How and why do student teachers use ICT?

This paper examines how and why student teachers made use of information and communication technology (ICT) during a 1-year initial teacher education programme from 2008 to 2009. This is a mixed methods study involving a survey (N = 340) of the entire cohort and a series of semi-structured interviews with a sample of student teachers within the cohort (N = 21). The study explored several themes, including the nature of student teachers' use of ICT; variation in the use of ICT; support for, and constraints on, using ICT; attitudes to ICT and to teaching and learning more generally. It was found that nearly all teachers were receptive to using ICT – more so than their in-service counterparts – and made frequent use of it during their placement (internship) experience. The Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) was central to nearly all student teachers' use of ICT, in good part, because it was already used by their mentors and was widely accessible. Student teachers' use of ICT was categorized in three levels. Routine users focused mostly on the use of the IWB for whole class teaching; extended users gave greater opportunities for pupils to use ICT for themselves; innovative student teachers used ICT in a greater range of contexts and made more effort to overcome barriers such as access. ICT use was seen as emerging from a mix of factors: chiefly student teachers' access to ICT; their feeling of ‘self-efficacy’ when using ICT; and their belief that ICT had a positive impact on learning – in particular, the impact on pupils' behavioural and affective engagement. Factors which influenced ICT use included mentoring, training and support. Limitations on student teachers' use of ICT are explored and it is suggested that new teachers need to be supported in developing a more discerning use as they begin their teaching careers

The CHIME graduate programme in health informatics

In 1999 University College London inaugurated a programme of graduate part-time Health Informatics courses to support the UK National Health Service?s Information for Health strategy. The programme has attracted students from across the UK and abroad, with a diverse range of backgrounds and skills and has proved a challenging and rewarding experience for students and tutors alike. The modular programme aims to provide a thorough grounding in the theory and practice of Health Informatics and addresses important application areas. The guiding principle is that Health Informatics graduates need to understand computers and programming but that, since the majority are not going to become programmers, programming methods should not dominate the curriculum.In the taught phase of the programme students attend college for 3 days a month and complete an assignment each month, based on home study. Students may graduate with a certificate or diploma, or go on to tackle a dissertation leading to an MSc. Research projects have included a patient record system based on speech input, a mathematical model for illustrating to patients the risks associated with smoking, an analysis of Trust staff's preparedness for Information for Health and a patient information leaflet giving advice about drug related information on the Web. As we move towards our fifth intake of students, we are in the process of evaluating our programme and carrying out a follow up study of our graduates? subsequent career pathways

Tracing the Evolutionary Roots of Modern Islamic Radicalism and Militancy

This paper takes an innovative approach to understanding Islamic radicalism and militancy by utilising charismatic leadership theory to understand the critical role of charismatic leaders in the evolutionary development of the modern Islamist movement's most radical and militant strains. The study of charismatic leadership, rather than focusing exclusively upon the individual leader, is concerned with understanding the complex interplay of social, cultural, historical, psychological and ideological dynamics that create a context conducive for the emergence of the charismatic leader-follower relationship. Consequently, this paper offers critical insights into the phenomenon of Islamic radicalism and militancy. To this end, I argue that the charismatic leader has acted as the vehicle for the evolutionary development of the more radical and militant strains of political Islam. To support this contention, I identify a chain of charismatic leaders stretching across the entire chronology of the modern Islamist movement, reflecting an increasing radicalisation and propensity towards violence with the rise of each leader. I argue that these leaders have emerged during ever present and intensifying perceptions of crisis within communities of potential support, due to the transformative charisma phenomenon in Islamic radicalism and militancy. This innovative and multidisciplinary approach to mapping the evolutionary roots of modern Islamist terrorism will reveal the critical factors at play in the evolutionary development of contemporary Islamic radicalism and militancy from its roots in Islamic modernism in the late 1800s to today’s ‘self-generating mini-groups’

Security and confidentiality approach for the Clinical E-Science Framework (CLEF)

Objectives: CLEF is an MRC sponsored project in the E-Science programme that aims to establish methodologies and a technical infrastructure for the next generation of integrated clinical and bioscience research. Methods: The heart of the CLEF approach to this challenge is to design and develop a pseudonymised repository of histories of cancer patients that can be accessed by researchers. Robust mechanisms and policies have been developed to ensure that patient privacy and confidentiality are preserved while delivering a repository of such medically rich information for the purposes of scientific research. Results: This paper summarises the overall approach adopted by CLEF to meet data protection requirements, including the data flows, pseudonymisation measures and additional monitoring policies that are currently being developed. Conclusion: Once evaluated, it is hoped that the CLEF approach can serve as a model for other distributed electronic health record repositories to be accessed for research