A Study of Early Childhood Development Teachers’ Experiences in Zimbabwe: Implications to Early Intervention and Special Education

This study examined Early Childhood Development (ECD) teachers’ perceptions of ECD programs regarding benefits and opportunities for early intervention. Research indicates that young children with developmental delays and disabilities demonstrate better progress when intervention is offered early and in inclusive classrooms. A mixed method design was used to collect data from a purposeful sample of 81 ECD teachers in Chipinge district, in Zimbabwe. Both descriptive and regression analysis methods were used for data analysis. Findings indicated that there was a general lack of in-depth knowledge, and most teachers did not follow developmentally appropriate curriculum. Threats and challenges included: lack of knowledge and assessments to diagnose developmental delays, disabilities, as well as lack of developmentally and culturally relevant teaching materials. Regression analysis indicated that age, experience, location, and training are important variables explaining perceived benefits of ECD. This study offers research-based ways to address challenges and threats to effective ECD programs

Establishing the Importance of Interaction and Presence to Student Learning in Online Environments

With the growing trends in favor of online course offerings in higher education, it is important that researchers continue to focus on investigating the components vital to effectiveness. Using a survey design, the elements of interaction and presence, and their relationship and influence on student learning in an online course is examined in the current study. The findings of the study suggest that students perceive instructor-learner and learner-content interaction to be more important to their learning as compared to learner-learner interaction. In addition, teaching presence plays a more important role in student learning followed by cognitive presence and then social presence. Again, when it comes to the combination of the factors of interaction and presence, the factors that students perceive to have the most influence on their learning are teaching presence and learner-instructor interaction with the least important factor being learner-learner interaction. Overall, the results of this empirical study have implications for online course design and delivery to ensure student learning in online environments

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Globalization and Teacher Education: Challenges and Solutions to 21st Century Content Preparation and Pedagogy in Africa

This chapter examines the challenges to 21st century content preparation and pedagogy from the perspective of teaching professionals from different African countries: Cameroon, Ghana, South Africa, Lesotho and Zimbabwe. Specifically, the chapter explores the views and experiences of the participants during and after teacher preparation programs. Findings reveal common challenges, specific 21st century skills that are overlooked, and those not yet fully integrated in teacher preparation programs. The chapter offers suggestions for improvement based on the views of participants, research-based literature review, and best practices in teacher preparation programs

Globalization and Teacher Education: Challenges and Solutions to 21st Century Content Preparation and Pedagogy in Africa

This chapter examines the challenges to 21st century content preparation and pedagogy from the perspective of teaching professionals from different African countries: Cameroon, Ghana, South Africa, Lesotho and Zimbabwe. Specifically, the chapter explores the views and experiences of the participants during and after teacher preparation programs. Findings reveal common challenges, specific 21st century skills that are overlooked, and those not yet fully integrated in teacher preparation programs. The chapter offers suggestions for improvement based on the views of participants, research-based literature review, and best practices in teacher preparation programs

Using Technology to Address the Challenges to Effective Assessment of Young Learners Who Are Immigrants

Assessment is an integral part of teaching and learning. Assessment data is gathered to monitor progress and developmental gains in child development and learning, to guide curriculum planning and decision making, to identify special needs, and to evaluate the effectiveness of early childhood programs. Current research indicates that assessment data gathered from children who are immigrants does not always lead to the development of effective curriculum and instruction, and the data is not reliable in identifying immigrant children with special needs. This chapter discusses the possible technologies available to mitigate the threats and challenges that continue to affect the gathering of effective assessment data from young learners who are immigrants

Learner-Centered Pedagogy in Technology Integrated Classrooms: An Agenda for Teacher Preparation and Professional Development

Research evidence exists to support the implementation of learner-centered approaches in technological usage and in teaching methodologies. This chapter uses qualitative observation data on implementation of learner-centered approaches in technology integrated classrooms collected by two participant observers. Findings indicate that the problems that some instructional technology researchers in the past decade have found still persist despite the extensive technology professional development designed to enhance the use of technology in a learner-centered approach. The TPACK framework which is used as a guide to effective technology integration has not been fully utilized by many who offer professional development or those who design technology courses at teacher preparation programs. Two major problems noted in observation notes are: 1) those who provide professional development do not begin with the background of the TPACK framework; 2) the TPACK framework is usually discussed in isolation of other frameworks such as the UDL framework