Contents
Educational Research and Development
Rationale
Educational Research is research conducted to investigate behavioral patterns in pupils, students, teachers and other participants in schools and other educational institutions. Such research is often conducted by examining work products such as documents and standardized test results.
The methods of educational research are derived chiefly from the social sciences, and in particular from psychology.
Flexible Learning
- Focus, Aims, Approaches and Framework
- Research Approaches
- Approaches and Perspectives
- A Framework for Flexible Learning
- Aspects of Flexible Learning - Student
- Aspects of Flexible Learning - Organisation
- Aspects of Flexible Learning - Pedagogy
- Technology to Support Learning
- Teachers' Role and Support
- Conclusions
Today's Videos
- Connect with us on http://www.youtube.com/finntrack
- Google's Play list
Teaching and Learning Resources
A Literature Review is a body of text that aims to review the critical points of current knowledge on a particular topic.
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Most often associated with science-oriented literature, such as a thesis, the literature review usually precedes a research proposal, methodology and results section. Its ultimate goal is to bring the reader up to date with current literature on a topic and forms the basis for another goal, such as the justification for future research in the area. A good literature review is characterised by: a logical flow of ideas; current and relevant references with consistent, appropriate referencing style; proper use of terminology; and an unbiased and comprehensive view on the topic. According to Cooper (1988) "a literature review uses as its database reports of primary or original scholarship, and does not report new primary scholarship itself. The primary reports used in the literature may be verbal, but in the vast majority of cases reports are written documents. The types of scholarship may be empirical, theoretical, critical/analytic, or methodological in nature. Second a literature review seeks to describe, summarise, evaluate, clarify and/or integrate the content of primary reports". |
Source: Cooper, H.M. (1988): The structure of knowledge synthesis - Knowledge in Society, vol. 1, pp, 104-126.
Retrieved from "http://wiki.mminf.univie.ac.at/wiki/index.php/Englischer_Ausdruck" SOURCES OF LITERATURE REVIEW
Admissions
Adult Education
Adult Education is the practice of teaching and educating adults. This is often done in the workplace, or through 'extension' or 'continuing education' courses at secondary schools, or at a College or University. The practice is also often referred to as 'Training and Development'. It has also been referred to as andragogy (to distinguish it from pedagogy).
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Educating adults differs from educating children in several ways. One of the most important differences is that adults have accumulated knowledge and experience which can either add value to a learning experience or hinder it.
Another important difference is that adults frequently must apply their knowledge in some practical fashion in order to learn effectively; there must be a goal and a reasonable expectation that the new knowledge will help them further that goal. One example, common in the 1990s, was the proliferation of computer training courses in which adults (not children or adolescents), most of whom were office workers, could enroll. These courses would teach basic use of the operating system or specific application software. Because the abstractions governing the user's interactions with a PC were so new, many people who had been working white-collar jobs for ten years or more eventually took such training courses, either at their own whim (to gain computer skills and thus earn higher pay) or at the behest of their managers.
In the United States, a more general example is that of the high-school dropout who returns to school to complete general education requirements. Most upwardly-mobile positions require at the very least a high school diploma or equivalent. A working adult is unlikely to have the freedom to simply quit their job and go "back to school" on a full-time basis. Community colleges and correspondence schools usually offer evening or weekend classes for this reason. In the USA, the equivalent of the high school diploma earned by an adult through these programs is to pass the General Education Development (GED) test.
Another fast growing sector of adult education is English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), also referred to as English as a Second Language (ESL). These courses are key in assisting immigrants with not only the acquisition of the English language, but the acclimation process to the culture of the United States.
See also
- Adult high school
- Folk high school in Scandinavia and Germany
- Community college in Canada and the United States
- Community Education in Scotland
- Continuing education
- Distance learning
- E-learning
- Lifelong learning
External links
- International Council for Adult Education (ICAE)
- European Association for the Education of Adults (EAEA)
- The National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE, UK)
- The National Research and Development Centre for Adult Literacy and Numeracy (NRDC, UK)
- Working with Adult Learners in the Library Classroom: A Personal Reflection
Assessment
Assessment is the process of documenting, usually in measurable terms, knowledge, skills, attitudes and beliefs. This article covers educational assessment including the work of institutional researchers, but the term applies to other fields as well including health and finance.
1. Course evaluation is a series of questions given students to evaluate the instruction of a given course.
2. Evaluation is the process of looking at what is being assessed to make sure the right areas are being considered.
3. Grading is the process of assigning a (possibly mutually exclusive) ranking to learners.
4. Educational measurement is a process of assessment or an evaluation in which the objective is to quantify level of attainment or competence within a specified domain. See the Rasch model for measurement for elaboration on the conceptual requirements of such processes, including those pertaining to grading and use of raw scores from assessments.
Educational evaluation deals specifically with evaluation as it applies to an educational setting. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is a government program that requires educational evaluation.
Electronic portfolio is a personal digital record containing information such as a collection of artifacts or evidence demonstrating what one knows and can do.
Health Impact Assessment looks at the potential health impacts of policies, programs and projects.
Program evaluation is essentially a set of philosophies and techniques to determine if a program 'works'.
Social Impact Assessment looks at the possible social impacts of proposed new infrastructure projects, natural resource projects, or development activities.
Standardized testing is any test that is used across a variety of schools or other situations.
Science, Technology, Society and Environment Education
Assessment in Higher Education web site.
