Role of Educational Leaders in Supporting Beginning Teachers in Al Ain Schools in the UAE

This chapter studied the current practices of the principals in Al-Ain school district (in UAE) in supporting their novice teachers in their first years of teaching. It aimed at drawing attention to the urgent need for an effective principal who knows the important role he plays, especially with the newly appointed teachers. The study used a literature review to establish a good base of theoretical ideas about the effective role of principals in supporting novice teachers in their first years of teaching. The importance of induction program and its goals and benefits were tackled as well, in addition to the main aspects of the support provided. Moreover, the conceptual framework of the study discussed the methodology by describing the qualitative and quantitative methods used to gather data. The population and the sample, data analysis and discussion, conclusion and recommendations were presented too. Twenty principals and 30 teachers of public and private schools participated in answering a questionnaire. Some of them were also interviewed.

Mobile Game-Based Learning in STEM Subjects

The acronym STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) has entered the agenda of educational policies. The development of mobile game-based learning has been seen as a new line of research and technological development in the field of educational technology, STEM education, and game design. These fields are rather new and intrinsically multidisciplinary, making it even more exciting. There is a growing interest in mobile game-related research, whether strictly technological or applied in social contexts. In this chapter, the authors thought a nice way to connect this data and depict the current scenario would be to break the subject into pieces: game design; affection and play; mobile learning; games for learning; science and mathematics education; and lastly, summarizing it in the games for STEM education section. The conclusions point to the fact that we are taking the first steps in a digital game development process for teaching mathematics in the school environment and the acceptance of smartphones as tools that add value to education.

Predicting Students Grades Using Artificial Neural Networks and Support Vector Machine

Prediction of student performance on the basis of habits has been a very important research topic in academics. Studies show that selection of the correct data set also plays a vital role in these predictions. In this chapter, the authors took data from different schools that contains student habits and their comments, analyzed it using latent semantic analysis to get semantics, and then used support vector machine to classify the data into two classes, important for prediction and not important. Finally, they used artificial neural networks to predict the grades of students. Regression was also used to predict data coming from support vector machine, while giving only the important data for prediction.

A Study on Extensive Reading in Higher Education

As practicing university teachers, the authors have noticed that students tend to focus exclusively on syllabus reading materials, ignoring reading for pleasure outside the classroom. Rarely taught in ordinary university classes, extensive reading skills may play an important part in the foreign language teaching and learning process. Given these facts, the authors decided to pilot an extensive reading program at the academic level, the ultimate aim being to implement it in the future. Therefore, the purposes of the chapter are to discover students' attitudes towards extensive reading and to assess the results of the pilot as reflected in their opinions with a view to conceiving a large-scale future reading program. The study attempts to shed light on the issues triggered by the introduction of such a program into the curriculum of philological students, being mainly concerned with the practical side of the phenomenon and highlighting the interdependence between the findings and the latest theories in the field.

Quality Online Learning in Higher Education

Traditional education systems alone, despite the essential role they have played and will continue to play in learning, are simply not capable of serving the world's growing and changing needs. The knowledge explosion, driven by the power of the network to connect people and spread ideas, has changed the very nature of learning. We must innovate and develop new modes of learning, both formal and informal, that meet the demands of the knowledge-driven economy in this information age. This chapter begins by identifying the technological changes that are affecting all societies and how these changes will specifically impact postsecondary education. The topic of course delivery within this chapter is viewed as a cultural issue that permeates processes from the design of an online course to the evaluation of an online course.

Knowledge Networks in Higher Education

Networks function as an appropriate device to explore the processes of creation and adoption of knowledge by academics in higher education institutions (HEIs), and how it can be operationalized with the concept of epistemic authority and the analysis of knowledge networks. The claim that underlies this chapter is that emergent processes of knowledge creation—in terms of epistemic states—are highly shaped by the social and knowledge networks in which academics are engaged. The primary focus of this approach to knowledge networks will be on knowledge creation. Thus, instead of focusing on the vehicles of distribution of knowledge and scientific outputs, the emphasis will be on the role of knowledge networks – seen as epistemic conduits.

The Use of Postcasting/Vodcasting in Education

Podcasting and vodcasting are audio and video files, respectively. These files can be accessed by subscribers at any time of day. Initially, the technology was used for information and entertainment. Later on, it became clear that this technology could be useful in education. There are many advantages in the use of these technologies. Yet, there are a few drawback that cannot render the technology useless. The technology can be used in various ways in both tertiary and secondary education. Until recently, the process of creating, editing, and distributing vodcasts and podcasts was a manual process. Fortunately, new tools have automated this process, and the authors describe one of these tools and its use.

Liberating Educational Technology Through the Socratic Method

Technology is now an essential component of classroom instruction. Instructors have come to terms with the realization that their students are “digital natives” who acquire information through an array of technologies. The knowledge that is attained through technology induces schools to develop what has been called one-to-one programs. These programs offer both instructors and students opportunities to understand material in meaningful ways. However, without training, laptops merely become add-ons to traditional lesson plans. In order to raise the level of student participation and teacher expertise, this chapter puts forward the idea that the Socratic method can be the pedagogical bridge between traditional lesson plans and technological platforms. In elucidating this idea, this chapter offers background on the general experience of schools that adopted one-to-one programs. The chapter then offers a brief account of the Socratic method. Lastly, there will be discussion on the relationship between the Socratic method and educational technology.

The Infusion of Technology Within the Classroom Facilitates Students' Autonomy in Their Learning

This experiment investigated whether the infusion of technology in teaching as a scaffolding tool can improve the pass rate of mathematics at the University of Trinidad and Tobago. The use of technology facilitated the building of a virtual classroom which was based on scaffolding, thus aiding students by either peers or the instructor until they are comfortable to move on to the next level. The virtual classroom was used to stimulate discussions on students' knowledge of mathematics ensuring no focus was on the technology nor the instructor. These discussions provide opportunities for the students to discover his/her existing level within the learning community. Within this learning community, everybody was anonymous including the instructor thus motivating the students to comment on the reflective questions. This encouraged students to collaborate and provide prompt feedback. Suggestions obtained from the students into improving the virtual classroom were considered resulting in four virtual classrooms.

Measuring Text Readability Using Reading Level

Reading grade level calculations have been in use for over a century in the United States and have guided the selection of texts used in school programs. Government agencies at all levels, the military in its various branches, and editors of publications have found such formulas of use in setting policy or determining who can participate in programs. As readership is now a worldwide phenomenon with English as the primary language of the internet, reading grade level calculations can also be useful in creating web pages and assigning reading texts to large multi-user classes (MOOCs) run over the internet. In this regard, it is possible for faculty to be assured that the material is reachable to a wide audience by checking reading grade level and providing additional guidance for the more difficult items in the form of discussion or focused questions. Authors can use the formulas as a tool to check the quality of their own writing and improve sections which are unnecessarily complex.