Teaching for blended learning : how is ICT impacting on distance and on campus education?

The concept of blended learning, defined in a range of ways, has begun to change the nature of all teaching and learning in higher education. Information and communication technologies have impacted by providing a means of access to digital resources and interactive communication for all courses and the blending of pedagogy and technology has produced a range of approaches to teaching and learning. This paper will investigate reported studies from both research literature and from the writers' research, defining what they have concluded are teaching practices that use the concept of blended learning effectively.

Accommodating culture and cultural diversity in online teaching

The term 'culture' has been in common use for a long time. However there is no universally accepted definition and hence it is important to define clearly what culture means in a particular research context. The research reported here is part of a project undertaken at a large Australian university in late 2005. The overall aim of the project was to identify the characteristics of culture and cultural diversity, and to consider how these manifested themselves when teaching and learning in an online environment. The article reports on particular outcomes from the second stage of the project. This involved conducting focus groups with experienced academics and educational developers of online units. The aim was to gain an understanding of culture and cultural difference in the online environment and to consider what strategies were effective in teaching a culturally diverse cohort of online students. The findings from the focus group sessions were benchmarked with other external faculty. The cultural factors of ethnicity and language, attitudes to educational learning, education and prior learning, learning styles and socio-economic background were well supported by the external faculty. However the factors of religion and gender were not supported. Practices for accommodating such cultural differences amongst students within the online class are presented.

Teaching for blended learning: research perspectives from on-campus and distance students

The concept of blended learning has begun to change the nature of all teaching and learning in higher education. Information and communication technologies have impacted by providing a means of access to digital resources and interactive communication for all courses and the blending of pedagogy and technology has produced a range of approaches to teaching and learning. This paper discusses the research literature and the writers’ research, defining what they have concluded are teaching practices that use the concept of blended learning effectively. In investigating how ICT can add variation for student learning, they analyze this from two dominant modes of pedagogy, learning environment and pedagogy through both on-campus and distance education. In both modes, students acknowledged the power and effectiveness of blended learning.

Shifting to more authentic language and literacy activity in the middle years

This paper reports on the shifts in literacy teaching and learning that occurred at a Melbourne primary school, one of twelve schools that took part in a large research project undertaken by staff at Deakin University funded by the Victorian Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs: Middle Years Literacy Research Project. The project focused on literacy teaching, learning, and assessment of students in the middle years of schooling. Through close collaboration between the researcher and teachers at the school, significant changes were made to the language and literacy program. These changes reflected current language theory and extended the school's focus on independent learning to the area of literacy. The development of more authentic ways of assessing student learning grew out of the work in the project as teachers sought assessment practices that were consistent with their philosophy of teaching and learning. With a focus on developing authentic literacy practices, teachers developed new ways of tracking and reporting student achievement.

A virtual environment for cultural and linguistic inclusivity teaching in a global environment

The Deakin University (Melbourne, Australia) operational policy on 'International and Culturally Inclusive Curricula' states that Deakin will incorporate international/intercultural perspectives and inclusive pedagogies into its courses in order to prepare all students to perform capably, ethically and sensitively in international, multicultural, professional and social contexts.

This paper is about a specific project to internationalise the teacher education curriculum through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). This project is scoped in the context of the UNESCO thrust of 'Education for All' in agreeing that inclusive societies begin with inclusive education practices. In our view current strategies have been insufficient to ensure that marginalized and excluded children receive access to their right to education.

The project aims to operationalise part of the UNESCO Dakar Framework for high quality learning environments by responding to ‘…the diverse needs and circumstances of learners and giving appropriate weight to the abilities, skills and knowledge they bring to the teaching and learning process’ by minimising language acquisition barriers that can otherwise impede effective communication and learning.

In addition, we need to be mindful of the marginalisation of people from non-English speaking backgrounds and therefore, in this initiative we use ICT to bridge the 'tyranny of distance' and offer a curriculum that values cultural and linguistic diversity.

