Mobilising teacher education: a study of a professional learning community

This paper reports on a study of a community of university educators that investigated the introduction of mobile technologies into their learning and teaching. The study was conducted by a subgroup of that community. Given the ubiquity of mobile devices, members of the community felt they needed to develop expertise in mobile learning so that they could incorporate it into their teaching. They studied their own learning, supported by a critical friend who evaluated the community's functioning and activities, providing valuable feedback. Activities of this group were informed by and focused on: development of awareness of the potential of mobile devices for learning; construction of action plans within the community; and implementation of these plans. They also included investigating best-practice approaches by interviewing experts in the field, exploring the literature on mobile learning and then initiating and testing some mobile learning pedagogies in the context of their own teacher education subjects. The community met regularly to discuss emerging issues and applications. The paper shares some of the findings gained from studying the community, and discusses the challenges and constraints that were experienced. The authors conclude with recommendations for professional learning communities aiming to learn about technology-mediated teaching practices

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (3rd edition)

In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. For example, a key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process versus those that measure fl ux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process including the amount and rate of cargo sequestered and degraded). In particular, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation must be differentiated from stimuli that increase autophagic activity, defi ned as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (inmost higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium ) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the fi eld understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. It is worth emphasizing here that lysosomal digestion is a stage of autophagy and evaluating its competence is a crucial part of the evaluation of autophagic flux, or complete autophagy. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. Along these lines, because of the potential for pleiotropic effects due to blocking autophagy through genetic manipulation it is imperative to delete or knock down more than one autophagy-related gene. In addition, some individual Atg proteins, or groups of proteins, are involved in other cellular pathways so not all Atg proteins can be used as a specific marker for an autophagic process. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field

What counts in teaching mathematics: adding value to self and content

This synthesis of current practice and research in mathematics teacher education and mathematics education features contributions from recognised scholars. It examines the role of 'critical friends' in reflective practice and the emerging issues in the field

Online mentoring for the induction of beginning teachers

Solutions to the enduring problem of teacher retention increasingly focus on the need for quality induction programs for beginning teachers. One response of the New South Wales Department of Education and Training is to nominate school mentors for all beginning teachers. This article reports on research that investigates the extent to which e-learning networks can support school mentoring to enhance induction programs. Beginning teachers from five NSW schools were monitored as they accessed a mentoring online program provided by the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) over a three-month period

Theorising and Implementing Mobile Learning: Using the iPAC Framework to Inform Research and Teaching Practice

This book focuses on teaching and learning with mobile technologies, with a particular emphasis on school and teacher education contexts. It explains a robust, highly-acclaimed contemporary mobile pedagogical framework (iPAC) that focuses on three distinct mobile pedagogies: personalisation, authenticity and collaboration. The book shows how mobile pedagogical practice can benefit from use of this framework. It offers numerous cutting-edge research resources and examples that supplement theoretical discussions. It considers directions for future research and practice. Readers will gain insights into the potential of current and emerging learning technologies in school and teacher education