Edutopia: Assessment Overview A collection of media and articles on the topic of assessment from The George Lucas Educational Foundation
The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing
Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation
Testing and Assessment Glossary of Terms
A new era in assessing student learning
Assessment
Focus: Powerpoint slides
Core principles of effective assessment
Renewing policy and practice: Frameworks for institutional, faculty and department action
Teaching and Learning Workshop
A Standards Based Test is one based on the outcome-based education or performance-based education philosophy. [1] Assessment is a key part of the standards reform movement. The first part is to set new, higher standards to be expected of every student. Then the curriculum must be aligned to the new standards. Finally, the student must be assessed if they meet these standards of what every student "must know and be able to do". A high school diploma which is given on passing a high school graduation examination or Certificate of Initial Mastery is awarded only when these standards are achieved. At the end of the process of reform, education officials believe that all students will succeed at a higher level. All will meet local, state and federal standards which have been set at world-class standards level for the 21st century, though no such standards document has ever existed. All will graduate reading and computing at or above grade level with academic skills necessary for success in college, though grade level is traditionally defined as the level of the middle 50th percentile. All gaps between all economic, racial, and gender subgroups must and will be closed, though research has yet to produce even one program that has achieved this optimistic goal.
A criterion is set up for standards of what every student or child is expected to know, and a score is set compared to these benchmarks rather than a ranking compared to a norm. It is fully expected that every child will become proficient in all areas of academic skills by the end of a period, typically 10 years but sometimes longer, after the passing of education reform bill by a state legislature. The federal government, under No Child Left Behind can further require that all schools must demonstrate improvement among all students, even if they are already all over proficient.
Curriculum Development
The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) is an Executive Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) of the Department for Education and Skills in the United Kingdom. In England QCA maintains and develops the national curriculum and associated assessments, tests and examinations; and accredits and monitors qualifications in colleges and at work and advises the Secretary of State for Education and Skills on these matters. QCA oversees the work of the awarding bodies in England, to ensure that their administration, marking and awarding procedures run smoothly. The QCA also has responsibility for vocational qualifications in Northern Ireland.
Education and qualifications in other parts of the United Kingdom are the responsibility of devolved governments and agencies.
QCA works closely with its main strategic partners, including the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted), the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI) , employers' organisations, the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA), the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) and the Sector Skills Councils (SSC).
QCA also collaborates with the other public qualification agencies in the UK: the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), the Qualifications, Curriculum and Assessment Authority for Wales (ACCAC) and the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment in Northern Ireland (CCEA).
QCA is based in Piccadilly, London.
- History
- Responsibilities and areas
- Action Research Approach to Curriculum Development
- A Curriculum for Excellence at Learning and Teaching Scotland
Diversity and Equal Opportunities
- Diversity and Equal Opportunities
- Commission for Racial Equality
- Focus on potential, skills and ability...not age
- Time to kick racism out of university
Widening Participation in Higher Education is a major component of government education policy in the United Kingdom. It consists of an attempt to increase not only the numbers of young people entering higher education, but also the proportion from so-called "under-represented groups" (those from lower income families, people with disabilities and some ethnic minorities). In this way it is hoped to redress the inequalities in participation between social classes. Widening participation is one of the strategic objectives of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). The issue of Widening Participation became a political hot topic after the Laura Spence Affair which hit the headlines in 2000.
HEFCE is pursuing this policy through a number of measures, including the payment of financial incentives to universities, and by funding the Aimhigher programme.
This policy is linked to the Labour government's target of increasing participation in higher education to 50% by 2010, and is part of a wider drive to achieve social justice.
- Action on Access is the National Co-ordination Team for HEFCE's Widening Participation Activities. Based at Edge Hill University in the North West of England, Action on Access provides an invaluable resource for widening participation practitioners in Higher Education Institutions and partnerships.
See also
- Action on Access Website
- Aim Higher
- Higher Education Reform
- Quality assurance in Higher Education
- Strategies for widening participation in higher education
- Success for All
- Learning
& Skills Gateway
- Widening participation: the implications for academic staff
- Widening Participation in HE
- Widening participation, HEFCE
Educational Technology
Educational Technology is the systematic and creative blending of "idea" and "product" technologies with subject-matter content in order to engender and improve teaching and learning processes. Educational technology is often associated with the terms instructional technology or learning technology. "Product" technologies are tangible; for example, computer hardware or software. "Idea" technologies are cognitive frameworks or schemes; for example, the theory of Multiple Intelligence Theory proposed by Howard Gardner. When products are thoughtfully blended with subject matter content (such as mathematics or science concepts) for a specific audience in a specific educational context (such as a school), one is using "educational technology."
The words educational and technology in the term educational technology have the general meaning. Educational technology is not restricted to the education of children, nor to the use of high technology. The particular case of the meaningful use of high-technology to enhance learning in K-12 classrooms and higher education is known as technology integration. Several universities have recently opened tracks for graduate programs in the field of Educational Technology.
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Januszewski, Alan (2001). Educational Technology: The Development of a Concept. Libraries Unlimited. ISBN 1-56308-749-9. Kumar, K L (1997). Educational Technology: A Practical Textbook for Students, Teachers, Professionals and Trainers. New Delhi: New Age International. ISBN 81-224-0833-8. Encyclopedia of Educational Technology, a comprehensive resource of articles about Educational Technology, published by the Department of Educational Technology, San Diego State University L Low & M O'Connell, Learner-Centric Design of Digital Mobile Learning, Queensland University of Technology, 2006. Professor Brian J. Ford, Absolute Zeno, Laboratory News p 16, january 2006. Mishra, P. & Koehler, M.J. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for integrating technology in teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017-1054. Monahan, Torin (2005). Globalization, Technological Change, and Public Education. New York: Routledge: ISBN 0-415-95103-8. Soni, S K (2004). An Information Resource on Educational Technology for:Technical & Vocational Education and TRaining (TVET). Sarup & Sons Publishers,Location- New Delhi, e-mail <sarupandsonsin@hotmail.com. ISBN 81-7625-506-8.
