scholarly journals Material matters for learning in virtual networks: A case study of a professional learning programme hosted in a Google+ online community.

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aileen Ackland ◽  
Ann Swinney
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Development ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Learning Technology ◽  
Learning Networks ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Holistic Understanding

In this paper, we draw on Actor–Network Theories (ANT) to explore how material components functioned to create gateways and barriers to a virtual learning network in the context of a professional development module in higher education. Students were practitioners engaged in family learning in different professional roles and contexts. The data comprised postings in the Google+ community, email correspondence, meeting notes, feedback submitted at the final workshop and post-module evaluation forms. Our analysis revealed a complex set of interactions, and suggests multiple ways human actors story their encounters with non-human components and the effects these have on the learning experience. The aim of this paper is to contribute to a more holistic understanding of the components and dynamics of social learning networks in the virtual world and consider the implications for the design of online learning for continuous professional development (CPD).Keywords: professional education and training; learning communities; higher education; Actor–Network Theories(Published: 14 August 2015)Citation: Research in Learning Technology 2015, 23: 26677 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v23.26677 

scholarly journals Blog-based professional development of English teachers in Mumbai: The potential of innovative practice under scrutiny

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atiya Khan
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teacher Collaboration ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
English Teachers ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
Learning Networks ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Interactive Workshop

The professional development of teachers in India is still, by and large, based on formal and outdated professional learning traditions, often characterised by crash courses and one-off workshops. In education, blogs have proven to be an effective means of establishing and maintaining collaborative learning networks and helping members reflect on their professional practices. Information and communications technology (ICT) enabled practices of teacher professional development is still in its infancy in India. Moreover, there is limited research in India to secure foundational understanding of how and in what ways teachers of English in India use blogs for their professional development. This study explores the use of teacher reflective practice, teacher networking, and teacher collaboration, beyond formal ICT training, through blog-based professional development of English teachers in the Mumbai region of India. Using data collected from 32 teachers from three private schools in Mumbai, through ICT interactive workshop observations, questionnaires, interviews, and blog comments, this action case study explains whether and why blogging, as a learning community, has the potential to add significant value to existing professional development of English teachers in Mumbai.

scholarly journals Derivation of electronic course templates for use in higher education

2012 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin K. Hill ◽  
Jill W. Fresen ◽  
Fawei Geng
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Learning Technology ◽  
Pedagogical Practice ◽  
Technology Support ◽  
Initial State ◽  
Web Technologies ◽  
Learning Platform

Lecturers in higher education often consider the incorporation of web technologies into their teaching practice. Partially structured and populated course site templates could aid them in getting started with creating and deploying webbased materials and activities to enrich the teaching and learning experience. Discussions among instructional technology support staff and lecturers reveal a paucity of robust specifications for possible course site features that could comprise a template. An attempted mapping from the teaching task as understood by the instructor to the envisaged course website properties proves elusive. We conclude that the idea of an initial state for a course site, embodied in a template, remains useful and should be developed not according to a formula but with careful attention to the context and existing pedagogical practice. Any course template provided for the use of lecturers should be enhanced with supporting instructions and examples of how it may be adapted for their particular purposes.Keywords: course template; learning platform; pedagogical dimensions; course site properties(Published: 17 December 2012)Citation: Research in Learning Technology 2012, 20: 18665 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v20i0.18665

School-Based Professional Development Programs for Beginning Teachers

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Madalińska-Michalak
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Beginning Teachers ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Quality Teachers ◽  
High Quality ◽  
School Based

School-based professional development for beginning teachers must be seen as a dynamic identity and decision-making process. Teachers as lifelong learners from the beginning of their career should be able to engage in different forms of teacher education that enable them to progress their learning and development in ways that are relevant to their own individual needs and the needs of their schools and pupils. Teacher individual professional learning is necessary but not sufficient for sustainable change within groups in school and within school as an organization. It is helpful to consider three elements. First, note the importance to schools of recruiting and developing high-quality teachers. Teachers are among the most significant factors in children’s learning and the quality school education, and the questions why and how teachers matter and how teacher quality and quality teacher education should be perceived require serious considerations from academics, policymakers, and practitioners. Second, understand teacher education as career-long education, and problematize the issue of teachers and coherent professional development within schools, asking key questions including the following: “how do schools create effective opportunities for teachers to learn and develop?” Third, focus on the particular journey and the needs of beginning teachers because their early career learning and development will have an impact on retention of high-quality teachers. It is important that coherent lifelong professional education for teachers is planned and implemented at the level of education systems, individual schools, teaching teams, and individual teachers.

