What did the Romans ever do for us? ‘Next generation’ networks and hybrid learning resources

Networked learning is fundamentally concerned with the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to link people to people and resources, to support the process of learning. This paper explores some current and forthcoming changes in ICT and some potential implications of these developments for networked learning. Whilst we aim to avoid taking a technologically determinist stance, we explore the potential for future practice and how some educational and pedagogic practices are evolving to exploit and shape the digital environment. We argue that we can change both the ways in which connections between people (learners and other learners; learners and tutors) are made and the nature of the resources that learning communities (particularly distributed communities) can engage with. In doing this we draw on two strands of work. Firstly, we draw on the ‘IBZL Education’ a UK Open University initiative to develop new scholarship in the context of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) through which educators are encouraged to think about technological change in the next five to ten years and ways in which we can intervene and shape these developments. We use problem-based learning as an example of a learning experience that can be difficult to implement in a networked learning environment. IBZL identified two broad strands of significant technological development. 'Superfast' broadband networks that are capable of supporting novel applications are being rolled in the UK (and elsewhere). Also, boundaries between the real and virtual worlds are becoming blurred as in the ‘internet of things’ where, for example, RFID tags enable information about the real world to be brought into the virtual one. We use the term ‘artefact’ to describe designed components, whether entirely digital, such as a computer forum, or material, such as a tablet PC. Networked ‘hybrid’ technologies of virtual and material components have may great potential for use in education. Secondly, we illustrate how these changes may be beginning to happen in distance education using the example of TU100 My Digital Life, a new introductory Open University. . TU100 Students use an electronics board in their own homes to work on a programming problem in collaboration other students through a tutor-led tutorial in a web conferencing system. We also note some of the evident complexity that establishing such resources as part of wider infrastructures of networked learning would be likely to involve

Beginning Teachers’ Motivations and Aspirations through Teacher Education

ABSTRACT: Much research has focused on what motivates people to take on a teaching career. An open question remains – how do their motivations and aspirations change through their professional education? We sampled secondary teacher education candidates near the end of their qualification (N=72) in Melbourne Australia (age: M=21.44, SD 2.77). Participants rated their responses for “then” (recalling their entry to teacher education) and “now” for a range of items. They answered open-ended questions regarding future plans and aspirations, and their teaching related abilities. Responses revealed significant changes in most perceived motivations and aspirations, with all changes in an upward direction. Findings are interpreted in light of the current climate of teacher shortages

Shop-floor bargaining and the struggle for job control in the British automobile and aerospace industries 1950-1982

In the UK automobile and aerospace industries, the struggle over job control and rewards for labour expended in the production process was particularly intense in the period of steady economic growth, high and stable employment, and low inflation, following the Second World War. This struggle reached its zenith during a phase of increasing output in the 1950s and early 1960s. By the late 1960s, however, as wages and unemployment began to rise and the rate of growth slowed there was a discernible shift in management industrial relations strategy and efforts by government to curb the authority and influence of shop-stewards. Despite disparities both between and within these respective industries, particularly the higher skill levels required by the aerospace sector, common experiences of the transformation of labour conditions of work are noticeable. In mapping some key historical struggles of automobile and aerospace workers against management forms of authority and control, it should be possible to distinguish the critical dynamics prevalent in both industries. Knowledge of the trajectory of labour relations and the pattern and character of conflict is critical to understanding and accounting for continuity and change in the social relations of production

Exploring the use of Controlled English for communication with ACT-R agents

Research is being undertaken into sense-making by collaborative agents, based upon a cognitive framework of human behaviour, ACT-R, together with communication between the agents. We explore the use of Controlled English for this purpos

Relating onshore wind turbine reliability to offshore application

With the award of the latest Round 3 offshore wind farm sites around the UK coast the wind industry is moving from the operation of near inshore to truly offshore wind farms. This has two major implications, the first being that wind turbines are now being specifically designed for offshore deployment, a key feature being that the new wind turbines are likely to be two to four times the size of the largest current onshore machines. The second is that due to the limitations of access to offshore wind turbines, their availability needs to be in the order of 98% or greater if reasonable costs of energy are to be achieved. The distance of the wind turbines from shore means that more attention needs to be given to the availability, reliability and maintainability of these offshore wind turbines. The research discussed in this report set out to examine these factors in more depth, using the reliability data of Clipper Windpower’s onshore 2.5 MW Liberty machine as the practical evidence for doing so. In analysing the data the primary aim was to build a picture of typical fault type and duration and more specifically alarm type, distribution and alarm quantity. These results were then compared with an external data source to identify common trends or major divergences and the findings used to identify potential improvements in availability, reliability and maintainability for the design of Clipper Windpower’s offshore Britannia 10 MW machine. The key conclusions of the research are that: The Britannia wind turbine pitch system needs dramatic improvement on that of the Liberty wind turbine and this requires further detailed investigation. The ability to access the wind farms quickly and cost effectively will be critical to maintaining the required levels of wind turbine availability. The Britannia wind turbine needs to be designed for reliability and availability not simply for keeping the wind turbine in a safe mode. The number and classification of alarms built into the wind turbine monitoring system needs to be critically reviewed with the aim of reducing and rationalising responses where possible

A Germany in the Pacific: The role of Japan in Russia's turn to Asia

Este artículo analiza el papel de Japón en la re-orientación de Rusia hacia Asia en el plano tanto estratégico, económico como ideacional, fijándose en el estado actual de las relaciones bilaterales, en particular los hechos anteriores y posteriores a la Cumbre APEC del 2012 en Vladivostok. Este artículo fija igualmente su atención en las crecientes oportunidades entre ambos países, en particular en las esferas de energía, seguridad y en el potencial para mayores inversiones en el Lejano Este de Rusia. Igualmente considera el problema de la disputa territorial en torno a las Kuriles del Sur / Territorios del Norte y su impacto en las relaciones Rusia-Japón. Este artículo identifica un renovado esfuerzo entre la élite política e intelectual rusa por poner un mayor énfasis en Japón como socio clave en la estrategia de desarrollo nacional, la cual a su vez está íntimamante ligada a una determinada forma de concebir la identidad nacional, a la naturaleza de la integración rusa en la región Asia-Pacífico y a una geopolítica regional cambiante.

Best value and workplace partnership in local government

Purpose – This paper explores employee experiences concerning job security/insecurity, workload, job satisfaction and employee involvement in the aftermath of Best Value reviews in a local authority. Design/methodology/approach – Using a mix of quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques employees’ experiences of Best Value reviews in a local authority are compared and contrasted with council staff employed elsewhere in the authority to establish the extent to which workplace partnership principles have taken hold under a Best Value regime. Findings – Little evidence of positive outcomes was found from partnership at work under a Best Value regime. The constraints imposed by central government, under which managers in the public sector operate, contributed significantly to partnership at work remaining little more than a hollow shell. Originality/value – This paper provides a recent in-depth case study of the experience of workplace partnership, which was developed not discrete from but as part of the Best Value modernisation programme in a local authority