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E-Learning Innovations
The Centre for Advanced Learning Technologies
Computer-supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) is a research topic on supporting collaborative learning with the help of computers. It is related to Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW).
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CSCL supports and facilitates group processes and group dynamics in ways that are not achievable by face-to-face, but they are not designed to replace face-to-face communication. This type of learning is typically tailored for use by multiple learners working at the same workstation or across networked machines. The purpose of CSCL is to scaffold or support students in learning together effectively. This system can support communicating ideas and information, accessing information and documents, and providing feedback on problem-solving activities.
The most resilient features of the evolving field of CSCL include an emphasis on collaborative aspects of learning as well as individual ones, an identification of social interactions as an important element of knowledge construction, a focus on the learner(s) and their activities, a shift towards technological environments that promote authentic group learning, and finally, an increasing role for all technological artefacts that form a global network.
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People promoting CSCL generally target the acquisition of higher-order thinking skills, problem solving abilities, epistemic fluency and the collaborative improvement of knowledge within a field of practice. This demands the analysis of processes (rather than just products) within complex and authentic contexts. CSCL is much more ambitious than previous approaches of ICT-support in education. It is therefore more difficult to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of CSCL activities. Nonetheless, all actors involved in ‘e-learning’, and more specifically in CSCL processes, – from policy makers to everyday practitioners – need to have evidence of whether, how and when expected improvements in learning take place. Significant effort is required to provide systematic evaluation of innovative projects, the specific experiences within an action/research framework, the new CSCL systems developed, and so on.
See also
- Educational psychology
- Fle3 - Future Learning Environent - web-based learning environment for computer supported collaborative learning.
External links
International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (ijCSCL) is a new peer-reviewed international journal of CSCL. It is published by Springer electronically and in print. Pre-publication versions of all articles are available for free at this site.
The International Society for the Learning Sciences (ISLS) is a professional society. It sponsors bi-annual conferences on CSCL and on the Learning Sciences. It also sponsors the ijCSCL journal and the Journal of the Learning Sciences. Subscription to these journals is included in ISLS membership.
The Laboratory for Interactive Learning Technologies is a computer supported collaborative learning laboratory at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. "LILT pursues a diverse portfolio of cognitive science, human-computer interaction, and social science approaches to technology-supported learning."
The Online Collaborative Learning in Higher Education web site contains links to articles, books, conferences, and other resources related to CSCL.
Gerry Stahl's CSCL web page contains links to articles, books, conferences, and other resources related to CSCL. It contains videos of several presentations at CSCL conferences.
Group Cognition web page contains a pre-publication version of a new book on CSCL -- "Group Cognition: Computer Support for Building Collaborative Knowledge" by Gerry Stahl, MIT Press, 2006.
MetaCollab.net - a free collaborative encyclopaedia on collaboration
Competencies for eLearning Innovations: New Approaches in Faculty Development
- Impact of ICT-supported learning innovations
- Research in Presentation Production for Learning Electronically (RIPPLES) project
- Web-based simulations as teaching and learning media in Political Science
Instructional Design
Instructional Design, also known as instructional systems design or knowledge architecture, is the analysis of learning needs and systemic development of instruction. Instructional designers often use instructional technology as a method for developing instruction. Instructional design models typically specify a method, that if followed will facilitate the transfer of knowledge, skills and attitude to the recipient or acquirer of the instruction.
Knowledge, as a social construct, may be created, mediated and revised both in terms of its content and meaning and the way in which it is organised, managed and delivered. Thus, instructional designers or knowledge architects create, mediate or revise the content of knowledge; or create, mediate or revise the way in which knowledge is stored, organised, displayed or delivered; or both. They play an important role in improving learning, teaching and assessment, as well as in managing knowledge. Transformative learning is often dependent on ensuring that knowledge content is organised in ways that learners can readily access, assimilate and recall.
- Assessment
- Educational animation
- Educational psychology
- Educational technology
- E-learning
- Electronic portfolio
- Evaluation
- Instructional technology
- Instructional theory
- Learning object
- Learning science
- M-learning
- Online education
- Instructional design coordinator
- Instructional design storyboarding
- Training
- Interdisciplinary teaching
- Instructional Design - An informative guide to ID from WideOpenDoors.net
- IMS Global Learning Design - XML Specifications
- EServer TC Library: Instructional Design
- KitWiki (class notes of a student taking an ID course)
- Creating an Instructor Kit (how-to article)
- Semantic Pedagogy
- The Instructional technology et distance learning Journal
Learning Strategies
Learning strategies determine the approach for achieving the learning objectives and are included in the pre-instructional activities, information presentation, learner activities, testing, and follow-through. The strategies are usually tied to the needs and interests of students to enhance learning and are based on many types of learning styles (Ekwensi, Moranski, &Townsend-Sweet, 2006).
They are used to achieve the "learning objectives" that you want your learners to use when they return to their jobs.
The learning objectives in turn, point you towards the major medium avenue, in which you will present your instruction, such as through the use of elearning, self-study, classroom, or OJT. However, do not fall into the trap of using only one medium when designing your course. . . use a blended approach.
Although some people use the terms interchangeably, objectives, media, and strategies all have separate meanings. For example, your learning objective might be "Pull the correct items for a customer order." Your medium might be OJT. Your instructional strategies is to have the learners watch a demonstration in order to get an overall view of the customer order process, have a question and answer period, observe small group demonstrations, and then receive hands-on practice by actually performing the job.