In this paper we will discuss how we intend to develop these project principles. In particular we will indicate our plans to use relatively low cost, accessible software to develop a virtual environment where students can enter text in their native language, view foreign language text in their native language, hear text in their own language and automatically encode text into MP3 files and attach the files to messages.

Appearing pedagogy : from embodied learning and teaching to embodied pedagogy

In this paper images are used to support the conceptualisation and recognition of embodied pedagogy. Analysis of data gathered during an arts-based teaching project in pre-service teacher education revealed the presence of an embodied pedagogy and supports the further deployment of embodied teaching and learning in teacher education. Embodied pedagogy includes embodied teaching and embodied learning but is conceptualised through ‘pedagogy as relational’ – between teaching and learning and between teacher and learner. Through image this paper presents traces of embodied pedagogy from the classroom. These tracings of embodied pedagogy in classrooms defy baseline certainty and instead assert Benjamin’s thesis that knowledge can only ‘stand up’ through multiplicity, through all acts of knowing.

Blended and online learning : student perceptions and performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to improve educator knowledge of the antecedents and consequences of blended learning in higher education.

Design/methodology/approach – A longitudinal case study approach is adopted. Three case studies each involve tracking a student evaluations of teaching (SET) measure (willingness to recommend) and grade point average for three subjects from the same business discipline over six years. The cases involve comparison of: a business subject taught solely online; a business subject where experimentation in the blend of face-to-face teaching and learning is involved; and a business subject where face-to-face teaching is primarily used, and where in the most recent iteration online content supplements the learners' experiences.

Findings – The findings suggest that there are situations where integrated use of blended learning involving face-to-face teaching, digital media and digital communication with simple navigation between the content items leads to positive student perceptions. This is in contrast to negative student perceptions in the situation where learners must navigate in online learning, and where there is little or no face-to-face instruction. While not examined in detail, nor part of the research question, it is not surprising to find no relationship between learning mode and grade point averages is evidenced.

Research limitations/implications – The effects of prior computer literacy and language proficiency across the students used in this study, and potential demographic and experiential differences between on-campus and off-campus students are not controlled for. Additionally, only three business subjects are investigated and it is recognised that there is a need for a broader study. Finally, with response levels to the university-controlled SET that typically range between 20-43 per cent for these large subjects, there is possible non-response bias that it was not possible to counter over the six years involved.

Practical implications – The findings in this study suggest that while blended learning offers many benefits to higher education institutions and learners alike, care needs to be taken in the manner in which such approaches are implemented in light of possible negative learner perceptions where a less traditional approach is taken.

Originality/value – A major contribution of this study is the fact that experimentation has taken place in terms of the degree of face-to-face and online learning that have been blended in at least one subject (case study two), and the fact that the SET for this subject are compared, longitudinally, with two other subjects which lie on either side of this subject in terms of the extent of online and face-to-face teaching and learning employed – 100 per cent online in case study one and almost 100 per cent face-to-face in case study three.

The changing face of the Australian teaching profession : new generations and new ways of working and learning

Today’s workforce is characterised by an increasing mix of people with varying career aspirations, work motivators and job satisfiers. This paper discusses the intergenerational nature of today’s workforce, which is currently dominated by the age groups commonly referred to as Baby Boomers and Generation X. The Baby Boomers defined and redefined work during the last quarter of the twentieth century, but as they track towards retirement, GenXers’ valued work patterns and their career and life aspirations are increasingly dominating. This paper draws on a body of literature about a younger generation of workers and the current world of work in today’s knowledge society, and discusses possible implications for the teaching profession, particularly for attracting and retaining young people as teachers.

Team teaching and communicative language teaching in Japanese secondary schools

Explores team teaching and communicative language teaching in Japanese schools. The study's first phase uses the ethnographic approach of participant observation. The second phase uses eleven case study interviews to discover the teachers' conceptions of communicative language teaching. Identifies elements of team taught lessons and elucidates the conceptions of communicative language teaching held by a sample of teachers.

