pasante se construye como profesional, mediante la forma como refleja, de forma autónoma, pero también a partir de la reflexión dialógica tanto con el par pedagógico / grupo del centro de práctica, como con el supervisor y orientador cooperante, en el contexto de la comunidad educativa en que actúa.Within the scope of teacher training, we present the perception of students who attend the masters of arts in teaching about the contribution of collaborative work networks in the process of creating their professional identity. The data collected from reflective narratives on which we focused reflect the perceptions of 44 students after their first experience of supervised teaching practice, which we consider to be elucidative of a true network work. The content analysis of the narratives focuses on five levels of analysis: i) role of Higher Education supervising teachers in the implementation of Supervised Teaching Practice (STP); ii) role of cooperative counsellors in the implementation of STP; iii) acquisition / development of competences related to the professional, social and ethical dimension; iv) acquisition / development of competences regarding the dimension of school participation and the relationship with the community; and (v) acquisition / development of reflective skills on the practice of teaching. We believe this work to be a constructive process in the sense that the trainee sets himself up as a professional through the way he reflects, autonomously, but also from the dialogical reflection either with the pedagogical pair / group from the teacher training institution, or with the supervisor and cooperative counsellor, in the context of the educational community in which he/she operates

AN EXPLORATION OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATORS’ COGNITIONS AND PRACTICES IN RELATION TO THE PEDAGOGICAL PURPOSES AND EFFICACIES OF 21ST-CENTURY DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

This multiple case study investigates English language (EL) teacher educators’ cognitions and practices related to pedagogical technology integration. The focus concerns five native-English speaking teacher educators (TEs) within a teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) training program at a South Korean university. The goal was to determine 1) TESOL-TEs’ cognitions regarding the pedagogical purposes and efficacies of 21st–century digital technologies, 2) TESOL-TEs’ uses of such technologies in their practice, and 3) factors related to TESOL-TEs’ decisions of whether and how to integrate technologies into their praxis. Data collected over twenty weeks in 2013 included four rounds of semi-structured interviews and two sets of classroom observations for each of the five focal participants, interviews with program administrators, written reflections, field notes, photographs, and document review. Data were coded using King’s (2004) template analysis method. Categories were based on constructs from the technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK) framework (Mishra and Koehler, 2006) and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT, Venkatesh et al., 2003) and UTAUT 2 (Venkatesh et al., 2012). The focal participants displayed high levels of TPACK and used Web 2.0 applications extensively to facilitate interactions in their roles as teacher educators. It was found that UTAUT factors guided TEs’ decisions and use behaviour to varying degrees, but that the mediating factor of age did not relate to TEs’ decisions in the manner predicted by the UTAUT. TEs’ cognitions both coincided with and diverged from their practices. This study contributes to research gaps on the roles, cognitions, and technology-related practices of TESOL-TEs in South Korea. Research on TEs in different contexts is recommended to gain further insights into the connections among these factors. TESOL program administrators and TEs will particularly benefit from the light shed on teacher educator cognitions and practices in this study.

Pedagogic approaches to using technology for learning: literature review

This literature review is intended to address and support teaching qualifications and CPD through identifying new and emerging pedagogies; "determining what constitutes effective use of technology in teaching and learning; looking at new developments in teacher training qualifications to ensure that they are at the cutting edge of learning theory and classroom practice and making suggestions as to how teachers can continually update their skills." - Page 4

The passion and pleasure of information sharing in pottery practice

The paper reports selective findings from a broader study about information behaviour in the context of the pottery hobby as a form of serious leisure. Among all the information activities in this context, the paper focuses on the affective and emotional aspects of information sharing. The Serious Leisure Perspective (SLP) is the theoretical framework of the study. The required data were collected via a purposeful and criteria-based sampling method. A sample of user-generated content (UGC) on YouTube was collected to form the dataset. The collected data were analysed through inductive content analysis to identify patterns of embedded concepts and themes in the dataset.Results. Seven categories were identified. These categories summarise the major emotional reactions that viewers expressed and shared in their comments: (1) amazement, (2) excitement, (3) gratitude, (4) joyfulness, (5) admiration, (6) serenity, (7) inspiration. The overall ambience of the videos and commenters’ reactions were positive and joyful. The paper concludes that information sharing on a popular hobby via a publicly available platform, like YouTube, can evoke a range of positive emotions and establish social bonds. These social ties are the building blocks to form communities of interest and communities of practice to produce and share information on the chosen activity.Peer Reviewe

GAP WORK project report: training for youth practitioners on tackling gender-related violence

This project sought to challenge gender-related violence against (and by) children and young people by developing training for practitioners who have everyday contact with general populations of children and young people (‘youth practitioners’). Through improved knowledge and understanding practitioners can better identify and challenge sexist, sexualising, homophobic or controlling language and behaviour, and know when and how to refer children and young people to the most appropriate support services. This summary outlines the Project and our initial findings about the success of the four training programmes developed and piloted.Co-funded by the DAPHNE III programme of the EU