The Instructional Strategy Selection Chart shown below is a general guideline for selecting the learning strategy. It is based on Bloom's Taxonomy (Learning Domains). The matrix generally runs from the passive learning methods (the top left column) to the more active participation methods (the bottom left column). Bloom's Taxonomy (the right three columns) runs from top to bottom, with the lower level behaviors being on top and the higher behaviors being on the bottom. That is, there is a direct correlation in learning:
- Lower levels of behavior can normally be taught using the more passive learning methods.
- Higher levels of behavior usually require some sort of action or involvement by the learners.
Active Learning
as the name suggests, is a process whereby learners are actively engaged in the learning process. This process if often contrasted against the "passivity" which occurs when observing a lecture.
Students who actively engage with the material are more likely to recall information later and be able to use that information in different contexts. However, adopting active learning does not mean eliminating the lecture format. Activities that encourage student involvement are incorporated into the teaching plan. Example activities include: class discussion, small group discussion, debate, posing questions to the class, short written exercises and polling the class.
Active learning is often associated with project-based learning, team-based learning and group cooperative learning, all of them forms of teaching and learning that accommodate and promote collaboration among students to solve problems. This ensures that students really understand the concepts being covered. Team learning is especially beneficial in that ‘weaker’ students are presented with the material from a source other than the professor (i.e. their partner/group mates) and ‘stronger’ students reinforce their knowledge by explaining the material to others.
Student-centred learning or student-centered learning is an approach to education focusing on the needs of the students, rather than those of others involved in the educational process, such as teachers and administrators. This approach has many implications for the design of curriculum, course content, and interactivity of courses.
For instance, a student-centered course may address the needs of a particular student audience to learn how to solve some job-related problems using some aspects of mathematics. In contrast, a course focused on learning mathematics might choose areas of mathematics to cover and methods of teaching which would be considered irrelevant by the student.
Student-centred learning is in stark contrast to teacher-centred learning. Student-centred learning is focused on the student's needs,abilities,interests,learning styles with the teacher as a facilitator of learning. This classroom teaching method acknowledges student voice as central to the learning experience for every learner. Teacher-centred learning has the teacher at its' centre in an active role and students in a passive,receptive role. Student-centred learning requires students to be active,responsible participants in their own learning.
- Background
- Characteristics of Student-centred learning
- What student-centred learning is NOT:
- Implementation Considerations
- Assessment of Student-centred learning
A paper from the Teaching and Learning Forum 2000 titled: "Student-centred learning;Is it possible?"http://lsn.curtin.edu.au/tlf/tlf2000/sparrow.html
Active Learning http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/cut/options/Feb_99/ActiveLearning_en.htm
A paper "Teaching Research Method Using a Student Centred Approach? A Critical Refelctions on Practice http://jutlp.uow.edu.au/2005_v02_i02/barraket004.html
Open Learning is a teaching method that is, among others, founded on the work of Célestin Freinet and Maria Montessori. Open learning is supposed to allow pupils self-determined, independent and interest-guided learning. More recent work on open learning has been conducted by the pedagogues Hans Brügelmann, Falko Peschel, Jörg Ramseger and Wulf Wallrabenstein.
See also
- Active learning,
- Cooperative learning,
- Experiential learning,
- Social learning
- Distance Learning
- Open and Distance Learning
Problem-based Learning (PBL) is a pedagogical concept of "active learning" in tertiary education, but is currently being adapted for use in K-12 education. It was pioneered and used extensively at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
The defining characteristics of PBL are:
- Learning is driven by challenging, open-ended problems.
- Students work in small collaborative groups.
- Teachers take on the role as "facilitators" of learning.
Accordingly, students are encouraged to take responsibility for their group and organize and direct the learning process with support from a tutor or instructor. Advocates of PBL claim it can be used to enhance content knowledge and foster the development of communication, problem-solving, and self-directed learning skill.
Independent Learning
What is Independent Learning? Through Independent Learning you can continue your education via distance education courses without having to attend classes or workshops.
Work-based Learning
Every day, in the normal course of work, we are learning. We solve problems, encounter new situations, and figure out ways to reapply the things we already know. This learning is often spontaneous and unconscious. However, it is no less valuable than the learning done in formal situations.
See also
Teaching Methods and Quality
In education, Teachers are those who help students or pupils learn, often in a school. The objective is typically a course of study, lesson plan, or a practical skill, including learning and thinking skills. The different ways to teach are often referred to as the teacher's pedagogy. When deciding what teaching method to use, a teacher will need to consider students' background knowledge, environment, and their learning goals as well as standardized curricula as determined by the relevant authority.
Teaching may occur face-to-face or via some other modality, e.g. through distance education or e-learning. Teaching can also be mixed with entertainment. When the term education is combined with entertainment, the term edutainment is coined.
Teaching Method or educational method has a long history and relates to the questions, "What is the purpose of education?" and "What are the best ways of achieving these purposes?" For much of human history, educational method was largely unconscious and consisted of children imitating or modelling their behaviour on that of their elders, learning through observation and play, such as, how to make meals, set places for the family, hunt for food, pick berries and how to play-fight and return home with little trophies.
Teaching and Learning Innovations
View full size project poster (pdf)
- Australian Flexible Learning Innovations
- Characteristics
of Innovative Teaching
- Self-assessment
Alternative assessment or Portfolio assessment is in direct contrast to what is known as performance evaluation, traditional assessment, standardized assessment or summative assessment. Alternative assessment is also known under various other terms, including:
In the model, students, teachers, and sometimes parents select pieces from a student's combined work over the (usually four) years of school to demonstrate that learning and improvement has taken place over those years. Some of the characteristics of a portfolio assessment is that it emphasizes and evidences the learning process as an active demonstration of knowledge. It is used for evaluating learning processes and learning outcomes. Alternative assessments are used to encourage student involvement in their assessment, their interaction with other students, teachers, parents and the larger community.
