Technology as infrastructure for change: district leader understandings of 1:1 educational technology initiatives and educational change

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra J. Lamb ◽  
Jennie Miles Weiner
Keyword(s):  
Educational Change ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
System Level ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Educational Infrastructure ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Current Context ◽  
Technology Programs ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Technology Initiatives

PurposeWhile educational infrastructure is consistently identified as a key lever for educational change, it is often overlooked in research and practice and specifically in relation to technology in schools. By using educational infrastructure as a lens to examine a group of districts' implementation of 1:1 programs, this work provides opportunities for understanding and approaching technology programs in new, and potentially more effective, ways.Design/methodology/approachUsing the concept of educational infrastructure (Mehta and Fine, 2015; Peurach and Neumerski, 2015), this multiple-case study explores the ways superintendents and district technology leaders understand and enact 1:1 technology initiatives to support educational change.FindingsThe authors find these leaders see 1:1 technology as both embedded in, and engaged in changing, the physical, cultural, instructional and leadership infrastructures. This suggests that 1:1 technology can act as an infrastructure itself and has the potential to support changes to teaching and learning across the system.Originality/valueThis study offers a new perspective to understand and enact the opportunities of 1:1 technology. Specifically, it helps to reframe technology programs away from discrete classroom or school-based interventions to consider and attend to the system-level resources they require and thus increase benefits they can produce. While always useful, such considerations are particularly important in the current context and the proliferation of online learning for so many.

Students’ perception on developing conceptual generic skills for business

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 490-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Constantin Bratianu ◽  
Elena-Madalina Vatamanescu
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Classical Approach ◽  
Learning To Learn ◽  
Generic Skills ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Core Skills ◽  
Learn By Doing ◽  
New Type ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Undergraduate Programs

Purpose The classical approach of teaching and learning mostly based on knowledge transfer is questionable as knowledge life cycle is shortening and new type of jobs appear every day with new knowledge request. In this vein, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how to switch the focus from learning knowledge to learning generic skills liable to help future professionals to think and learn by doing. Design/methodology/approach The research is based on a 30-item questionnaire that was addressed to over 500 students involved in management and business undergraduate and graduate programs from two well-reputed Romanian universities. Three hundred and forty questionnaires were filled in and processed using SPSS, version 19. Additionally, a factorial analysis was performed, with a view to extract the most important factors that are involved in developing generic skills in university programs. Findings Results demonstrate that most of the students from the undergraduate programs prefer the classical approach – less implication and responsibility in doing a harder conceptual work – while most students from the master programs are open to the new perspective of learning to learn, namely, to developing generic skills. Research limitations/implications In the new turbulent business landscape, universities face a significant change in teaching their students. Although the research adds to the value of the extant literature on generic skills (also known as core skills), it is mainly focused on a Romanian sample, thus reflecting a context-based perspective. Originality/value The current study provides a preliminary insight into the perception of Romanian students about developing generic skills and into their readiness to assume the role of main actors in the learning process.

An employee-oriented perspective in the value-creating mission of social enterprises

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Quynh-Trang Nguyen ◽  
Ming-Yen Lee ◽  
Yi-Chung Hu
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Contract ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
Equal Importance ◽  
Primary Means ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
New Perspective

Purpose This study aims to concentrate on a specific perspective that has mostly been ignored: employees in social enterprises (SEs). It proposes that employees in SEs should be treated with equal importance to outside beneficiaries within the SEs’ value-creating mission. Design/methodology/approach A multiple case study approach is adopted, and semi-structured interviews are the primary means of data collection. Findings The results show that while economic values are fundamental for the employment relationship, social values play the leading role in employees’ motivation; thus, they can significantly affect the organization’s operation and development. Research limitations/implications This work contributes to Maslow’s need theory and psychological contract theory regarding their application to SEs. Practical lessons and suggestions are also provided for SEs’ development. Originality/value By emphasizing the value-creating mission of SEs with the new perspective of including employees in it, this work provides empirical evidence and practical lessons for SEs, especially Asian SEs, in terms of management and strategy.

scholarly journals Linking trust and collaboration in project teams to project management success

