Teaching Practicum Assessment Application

This chapter reports on an ongoing case study that focuses on the development of a computer-mediated communication technological solution intended to assess the teaching practicum (TP). The context of this chapter is the TP module at an open distance e-learning (ODeL) university in South Africa. This university is faced with the demanding task of arranging mandatory supervisory visits for purposes of assessment, for more than 40,000 student teachers located both inside and outside of the country. The TP module forms a major part of a teaching qualification as it provides the pedagogical space for students to apply, integrate, and acquire various forms of knowledge. While the traditional “manual model” is still the dominant mode of assessment, at ODeL institutions, it holds grave limitations, leaving thousands of students unassessed which undermines the value of the qualification. Given that, we currently find ourselves in the midst of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, an information communication technology (ICT)-based response to this predicament arguably offers the most appropriate solution. Such a solution would however require innovative design, critical thinking, research, and funding. This chapter reports on the development of an ICT-based project on the verge of being piloted at the ODeL institution concerned, as well as contact institutions. Informed by a theoretical framework that draws on technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK), critical connectivity, and open source software (OSS), this chapter responds to the questions: “Why” would an ICT-based instrument offer an optimal solution to TP assessment? and “How” would an ICT-based application offer an optimal solution to the assessment of the TP module? After the first pilot cycle with the prototype application, improvements and refinements will be made before a second pilot run. The objective of this project is to produce a TP application to be used in both contact as well as in distant, remote, and real-time/delayed assessment.

Development of a Middle School Online Science Curriculum

Design-based research methodology was used to guide a line of research to develop, implement, revise, and evaluate the ESCOLAR online science curriculum for middle school students, including general education students, English language learners (ELs) primarily of Hispanic origin, and students with high-incidence learning disabilities (LD). The iterative research approach was carried out in three stages with multiple steps per stage: (1) Stage 1, or informed exploration, identified and described the problem under investigation; (2) Stage 2, or enactment, redesigned previously developed online science units, implemented each unit in case studies, and completed a feasibility evaluation; and (3) Stage 3, or evaluation of local impact, documented the efficacy of the science curriculum with a randomized controlled trial. The present chapter focuses on the second and third stages, demonstrating the process by which the ESCOLAR curriculum was repeatedly refined with input from stakeholders, and then examined for feasibility of implementation, usefulness in helping teachers engage with students, and efficacy in deepening student science knowledge. Data were drawn from multiple sources, including teacher logs, student and teacher surveys, web analytics, student notebooks, content assessments, and focus groups. Results indicate that the ESCOLAR curriculum was feasible to implement, useful, and effective, and may now be adopted as an evidence-based intervention to enhance science learning among diverse students. The data-driven, design-based research methodology proved to be a practical framework, and underscored the critical importance of considering all stakeholders in the process of curriculum design, refinement, and evaluation. This chapter offers a model for the development of constructivist science instructional materials for ELs and students with LD using online, multimedia technology.

Reflective Teaching and Technology Integration in Management Education

Reflective practice supports critical thinking and assessment skills through analyzing one's own life experiences, and the role of reflection in learning is well reckoned. Reflective practice, the habit of looking back and analyzing one's own life experiences, is a process that supports learning and develops critical thinking skills. The role of reflection in learning has been recognized for decades and the reflective observation learning style may provide an important means of deepening student understanding and engagement especially with better technology integration. Many management educators recommend reflective practice for managerial and professional development as learning to reflect is a key element in mastering the important management skill of self-awareness and developing management competencies. Adopting a mixed method qualitative approach, the aim of this chapter is to delve on the current scenario of the reflective practices and technology integration in management education.

The Integration of Information and Communication Technology in Pre-University Education in Ghana

Educationists throughout the world are attesting to the capabilities of ICT for innovations in teaching and learning. There are evidences that integrating ICT into education enhances the learners' creativity and opens up new ways of knowledge acquisition and sharing. ICT is also credited with the improvement of teaching and learning of new skills needed to fully function in the 21st century knowledge society. This research was undertaken to evaluate the current state of ICT integration into the pre-university education and identify the barriers through principal components analysis and make the necessary recommendations. The research utilized both primary and secondary data. The primary data was collected through questionnaires and interviews while secondary data was obtained from reviews of government policy documents and reports. The study found an already existing ICT literacy education in the pre-university educational system in Ghana. There is also increasing access to and knowledge of ICT hardware and services. However, inadequate infrastructure, inadequate technology skills, lack of technical support, and inappropriate content are the challenges militating against effective integration of ICT in schools' curricula. Restructuring the curriculum of the various subjects, in-service training for teachers, integration of ICT into teacher training, and provision of internet connectivity infrastructure and services are recommended.