Formats vary: demonstrations and journals can be used as alternative assessments, portfolio presentations are considered the most wholly representative of a student's learning.
Collaborative Learning
Flexible Learning
is a set of educational philosophies and systems, concerned with providing learners with increased choice, convenience, and personalisation to suit the learner. In particular, flexible learning provides learners with choices about where, when, and how learning occurs.
Flexible learning approaches are often designed using a full range of teaching and learning theories, philosophies and methods to provide students with opportunities to access information and expertise, contribute ideas and opinions, and correspond with other learners and mentors. This may occur through the use of internet-based tools such as Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) or Learning Management Systems (LMSes), discussion boards or chat rooms; and may be designed as a "blended" approach, with content available electronically and remotely, as well as "face-to-face" classroom tutorials and lectures.
While the majority of flexible learning programs to date have taken advantage of computer-based systems ("E-learning"), the rapidly increase in the processing power and popularity of mobile digital devices has recently caused considerable interest in mobile learning - the use of mobile devices such as mobile phones, iPods, and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) to increase the mobility of learners and correspondingly enhance the flexibility of their learning.
Learning Logs are a unique personalised learning resource for children. In the learning Logs, the children record their responses to learning challenges set by their teachers. Each log is a unique record of the child's thinking and learning.
There is ample published research to support the model. The importance of learners becoming aware of their own thought processes and gaining insights into the strategies they use to resolve problems, or overcome difficulties, is discussed by Blagg (1991). Ashman & Conway (1993) assert that there is a critical need for students to become actively involved in the process of learning. McCrindle & Christensen (1995) refer to research findings indicating that journals of this type are likely to increase metacognition through students becoming more aware of their own thought processes.
Swan & White (1994) report a piece of research using a 'thinking book' which investigated the development of reflective thinking skills in children. A small study of the development of metacognitive skills using this type of approach which discusses many of these perspectives in greater depth is reported by Beck (1998). This model of learning logs differs significantly from these earlier models by introducing a greater opportunity for the children to introduce colourful graphic and physical representations to illustrate their thinking and learning, rather than simply relying on the written word. Much of the development of learning logs built on practical classroom applications of mapping and visual tools described in texts by Caviglioli & Harris (2000) and Cavaglioli et al (2002). This has generated a motivation to engage in the process of reflective learning in students who have had more difficulty in expressing themselves through the conventional written form. The use of the learning logs has extended now to schools in Australia, Canada and Thailand in addition to their extensive use in schools throughout the UK.
See also
A blog is a website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order.
Blogs often provide commentary or news on a particular subject, such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual although some focus on photographs (photoblog), sketchblog, videos (vlog), or audio (podcasting), and are part of a wider network of social media.
The term "blog" is derived from "Web log." "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.
As of November 2006, blog search engine Technorati was tracking nearly 60 million blogs.[1]
- History
- Types of blogs
- Business models
- Anatomy of a blog entry
- Blog popularity
- Blogging and the mass media
- Legal issues
Using multi-media/video to develop
Formative assessment is a self-reflective process that intends to promote student attainment [1]. Cowie and Bell [2] define it as the bidirectional process between teacher and student to enhance, recognise and respond to the learning. Black and William [3] consider an assessment ‘formative’ when the feedback from learning activities is actually used to adapt the teaching to meet the needs.
See also
Use of Mind Maps
A Mind Map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks or other items linked to and arranged radially around a central key word or idea. It is used to generate, visualize, structure and classify ideas, and as an aid in study, organization, problem solving, and decision making.
It is an image-centered diagram that represents semantic or other connections between portions of information. By presenting these connections in a radial, non-linear graphical manner, it encourages a brainstorming approach to any given organizational task, eliminating the hurdle of initially establishing an intrinsically appropriate or relevant conceptual framework to work within.
A mind map is similar to a semantic network or cognitive map but there are no formal restrictions on the kinds of links used.
Most often the map involves images, words, and lines. The elements are arranged intuitively according to the importance of the concepts and they are organized into groupings, branches, or areas. The uniform graphic formulation of the semantic structure of information on the method of gathering knowledge, may aid recall of existing memories.
- Origins
- Uses of mind maps
- Mind map guidelines
- Scholarly research on mind maps
- Tools
- Mind mapping in contrast with concept mapping
- Trademarks
- Topic map
- Idea map
- Outliner
- Ishikawa diagram
- Concept mapping
- Cognitive map
- Semantic web
- Semantic similarity
- Pattern language
- Educational technology
- List of Mind Mapping software
- References
- Basic introduction to mindmapping
- FreeMindMaps — A web portal for exchanging mindmaps and knowledge
- "How to make a mind map in 8 steps"
- World Wide Brain Club - group for discussion of Mind Mapping and mnemonics
- Mind Map Options - selected mind map links
Concept mapping is a technique for visualizing the relationships between different concepts. A concept map is a diagram showing the relationships between concepts. Concepts are connected with labelled arrows, in a downward-branching hierarchical structure. The relationship between concepts is articulated in linking phrases, e.g., "gives rise to", "results in", "is required by," or "contributes to".
- Directory of Mindmaps, Concept maps and more - A directory containing hundreds of mindmaps and concept maps on the Internet
- Concept Systems Inc. - Provider of concept mapping services and software
- Concept Mapping Website
- Free Concept Mapping Resources to help teachers introduce young children to the ideas of Concept Mapping.
