The role of the students' and teachers' activities in the adoption and continued use of an e-learning platform

This paper identifies and examines an impact of students' and teachers' activities on possibility of using and adapting e-learning platform in postgraduate studies. The paper aims at experimental survey of students' satisfaction level, their opinions concerning implementing e-learning at work as well as correlation students' activity, teachers' activity and e-learning results. Our hypotheses are tested with 160 students of postgraduate studies using e-learning educational platform

Harnessing technology review 2007. Progress and impact of technology in education. Full Report.

This is the first review of the use and impact of ICT in the education system following the publication of the Government's e-Strategy for the education system, known as Harnessing Technology. The Review drew upon Becta's surveys of schools and FE colleges as well as other research to assess the impact of technology within the education system and the progress made in achieving the system outcomes of the policy

Becta review 2006. Evidence on the progress of ICT in education.

This is the review of the use and impact of ICT in the education system prior to the publication of the Government's e-Strategy for the education system, known as Harnessing Technology. The Review drew upon Becta's surveys of schools and FE colleges as well as other research to assess the impact of technology within the education system and the progress made in achieving Government policies in 2005-06

Harnessing technology review 2007. Progress and impact of technology in education. Summary report.

This is the summary of the first review of the use and impact of ICT in the education system following the publication of the Government's e-Strategy for the education system, known as Harnessing Technology. The Review drew upon Becta's surveys of schools and FE colleges as well as other research to assess the impact of technology within the education system and the progress made in achieving the system outcomes of the policy

The seamless integration of Web3D technologies with university curricula to engage the changing student cohort

The increasing tendency of many university students to study at least some courses at a distance limits their opportunities for the interactions fundamental to learning. Online learning can assist but relies heavily on text, which is limiting for some students. The popularity of computer games, especially among the younger students, and the emergence of networked games and game-like virtual worlds offers opportunities for enhanced interaction in educational applications. For virtual worlds to be widely adopted in higher education it is desirable to have approaches to design and development that are responsive to needs and limited in their resource requirements. Ideally it should be possible for academics without technical expertise to adapt virtual worlds to support their teaching needs. This project identified Web3D, a technology that is based on the X3D standards and which presents 3D virtual worlds within common web browsers, as an approach worth exploring for educational application. The broad goals of the project were to produce exemplars of Web3D for educational use, together with development tools and associated resources to support non-technical academic adopters, and to promote an Australian community of practice to support broader adoption of Web3D in education. During the first year of the project exemplar applications were developed and tested. The Web3D technology was found to be still in a relatively early stage of development in which the application of standards did not ensure reliable operation in different environments. Moreover, ab initio development of virtual worlds and associated tools proved to be more demanding of resources than anticipated and was judged unlikely in the near future to result in systems that non-technical academics could use with confidence. In the second year the emphasis moved to assisting academics to plan and implement teaching in existing virtual worlds that provided relatively easy to use tools for customizing an environment. A project officer worked with participating academics to support the teaching of significant elements of courses within Second LifeTM. This approach was more successful in producing examples of good practice that could be shared with and emulated by other academics. Trials were also conducted with ExitRealityTM, a new Australian technology that presents virtual worlds in a web browser. Critical factors in the success of the project included providing secure access to networked computers with the necessary capability; negotiating the complexity of working across education, design of virtual worlds, and technical requirements; and supporting participants with professional development in the technology and appropriate pedagogy for the new environments. Major challenges encountered included working with experimental technologies that are evolving rapidly and deploying new networked applications on secure university networks. The project has prepared the way for future expansion in the use of virtual worlds for teaching at USQ and has contributed to the emergence of a national network of tertiary educators interested in the educational applications of virtual worlds

Harnessing Technology School survey 2008: report 1: analysis

This report summarises the main findings from the Harnessing Technology Schools Survey 2008, a national survey of ICT in primary, secondary and special schools. The research was carried out in 2007-08. This annual, representative survey was intended to assess the `state of the nation' in terms of the uptake and impact of educational technologies in maintained schools across England

Harnessing technology review 2009. The role of technology in education and skills.

This is the third review of the use and impact of ICT in the education system following the publication of the Government's e-Strategy for education, known as Harnessing technology. The review drew upon Becta's surveys of schools and FE colleges as well as other research to assess the impact of technology within the education system and the progress made in achieving the system outcomes of the policy

A Case Study of the Development of a Career Academy: Good Intentions Not Enough?

The purpose of this study was to explore how a career academy featuring an information technology (IT) theme approached the adoption of the model and the particular curricular focus. We used a case study design to explore the experiences of school personnel and community partners associated with the implementation of the career academy. We found that growing enrollment in the local district was a major driver to pursue small school designs as an alternative to the traditional high school comprehensive model. The small school size associated with small learning communities was valued by stakeholders and used to adopt and implement a career academy around a technology curricular theme. Another factor in the adoption decision was the availability of existing building infrastructure in the community. While the premises of the career academy model appeared to be a good fit in the district and community, we also found that good intentions are not enough to guarantee consistent fidelity throughout the career academy implementation. When new crises arise, input from all stakeholders may be shortchanged and decisions can turn into a top-down approach

Bedding down the embedding : IL reality in a teacher education programme

Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is one of Australia's largest universities,enrolling 30,000 students. Our Information Literacy Framework and Syllabus wasendorsed as university policy in Feb 2001. QUT Library uses the AustralianInformation Literacy Standards as the basis and entry point for our syllabus. Theuniversity wide information literacy programme promotes critical thinking and equipsindividuals for lifelong learning (Peacock, 2002a). Information literacy has developedas a premium agenda within the university community; as documented by JudithPeacock, the university’s Information Literacy Coordinator (Peacock, 2002b).The Faculties at QUT have for the last few years, started to work through how theinformation literacy syllabus will be enacted in their curricula, and within theorientations of their subject areas. Attitudinal change is happening alongside arealisation that discipline content must be taught within a broader framework.Curricula and pedagogical reforms are a characteristic of the teaching environment.Phrases such as lifelong learning, generic skills, information revolution, learningoutcomes and information literacy standards are now commonplace in facultydiscussion. Liaison librarians are strategically placed to see the "big picture" ofcurricula across large scale faculties in a large scale university. We work withfaculty in collaborative and consultative partnerships, in order to implement reform. QUT Librarians offer three levels of information literacy curriculum to the university.The generic programme is characterised by free classes, offered around the start ofsemesters. The next level is integrated teaching, developed to answer a specificneeds for classes of students. The third level of information literacy is that ofembedding throughout a programme. This involves liaison librarians working toensure that information literacy is a developmental and assessed part of thecurriculum, sequenced through a programme in a similar way to traditional disciplineknowledge, and utilising the IL syllabus. This paper gives a glimpse of what ishappening as we attempt the process of embedding information literacy into theBachelor of Education programme