Transforming the relationship between staff and students to effect change

This opinion piece argues for the necessity of student-staff partnerships that go beyond the common rhetoric of ‘student engagement’, achieving a richer student and staff dialogue which results in more meaningful change in policy and practice. In particular, attention is drawn to the need for such partnerships when determining technology applications that are often missed out from, or treated in isolation from, the curriculum design process. This piece cites, as an example, a student-led taught day on the Post Graduate Diploma in Learning and Teaching at Aston University in July 2015. There was clear evidence that the staff participants designed their assessments with student partners in mind. It is therefore proposed that a partnership relationship offers an effective means of moving forward from common practices where technology simply replicates, or supplements, traditional activities.

“It is through others that we become ourselves.” A study of Vygotskian play in Russian and Irish schools.

50 years after publishing his seminal work on play and its role in child development, Vygotskian theory is still highly influential in education, and particularly in early years. This paper presents two examples of full integration of Vygotskian principles into schools in two very different settings. Both report improvements in learning and in well-being, and exemplify the theory-practice-theory cycle, highlighting the development of new theoretical constructs arising out of putting theory firmly into practice. In both settings, the positive results have come from years of effort, in which school personnel who may have been skeptical at first, have been inspired by the impact of adopting Vygotskian play on the children they teach. The Northern Ireland study shows that at least some of the Golden Key principles (mixed-age play and enhanced home-school links) translate perfectly into very different cultural-historical contexts.

Every picture tells a story: using selfie-inspired activities to enhance social relations and encourage self-reflexivity.

This chapter explores the results of a study in Thailand that capitalised on the popularity of the selfie, providing second-year English language students with an opportunity to practise their oral presentation and speaking skills. The selfie was used not in the usual sense of online picture-sharing, but as a visual aid in a face-to-face interaction, thus serving as a “currency for social interaction” (van Dijck 2008, p.62) and communication device (Saltz, 2014). Mining the rich insights gained from the Thai study, this chapter presents another selfie-inspired activity adapted for a different context and purpose at a UK university. Initially designed to facilitate recall of students’ names linked with faces, the initiative evolved into an effective conversation starter. It is suggested that both selfie-inspired initiatives have led to serendipitous results, such as encouraging self-reflexivity among the students and promoting the development of “rapid intimacy” in the classroom (Victoria 2011, p.72). Indeed, creating a space for students to share their personal stories and enact different identities can help enrich the learning and teaching experience. This chapter also demonstrates how aspects of visual methodologies can be employed as a resource for theorising visual data, such as the selfie, for classroom application.

Integração de aplicações Web 2.0 e sistemas de gestão de conteúdos em ambientes pessoais de aprendizagem

A utilização de aplicações Web 2.0 no processo ensino/aprendizagem tem vindo a intensificar-se nos últimos tempos, mais por iniciativas individuais de docentes e estudantes do que por estratégia das Instituições de Ensino. Este artigo apresenta um projecto já em curso que consiste na implementação de uma plataforma de criação de ambientes de aprendizagem controlados pelos estudantes, integrando aplicações Web 2.0 e sistemas de gestão de conteúdos. A plataforma permitirá a utilização segura de conteúdos criados em aplicações Web 2.0, no processo de avaliação, possibilitando a sua publicação na infra-estrutura controlada pela Instituição de Ensino Superior, contribuindo assim para a adequação do binómio ensino/aprendizagem ao novo paradigma implicado no processo de Bolonha.

The problem of the graphic artist

'The problem of the graphic artist' is a small example of applying elementary mathematics (divisibility of natural numbers) to a real problem which we ourselves have actually experienced. It deals with the possibilities for partitioning a sheet of paper into strips. In this contribution we report on a teaching unit in grade 6 as well as on informal tests with students in school and university. Finally we analyse this example methodologically, summarise our observations with pupils and students, and draw some didactical conclusions.

Common Craft

Common craft make short videos which explain in simple terms some common concepts and technologies used in learning and teaching. These are available through The Common Craft Store, which offers versions of videos that are: Downloadable files Presentation-quality Licensed for workplace use You can find the free, online versions of the videos on The Common Craft Show. Topics include phishing, RSS, wikis, Twitter, social networking, social bookmarking, web search strategies, social media, podcasting, sharing photos online and many more.

Typo-resource: developing T&L support materials through collaboration

This paper reports on a collaborative project between staff and students in the Department of Typography & Graphic Communication at the University of Reading The Partnerships in Learning and Teaching (PLanT) project here described is a direct response to student needs for better online support materials. Methodologically, the project embeds user-centred design principles within an iterative process of design development and participant research. This process has underpinned the development of a prototype for an online interface called Typo-Resource. The resulting initial prototype addresses the usability and user experience dimensions of an online learning resource, moving beyond providing tutor-identified sets of resources to a multifaceted, collaborative, and visual platform for peer learning.

A aprendizagem da língua portuguesa pela comunidade chinesa a residir em Portugal: um estudo sobre diferentes gerações

Considerando o aumento do número de imigrantes oriundos da República Popular da China que procuram Portugal como país de destino, propõe-se um estudo sobre a forma como este grupo de imigrantes, em particular, aprende a língua portuguesa como língua de acolhimento. A análise será de natureza histórica, uma vez que irá descrever a história da imigração Chinesa para Portugal, em articulação com a procura e o interesse crescente na República Popular da China de cursos de PLE e do estudo da cultura portuguesa. A esta visão de um ponto de vista histórico irá contrapor-se o estudo da situação atual da forma como os imigrantes chineses fazem a aprendizagem da língua de acolhimento, em Portugal, através de análise de entrevistas realizadas a imigrantes a residir na área de Lisboa. Um outro aspeto importante que irá ser considerado no meu estudo é a questão da diferença geracional. A minha pesquisa procurará averiguar se a pertença a diferentes gerações, contrastando adultos/idosos e jovens, determina motivações, práticas e resultados diferenciados na aprendizagem da língua portuguesa como língua de acolhimento. Será importante considerar-se neste estudo os diferentes contextos em que é feita a aprendizagem da língua de acolhimento: o formal, o não formal e o informal. Além disso, iremos também abordar a questão da integração linguística e cultural dos imigrantes, em Portugal. A metodologia de pesquisa adotada é a da recolha de dados por entrevista.

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?.