E-portfolio in education. Practices and reflections

The main activities of the digiFolio Project include: Building a common knowledge base supported by research work on the theory of portfolio usage; Paper and online publication of the results of the research work; Establishment of the pedagogical model for the training course; Analysis of the existing technological infrastructures for digital portfolio usage; Adjustment of the best tools and training course setup; Piloting and evidencing of the training course; Monitoring of the trainees' work by using a specific online teachers' support structure; International seminar. Website: http://digifolioseminar.org/?The present publication addresses the use of digital portfolios in educational context and it is one of the latest dissemination activities of the Digifolio project – Digital Portfolio as a strategy for teachers’ professional development, a COMENIUS 2.1 project which was carried out between 2005 and 2008. It involved several universities and teacher training institutions from five different European countries. The project, which main focus was the reflection on the potentialities of portfolios and digital technologies in the perspective of teachers’ professional development, came to its end with an international seminar which aimed at disseminating the work produced in the frame of a previous teachers training course, as well as allowing and welcoming the contribution of other education professionals with their practices and reflections on the above-mentioned thematic.Europeen Comissio

Visual Literacy and New Technologies

This body of research addresses the connection between arts, identity and new technology, and investigates the impact of images on adolescent identities, the relationship between online modes of communication and cyber-bullying, the increasing visualization of information and explores the way drawing and critical analysis of imagery develops visual literacy. Commissioned by Adobe Systems Pty Ltd, Australia (2003) to compile the Visual Literacy White Paper, Bamford’s report defines visual literacy and highlights its importance in the learning of such skill as problem solving and critical thinking. Providing strategies to promote visual literacy and emphasizing the role of technology in visual communication, this report has become a major reference for policy on visual literacy and cyber-bullying in the UK, USA and Asia

The Education Quality Measuring: American Experience

The US Higher Education Reform is due to certain processes of competitiveness, market orientation, the tendency to form a single space for education. The American system of Higher Education has integrated the best in the education of other countries and thus helped the country overcome crises, to some extent solve the problems of racial discrimination, unemployment, poverty, improved the situation of women, people with disabilities, national minorities. The historical events, socio-economic transformations, aspiration to be a leader in the world market respectively have influenced the development of Higher Education. Due to reforms in American society, education has become more open, various, versatile. The Americans highly value the Higher Education and believe that education is necessary for a conscious political life, the functioning of a democratic government, the development of economic and political International relations. The American education serving the dynamic and global economy is effective and capable of developing in the conditions of limited public resources. This article focuses on the measurement of education quality and accreditation of Higher Learning Institutions in the USA; the analysis of educational activities of American universities; the coverage of accreditation and education performance of Higher Learning Institutions in the United States; these indicators usage in the process of education quality assessing in American universities; the essence disclosure of measurement the education quality with helping "added value" on the basis by American scientists research; the borrowing American experience into the Higher Learning Institutions in Ukraine

KOMPETENCIJE UČITELJA U OSNOVNIM ŠKOLAMA ZA PRIPREMU MATERIJALA ZA MULTIMEDIJSKO UČENJE

Advancement of computer hardware and software authoring tools has enabled wider use of multimedia learning materials in elementary education. Elementary education (lower level primary school) teachers should consider the advantages of multimedia learning materials. They are not just users of readymade multimedia learning materials, but also producers or disseminators. Teachers’ competency level in the application of multimedia learning materials is growing. Introductory courses and increased availability of educational technology equipment have changed the teaching paradigm. Even elementary teachers in primary schools should have competencies for creating e-learning materials. The differences between recommendation and reality can only be established with data, and in our case we use surveys. The work of elementary teachers as creators of multimedia learning materials and their motivation are discussed in this article. Our research is focused on teachers at lower levels of primary schools (elementary education) as they are the first step in the educational pyramid.Napredovanje računalnog hardvera i softvera, te autorskih alata omogućilo je širu uporabu materijala za multimedijalno učenje u osnovnom obrazovanju. Nastavnici u osnovnom obrazovanju ( niža razina osnovnoškolci ) trebaju razmotriti prednosti materijala za učenje multimedijskih sadržaja. Oni su ne samo korisnici gotovih materijala za multimedijalno učenje, nego i proizvođači ili širitelji. Nastavnička razina kompetencija u primjeni multimedijskih nastavnih materijala raste. Uvodni tečajevi i povećana dostupnost obrazovne opreme su promijenili nastavni paradigmu. Čak i nastavnici u osnovnim školama trebaju imati kompetencije za stvaranje e-learning materijals. Razlike između preporuka i stvarnosti mogu se utvrditi samo s podacima, a u našem slučaju koristimo se anketama. Rad nastavnika kao tvoraca multimedijalnih materijala za učenje i njihovu motivaciju promatra se u ovom članku. Naše istraživanje je usmjereno na nastavnika na nižim razinama osnovnih škola ( osnovno obrazovanje) jer su oni prvi korak u obrazovnoj piramidi

