The virtual pedagogy initiative

Contemporary Higher Education Institutions must adapt to address government funded calls for expansion and widened participation. The adoption of e-learning strategies, such as the use of the podcasts, can facilitate flexible learning around the needs and expectations of students. In this article we outline a number of e-learning developments at Aston University collectively referred to as the Virtual Pedagogy Initiative. Each of the strands, podcasts, vodcasts, mobile telephony and the campus wide remote broadcasts, are described pedagogically as well as technically. Where possible data highlighting the student response and experience are included. The article begins with the contention that contemporary undergraduates may be qualitatively different and can considered „digital natives?.

Developing a framework to evaluate business networks:the case of Ireland's industry-led network initiative

Business networks have been described as cooperative arrangements between independent business organisations that vary from contractual joint ventures to informal exchanges of information. This collaboration has become recognised as an innovative and efficient tool for organising interdependent activities, with benefits accruing to both firms and the local economy. For a number of years, resources have been devoted to supporting Irish networking policies. One recent example of such support is the Irish government's target of €20 million per annum for five years to support the creation of enterprise-led networks. It is imperative that a clear rationale for such interventions is established, as the opportunity cost of public funds is high. This article, therefore, develops an evaluation framework for such networking interventions. This framework will facilitate effective programme planning, implementation and evaluation. It will potentially show how a chain of cause-and-effect at both micro and macro-levels for networking interventions can be established.

Speaking out of turn? Taking the initiative in teacher-fronted classroom interaction.

Teacher-fronted interaction is generally seen to place limitations on the contributions that learners can make to classroom discourse and the conclusion is that learners are unable to experiment with, for example, turn-taking mechanisms. This article looks at teacher-fronted interaction in the language classroom from the perspective of learner talk by examining how learners might take the initiative during this apparently more rigid form of interaction. Detailed microanalysis of classroom episodes, using a conversation analysis institutional discourse approach, shows how learners orient to the institutional context to make sophisticated and effective use of turn-taking mechanisms to take the initiative and direct the interaction, even in the controlled environment of teacher-fronted talk. The article describes some of the functions of such learner initiative, examines how learners and teachers co-construct interaction and how learners can create learning opportunities for themselves. It also briefly looks at teacher reactions to such initiative. The article concludes that learner initiative in teacher-fronted interaction may constitute a significant opportunity for learning and that teachers should find ways of encouraging such interaction patterns.

Pilot case studies to assess the effectiveness of the DTI marketing consultancy initiative

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PanamaTipico.com: a Born Digital Initiative for Researching and Preserving Panama’s Cultural Heritage

This paper reflects on the experience of PanamaTipico.com, an independent website specialized in the research and preservation of the cultural heritage of the Republic of Panama, a developing country located in Central America. Basic information about the project is described. Also discussed, are some of the challenges confronted by the project and the results achieved. The goal of this paper is to encourage a discussion on whether or not the experience of Pan-amaTipico.com is comparable to the experiences of similar projects in developing countries in Eastern Europe and elsewhere.

Még egyszer a motivációról, avagy "Hogyan ösztönözzük alkalmazottainkat itt és most?" (Once again on the motivation or "how to motivate our employees here and now?")

A szerzők a Budapesti Corvinus Egyetem Vezetéstudományi Intézetében számos vezetőképző program, posztgraduális kurzus és mesterképzés hallgatóinak részvételével végeztek feltáró jellegű kutatásokat a munkahelyi motiváció elméletének és gyakorlatának témájában. A résztvevők saját élményeikből és tapasztalataikból kiindulva sorolták be a megélt eseteket a herzbergi kategóriákba. Ezek alapjában véve megerősítették Herzberg motivátorokról és higiénés tényezőkről alkotott elképzeléseit. Nem egyértelmű ugyanakkor, hogy kikre is érvényesek Herzberg tézisei. Az eddigi mintákba ugyanis általában azok kerültek, akik vagy már vezető pozíciókban voltak, vagy erre készültek, azaz alapvetően a „vezetői motivációkkal” bíró emberek motivációs, illetve higiénés tényezőire kaptak eddig rálátást. De vajon mi a helyzet azokkal, akik a szervezeti hierarchia más szintjein helyezkednek el? Elméleti és gyakorlati szempontból egyaránt releváns kérdés, hogy az eredeti elmélet érvényességét hogyan lehetne kimondottan beosztottakon megvizsgálni, itt és most? A szerzők írásukban ezekre a kérdésekre keresik a választ: az eredeti modellt egy kérdőíves és interjús módszertanra épülő kutatás eredményein értelmezik (illetve értelmezik újra) és igyekeznek pontosítani Herzberg elméletének mai mondanivalóit. / === / The authors have created exploratory researches in the theory and practice of the workplace motivation with the participation of mba, postgraduate and master students in the institute of management of corvinus university of budapest. The participants were classified their lived cases into categories of Herzberg starting from own experiences. These basically confirmed Herzberg’s visions from motivators and hygiene factors. In this study the authors search motivations of employees based on Herzberg’s categories. The original model is interpreted the results of a questionnaire and an interview-based methodology, and the authors try to clarify the contemporary meanings of Herzberg’s theory.