Educating for the future : technological advantages?

Educating students for the future involves providing them with skills to cope with technological change. Schools and teachers have been adapting their practices in mathematics and science to incorporate information and communication technology (ICT) as a routine aspect of learning. However, recent research indicates that not all students have equal access to the technologies they need. A number of reasons are investigated: the location of the schools (regional and rural settings), the capabilities of the teachers and access by staff and students to high quality resources. This paper presents the findings of this research.

Effectiveness of recording in primary science : a study of the ability of junior primary school pupils to use drawing as an effective method of communication in science lessons

Drawing as a means of recording is a very common practice in junior primary science lessons. This is largely due to the availability of necessary materials. Also, most youg children have some degree of drawing skill and enjoy drawing activities. Since 1956 the science curriculum to be implemented in primary classrooms in Victoria has changed from one that was based largely on nature study (biological) to one that includes physical and technological aspects. Further, there have been changes in the teaching methodologies advocated for use in science lessons. A modified Interactive Teaching Approach was used for the studies. Drawing was the main means by which the children recorded information. The topic of 'shells' was used to enable collection of data about the children's enjoyment of the activity and satisfaction with their achievement. This study was replicated using the topic 'rocks'; again data were collected concerning satisfaction and enjoyment. During a series of lessons on 'snails' data were collected concerning the achievement of 'process' and 'objective' purposes that teachers might have in mind when setting a drawing activity. In addition to providing data about purposes the study stimulated some questions regarding the techniques the children had used in their drawings. Accordingly, data concerning the use of graphic techniques by the children were collected during a series of lessons on 'oils'. The data collected and analysed in the various studies highlighted the value of drawing in junior primary school science lessons. It also validated strategies developed by the author and designed to help teachers and children use drawing effectively in science activities.

Enhancing Knowledge Sharing with Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

The acceleration of technological change and trade liberalization in the 1990s have significantly intensified market competition and transformed the world economic infrastructure from a resource- and manufacturing-based economy to one in which knowledge and services are the key drivers of economic growth. In order for an organization to capitalize on its knowledge and truly become a learning organization, it must begin to systematically manage and leverage knowledge existing internally and externally to create and sustain its competitive advantage. Numerous empirical studies on knowledge management have examined the relative effectiveness of various enablers, such as organizational structure, technology, culture, managerial system and strategy on knowledge creation and sharing in organizations. The enablers examined earlier are mostly related to organizational infrastructure that promotes knowledge sharing in organizations. This paper examines specifically the critical role of information and communication technology (ICT) in facilitating and enhancing knowledge sharing and organizational performance. This study adopted a process oriented approach by using Nonaka’s (1994) knowledge sharing model. The results indicate that significant positive effects of ICT support on knowledge sharing and all dimensions of knowledge sharing are significant predictors of organizational performance.

Mobile banking innovations and entrepreneurial adoption decisions

This paper examines an individual’s entrepreneurial adoption decisions to use mobile banking for both business and social reasons. A conceptual model based on social cognitive theory is developed to explain an individual’s propensity to adopt mobile banking. The theoretical framework examines how advertising, experience, perceived risk, learning inclination, and entrepreneurial proclivity influence a person’s intention to use mobile banking. This paper stresses the role of financial risk in determining a person’s intention to use mobile banking and whether their entrepreneurial nature is influenced by their experience and advertising they are subjected to about the advantages or disadvantages of mobile banking. This paper ties together research on technological innovation with entrepreneurship and learning studies. The author stresses the importance for financial institutions to market the innovativeness of mobile banking whilst addressing security concerns. The impact of a person’s social environment through personal contacts and acquaintances underpins social cognitive theory and helps to understand the motives for a person adopting mobile banking. The paper integrates mobile banking literature with current thinking on the importance of entrepreneurship and learning influences to how a person adopts a technological innovation.

Teaching and learning innovations for postgraduate education in nursing

This paper begins with a literature review of blended learning approaches, including the creation of learning spaces in the online environment and the model of community of inquiry and collaborative learning promoted by Garrison and others. This model, comprising of three elements including ‘social presence’, ‘cognitive presence’ and ‘teaching presence’, guides academics in the development and delivery of quality programs designed to enhance each student’s experience of their course. The second part of this paper is the application of blended learning for the Deakin University Master of Nursing Practice (Nurse Practitioner), including a range of online independent learning activities, Elluminate Live use (a real time online program) and on-campus contact with students. The application of these flexible and innovative online modalities offered in this course, have been designed to promote quality learning experiences for students around their employment commitments and lifestyle factors. As an off-campus course, the Master of Nursing Practice (Nurse Practitioner) presents as a more flexible option for nurses residing in various parts of Australia. The three core elements of the model of community of inquiry and collaborative learning by Garrison and others have been integrated through online teaching and learning access and face-to-face contact for one day in two trimesters of the academic year. The success of blended learning approaches are underpinned by effective communication and interactions between both academics and students.

Information communication technology in secondary science education in Sri Lanka

This study researched the instruction of pre-service science teachers in Sri Lanka in the use of information communication technologies. It examined the use of a framework called the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge model that was found to assist the pre-service teachers in the effective use of technologies in their teaching.

One tweet does not a revolution make : technological determinism, media and social change

This paper discusses the problematic influence of technological determinism in popular news media coverage and analysis of the Arab Spring events of 2010-11.

The purpose is to develop insights into how and why elements of a ‘soft’ technological determinism inflect both journalistic practice and news discourse in relation to the Arab Spring. In particular it discusses how the ‘bias of convenience’ and a journalistic obsession with the ‘continuous present’ connect with this determinist inflection to create a potential distortion in the journalists’ ‘first rough draft’ of history in relation to significant and complex events such as social revolution.

The Victorian bushfires and extreme weather events : media coverage, crisis and communication

The 2009 'Black Saturday' Victorian bushfires claimed the lives of 173 people and have become known as the worst fire event in Australian history. Victoria has been at the centre of two other significant Australian fire disasters - 'Black Friday' in 1939 and the 1983 'Ash Wednesday' fires in south-eastern Australia that claimed the lives of 47 people in Victoria. As media scholar and commentator Michael Gawenda has noted, the media not only report an 'event' - like the Victorian bushfires or the tsunami in the South Pacific - but in a sense create and define it. Print and electronic media coverage of extreme weather events therefore raises a multitude of issues about the media's role in serving the community before, during and after a crisis, while also trying to produce the best possible reportage in a competitive industry undergoing dramatic change. This issue of MIA provides a venue for critical, empirical engagement with media coverage and representation, and the role of journalism and journalists in reporting national and international bushfires, tsunamis, hurricanes and other extreme weather events, with a special focus on the 2009 Victorian bushfires. Its goal is to address the ramifications of an industry in flux - indeed, some may say crisis - driven by technological advances, staff reductions and media organisations under financial pressure, and to explore the ways in which such extreme weather events have impacted media practices and policy