The difference between presence-based education and distance learning

Attempts to define distance learning always involve comparisons with presence-based education, as the latter is the most direct reference that the former has. It is on this basis that the convergent points, similarities and differences of the two types of approach are established. This article opens with such a comparison, before going on to focus mainly on distance learning and to examine methodological strategies that should be borne in mind when implementing an e-learning system

University teachers’ conceptions of “Changemaker”: a starting point for embedding social innovation in learning and teaching

Purpose: This paper reports on a study aimed at understanding the different conceptions that University of Northampton teachers hold of “Changemaker”, an institutional initiative to develop capacities for social innovation. Design/methodology/approach: The study took a phenomenographic approach to identify a small number of qualitatively different conceptions of Changemaker among teaching staff. Face-to-face, phenomenographic interviews were carried out with 30 teachers across the university. Transcript data were analysed using thematic inductive analysis. Findings: Five different conceptions of Changemaker were found: 1) Changemaker as university strategy; 2) Changemaker as critical thinking, perspective shifting and problem solving; 3) Changemaker as employability; 4) Changemaker as social betterment and 5) Changemaker as personal transformation. Research limitations/implications: The outcome space of conceptions represents the beliefs of teaching staff at the University of Northampton. The approach to research and plans for the practical application of findings may be of direct benefit to other education providers as they develop their own models for teaching and learning. Practical implication—The findings from this study will inform the next phase of the project, which involves the development of a skills/attributes/behaviours matrix for Changemaker. Originality/value: The findings of this study will address the absence of literature on teachers’ conceptions of phenomena related to social innovation, social entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship. Understanding teachers’ beliefs of such phenomena is relevant to the growing number of universities that address these subjects in the curriculum

Artifacts, agents and intentions: towards a reflexive ontology of technical objects

A central issue in the contemporary debate in analytical metaphysics is the plausibility of the ontological inclusion of ordinary objects, especially artifacts. This paper explores the realist ontologies that include “intentional creations” such as artifacts in their programs, giving rise to a normative view of the world. It approaches the assumptions of two possible realist ontologies implied in the contemporary debate on artifacts. First, it makes a distinction between a reflexive and a non-reflexive ontology, stressing the hermeneutical stance of the former. Second, it focuses on the reflexive nature of the ontology being reconstructed. Third, it discusses its realist character, rejecting the objections that warn against the idealist implications of such a view.Fil: Crelier, Pablo Andres. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Parente, Diego Carlos. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Spillovers diffusion inside networks of cooperation: the role of temporary geographical and organisational proximities.

The objective of this article is to examine the diffusion of spillovers within technological cooperation. More precisely, we shall ask to what extent permanent geographic proximity, defined, as co-location by the geography of innovation, is really necessary to benefit from spillovers when agents cooperate. It turns out that co-localisation is not a sufficient condition; geographic proximity is often required but it can be temporary. This condition must be linked with organisational proximity to be effective. Then, it appears that spillovers are not “in the air(s)” but in networks.Spillovers; Technological cooperation; Geographic proximity; Organisational proximity; A-spatial network;

Knowledge production and patterns of proximity: French sme¿s of biotechnology

Nowadays, innovation is the main factor of firms and regions competitiveness. But, the conditions necessary to improve its development remain still unknown, particularly there are few works about spatial aspects of its appearance. Few monographs exist on the efficiency of 'local' networks, but no theoretical patterns. We want to check if innovative networks are really more efficient if they are local, and bring to the fore the conditions of this efficiency. This conditions seem to lie in the notion of proximity. Instead of considering geographic and organizational proximity as substitutes, we define them as complementary. So we propose a schedule of innovative networks linking geographic and organizational proximity. We shall test it in the biotechnology field, to build a typology of innovative networks. Key words: innovative networks, geographic and organizational proximity, biotechnology.

Lessons from Brecht: a Brechtian approach to drama, texts and education

In this piece the authors seek to re-read Brecht in terms of his contribution to drama education and pedagogic thought, rather than viewing him in conventional terms as a cultural icon and ‘great practitioner’ of theatre. The authors believe that a Brechtian conceptual framework, with its emphasis on critical production and critical audiences, is still pertinent to the conditions of contemporary cultural production. A Brechtian framework is seen as a way of taking drama education beyond the conventional polarities where on the one hand it is seen as a process of moral and social education dealing with universal truths, or on the other hand, as a set of formal and critical techniques

Beyond the market-institutions dichotomy: The institutionalism of Douglass C. North in response to Karl Polanyi's challenge

On the basis of the "challenge" North [1997 (1977)] identified in the works of Polanyi, we propose to outline the originality of North's institutionalism, especially in comparison with "new institutionalism" in economics as well as in sociology. Far from endorsing the dichotomy between market and non market dimensions of economic activities at the basis of the analyses of Williamson and Granovetter, North's definition of institutions as "rules of the game" allows him to conceive of institutions as the institutional foundations of the market and therefore as explanatory principles of historical dynamics.institutions, institutionalism, North, Polanyi, Williamson, Granovetter