Development of Students' Programming Abilities With the Means of Non-Programming Disciplines and Activities

The chapter contains the results of the research dedicated to the topic that has not been given much attention so far in the professional literature – discovering effective ways of developing students' programming abilities with the means of non-programming disciplines and activities. The authors argue that the process of forming capacities of students in programming becomes effective if students participate not only in programming lessons themselves but also dedicate a significant amount of time to other academic disciplines and extracurricular activities such as solving number-theoretic and chess endgame problems. The authors find that these disciplines and activities provide efficient means for developing programming capacities and therefore, their methods are the essential prerequisites for programming course. The significance of the obtained results is that they provide an effective alternative approach to organization of programming teaching process in those educational institutions where the traditional methodology does not bring the desired pedagogical effect.

Leveraging Existing Knowledge to Match Industry Expectations

During the last four years, information systems graduates participated in a practicum project during their last study year and took part in various professional activities in the industry in accordance with their professional aspirations and their desired specialty. The main purpose of this project was to reduce the gap between the graduates' acquired academic knowledge and the industry expectations. The aim of this chapter was to reveal the graduates' perceived contributions of the project. For that matter, semi-structured questionnaires and interviews with graduates who participated in the project in the last four years were conducted. The graduates experienced real workplace environments, acquired extended knowledge and skills, built social infrastructure to assist them with future job seeking, and above all gained real-world experience that helps them to build their professional image, and gain confidence in their traits and abilities. In addition, the practicum-based approach was compared with other common approaches used to bridge the gap, and its relative advantages and disadvantages were discussed.

Learning Outcomes and Affective Factors of Blended Learning of English for Library Science

English for Library Science is an essential course for students to command comprehensive scope of library knowledge. This chapter aims to compare the learning outcomes, gender differences, and affective factors in the environments of blended and traditional learning. Around 1000 participants from one university were randomly selected to answer questions in questionnaires. It was found that (1) the pass rates under blended learning increased compared with traditional multimedia learning and the dropout rates under blended learning decreased compared with multimedia learning; (2) males and females did not show any significant differences in learning outcomes; (3) affective factors under blended learning were significantly more favorable than those under multimedia learning; and (4) under the blended learning model, male motivation was significantly higher than female; male attitude was significantly more favorable than female; males held higher self-esteem than females. However, male anxiety was significantly less than female. Reasons for the findings, as well as future research directions, were also explored.

Adopting E-Textbooks in Higher Education

E-textbooks make digital learning content portable, transferrable, and searchable, increase students' engagement, and enable highly interactive learning opportunities. However, adopting e-textbooks in higher education is far from its confirmation stage. This chapter examines the relationship between the perceived attributes of using e-textbooks by instructors and their actual use of e-textbooks in higher education settings. Further, the study explores factors that prevent instructors from fully adopting e-textbooks in teaching and explains how to circumvent such challenges. Challenges of adopting e-textbooks for instructors in higher education have been revealed by the survey. The findings suggest that instructors, institutions, and e-textbook publishers should work collaboratively to enhance the adoption of e-textbooks in higher education.

Social Media as a Tool in Higher Education

Development of information technology has very much affected the way teachers teach and students learn. Digital devices have become a routine not only for playing games and communicating with classmates but also for the education and knowledge. This has provided opportunities for enriching the learning environment. The classroom today is a very challenging environment. The reason may be the changing focus of the environment which has shifted from the teachers to the learners. Many educators attempt to adopt new instructional approaches to encourage and motivate students to learn; social media can be one of the best approaches. The objective of this chapter is to understand the importance of social media as new teaching pedagogy in higher education institutes. A framework has been proposed to assimilate specific social media channels in teaching pedagogy in higher education. The framework will be useful in identifying how social media platforms can be integrated into teaching pedagogy for higher educational institutes so that the students may be benefited the most.

iPads in the Classroom

Handheld digital devices, especially iPads, have become increasingly popular in educational institutions surrounded by debates between advocates and skeptics. This chapter examines the perceptions of middle school teachers on the use of iPads in the classroom. A review of the existing literature on the digital devices and on iPads use in the classroom was conducted. The participants, 53 teachers, responded to a Likert scale type online survey asking them questions about how they felt about the 1:1 iPad initiative at their school. Data analysis included open and axial coding for identification of themes and patterns. The findings showed mixed findings, although the majority of teachers believed that the iPads played a significant role in the teaching-learning process to engage students in the classroom. Some participants, however, responded with concerns that iPads caused student distraction and allowed off-task behaviors in the classroom. The findings also suggest that teachers need targeted professional development training on pedagogical and practical use of iPad to be able to successfully integrate the iPad into their practice. Implications for educators, app designers, and for future research are discussed.