Investigation into the appropriacy of Western language teaching methods in Taiwan

The language learning preferences of EFL students are often assumed and not readily understood by foreign teachers. This study sought to determine the types of language learning classroom activities preferred by adult learners of English in Taiwan. Student responses were then compared with responses from native-speaking teachers of EFL.

Introducing creative language learning in Japan through educational drama

Educational Drama as a teaching and learning methodology is already widely in use and well accepted by Australian teachers and students. This paper reports on a study in which the author investigated Japanese primary school students' and teachers' responses to educational drama as a pedagogical tool in their English language classes. The participants had no prior experience of drama in education. Along with the participants' responses, the applicability of educational drama as a teaching method for the Japanese teachers is also discussed. The author, as a teacher-researcher, used action research methods for this study. It became evident that educational drama tended to motivate the Japanese students' foreign language learning of English, by providing them with an opportunity for a higher level of engagement and participation in learning. In the study, the students showed enhancement of the skills necessary for learning, including social, communication, linguistic, non-linguistic and problem-solving skills.

Language and learning preferences : a study of university students in Australia

This study sought to investigate the preferences for language use and modes of learning of university students who were completing undergraduate degrees in Australia. Of the sixty students surveyed, forty percent were international students. For seventy five percent of all students sampled, either they or their parents (or both) were bi- or multilingual. Questions which this research sought to answer were: Do the preferences for learning of university students differ according to the culture and / or language backgrounds of the students? Does an individual student’s preferred learning style influence the student’s preferences for learning in a group situation? For students whose first language is not English, do their preferences for language use vary in group learning? General findings resulting from a statistical analysis of responses to the questionnaire indicated in many, but not all, cases that the preferences for learning of university students differed according to the cultural and / or language backgrounds of the students, that an individual student’s preferred learning style influenced the student’s preferences for learning in a group situation, and that the preferences for language use of students whose first language was not English varied in group learning. Reid’s (1984 in Richards, J.C. & Lockhart, C., 1994) “Perceptual learning style preference questionnaire” comprised one section of the questionnaire for this study. This replication made possible a comparison of the findings which related to students’ learning styles from this study with findings from similar studies in which Reid’s survey instrument had been used. Findings of the present study indicate a number of differences from Reid’s findings. This study found, for example, that most language groups showed a minor preference for group learning using this survey instrument whereas Reid had found that group learning was a negligible preference for most of the language groups in her study. This study may give tertiary educators a greater understanding of their students’ preferences for group and other learning styles. It may also inform them of the likely preferences for language use of those of their students who have first languages other than English. Future students may benefit from this.

Language, experience and professional learning (what Walter Benjamin can teach us)

This essay raises questions about how language educators might construct and further develop their epistemology of practice in and through the situations in which they work from day to day. The occasion for this paper is our work as guest editors of a special issue of L-1: Educational Studies in Language and Literature, when we invited L1 teachers to reflect on the role that language plays in their professional learning, whether it be in the form of conversations with peers, reflective writing, or by other means. We begin this essay by locating our reflections within our current policy context, namely the standards-based reforms that have come to dominate educational thinking around the world, offering a brief critique of the values and attitudes embedded within them. We then outline a philosophical framework as an alternative to the world-view reflected by such reforms, focusing specifically on the work of Walter Benjamin. In the final sections, we review our work as guest editors of the special issue of L-1, reflecting on what we have learned from the papers we have assembled for this issue, and locating our learning within the philosophical framework that we have drawn from Benjamin. We argue that it is timely for language educators to articulate the assumptions that inhere within their work, in contradistinction to the common sense embedded in standards. Thus we might begin to reconceptualise the relation between language, experience and professional learning in opposition to the hegemony of standards.