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 432-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taryn Jane Bond-Barnard ◽  
Lizelle Fletcher ◽  
Herman Steyn
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Knowledge Integration ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Knowledge Exchange ◽  
Project Team ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Members ◽  
New Perspective

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to emphasise the importance of high levels of trust and collaboration for increasing the likelihood of project management (PM) success. However, the link between these three constructs remains unclear. Design/methodology/approach In this study, the authors use structural equation modelling (SEM) based on the findings from an international survey of 151 project practitioners to demonstrate the significance of project team trust and collaboration for increasing the likelihood of PM success. Findings The results indicate that PM success becomes more likely as the degree of collaboration improves which, in turn, is influenced by an increase in the level of trust between team members. The two factors of PM success are project performance and knowledge integration and innovation. The six factors of the degree of collaboration that were studied are physical proximity, commitment, conflict, coordination, relationships and incentives. The three factors of the level of trust investigated are expectations, knowledge exchange and imported trust. Practical implications The results of the study are expected to provide insight for project practitioners to increase the likelihood of PM success by taking cognisance of the factors that influence collaboration and trust. The results of the study may also provide insight into teaching and learning in tertiary education, in terms of professionalism and integrity issues. Originality/value This paper presents a new perspective for investigating PM success. SEM techniques are used to determine the likelihood of PM success by promoting trust and collaboration in the project team. This unique approach highlights the “human factors” that influence perceived PM success which should benefit both researchers and practitioners.

Principal leadership and school capacity effects on teacher learning in Hong Kong

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lijuan Li ◽  
Philip Hallinger ◽  
James Ko
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Principal Leadership ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
System Level ◽  
Teacher Professionalism ◽  
Teacher Professional Learning ◽  
School Capacity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Teacher Professional

Purpose – Over the past decade, studies of school leadership effects have increasingly aimed at identifying and validating the paths through which principal leadership impacts key teaching and learning processes in schools. A recent meta-analysis by Robinson and colleagues identified principal practices that shape teacher professional development experiences in schools as the highest impact path used by instructional leaders. The purpose of this paper is to examine relationships between principal leadership, dimensions of school capacity, and teacher professional learning in 32 Hong Kong primary schools. Design/methodology/approach – The study employed a cross-sectional research design and quantitative methods to analyze teacher perceptions of principal leadership and key school conditions. The research employed hierarchical linear regression analysis to explore survey data collected from a sample of 970 teachers. The surveys covered a range of principal leadership and school capacity dimensions, as well as a measure of teacher professional learning. Findings – Results indicated that multiple dimensions of principal leadership made significant contributions to both school capacity and teacher professional learning. The presence of cooperation, trust, communication, support for students, and alignment, coherence, and structure in schools also affected teacher professional learning. Research limitations/implications – These findings contribute to the global discourse on leadership for learning. The study addresses the need established by multiple scholars (e.g. Leithwood, Hallinger, Heck, Robinson, Witziers) for research that further illuminates “paths” and “intermediate targets” through which leadership impacts teaching and learning. The findings elaborate on the means by which leadership can enhance school capacities that directly impact teacher classroom practice and student learning. Consistent with other scholarly research (e.g. Bryk and Schneider, Louis and colleagues, Sahphier and King) the findings also point toward the importance of establishing selected workplace conditions (e.g. trust, cooperation, communication) as a foundation for fostering teacher professional learning. Practical implications – The study reinforces the finding from other studies that it is productive for principals to foster an environment aimed at enhancing teacher professionalism. The study also highlights the potentially dysfunctional consequences that can arise from competing system-level initiatives aimed at increasing monitoring and teacher accountability and fostering teacher professionalism. Originality/value – The study contributes to a small but growing body of leadership effects research conducted in non-Western societies. As such the study offers insights with relevance for understanding leadership processes in other Asian and non-Western cultures.

scholarly journals Embracing ambiguity

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dave Towey ◽  
James Walker ◽  
Ricky Ng
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Reflective Practice ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Vocational Education And Training ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Agile Methodologies ◽  
Literature Reviews ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
First Time ◽  
And Training