scholarly journals The Curriculum and Community Enterprise for Restoration Science S.T.E.M. + C Professional Learning Model: Expansion and Enhancement

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 122
Author(s):  
Lauren Birney ◽  
Denise McNamara
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
The United States ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Career Pathway ◽  
Stem Workforce ◽  
Career Options

Professional Development in the field of education has undergone several shifts in focus. Currently, teacher contentknowledge and the ability to disseminate this knowledge is the focus in professional learning communities. Theimportance of creating a thriving STEM workforce in the United States has been promoted for the last decade.Studies have shown that capturing students’ interest must occur before they enter high school, ideally in the middleschool years (Blotnicky, Franz-Odendaal, French, & Phillip, 2018). Teachers are the conduits for encouragingstudents to explore STEM-related career options. Student engagement is piqued when there is a strong real-worldconnection to the content being presented. Students find relevance through actual experience with the concepts andskills incorporated in projects that are community-based. The Curriculum and Community Enterprise for RestorationScience STEM + C Project is the marriage of these two components. The professional development of the New YorkCity middle school teachers involved in the CCERS STEM +C Project furnishes these educators with the tools tostimulate students’ interest by tackling a problem in their local community using STEM-related content andcomputational thinking. The hope is that authenticity of the learning experience will entice all students, especiallythose under-represented populations in the STEM workforce, to consider this as a viable career pathway. Theanalysis of this project is intended to highlight the significant inroads made and the value of self-reflection andre-design in strengthening the work as it continues.

Moving beyond silos: professional learning networks in higher education

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torrey Trust ◽  
Jeffrey Paul Carpenter ◽  
Daniel G. Krutka
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Learning Networks

scholarly journals Making the most of mobility: virtual mentoring and education practitioner professional development

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hazel D. Owen
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Learning Technology ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Virtual Mentoring ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Knowledge Cultures

Learning provision, including professional learning, needs to embrace mobility (of knowledge, cultures and contexts – physical and cerebral) to enable education practitioners to interact locally and globally, engage with new literacies, access rich contexts, and to question, co-construct and collaborate. Virtual mentoring, also known as distance, remote, tele-, cyber- and eMentoring, offers a level of flexibility that enables mentors and mentees to maximise these concepts of mobility. There are Professional Learning and Development (PLD) initiatives that offer contextualised, individualised learning experiences via mentoring partnerships and Communities of Practice (CoPs), but not so many that have focussed on virtual mentoring and online CoPs. This article describes a Virtual PLD programme that has been offered in Aotearoa New Zealand from 2009 to date and discusses findings from the associated research study, including benefits that can be specifically equated to the virtual nature of the mentoring and access to the online CoP. Also reported are shifts in mentees’ self-efficacy and perceptions of changes in professional practice.Keywords: online communities; professional development; coaching(Published: 16 September 2015)Citation: Research in Learning Technology 2015, 23: 25566 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v23.25566

scholarly journals Has e-Learning Delivered on its Promises? Expert Opinion on the Impact of e-Learning in Higher Education

1969 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Kanuka ◽  
Jennifer Kelland
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Learning Technologies ◽  
Learning Technology ◽  
Canadian Higher Education ◽  
Education Leaders ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Higher Education Leaders ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of agreement among experts on the impact of e-learning technology in Canadian higher education learning experiences. Fourteen participants who are experts in e-learning in higher education agreed there are contentions about e-learning technologies in the following areas: (1) a platform for ideal speech; (2) greater opportunities for interactions; (3) the extent to which communities of learners can be created; (4) provision of a new kind of learning environment; (5) a platform for discussions; (6) demand for e-learning by students; (7) the degree to which the environment is equal and equitable; and (8) the quality of the learning experience. The findings of this study indicate that the value of e-learning requires further research before higher education leaders and teacher-practitioners are willing to incorporate them in teaching practices and policy documents.  