- Concept Map for Comedy Writing
- Wiki dedicated to conceptmapping
- Concept Mapping Homepage by Jan Lanzing
- "The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How To Construct Them", Joseph D. Novak, Cornell University
- Italian Site on the Concept Mapping use in the school, by Marco Guastavigna
- For more information see the WikEd version of Concept mapping: [4]
- Advance organizers
- Concept Mapping at the Graphic Organizer
- Sewcom method - Using concept Maps to search the Web
- Institute for Human and Machine Cognition - Free Concept Map Tool
- My Mind Map Mind Map Templates for download
- Thinking Experiments
Example concept map, created using IHMC CmapTools.
The concept of Higher Order Thinking Skills became a major educational agenda item with the 1956 publication of Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives.
The simplest thinking skills are learning facts and recall, while higher order skills include critical thinking, analysis and problem solving.
Including higher order thinking skills (HOTS) in learning outcomes is a very common feature of standards based education reform
Advocates of traditional education object to elevating HOTS above direct instruction of basic skills. Many forms of education reform, such as inquiry-based science, standards-based mathematics and whole language emphasize HOTS to solve problems and learn, sometimes deliberately omitting direct instruction of traditional methods, facts or knowledge. Critics of standards based assessments which use open-response items which require higher order analysis and writing instead of multiple choice questions point out that this style of testing is even more difficult for students who are behind academically. Indeed, while minorities may lag by 10 to 25 points on standardized percentile rankings, the failure rates of minorites are two to four times the best scoring groups on tests like the WASL. It is debated whether it is correct to raise the importance of teaching process over content. [1]
Enhanced Writing may refer to two activities: the inscribing of characters on a medium, with the intention of forming words and other constructs that represent language or record information, and the creation of material to be conveyed through written language. (There are some exceptions; for example, the use of a typewriter to record language is generally called typing, rather than writing.) Writing refers to both activities equally, and both activities may often occur simultaneously.
- Means for recording information
- Writing in historical cultures
- Creation of text or information
A Specimen of typeset fonts and languages, by William Caslon, letter founder; from the 1728 Cyclopaedia.
A History of Writing: From Hieroglyph to Multimedia, edited by Anne-Marie Christin, Flammarion (in French, hardcover: 408 pages, 2002, ISBN 2-08-010887-5)
In the Beginning: A Short History of the Hebrew Language. By Joel M. Hoffman, 2004. Chapter 3 covers the invention of writing and its various stages.
Origins of writing on AncientScripts.com
Museum of Writing: UK Museum of Writing with information on writing history and implements
On ERIC Digests: Writing Instruction: Current Practices in the Classroom; Writing Development; Writing Instruction: Changing Views over the Years
Rogers, Henry. 2005. Writing Systems: A Linguistic Approach. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-23463-2 (hardcover); ISBN 0-631-23464-0 (paperback)
Capture. Deliver. Excel. - Applying the principles of business writing for sales, marketing and corporate communication purposes
Developing ethical awareness
Applied Ethics is a discipline of philosophy that attempts to apply 'theoretical' ethics, such as utilitarianism, social contract theory, and deontology, to real world dilemmas. Topics falling within the discipline include medical ethics, legal ethics, environmental ethics, computer ethics, corporate social responsibility, or business ethics.
Many considerations of applied ethics also come into play in human rights discussions.
Applied ethics seeks to engage formal ethics in attempts to solve actual dilemmas. In so doing, it illuminates the potential for disagreement over the way theories and principles should be applied. Strict, principle-based ethical approaches often result in solutions to specific problems that are not universally acceptable. Drawing on medical ethics for an example, a strict deontological approach would never permit the deception of a patient about their condition, whereas a utilitarian approach would involve consideration of the consequences of so doing, and might permit lying to a patient if the result of the deception was 'good'. The example demonstrates that a deontologist can derive a different solution to a dilemma than a utilitarian.
One modern approach which attempts to overcome the seemingly impossible divide between deontology and utilititarianism is case-based reasoning, also known as casuistry. Casuistry does not begin with theory, rather it starts with the immediate facts of a particular case. While casuistry makes use of ethical theory, it does not view ethical theory as the most important feature of moral reasoning. Casuists, like Albert Jonsen and Stephen Toulmin (The Abuse of Casuistry 1988), challenge the traditional paradigm of applied ethics.
Instead of starting from theory and applying theory to a particular case, casuists start with the particular case itself and then ask what morally significant features (including both theory and practical considerations) ought to be considered for that particular case. In their observations of medical ethics committees, Jonsen and Toulmin note that a consensus on particularly problematic moral cases often emerges when participants focus on the facts of the case, rather than on ideology or theory. Thus, a Rabbi, a Catholic priest, and an agnostic might agree that, in this particular case, the best approach is to withhold extraordinary medical care, while disagreeing on the reasons that support their individual positions. By focusing on cases and not on theory, those engaged in moral debate increase the possibility of agreement.
Open Source Teaching (OST) is a platform that utilizes emerging technologies to facilitate shared learning and the development of communities. OST redefines the relationship between learners by eliminating the barriers of time and distance. OST provides learners with simultaneously real-time and time-independent access to the ideas of people with varying degrees of experience, expertise, points of view, knowledge, and skills.
Open source teaching provides new strategies and opportunities for individuals to engage in the shared investigation of common challenges. These methods are applied using emerging communication platforms and generally include components of the following:
1. Shared communication using an open source web space, available to all users, including the direct archiving and tracking of individual comments by all users.
