Normative and Legal Pluralism: A Global Perspective

This lecture sets out to demystify the topic of legal pluralism by examining the relationship between legal pluralism, normative pluralism, and general normative theory from a global perspective. The central theme is that treating legal pluralism as a species of normative pluralism decenters the state, links legal pluralism to a rich body of literature, and helps to show that some of the central puzzlements surrounding the topic can usefully be viewed as much broader issues in the general theory of norms and legal theory. A second theme is that so-called “global legal pluralism” is in several respects qualitatively different from the older anthropological and socio-legal accounts of legal pluralism and is largely based on a different set of concerns

‘Learning matters’ ‐ adjusting the media mix for academic advantage

This paper notes the move towards resource‐based and distance learning within higher education institutions and briefly describes the Open University's approach to the development of such materials. In this context the need for clear evidence of the educational effectiveness of new technologies to support learning is explored. This is illustrated by reference to a course called ‘E211 Learning Matters’, which is currently being produced at the Open University (OU). A comparison is made of student activity on a ‘traditional’ OU course and E211. This analysis is based on a theoretical model presented to Alt‐C96 by Diana Laurillard This model involves looking at the distribution of student activity in terms of ‘attending’, ‘practising’, ‘discussing’ and ‘articulating’. The outcome of the analysis supports the view that by changing the balance of media used on E211 away from paper and towards new interactive media, the quality of the course will be enhanced. However, the model is limited in that it only explicitly deals with the quantity of use of each media. The paper explores some of the implicit assumptions within the model and illustrates them with reference to E211. It also highlights ways in which changing the balance of media has been found to impact on the underlying view of learning implicit within the course

Talking about schools: Towards a typology for future education

Background In recent years there has been increasing interest in creating diversity of educational provision to meet the full range of needs presented by learners. This is both a reflection, and a partial consequence, of the three central agendas for schooling in many countries — standards, choice and inclusion, and the growth in information communication technologies and associated systems. The complexity of available ‘school’ types makes it increasingly difficult for individuals to explore the differences between the educational programmes on offer. Purpose The purpose of this paper is to map the different forms of provision into a typology that will be provide theorists, practitioners, users and policy-makers with a clear set of descriptors to explore current structures and to consider future developments. Nine types of education programme are categorized. Theoretical origins The paper takes the three distinct alternative education types, identified by Raywid, as a startingpoint for this Educational Programmes Typology. It also draws upon the work of Aron, in which the characteristics of alternative education are outlined according to their relationship to other education systems, their target population, primary purpose, operational setting, educational focus, administrative entity, credentials offered and funding sources. Main argument The paper broadens Raywid’s and Aron’s typologies so as to include the identifiers for the full range of education programmes offered to learners, not just those who typically have additional needs. Six additional educational programme types are presented, which describe current provision within open entry, selective entry, special educational, home learning and adult learning settings. Type 8 is proposed as representing a possible educational system of the future. This reflects social and cultural developments, the evolution of information communication technologies and other technologies, and our changing understandings of learning theories and practices. Conclusions The proposed typology needs to be tested against a wide range of possible settings in different countries and education systems, but offers a useful tool for looking across boundaries of culture and practice. It provides an accessible vocabulary for exploring current learning programmes and those we create in the future

Questionnaire data: summary of findings - year 4, 2006

ICT Test Bed questionnaire analysis - learners, teachers, headteachers and familie

EDUsummIT 2011 Report from TWG3: Teacher Professional Development

A summary of the discussion and recommendations from the International Summit on ICT in Education 2011 working group on professional development of teachers

Developing Point of Learning : an innovative approach to enhancing professional learning

In this paper we: * expand upon some of the issues with current approaches used in the development and assessment of professional practice, * outline the current emphasis upon a life of learning and why we need a new approach to assessment that enhances the development of professional practice, * introduce and provide a brief overview of Point of Learning (PoL) – a new approach that builds upon our growing understanding of learning and takes advantage of the power of digital technology, * explain how PoL overcomes problems with existing approaches, * develop the theoretical underpinning for this new approach and * present the overarching structure in which this new model can be developed. This is illustrated with an example from the schools sector – though it is important to remember that PoL is applicable to any professional development context

ICT Test Bed survey data: summary of findings from year 3, 2005

Analysis of the ICT Test Bed Evaluation questionnaires with learners, teachers, leaders and familie