Connected education and the co-construction of knowledge in a joint course for law and interpreting students

This article raises questions of education sociology with a focus on one of its core concepts: connectedness. It relates the dimensions of the connected curriculum to research on didactic approaches, showing how methods of connected learning and the co-construction of knowledge can be applied at different levels to enable students to gain subject-related, methodological and transdisciplinary communicative competence in addition to building relationships and cooperation among them across fields of study. These dimensions are presented using the example of the course “Questioning techniques from the perspective of criminology and interpreting”. During this course, students of law and interpreting had the opportunity to acquire both core theoretical knowledge of and practical experience in questioning techniques. This they did through role playing the questioning of defendants and witnesses that typically occurs in a courtroom from the perspective of both criminology and interpreting. The evaluation and feedback showed that the law and the interpreting students appreciated the way the course made them aware of issues in both their own and the other field, helped them to connect academic learning to professional competences and gave them insights into interprofessional cooperation in interpreted legal settings.

Leveraging the pandemic to build a community of networked, engaged and curious learners – our future leaders

The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly presented a multitude of challenges to the way education is delivered; its wide-reaching multidisciplinary impact has also presented a unique opportunity as a focus for real-world authentic learning. For some time now, technology has enabled interaction at a global scale, allowing students to connect with teachers and industry experts around the world. This paper reports on the innovative design of an intra-curricular program utilising COVID-19 as a focus for online, real-world connected learning, delivered to business students at a large Australian university during the pandemic lockdown. Implemented as an online intra-curricular initiative, ‘Leading in a Post-COVID World’ encouraged student engagement with the challenges of leadership to address issues on a personal, local, and global scale. Using a community of inquiry (CoI) lens we explore key features of the program and find that a CoI approach combined with principles of real-world learning and authentic experiences encourages student participation and engagement in this intra-curricular space.

Instructional Policy From Pre-K to Third Grade: The Challenges of Fostering Alignment and Continuity in Two School Districts

In an effort to improve learning for young children and respond to preschool fade out, some districts are working on “PreK-3” initiatives to create better connected learning pathways for children. In these pathways, primary grades continue to build on what children learn in preschool; they also present potential implementation challenges that are not accounted for in the literature. Using conceptual tools from institutional theory and empirical evidence from a study of two school districts, we show how challenges arise as districts try to bridge the divergent and entrenched institutional systems of preschool and elementary. Our findings suggest that these systems are each held in place by their own set of regulative, normative, and cultural-cognitive mechanisms that reinforce one another thereby providing an explanation for why beliefs and practices are so resistant to change. This analysis also points to practical implications that may lead to better connections and learning experiences for young children.

School Libraries Role in Connected Learning: Perception of School Librarians in Nigeria

Connected learning (CL) aims at bridging the gap between in-school and out-of-school learning, thus, learning now takes place not only in the classroom setting. Libraries as nexus of informal learning space are appropriate spaces for connected learning. Observation shows that CL has not been embraced in Nigeria. Therefore, this study examined the perception of school librarians on the roles of school libraries in CL, challenges of CL, and solutions. School librarians that attended the national workshop organized by the Nigerian School Library Association (NSLA) participated in the focus group discussion. The findings revealed perceived roles of school libraries in CL, challenges of CL in Nigeria, and solutions proffered.

L’apprentissage connecté des jeunes en contexte d’éducation formelle francophone

L’apprentissage connecté est une pratique éducative croissante qui a été repérée par les délégué·e·s d’EDUsummIT2019 et qui en ont fait un thème de travail lors de leur examen des relations curriculum/pratiques pédagogiques/évaluation des apprentissages. Le présent article porte sur la manière avec laquelle le concept connected learning a été interprété et mis en œuvre dans le contexte culturel français et francophone, et il suggère que les « passages » de frontières, qui en reflètent le dynamisme, améliorent l’éducation formelle, notamment dans des cas d’élèves ou de classes défavorisées (classes rurales isolées). Cette interprétation repose sur des repères historiques ainsi que sur les notions d’agentivité, d’interaction et de connexion. L’étendue et la mise en œuvre de ce concept sont illustrées par le cas de l’école (éloignée) en réseau, une innovation qui s’adapte selon les contextes, dont celui de la COVID-19, par des allers-retours entre le local et le délocalisé. Deux interrogations en ressortent, l’une concernant la reconnaissance des apprentissages réalisés en dehors du contexte de l’éducation formelle et l’autre, la gestion de la désinformation.