Developing a pedagogical framework for blended distance learning at the National University of Lesotho

Amid the global enthusiasm for adoption and implementation of blended learning, innovations in higher learning institutions in sub-Saharan Africa and other developing countries are reported as less successful and unsustainable. The identified challenges include, among others, the limited Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure, inadequate policies, adoption of blended learning models not suited to educational contexts, and innovations that are not aligned to the institutional goals. This action research (AR) adapted Graham, Woodfield and Harrison’s (2013) framework for institutional adoption and implementation of blended learning to design and develop a contextually-relevant adoption strategy for Open and Distance Learning programmes of the National University of Lesotho (NUL). Using the qualitative and quantitative research instruments in this parallel convergent mixed methods research design, participants were selected from the key ICT and education stakeholders in Lesotho to explore the existing national and institutional ICT strategy, structure, support and technology experiences of the tutors and learners. The samples respondents were selected at the national level (5), at the secondary schools (3), the members of the NUL Management Team (3), the NUL senior administrators (3), the NUL IT specialists (2), 30 tutors and 209 learners across the three AR research cycles of this study. Given the identified challenges of inadequate ICT strategy, structure, support as well as technology experiences of the tutors and learners, this study concluded that a contextually-relevant blended distance learning model for NUL should comprise face-to-face, print-based and online instruction. The key contributions to the new knowledge derived from this research include an adapted blended learning adoption framework (Graham, Woodfield, and Harrison, 2013) which adds the tutors and learners to the markers of progress in the transition from the traditional pedagogy to a technology-based pedagogy and a methodological approach which incorporates Piggot-Irvine's (2002) spin-off cycles into Elliott's (1991) action research model for a deeper understanding of the researched educational context. The study recommends the ICT and education policy development or review at the national and the institutional levels in Lesotho and other developing countries as well as a further exploration of the frameworks proposed in this study

Pupil participation in Scottish schools: final report

This research was commissioned by Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS) to evaluate the nature of pupil participation in primary and secondary schools across Scotland. The specific objectives of the research were: <p>· To describe what school staff and pupils understand by the term ‘pupil participation’.</p> <p>· To describe the range and usage of pupil participation mechanisms employed in schools.</p> <p>· To describe how school staff respect and respond to pupils’ views and ideas, and those of the wider community.</p> <p>· To identify the characteristics of schools and classrooms that facilitate effective pupil participation.</p> <p>· To identify possible barriers to the development of pupil participation in schools and to make suggestions about how these can be overcome.</p> <p>· To capture examples of effective practice of pupil participation.</p> <p>· To make suggestions about how pupil participation can help support the implementation of the Curriculum for Excellence.</p&gt

Global Citizenship in Foreign Language Education

In light of increasing globalization, this collection makes the case for global citizenship education as a way forward for transforming foreign language learning and teaching to better address current and future global challenges in times of unprecedented change.　 The volume maps a multi-dimensional approach within foreign language pedagogy to take up the challenge of ""educating the global citizen"". Drawing on sociocultural, pedagogical, cosmopolitan, digital, and civic-minded perspectives, the book explores the challenges in constructing epistemological frameworks in increasingly global environments, the need for developing context-sensitive educational practices, the potential of linking up with work from related disciplines, and the impact of these considerations on different educational settings. The collection reflects an international range of voices, attuned to global and local nuances, to offer a holistic compilation of conceptual innovations to showcase the relevance of global citizenship issues in foreign language education and encourage future research. This book will be of interest to scholars in intercultural education, foreign language education, and language teaching, as well as policymakers and foreign language teachers

Designing human-centered technologies to mobilize social media data into institutional contexts