2. An open source induction and user agreement, outlining the fundamental truths for communication within each shared web space.
3. Archived record of communication and dialogue, providing a common basis for learning and discussion among all users, including the direct tracking of files which are accessed.
4. The investigation of relevant research, current events, challenges, and case studies related to the academic, professional, or social challenge.
5. A final shared work product that requires shared collaboration among teams of participants and the collective community for the assigned web space.
- Open source teaching
- References
- The Future of Open Source, MIT, Open Source Initiaive
- Democratizing Innovation, MIT Press 2005
- Sharing and Creating Open Source Communities
- Open Source and E-learning
- Open Source, Beyond Software
- Implementing Learning Design Macquarie E-learning Centre of Excellence (MELCOE) Macquarie University, AUSTRALIA
- New Approaches to Intellectual property, MIT, Open Source Initiative
- Open Source Philsophy, MIT, Open Source Initiative
- Open Source as a Viable Economic Model, MIT, Open Source Initiative
- Internal Links
- Macquarie E-Learning Centre Of Excellence (MELCOE), Professor James Dalziel, Founding Innovator
- Open Source Teaching Resources, MELCOE
- The Open Source Teaching Method
- The Birth of Open Source Teaching
- Learning Activity Management System (LAMS)
- The Open Source Initiative
- The LAMS Foundation
- LAMS
- Think Link
- Ed Tech Post
- LAMS Community
- Open Source for Developing Countries: Looking for Penguins at the Horn of Africa
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Organisational Learning
Organizational Learning is an area of knowledge within organizational theory that studies models and theories about the way an organization learns and adapts.
In Organizational development (OD), learning is a characteristic of an adaptive organization, i.e., an organization that is able to sense changes in signals from its environment (both internal and external) and adapt accordingly. (see adaptive system). OD specialists endeavor to assist their clients to learn from experience and incorporate the learning as feedback into the planning process.
The Occupational Competence movement was initiated by David McClelland in the 1960s with a view to moving away from traditional attempts to describe competence in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes and to focus instead on the specific self-image, values, traits, and motive dispositions (i.e. relatively enduring characteristics of people) that are found to consistently distinguish outstanding from typical performance in a given job or role. It should be noted that different competencies predict outstanding performance in different roles, and that there is a limited number of competencies that predict outstanding performance in any given job or role. Thus, a trait that is a 'competence' for one job might not predict outstanding performance in a different role.
McClelland argued (McClelland, 1974) that these competencies could neither be identified nor assessed using traditional procedures. The fundamental problem is that high level competencies such as initiative and the ability to understand and intervene in organizational processes are difficult and demanding activities that no one will engage in unless they very much care about the activity in which they are engaged- or unless they find these activities intrinsically satisfying (here is the link to McClelland's work on social motives). Suchqualities will, therefore, most often only be developed and displayed while people are undertaking activities they care about.
Furthermore success in undertaking them depends on bringing to bear a range of cognitive, affective, and conative components of competence, such as thinking about what is to be achieved and how it is to be achieved, turning one’s emotions into the task, and persisting over a long period of time. Note, again, that these components of competence cannot be assessed except in relation to activities people care about, i.e. they cannot be assessed through the processes favored by traditional psychometricians. Hence their neglect in conventional studies of occupational competence based upon traditional tests – and especially tests of “academic” knowledge - knowledge of content.
As it happens, McClelland and his colleagues had developed an alternative framework for thinking about and assessing high level competencies but, unfortunately, presented it as a way of thinking about motivation. And, because it is at loggerheads with conventional thinking in psychometrics, it has been widely misunderstood. Over time, it became clear that the high level competencies differentiating effective from ineffective performance in occupational roles could be identified using detailed Behavioral Event Interviews because these interviews do capture thoughts and behavior in situations in which the interviewee is more or less fully engaged, as the interviewee normally has free choice of the situations to describe. These studies revealed the importance of a wide range of previously neglected competencies.
By the time Lyle and Signe Spencer sought to bring them together in their book “Competence at Work” there were about 800 such studies. Unfortunately, a significant part of the multi-billion dollar international competence based education and training movement which followed largely corrupted the orientation of the program back into the very framework that McClelland had tried so hard to replace. Recent work has re-emphasized the connection between competences and outstanding performance on the job. However, it must be emphasized that while generic competencies, as found in "Competence at Work" provide a useful 'rough cut' of the competencies most relevant to a common range of roles, it is also the case that many of the competencies that are linked to outstanding performance are unique to those roles. The more different a role is from those decribed in Competence at Work, the more different the competencies are likely to be from those listed in that book. Nevertheless, as can be seen from Raven and Stephenson (2001), there have been important developments in research relating to the nature, development, and assessment of high-level competencies in homes, schools, and workplaces.
References
McClelland, D. C. (1973). Testing for competence rather than for "intelligence". American Psychologist, 28, 1-14.
Raven, J., & Stephenson, J. (Eds.). (2001). Competence in the Learning Society. New York: Peter Lang.
Spencer, L. M., & Spencer, S. M. (1993). Competence at Work. New York: Wiley.
See also
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In organizational development, the related field of Training and Development (T & D) deals with the design and delivery of learning to improve performance within organizations.
In some organizations the term Learning & Development is used instead of Training and Development in order to emphasise the importance of learning for the individual and the organization. In other organizations, the term Human Resource Development is used.
The term Facilitator is used in education to refer to a specifically trained adult who sits in class with a disabled, or otherwise needy, student to help them follow the lesson that the teacher is giving
(see Disability).