Purpose Embracing reflective practice and retrospection, with a goal of identifying commonalities, this paper aims to examine delivery of engineering subjects in both traditional higher education (THE) and technical and vocational education and training (TVET). Design/methodology/approach Reflections on actions and autoethnography were used to examine the teaching and learning experiences of three educators across two higher education (HE) institutions (HEIs) in the greater Chinese context. Literature reviews and historical contexts are outlined to support the approaches and insights identified. Findings This paper presents a number of common characteristics and challenges identified across both THE and TVET. Drawing on the successful embrace of ambiguity and change in recent software engineering (SE) development paradigms, recommendations are made for how the agile SE themes can be applied in a larger sense to address the wider challenges facing both THE and TVET. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time that engineering education has been examined and contrasted in the contexts of THE and TVET. The similarities and common challenges may represent a new focus for related work, and the presented insights, from agile methodologies in SE, represent a new perspective for viewing future HE and TVET sustainability.

scholarly journals Designing blockchain systems to prevent counterfeiting in wine supply chains: a multiple-case study

2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (13) ◽  
pp. 1-33
Author(s):  
Pamela Danese ◽  
Riccardo Mocellin ◽  
Pietro Romano
Keyword(s):  
Crime Prevention ◽  
Situational Crime Prevention ◽  
Multiple Case Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Reading Processes ◽  
Wine Sector ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Key Variables ◽  
New Perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to contribute to the debate on blockchain (BC) adoption for preventing counterfeiting by investigating BC systems where different options for BC feeding and reading complement the use of BC technology. By grounding on the situational crime prevention, this study analyses how BC systems can be designed to effectively prevent counterfeiting.Design/methodology/approachThis is a multiple-case study of five Italian wine companies using BC to prevent counterfeiting.FindingsThis study finds that the desired level of upstream/downstream counterfeiting protection that a brand owner intends to guarantee to customers through BC is the key driver to consider in the design of BC systems. The study identifies which variables are relevant to the design of feeding and reading processes and explains how such variables can be modulated in accordance with the desired level of counterfeiting protection.Research limitations/implicationsThe cases investigated are Italian companies within the wine sector, and the BC projects analysed are in the pilot phase.Practical implicationsThe study provides practical suggestions to address the design of BC systems by identifying a set of key variables and explaining how to properly modulate them to face upstream/downstream counterfeiting.Originality/valueThis research applies a new perspective based on the situational crime prevention approach in studying how companies can design BC systems to effectively prevent counterfeiting. It explains how feeding and reading process options can be configured in BC systems to assure different degrees of counterfeiting protection.

Alignment

2016 ◽  
pp. 33-50
Author(s):  
Pier Giuseppe Rossi
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Enactive Approach ◽  
The World ◽  
Strategic Role ◽  
Education Today ◽  
Current Context ◽  
The Subject

The subject of alignment is not new to the world of education. Today however, it has come to mean different things and to have a heuristic value in education according to research in different areas, not least for neuroscience, and to attention to skills and to the alternation framework.This paper, after looking at the classic references that already attributed an important role to alignment in education processes, looks at the strategic role of alignment in the current context, outlining the shared construction processes and focusing on some of the ways in which this is put into effect.Alignment is part of a participatory, enactive approach that gives a central role to the interaction between teaching and learning, avoiding the limits of behaviourism, which has a greater bias towards teaching, and cognitivism/constructivism, which focus their attention on learning and in any case, on that which separates a teacher preparing the environment and a student working in it.

Building a Culture of Ethical, Comparable, Authentic Assessment

2019 ◽  
pp. 463-481
Author(s):  
Andrew Reid ◽  
Julie Ballantyne
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Authentic Assessment ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
System Level ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Effective Learning ◽  
School Based ◽  
The Subject