Cultural matter in the development of an interactive multimedia self-paced educational health program for aboriginal health workers

Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander health workers are key providers of primary health services to Aboriginal communities especially in remote and rural areas. They are often overloaded with competing demands. There has been limited attention given to the maintenance and ongoing enhancement of their skills and knowledge following the completion of formal training. A culturally appropriated interactive multimedia self-paced health program as a mechanism to improve the accessibility and the use of scientific data and information for health purposes is proposed as a basic method for better supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary health care workers in their practice locations. This paper explores different approaches for the development of a culturally appropriate interactive multimedia educational health program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander health workers and it also explore cultural matters concerning program development in the light of existing literature

Who Learns from Collaborative Digital Projects? Cultivating Critical Consciousness and Metacognition to Democratize Digital Literacy Learning

Collaborative group work is common in writing classrooms, especially ones assigning digital projects. While a wealth of scholarship theorizes collaboration and advocates for specific collaborative pedagogies, writing studies has yet to address the ways in which privilege tied to race, gender, class, and other identity characteristics replicates itself within student groups by shaping the responsibilities individual group members assume, thereby affecting students\u27 opportunities for learning. Such concerns about equity are especially pressing where civically and professionally valuable twenty-first century digital literacies are concerned. This article uses theories of cultural capital and the participation gap to (1) analyze role uptake in case studies of diverse student groups and (2) suggest ways to expand writing studies\u27 current use of metacognition to address such inequities

Leisure Is Hard Work: Digital Practices and Future Competencies

Part of the Volume on Youth, Identity, and Digital Media This chapter is based on two claims, namely that digital media are fundamental in nurturing human competencies for the future and that children's leisured media practices are critical catalysts in that process. These claims are documented by results from a recent case study on children's content creation of digital animation. Based on these results, the chapter discusses some of the fundamental challenges posed to educational institutions if they are to nurture future-directed competences for all pupils. These challenges include pupils' understanding of knowledge, their attitudes to learning resources and contexts of use, and the distribution of power relations. Like 300 million other kids around the globe, every Dane under the age of 20 knows that the protagonist of The Little Mermaid is Ariel, a fiesty redhead who manages to shape her fate and fortune. This fact is noteworthy only because Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, the author of the orignal fairy tale, composed a tragic tale of loss and redemption. The narrative and experiential discrepancies raise fundamental questions about the ways in which global and local media products frame children's everyday culture and the ways in which media operate as identity markers in a variety of sociocultural contexts. Moreover, Disney's figures, like many other media elements, are routinely appropriated by children in their own, increasingly digitized, media productions, from simple drawings to blogs, screen dumps, and home pages. These practices raise important issues about the role played by digital forms of media production for children vis a vis the more conventional and widespread forms of media reception

Reconsideration on the Construction of Finance Discipline and the Cultivation of College Students’ Employability in Sichuan International Studies University

Based on the construction and talent cultivation of the finance discipline in industry characteristic universities, this article discusses the subject setting, professional course structure, and the model for cultivating college students’ employability to illustrate how universities with prominent industry characteristics carry out the construction of the finance discipline. It indicates that the full use of laboratories to support the construction of characteristic disciplines is the foundation, and emphasizes the internal logical connection between various courses as a clue analysis, From the simple quantity construction to the improvement of curriculum quality, from the construction of a single core curriculum to the construction of a multi curriculum system, from the internal logical extension of the core curriculum to the internal logical connection of related courses, sort out the connection, mutual support and strengthening between the Temporal logic and content order of related courses, optimize and integrate the curriculum system by using the internal logical connection of the curriculum group, In order to promote the transformation of teaching concepts and teaching methods, achieve the goal of high-quality construction of course groups, and propose corresponding future development ideas based on this

Designing for Ballet Classes: Identifying and Mitigating Communication Challenges Between Dancers and Teachers

Dancer-teacher communication in a ballet class can be challenging: ballet is one of the most complex forms of movements, and learning happens through multi-faceted interactions with studio tools (mirror, barre, and floor) and the teacher. We conducted an interview-based qualitative study with seven ballet teachers and six dancers followed by an open-coded analysis to explore the communication challenges that arise while teaching and learning in the ballet studio. We identified key communication issues, including adapting to multi-level dancer expertise, transmitting and realigning development goals, providing personalized corrections and feedback, maintaining the state of flow, and communicating how to properly use tools in the environment. We discuss design implications for crafting technological interventions aimed at mitigating these communication challenges