Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Open University (open + university)
Selected AbstractsAn empirically grounded framework to guide blogging in higher educationJOURNAL OF COMPUTER ASSISTED LEARNING, Issue 1 2009L. Kerawalla Abstract We report on a study involving Masters-level students who blogged as a part of a distance-learning course at the Open University, UK. We present an empirically-grounded framework that can be used to guide educators when they are considering blogging as part of their courses, and can be used by students' whose courses include blogging activities. In our analysis of semi-structured interviews with students, we identified six factors that influenced their blogging: perceptions of, and need for, an audience; perceptions of, and need for, community; the utility of, and need for comments; presentational style of the blog content; overarching factors related to the technological context; and the pedagogical context of the course. The students' blogging behaviours were varied and depended upon the way in which they addressed each of the six factors. These factors, along with the associated questions in the proposed framework, provide insights about the activity of blogging from a student's perspective. Therefore, the framework can guide the design of blogging activities in courses. [source] Implementing a CMC tutor group for an existing distance education courseJOURNAL OF COMPUTER ASSISTED LEARNING, Issue 3 2000M Weller Abstract, ,Artificial Intelligence for Technology' (T396) is a distance learning course provided by the Open University of the UK using face-to-face tutorials. In 1997 a pilot study was undertaken of a computer-mediated communication (CMC) tutor group which consisted of volunteers from around the UK. The student feedback raised a number of issues including: the need for a distinct function for the tutor group conference, the role of and demands on the tutor, and the benefits perceived by students. It is suggested that some issues arise from a conflict of cultures each with their own implicit assumptions. The traditional face-to-face tutorial model is sometimes at variance with the demands of the new CMC based tuition. [source] OU to play role in next stage of Mars explorationASTRONOMY & GEOPHYSICS, Issue 5 2010Article first published online: 17 SEP 2010 NASA and the European Space Agency have embarked on a joint programme to study the chemical composition of the atmosphere of Mars from 2016. They have just announced the providers of five scientific instruments for the first mission, including two consortia in which the Open University has a major role. [source] Profile: Barrie W JonesASTRONOMY & GEOPHYSICS, Issue 2 2009Article first published online: 23 MAR 200 Many people know Barrie Jones from the Open University, where he inspired so many aspiring astronomers , but his career has also involved retrieving a gamma-ray telescope from deepest Wales, modelling lunar seismology, and a lectureship in architecture. [source] Educational modelling language: modelling reusable, interoperable, rich and personalised units of learningBRITISH JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY, Issue 5 2004Rob Koper Nowadays there is a huge demand for flexible, independent learning without the constraints of time and place. Various trends in the field of education and training are the bases for the development of new technologies for education. This article describes the development of a learning technology specification, which supports these new demands for learning challenging the new technological possibilities. This specification is named Educational Modelling Language (EML) and is developed by the Open University of the Netherlands. [source] Improving children's behaviour and attendance through the use of parenting programmes: an examination of practice in five case study local authoritiesBRITISH JOURNAL OF SPECIAL EDUCATION, Issue 3 2006Susan Hallam In this article, Professor Susan Hallam, of the Institute of Education, University of London, Lynne Rogers, lecturer in psychology at the Open University, and Jacqueline Shaw, music teacher, researcher and educational psychologist in training, report the key outcomes of their recent research into parenting programmes. The survey suggested that most local authorities in England were at a relatively early stage in their preparations for meeting demand for programmes focused on developing parenting skills in order to improve the attendance and behaviour of children in school. Here the authors present case studies of five local authorities that had well-developed provision based on contrasting approaches. Two of these authorities used existing programmes available through alternative providers or early years provision; the others offered programmes in schools, one based on established and internationally-available material and two that used content developed within the local authority. Longer term needs relating to parenting programmes are considered in relation to these case studies and the implications for schools, that may be actively encouraged to take on responsibility for these programmes, are explored. [source] Catherine's legacy: social communication development for individuals with profound learning difficulties and fragile life expectanciesBRITISH JOURNAL OF SPECIAL EDUCATION, Issue 3 2005Mary Kellett In this article, Mary Kellett, of the Children's Research Centre at the Open University, draws on case study evidence to illustrate how an 11,year-old girl's quality of life was transformed in the last few months before she died when an Intensive Interaction intervention approach was adopted. The study raises issues about the way we respond to individuals with the most profound disabilities who are hardest to reach and have fragile life expectancies. It also examines the role of the researcher in situations where a participant dies; how this impacts on data processing - particularly where this involves video footage of a participant -and the complex ethics which need to be considered. Initially, the sadness of the situation and the incompleteness of the data overshadowed the findings. Due attention was not given to the contribution Catherine's data could make to our knowledge and understanding of the lived experiences of children like her and the implications this has for policy and practice. However, ,interrupted' findings from her case study point to the effectiveness of the Intensive Interaction approach in developing sociability, particularly with regard to eye contact and the ability to attend to a joint focus. This article affirms the principle that it is never too late to start an intervention; that severity of impairment should not be a barrier to this; and that the social interaction Intensive Interaction promotes can make a crucial difference to quality of life. [source] Learning from James: Lessons about Policy and Practice for Schools' Special Provision in the Area of Literacy DifficultiesBRITISH JOURNAL OF SPECIAL EDUCATION, Issue 2 2004Janice Wearmouth Janice Wearmouth is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education and Language Studies at the Open University in the UK. She has many years' experience of teaching and research in mainstream secondary schools and of developing and leading postgraduate development courses for teachers in the area of special and inclusive education. In this article, she argues that successive Governments in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have adopted policies in relation to special educational provision that are essentially technicist in character. These policies proceed from assumptions that are made about the clear and unproblematic nature of the issues and the responses that need to be made. In this model, difficulties in learning can be ,fixed' by selecting the most appropriate ,tool' in the most efficient and cost-effective way. The current focus on competency-based teacher education can be seen as a corollary of this approach. Drawing upon a personal account of the experience of having difficulties in literacy acquisition, this article presents a contrary view. Janice Wearmouth argues that the area of special educational needs in schools, including literacy difficulties, is fraught with uncertainty and conflicting viewpoints. Given this complex situation, the technicist responses of recent Governments in the UK seem inappropriate and inadequate, Janice Wearmouth suggests. She proposes that practice in relation to special educational needs in general, and literacy difficulties in particular, can be most effectively understood from the perspective of a reflective practitioner. Her article closes with a call for practitioner professional development to be reconceptualised in these terms. [source] How inclusive is the Literacy Hour?BRITISH JOURNAL OF SPECIAL EDUCATION, Issue 3 2001Janice Wearmouth In this article, Janice Wearmouth and Janet Soler, both lecturers in the Faculty of Education and Language Studies at the Open University, explore the implications of recent Government initiatives for pupils who experience difficulties in literacy development. The authors focus, in particular, on their perceptions of the contradictions between the inclusive requirements of the National Curriculum and the prescriptive pedagogy of the National Literacy Strategy. The National Curriculum now requires teachers to respond to pupils' ,diverse learning needs'; the National Literacy Strategy is founded upon an expectation that all pupils in Key Stages 1 and 2 will be taught a daily Literacy Hour. This article explores the impact of these contrasting policies on classroom practice and concludes by drawing upon evidence of previously existing good practice in order to propose ways of resolving this dilemma. [source] | ||||||||||