Global classrooms : from telling the world to showing the world

Web 2.0 and online participatory media are becoming valuable resources for educators as we become more aware of the flexible and creative nature of such tools. This is opening up further opportunities for collaboration across classes, schools and countries where a global perspective on learning can support students in becoming active participants in the learning process. The purpose of this research study was to explore how social and participatory media could be used safely in the classroom to support a more global approach to learning. The objective was to design a framework for learning that provided students with opportunities to interact and to learn through formal projects, but also informally through online social interaction. This framework valued students’ funds of knowledge (Comber & Kamler, 2005; González, Moll, & Amanti, 2005) and encouraged them to be active participants in their own learning and that of their peers. This article will focus on the global nature of the learning that took place while looking at instructional design and assessment processes. It will also highlight:
• Developing students into responsible global citizens;
• Increasing global awareness and perspectives;
• Building knowledge and understandings of those different to themselves;
• Valuing others and developing key critical skills and processes including empathy, fairness and cooperation.
This research provides a framework that integrates all of these aspects into the day-to-day classroom program within a wide range of curriculum content.

A day in the life of an early childhood teacher: identifying the confronting issues and challenges that arise

Recent emphasis upon Early Childhood as an educational priority for the Australian Government has resulted in increases in funding, government initiatives, course providers and the introduc- tion of new policies to the sector in order to improve the quality of early childhood education. The study reported here investigated the "reality" of what it means to be an Early Childhood Teacher within this changing context and identified the roles and responsibilities and the associated chal- lenges. A case study involving observation and interviews with five Bachelor qualified Teachers from varied early childhood settings was undertaken in order to gain knowledge about their ex- periences and perspectives on their work. The data were analyzed using a grounded theory ap- proach involving the identification of key themes and issues about the nature of teachers' work. The findings revealed that in their everyday practice teachers played a complex array of roles that required them to contribute far more than just their teaching skills and knowledge. They were expected to concurrently enact the roles of educator, leader, advocate, communicator, counsellor and administrator whilst juggling everyday challenges including a "lack of time", the need for "further support and more resources" and "building successful partnerships with parents".

Every day I wait

A solo exhibition - first showing - Arc One Gallery titled 'Every Day I Wait' with accompanying catalogues by Stephen Garret and Melissa Amore

Exhibitions include:
Black Box White Cube; Aspects of Performance in Australian Art, Victorian Arts Centre with accompanying catalogue; curated by Steven Tonkin

Anne Scott Wilson, Photographs and Video, Conny Dietzschold Gallery 2012

Another minority group: use of aged care day programs and community leisure services by older people with lifelong disability

Objective: This study examined the extent to which programs available to the general aged community are accessible to older people with lifelong disability. Method: Forty Victorian generic aged day activity and community leisure programs used by older people responded to a survey that sought information on the extent to which such services are used by older people with a lifelong disability. Results: More than half of these services are accessed by a small number of people with lifelong disability and overall there was a willingness to include this group in generic services. Barriers and solutions to successful generic service use were reported. Conclusions: The findings indicate that the issues for people with lifelong disability differ little from those of other minority groups. It is proposed that disability services have a role in brokering services for their older clients, and continued planning and collaboration between disability and aged services will benefit all older people.

Retirement or just a change of pace: an Australian national survey of disability day services used by older people with disabilities

The increasing number of people with disabilities surviving to old age raises questions regarding the type of day support programs necessary to meet their needs. In this paper the results of a national survey of specialist disability day programs used by older2 people with a lifelong disability are discussed. A postal survey of 596 day programs for people with disabilities was conducted, with a response rate of 28%. Findings show that only 19% of service users were aged over 55, and the largest subgroup were people with intellectual disability. Many older people attended programs that were not age specific and a typology of the seven program types utilised was constructed. Individualised planning, flexibility and choice were perceived as fundamental to a successful program. The location of activities in the community, maintenance of social relationships, and opportunities to develop new contacts were also seen as important. Little understanding, however, of the diversity of the ageing process or notions of healthy ageing was demonstrated by service providers, many of whom had limited expectations of older people. Challenges identified in providing day support for older people were lack of financial resources, knowledge and expertise amongst staff, and difficulties interfacing with other service systems.