Social media platforms have become an established and alternative mechanism for communities to mobilize and exchange information in response to humanitarian or local crises. Due to the richness of experiences accumulated on social media platforms, this content can be valuable for civil and non-profit organizations working to address social and development challenges. At the core of my dissertation is to examine what entails not only analyzing social media data but also the implications of integrating the insights obtained from that analysis into the context of actors and institutions who might act upon those insights, such as civil and non-profit organizations. Using social media data as evidence by institutions to inform their work entails three main challenges —accuracy, representation, and context— due to the nature of social media data. Additionally, using this type of content to inform the design of interventions and technologies that will support the studied communities entails reflecting on how we make sense of data. Within the CSCW and HCI community, there has been a growing focus on using a computational approach to establish metrics and develop tools to analyze and make inferences from social media data. However, by constraining the examination of this type of data through the exclusive use of computational techniques, there is a high risk of neglecting the social, cultural, and temporal context of the data. In response, my fieldwork consisted in following a mixed-methods approach to understanding the underlying situations that force communities to use social media platforms as a means of organization and the implications for non-profit organizations to make social media data actionable to inform their work. Based on the findings of my fieldwork, I designed, deployed, and evaluated a toolkit addressed to practitioners working in civil and non-profit organizations interested in using data from Twitter to identify local capacities, monitor community crises, and develop interventions. The toolkit comprises computational tools that allow searching, collecting, and analyzing data from Twitter. Additionally, the toolkit includes a manual and worksheets that guide practitioners to critically approach social media data and recognize the possibilities and limitations of this type of data by considering the challenges previously mentioned —accuracy, representation, and context. In summary, the outcome of my research provides empirical evidence and situated tools for approaching social media data not as an independent identity but rather in light of the interplay between the online and offline behavior of the communities that produce such data. This dissertation offers two contributions to the growing body of work in HCI and CSCW invested in reflecting on the transformative character of data. First, it illuminates the large ecosystem of norms and practices of multiple actors, infrastructures, and databases that we need to consider to mobilize data from online platforms into institutional contexts. Second, the design of the toolkit proposes an actionable example of how to promote a situated examination of data. While my research has focused only on examining data from social media platforms, the contributions of my work are meaningful in the broader context of data-centric technologies. As we continue to deploy this technology, it is imperative to interrogate the assumptions and biases encapsulated within those technologies, specifically the data that feed them, and how they impact our understanding of human networks and communities.Ph.D

Global Citizenship in Foreign Language Education

In light of increasing globalization, this collection makes the case for global citizenship education as a way forward for transforming foreign language learning and teaching to better address current and future global challenges in times of unprecedented change.　 The volume maps a multi-dimensional approach within foreign language pedagogy to take up the challenge of ""educating the global citizen"". Drawing on sociocultural, pedagogical, cosmopolitan, digital, and civic-minded perspectives, the book explores the challenges in constructing epistemological frameworks in increasingly global environments, the need for developing context-sensitive educational practices, the potential of linking up with work from related disciplines, and the impact of these considerations on different educational settings. The collection reflects an international range of voices, attuned to global and local nuances, to offer a holistic compilation of conceptual innovations to showcase the relevance of global citizenship issues in foreign language education and encourage future research. This book will be of interest to scholars in intercultural education, foreign language education, and language teaching, as well as policymakers and foreign language teachers

Volume 45: Full Issue

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations 50th Anniversary Edition: Becoming a Polytechni

European Distance and E-Learning Network (EDEN). Conference Proceedings

Erasmus+ Programme of the European UnionThe powerful combination of the information age and the consequent disruption caused by these unstable environments provides the impetus to look afresh and identify new models and approaches for education (e.g. OERs, MOOCs, PLEs, Learning Analytics etc.). For learners this has taken a fantastic leap into aggregating, curating and co-curating and co-producing outside the boundaries of formal learning environments – the networked learner is sharing voluntarily and for free, spontaneously with billions of people.Supported by Erasmus+ Programme of the European Unioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Communities in new media. Digital participation in hybrid realities and communities. Proceedings of 24th conference GeNeMe