Initiation and rites of passage: Learning the school culture

Tese de doutoramento em Relações Internacionais, Política Internacional e Resolução de Conflitos, apresentada à Faculdade de Economia da Universidade de CoimbraEsta tese questiona as perspectivas académicas e as práticas internacionais dominantes sobre contextos de pós-guerra, defendendo que estas se encontram centradas num pensamento binário que diferencia como categorias e períodos antinómicos guerra e paz, político e criminal, reprodução e resistência. Argumenta-se que esta visão redutora impede a compreensão da complexidade das relações, continuidades e mimetismos entre lógicas e períodos da guerra e a paz. Isto porque as perspectivas dominantes das Relações Internacionais, e mesmo dos Estudos da Paz e dos Conflitos, tendem, a ignorar múltiplas violências quotidianas assim como os percursos de produção de margens sociais e políticas e as suas reconfigurações ao longo da história; tendem, ao mesmo tempo, a veicular visões estereotipadas dos grupos nas margens do poder, nomeadamente os jovens de países e sociedades periféricas, e a constituí-los como ameaças para a segurança internacional, ignorando o sofrimento localizado e os percursos concretos de reprodução das violências; tendem ainda a secundarizar o papel de dinâmicas e actores internacionais na produção da violência, assim como a negligenciar uma análise das dinâmicas de resistência e de não-violência no quotidiano, privilegiando-se uma análise do comportamento dos actores formalmente entendidos como políticos. Pelo contrário, adopta-se nesta tese uma perspectiva alternativa de análise a partir de dois contextos distintos: El Salvador e Guiné-Bissau. Partindo das experiências e percepções de jovens não privilegiados, em contextos urbanos marcados por adversidades constantes, questiona a utilidade e pertinência dos enquadramentos de reflexão e de intervenção baseados na identificação entre pós-guerra, pós-crise e pós-violências e revela a permanência e incrustação da guerra, da crise e da violência no quotidiano. As vivências quotidianas de violência, de sofrimento e de impossibilidades nestes contextos reflectem fragmentos de guerra na paz, assim como fragmentos de resistência na reprodução da violência e da dominação. Reflectem, ainda, uma genealogia das violências e da distribuição do poder à qual não são alheios actores e políticas internacionais. Esta análise leva-nos assim a reconsiderar a distinção rígida entre velhas e novas violências, entre violência política e não política, entre actores políticos e não-políticos, entre agressores e vítimas, entre grupos mais e menos relevantes, entre local e internacional.This thesis challenges the prevailing academic perspectives and international practices regarding post-war contexts. It sustains that these perspectives are based on a binary thinking that establishes opposite categories and periods such as war and peace, political and criminal, reproduction and resistance. This limited outlook, it is argued, prevents the thorough comprehension of the relations, continuities and mimesis that connect the periods and logics of war and peace. Therefore, mainstream International Relations and even some Peace and Conflict Studies perspectives tend to ignore the multiple forms of everyday violences as well as the processes of production of social and political margins and their reconfiguration throughout history. At the same time, these perspectives tend to propagate stereotyped views of the groups at the margins of power, namely of youngsters in peripheral countries and societies, and portray them as threats to international security, ignoring local suffering and the particular paths through which violences are reproduced. Furthermore, they also tend to overlook the role of international actors and dynamics in the production of violence and neglect the examination of the dynamics of resistance and nonviolence in everyday life, privileging instead an exploration of the behaviour of formal political actors. Conversely, this thesis adopts an alternative analysis approach, examining two distinct contexts: El Salvador and Guinea-Bissau. Drawing upon the experiences and perceptions of non privileged youth, in urban contexts characterised by continuous adversities, it questions the utility and the relevance of academic and intervention frameworks that tend to equate post-war with post-crisis and post-violences and rather reveals the permanence and pervasiveness of war, crisis and violence in everyday life. In these contexts, everyday experiences of violence, suffering and impossibility reveal fragments of war in peacetimes as well as fragments of resistance in the midst of violence reproduction and domination. Furthermore, these everyday violences reveal a genealogy of violences and of power distribution, which are also influenced by international actors and policies. Finally, this analysis leads us to reconsider the rigid distinctions between old and new violences, political and non-political violence, political and non-political actors, perpetrators and victims, more relevant groups and less relevant groups, the local and the international.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - SFRH / BD / 36589 / 200

Ethical professional mobile learning for teaching and nursing workplaces

The ubiquity, accessibility and flexibility of mobile technologies suggests they will be valuable for professional learning, particularly in professions where most of the work does not occur at a set workstation. This chapter focuses on two such professions: teaching and nursing. But their use by these professions is not unproblematic (Aubusson, Schuck and Burden, 2009; Fisher, Higgins and Loveless, 2006; Wishart, 2009 ). While mobile activities are likely to contribute to these professionals' learning in the workplace, a tension arises regarding the ethical nature of such activities. This chapter explores the complexities and confusion faced by teachers and nurses in their use of work-based mobile learning. The chapter considers the ethical issues involved in the use of mobile technologies to capture, reflect upon and share moments of professional learning in these work-based contexts. It suggests a number of ethical principles which might provide a useful guide for professional practice for teaching and nursing and beyond