Education is the process by which an individual is encouraged and enabled to develop his or her potential; it may also serve the purpose of equipping the individual with what is necessary to be a productive member of society. Through teaching and learning, the individual acquires and develops knowledge and skills. There is an important distinction between education, which relates to a transactive process between a teacher and student, and learning, which is a process that happens internally for a student.
The term education is often used to refer to formal education (see below). However, the word's broader meaning covers a range of experiences, from formal learning to the building of understanding and knowledge through day to day experiences. Ultimately, all that we experience serves as a form of education.
It is widely accepted that the process of education is lifelong. Studies have shown that the child is educated by the experiences it is exposed to in the womb even before it is born.
Individuals receive informal education from a variety of sources. Family members, peers, books and mass media have a strong influence on the informal education of the individual.
- Terminology
- Philosophy of education
- Psychology of education
- Academic disciplines
- Teaching
- Schooling
- Alternative education
- Technology
- Challenges
- Parental involvement
- Internationalization
- Instructional animation
- Instructional design
- Knowledge Management
- Mentoring
- Organizational learning
- Structured Training
- Systems Approach To Training
External links
- Overview of Training and Development (for new instructors, learners, supervisors, etc.)
- The American Society for Training & Development
- Academy of Human Resource Development
- The T & D Listserv
- Training Dictionary
- U.S. Job Training and Vocational Education Programs
Collaborative Learning is an umbrella term for a variety of approaches in education that involve joint intellectual effort by students or students and teachers. Groups of students work together in searching for understanding, meaning or solutions or in creating a product. The approach is closely related to cooperative learning, but is considered to be more radical because of its reliance on youth voice. Collaborative learning activities can include collaborative writing, group projects, and other activities.
Collaborative learning has taken on many forms. One form is Collaborative Networked Learning for the self-directed adult learner.
Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) has emerged as a new educational paradigm among researchers and practitioners in several fields, including cognitive sciences, sociology, computer engineering. It thus constitutes a new trans-disciplinary field.
Work Based and Vocational Learning
- An overview of the Hellenic Integrated Multivalent Lyceum.
- Austria: WIFI Academies and EURO-BAC.
- Bridging Education and Work as Assessed by Employers and Students
- Continuing education and training: towards a cognitive-based approach. The Italian case study.
- Educational programmes with dual qualifications in the Czech Republic. National case study.
- Enhancing the attractiveness of vocational education: a knowledge base on Finnish and European experience.
- Finnish Contribution to the FEDORA (Forum Européen de l'Orientation Academique) project on "New Skills for Vocational Guidance in Higher Education"
- How to improve the standing of vocational as against general education – a comparative investigation of strategies and qualifications across Europe.
- Qualifications for employment and higher education: a collaborative investigation across Europe.
- Reform trends of the Finnish vocational education system.
- Survey on dual qualifications: results of the LEONARDO projects INTEQUAL and DUOQUAL
- Teaching and Learning Workshop
- The study counselling follow-up project.
- Qualifications with a Dual Orientation Towards Employment and Higher Education in Finland: the Case of Upper Secondary
- Experiment.
- Work-based Learning: Practical Assignments in Finnish Vocational Institutions
Pedagogic Research
Pedagogy is the art or science of being a teacher. This is the modern interpretation. The word comes from the ancient Greek paidagogos, the slave who supervised the education of slave children in the trade into which they were directed. Children who lived under the supervision of Paidagogos were always slaves as no free person took orders from a slave. It was the Paidagogos job to act as a "Drill Sergeant", and ensure that the slaves performed their daily routines as expected by their Master.
The word "paidia" (παιδιά) refers to children (rather than the Latin pes meaning a foot), which is why some like to make the distinction between pedagogy (teaching children) and andragogy (teaching adults). The Latin-derived word for pedagogy, education, is much more widely used, and often the two are used interchangeably.
Pedagogy is also sometimes referred to as the correct use of teaching strategies (see instructional theory). For example, Brazilian Paulo Freire, one of the most influential educators of the 20th century, referred to his method of teaching adults as "critical pedagogy". In correlation with those teaching strategies the instructor's own philosophical beliefs of teaching are harbored and governed by the pupil's background knowledge and experiences, personal situations and environment as well as learning goals set by the student as well as the teacher.
An academic degree, Ped.D., Doctor of Pedagogy, is awarded honorarily by some American universities to distinguished educators (in the US and UK earned degrees within the education field are classified as an Ed.D., Doctor of Education or a Ph.D. Doctor of Philosophy). The term is also used to denote an emphasis in education as a speciality in a field (for instance, a Doctor of Music degree "in piano pedagogy").
- Review of Current Pedagogic Research and Practice in the Fields of Post-compulsory Education and Lifelong Leaning
- Discipline Specific
- Computer-assisted assessment
- Developing a Media Strategy
- Heroes of dissemination
- Influencing the UK Policy Making Process
- Publishing your work
See also
External links
Educational Evaluation
Educational Evaluation is the evaluation process of characterizing and appraising some aspect/s of an educational process.
There are two common purposes in educational evaluation which are, at times, in conflict with one another. Educational institutions usually require evaluation data to demonstrate effectiveness to funders and other stakeholders, and to provide a measure of performance for marketing purposes. Educational evaluation is also a professional activity that individual educators need to undertake if they intend to continuously review and enhance the learning they are endeavouring to facilitate.
For further information, click on the title below
- Alternative assessment
- Assessment
- Competency evaluation
- Course evaluation
- Criterion-referenced test
- Evaluation methods and techniques
- Educational Research
- Grading
- Norm-referenced test
- Performance evaluation
- Program evaluation
- Standardized testing
- Standardized testing and public policy
- Wikiversity: Educational standards organisations
- Notes and references
Resources
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