Fair relationships and policies to support family day care educators’ mental health: a qualitative study

High quality child care is a population health investment that relies on the capacity of providers. The mental health and wellbeing of child care educators is fundamental to care quality and turnover, yet sector views on the relationship between working conditions and mental health and wellbeing are scarce. This paper examines child care educators' and sector key informants' perspectives on how working in family day care influences educator's mental health and wellbeing.

Effects of 60-day bed rest with and without exercise on cellular and humoral immunological parameters

Exercise at regular intervals is assumed to have a positive effect on immune functions. Conversely, after spaceflight and under simulated weightlessness (e.g., bed rest), immune functions can be suppressed. We aimed to assess the effects of simulated weightlessness (Second Berlin BedRest Study; BBR2-2) on immunological parameters and to investigate the effect of exercise (resistive exercise with and without vibration) on these changes. Twenty-four physically and mentally healthy male volunteers (20-45 years) performed resistive vibration exercise (n=7), resistance exercise without vibration (n=8) or no exercise (n=9) within 60 days of bed rest. Blood samples were taken 2 days before bed rest, on days 19 and 60 of bed rest. Composition of immune cells was analyzed by flow cytometry. Cytokines and neuroendocrine parameters were analyzed by Luminex technology and ELISA/RIA in plasma. General changes over time were identified by paired t-test, and exercise-dependent effects by pairwise repeated measurements (analysis of variance (ANOVA)). With all subjects pooled, the number of granulocytes, natural killer T cells, hematopoietic stem cells and CD45RA and CD25 co-expressing T cells increased and the number of monocytes decreased significantly during the study; the concentration of eotaxin decreased significantly. Different impacts of exercise were seen for lymphocytes, B cells, especially the IgD(+) subpopulation of B cells and the concentrations of IP-10, RANTES and DHEA-S. We conclude that prolonged bed rest significantly impacts immune cell populations and cytokine concentrations. Exercise was able to specifically influence different immunological parameters. In summary, our data fit the hypothesis of immunoprotection by exercise and may point toward even superior effects by resistive vibration exercise.Cellular & Molecular Immunology advance online publication, 10 November 2014; doi:10.1038/cmi.2014.106.

Islam's Modern Day Ibn Battutas: Gülen teachers journeying towards the divine

There is a longstanding debate on whether Muslims can be modern. Some argue that they can only be so if they forsake their traditions and embrace rationalism. In this article I argue that the Gülen Movement, a transnational Turkish Muslim educational activist network has found a middle ground by blending religious traditions with modern day realities. Drawing on interviews from the movement's teachers and graduates of its schools, from Turkey, Central Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan, I explore, through the prism of al-riḥla fī ṭalab al-ʿilm (travel in search of knowledge), their maintenance of the longstanding Islamic ritual of travel as a means of excelling both professionally and religiously. In turn, I demonstrate how the movement, on a number of levels, effectively reconciles the spiritual and the everyday through updating Islamic practices to better integrate themselves and other Muslims into a globalised world.

Investigating and understanding CO2 levels in school classrooms

 It is a reported fact that a high CO2 concentration is a problem in school classrooms. However, the mere reporting of such results stops short of investigating causes; understanding is often missing. Steady-state results are often used in situations where changes occur frequently, such as varying student numbers, opening and closing classroom doors and windows and changing weather conditions. We revisit the mass balance model commonly used to predict or track CO2 concentrations in enclosed spaces as these factors change over time under varying conditions. This has prompted the study in several classrooms of actual air exchange rates, student exhalation rates, room volumes and ventilation design. In these cases, student numbers, room ventilation conditions (open and closed doors), room volume and the CO2 concentration have been recorded throughout the day. By fitting the model equation to the data, unknown parameters such as actual air change rates and CO2 exhalation rates per student can be determined. Having verified that the data can be modelled, we can predict behaviour in other cases such as a realistic rate of CO2 increase. This allows designers to size classrooms and ventilation systems to achieve a desired CO2 characteristic for known usages while saving energy.