In an ideal world, assessment should be synonymous with effective learning and reflect the intricacies of the subject area. It should also be aligned with the ideals of education: to provide equitable opportunities for all students to achieve and to allow both appropriate differentiation for varied contexts and students and comparability across various contexts and students. This challenge is made more difficult in circumstances in which the contexts are highly heterogeneous, for example in the state of Queensland, Australia. Assessment in music challenges schooling systems in unique ways because teaching and learning in music are often naturally differentiated and diverse, yet assessment often calls for standardization. While each student and teacher has individual, evolving musical pathways in life, the syllabus and the system require consistency and uniformity. The challenge, then, is to provide diverse, equitable, and quality opportunities for all children to learn and achieve to the best of their abilities. This chapter discusses the designing and implementation of large-scale curriculum as experienced in secondary schools in Queensland, Australia. The experiences detailed explore the possibilities offered through externally moderated school-based assessment. Also discussed is the centrality of system-level clarity of purpose, principles and processes, and the provision of supportive networks and mechanisms to foster autonomy for a diverse range of music educators and contexts. Implications for education systems that desire diversity, equity, and quality are discussed, and the conclusion provokes further conceptualization and action on behalf of students, teachers, and the subject area of music.

Corporate acceleration process: a systems psychodynamics perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 1163-1180
Author(s):  
Piotr Wójcik ◽  
Krzysztof Obłój ◽  
Aleksandra Wąsowska ◽  
Szymon Wierciński
Keyword(s):  
Open Innovation ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Acceleration Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Third Phase ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Social Defenses ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the emotional dynamics of the corporate acceleration process, using the systems psychodynamics perspective.Design/methodology/approachThe study applies inductive multiple case study of embedded 10 cases of corporate acceleration, covering both incumbent and startup perspectives, occurring in the context of a corporate accelerator.FindingsWe find that (1) the process of corporate acceleration involves three phases, each of them is dominated by a different emotional state (hope, anxiety and acceptance), triggering different behavioral responses; (2) as a means to deal with negative emotions, entrepreneurs and corporate acceleration program's team members develop different mechanisms of dealing with contradictories in subsequent acceleration phases (defense and copying mechanisms), which are reflected in their behaviors. Coping mechanisms with goal reformulation (i.e. refocus from the officially declared “open innovation” goals toward mainly symbolic ones) is an effective strategy to manage negative emotions in third phase of the acceleration.Research limitations/implicationsOur sample is limited to two relatively similar accelerators established by telecom companies, and therefore, our theoretical and practical conclusions cannot be generalized.Practical implicationsWe supplement the studies of corporate accelerators that imply how to design them better and improve decision-making rules with recommendation that in order to improve their effectiveness in terms of learning and innovations, their managers need not only to learn how to manage structural and procedural differences but also how to overcome social defenses triggered by corporate–startups cooperation.Originality/valueBy documenting a multidimensional impact of acceleration process, and especially shedding light on psychodynamic aspects behind such liaisons, this paper contributes to richer understanding of corporate–startup relationships, typically examined through a rationalistic lens of strategy literature. The study contributes to interorganizational research and open innovation literature, by showing that corporate acceleration process is marked by phases based on the type of emotions intertwined with the nature and dynamism of its life cycle. It indicates how these emotions are managed depending on their type.

Policy and institutions facilitating entrepreneurial spin-offs: USA, Asia and Europe

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosa Caiazza ◽  
David Audretsch ◽  
Tiziana Volpe ◽  
Julie Debra Singer
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Setting ◽  
Policy Debate ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Institutional Settings ◽  
The Usa ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
National Analysis ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Cross National

Purpose – Existing work documents the role that institutional setting plays in the process of spin-off creation. However, despite decades of studies, scholars have not clearly explained why some regions are more involved in spin-off activity than others. Drawing from institutional theory, the purpose of this paper is to compare different institutional settings identifying factors affecting the general environment capability to support spin-off activity of a specific region. Design/methodology/approach – The authors utilize a cross-national analysis of American, Asian, and European areas identifying factors affecting their different rate of spin-off activity. This study contributes to the policy debate concerning entrepreneurship and how best to spur spin-off activities. Findings – In this paper, the authors identify the general and specific factors that explain the cross-national diversity in spin-off creation. The authors then perform an analysis of the impact of these factors in various regions of the USA, Asia, and Europe, providing evidence for the necessity of specific combinations of these factors. Originality/value – The paper offers a new perspective on the causes of spin-offs through a cross-national analysis of many areas around the world.

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