Die Pandemie hat der Digitalisierung in Wirtschaft, Wissenschaft, Bildung, privaten Netzwerken und öffentlichen Institutionen einen enormen Anschub ermöglicht und gleichermaßen innovative Ideen sowie Schwachstellen aufgezeigt. Seit 2020 wurde unser Leben und Arbeiten zu einer hybriden, auf digitaler Kommunikation und Kollaboration basierten sozitechnischen Wirklichkeit transformatiert. [...] Wir haben uns offenbar auf den permanenten technologiebasierten Wandel bei zunehmender Beschleunigung eingelassen. Aber: Wo geht die Reise tatsächlich hin? Konstituieren sich Gemeinschaften ausschließlich im Wechselspiel hybrider Realitäten? Sind große Datenmengen Bedrohung oder Chance? Können wir diese überhaupt verarbeiten oder bedarf es dafür grundlegend veränderter Werkzeuge und Methoden – wie Visual Analytics, Virtuelle Rekonstruktion, Virtual Engineering, virtueller Assistenten und kooperativer VR? Was hat digitale Innovation mit der Pandemie zu tun um umgekehrt? Kann unser Leben in hybriden Gemeinschaften auch langfristig erfüllend stattfinden oder sind die virtuellen Realitäten eher ein Escape-Room aus einem bedrohlichen Alltag? Welche Kompetenz-Frameworks zwischen DigCompEdu und Literacy benötigen wir? [...] Das Konferenzprogramm bildet eine Vielfalt an Themen ab und unterteilt sich in die folgenden acht Tracks: Lehrformate und -methoden; Qualitätskriterien für Online-Lernszenarien; Kompetenzaneignung; Digitale Strategie und Plattformökonomie; Gamification; Partizipation und Kollaboration in öffentlichen Räumen; Management von Partizipation und Kollaboration; Interaktive Formate. (DIPF/Orig.)The pandemic has given a huge boost to digitisation in business, science, education, private networks and public institutions, highlighting innovative ideas as well as vulnerabilities in equal measure. Since 2020, our lives and work have been transformed into a hybrid socio-technical reality based on digital communication and collaboration. [...] We have obviously embraced permanent technology-based change with increasing acceleration. But where is the journey really going? Are communities constituted exclusively in the interplay of hybrid realities? Are big data a threat or an opportunity? Can we process it at all or does it require fundamentally different tools and methods - such as visual analytics, virtual reconstruction, virtual engineering, virtual assistants and collaborative VR? What does digital innovation have to do with the pandemic and vice versa? Can our lives in hybrid communities be fulfilling in the long run, or are virtual realities more of an escape room from a threatening everyday life? Which competence frameworks between DigCompEdu and Literacy do we need? [...] The conference programme covers a wide range of topics and is divided into the following eight tracks: Teaching formats and methods; Quality criteria for online learning scenarios; Acquisition of competences; Digital strategy and platform economy; Gamification; Participation and collaboration in public spaces; Management of participation and collaboration; Interactive formats. (DIPF/Orig.

Will Fair Use Survive? Free Expression in the Age of Copyright Control

"Fair use" is a crucial exception to "intellectual property" controls - it allows users to publish, distribute, or reproduce copyrighted or trademarked material without permission, for certain purposes. But extensive research, including statistical analysis and scores of firsthand stories from artists, writers, bloggers, and others, shows that many producers of creative works are wary of claiming fair use for fear of getting sued. The result is a serious chilling effect on creative expression and democratic discussion.Several factors must be considered in deciding whether a use of copyrighted material is "fair." Four factors identified in the copyright law are: 1) the purpose and character of the new work; 2) the nature of the original work; 3) the amount and substantiality of the original work that was used; and 4) the effect of the new work on the market for the original. Examples of fair use are criticism, commentary, news reporting, scholarship, and "multiple copies for classroom use." "Will Fair Use Survive?" suggests the need for strengthening fair use so that it can be an effective tool for anyone who contributes to culture and democratic discourse. The report finds: Artists, writers, historians, and filmmakers are burdened by a "clearance culture" that ignores fair use and forces them to seek permission (which may be denied) and pay high license fees in order to use even small amounts of copyrighted or trademarked material.The 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (the DMCA) is being used by copyright owners to pressure Internet service providers to take down material from their servers on the mere assertion that it is infringing, with no legal judgment and no consideration of fair use.An analysis of 320 letters on the Chilling Effects website, an online repository of threatening cease and desist and "take down" letters, showed that nearly 50% of the letters had the potential to stifle protected speech. Report Highlights:The giant Bank of America sent a threatening letter to a small ceramic piggy bank company called Piggy Bank of America, claiming its use of the name was a trademark violation.A "planetary enlightenment" group called Avatar consistently suppressed online discussion group postings critical of its program by using DMCA "take down" letters.MassMutual sent a cease and desist letter to the gripe site "MassMutualSuks.com," claiming trademark infringement.Mattel sued artist Tom Forsythe for his series of "Food Chain Barbies," acerbic commentaries on Mattel's role in perpetuating gender inequality. Only after a long, bruising court fight did Forsythe win the right to parody Barbie.The report recommends: creating a clearinghouse for information, including sample replies to cease and desist and "take down" letters; outreach to Internet service providers who are instructed by companies to take down sites with material they claim as copyright-protected; changes in the law to reduce the penalty for guessing wrong about fair use; and the creation of a national pro bono legal support network.On December 15, 2005, Representatives Rick Boucher, Zoe Lofgren, and John Doolittle circulated a "Dear Colleague" letter praising the report for explaining why fair use "is a crucial part of our copyright law," and why legislation is needed to secure fair use rights in the digital environment