Flexibility and access: implications of blended learning for higher education

Many institutions are developing policies aimed at widening participation and encouraging students from non-traditional backgrounds to engage in Higher Education. A number of studies have noted the potential benefits possible in this context through the use of online learning as part of overall blended approaches, to offer students flexibility in when and where they engage with study materials. Little research, however, has been undertaken in to whether students with significant levels of home commitment find such flexibility of particular use. This paper reports on a small scale exploratory study involving a group of postgraduate students which investigated how the student’s perception of the benefits of flexibility offered by online learning related to their level of home commitment. Analysis of the data gives some initial support to the idea that students with a greater level of home commitments are more likely to view flexibility of access as being of benefit. Consideration is given to the implications of the results for balancing face to face and online component in blended approaches and proposals are made for possible more in depth studies that could provide useful information for those involved in course design in the Higher Education context

Civil Procedure And Evidence—Prima Facie Case

Sagorsky v. Malyon, 307 N. Y. 584, 123 N. E. 2d 79 (1955)

The role of universities and knowledge in teacher education for inclusion

Neoliberal critiques of university-based teacher education programmes have led to policy changes such as the rise of alternative certification programmes, bringing in to question the role of the university in teacher education. Concomitantly, such changes probematise the place of knowledge and evidence in in teacher education. This issue is of particular importance given extant debates about the place of propositional knowledge about children with special educational needs in inclusive education. This paper explores these debates in terms of recent international trends in policy and practice in teacher education for inclusion and argues for an explicit role for universities as custodians and curators of propositional knowledge in pre and in service teacher education

How do teachers deal with uncertainty in relation to working with children with autism in the context of the introduction of a new technology tool?

This study is an exploration of how teachers deal with uncertainty in the classroom. The particular context of the European Commission funded HANDS project, which developed a mobile technology tool to help children with autism to develop social and life skills. The first prototype of the HANDS tool, running on smartphones, was tested at four special schools across Europe in the 2009/10 academic year. The context of teachers working with children with autism combined with the introduction of a technology innovation is viewed as a fertile crucible for exploring teacher uncertainty. The concept of uncertainty is developed via an integration of Donald Schön‘s idea of reflection in action and Wilfred Bion‘s epistemology. In tandem, a psycho-social interpretivist approach to understanding the teachers‘ work in the classroom, based on infant observation, is developed and applied to a detailed consideration of the work of five teachers at the UK school using HANDS. Several areas of potential uncertainty are identified, including uncertainty relating to areas of practice including diagnosis, the relationship between expert knowledge and practice, the implications of autism for autonomy and agency, and uncertainties in relation to the understanding of and use of new technologies per se. Conclusions are drawn about teacher identifications to new technology, the potentially productive role of uncertainty in the intersubjective relationship between teacher and child, and the relevance of a psycho-social approach to considering professional thinking

Civil Procedure And Evidence—Res Judicata

Maflo Holding Corp. v. S. J. Blume Inc., 308 N. Y. 570, 127 N. E. 2d 558 (1955)

Civil Procedure And Evidence—Declaratory Judgment

Jacob Goodman & Co. v. New York Tel. Co., 309 N. Y. 258, 128 N. E. 2d 408 (1955)

Civil Procedure And Evidence—Lis Pendens

Israelson v. Bradley, 308 N. Y. 511, 127 N. E. 2d 313 (1955)

Prospects for applying a theory of change model to the use of research evidence in autism education

Educators and educational researchers show continued interest in how schools can best make use of research evidence in bringing about change in practice in schools. A number of models have been developed to support schools in this challenge, such as research learning communities and lesson study. However, questions remain about the effectiveness of such models, their fit to the particular needs of schools and the extent to which they contribute meaningfully to the body of evidence used to inform changes to practice within the field of education. This issue is of particular relevance when considering the inclusion of autistic children in the classroom partly because of the large body of research being undertaken on autism across a range of domains with varying epistemological perspectives (e.g., neuroscience, psychology, pedagogy) and partly due to the widespread need to support autistic children in the classroom. Questions have also been raised about the evidence policy “agenda,” particularly in terms of reliance on positivist models centered on randomized controlled trials. These concerns focus on the extent to which performative or neoliberal perspectives on effectiveness might mask the complexity of how practice and knowledge (or evidence) are related in models of teacher professional working. One particular approach that could have potential in addressing these is that of Theory of Change (ToC). ToC models come from the field of theory-driven evaluation and draw on frameworks for relating practice to knowledge such as realist evaluations whereby the evaluation focuses on understanding how complex programs work in specific contexts by examining the mechanisms that lead to particular outcomes. ToC models consider under what conditions, for whom, and for what reasons or aims a given activity will achieve its intended outcomes. This paper considers the scope for the application of ToC models by reviewing a selected case from a completed study on the implementation of models for developing evidence informed practice in schools for autism education. By applying a ToC lens to what did happen in this case, we will “re-imagine” this case from a ToC perspective. This approach will serve to illustrate the possibilities for how ToC models could be used in future practice to advance evidence-informed practice in autism education

Supporting user participation in developing mobile technology to help young people with autism: the HANDS smartphone project

Located within the field of the development of mobile technology, the HANDS project aims to develop software to support the social and self-management skills of children with autism. As part of the HANDS project 10 young people were interviewed during the specification stage. This paper explores the methodological aspects of involving young people with autism spectrum disorders in research and argues that consulting children at the earlier stages of research can be a valid contribution to software development. The presentation draws from the voice of the young people in relation to what the mobile technology should have helped them with