scholarly journals Профессиональные обучающиеся сообщества в системе непрерывного профессионального развития учителей в России и Сингапуре

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 59-69
Author(s):  
Елена Фёдоровна МАТВЕЕВА
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Professional Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Work Organization ◽  
Teacher Qualifications ◽  
Effective System ◽  
Teacher Professional

В статье поднимается проблема управления профессиональным развитием учителя в России и в Сингапуре; освещается опыт непрерывного повышения квалификации педагога в Сингапуре посредством создания профессиональных обучающихся сообществ; раскрываются особенности организации работы сингапурских профессиональных обучающихся сообществ в школах, принципы их функционирования. В сравнительном ключе актуализируются вопросы развития профессионализма педагога в России, опыт региональных практик повышении квалификации педагогов, неформального объединения педагогов, инновационных практик дополнительного профессионального образования. В итоге сравнительного анализа делается вывод о том, что опыт Сингапура по созданию и развитию системы непрерывного повышения профессионализма учителя через профессиональные обучающиеся сообщества может заслуживать более пристального внимания со стороны, как учёных-теоретиков, так и учителей-практиков и управленцев школ в России. The article touches upon the issue of management of teacher professional development in Russia and Singapore. The author refers to the experience of organization of teacher continual professional development through professional learning communities in Singaporean schools as one of the most effective in the world. The paper provides insight into their work organization and principles of operation, as well as describes the history of their development. The phases of teachers’ participation in professional learning communities in Singaporean schools are viewed within the present studies. Concurrently, the issues of teacher professional development in Russia, the emerging experience of teacher qualifications upgrading in regional practices and informal teacher communities, innovative practices of teacher complementary professional education are updated in a comparative manner. The author reveals some difficulties and achievements in this area. In the end of the comparative analysis it is stated that the experience achieved by Singapore in creating a highly effective system of teacher professional learning communities needs a more focused attention from academics, as well as from practicing teachers and school managers.

scholarly journals Co-designing an industry-academic postgraduate professional education framework for emergency nursing

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Ann Theobald ◽  
Fiona Coyer ◽  
Amanda Henderson ◽  
Robyn Fox ◽  
Bernadette Thomson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Postgraduate Education ◽  
Emergency Nursing ◽  
Integration Framework ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
Graduate Certificate ◽  
University Settings ◽  
University Industry

Abstract Background This paper describes an evidence-based co-designed study with clinical-academic stakeholders from hospital and university settings. Hospitals and university providers in Australia invest significant but separate resources for postgraduate curricula, resulting in duplication of curricula and resources in the health and higher education sectors. Methods Using emergency nursing as an exemplar, we co-designed an industry-academic postgraduate education framework that integrated the needs and resources of the health and higher education sectors to streamline postgraduate students’ professional learning. Results Outcomes include matrices synchronising professional and regulatory imperatives of postgraduate nursing coursework; mutually-shaped curriculum content, teaching approaches and assessment strategies relevant for postgraduate education; a University-Industry Academic Integration Framework; five guiding principles of postgraduate curriculum development for university-industry curriculum co-design; and a Graduate Certificate of Emergency Nursing curriculum exemplar. Conclusion Industry-academic co-design can increase the relevance of postgraduate specialist courses in nursing, strengthening the nexus between both entities to advance learning and employability.

scholarly journals Critical Friendship and Inter-Faculty Collaborative Inquiry: Teacher Education and Nursing Education

in education ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-87
Author(s):  
Karen Ragoonaden ◽  
Lisa Morajelo ◽  
Lindsay Kennedy
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Nursing Education ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Community Of Inquiry ◽  
Collaborative Inquiry ◽  
Nursing Educators ◽  
Roles Of Teacher

This paper explores how three researchers utilize critical friendship to systematically examine the nuanced roles of Teacher Education and Nursing Education practices in a community of inquiry. An ancillary theme investigates sustainable structures for supporting the professional learning of teacher and nursing educators. Respectively from two faculties on one campus, university educators came together in September 2015 to form the Critical Friendship in Nursing and Education (CFiNe) community of inquiry. Data collection includes research notes, teaching notes, journaling, and monthly meetings. This community of inquiry has the potential to provide the foundations of critically infused professional development paradigms promoting interdisciplinary and collaborative stances in higher education.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document