Education Commons^™

Theories Of Learning And Curriculum Design - Key Positionalities And Their Relationships, Tony Cunningham, Julie Gannon, Mary B. Kavanagh, John Greene, Louise Reddy, Laurence Whitson

Articles

One of the challenges academics face when designing pedagogies and curricula is how best to articulate their own positionalities regarding the different ways theories or models of learning inform both the process of design as well as the product. It is difficult to find a text book or design resource that illustrates the relationships between the main theories of learning and how they might inform a coherent approach to programme design in higher education. For that reason we decided to produce this summative guide to learning theories and a chart illustrating their relevance for pedagogies and for curriculum design. The …

Selecting Open Source Software For Use In Schools, Kathryn Moyle

Professor Kathryn Moyle

Schools are places where the choices made about computing technologies not only reflect their technical requirements but also reflect the philosophical priorities directing those choices. Schools can deploy a startling range of software (i.e., operating systems, databases, office productivity software, and applications software) for specifc teaching and learning purposes. Applications software deployed in schools must be suitable for use by students who are young and often have limited reading and fine motor skills. Back-end software must be robust enough to handle hundreds and sometimes thousands of users concurrently. One issue that faces schools interested in deploying open source software is …

The Impact Of Eportfolios On Learning, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young, Colin Harrison, Charles Crook, Gordon Joyes, Lindsay Davies, Tony Fisher, Richard Pemberton, Angela Smallwood

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

This report presents the potential impact of e-portfolios on learning and teaching. It is based on case studies of eight projects that are in the early stages of e-portfolio use within the primary, secondary, further education (FE), higher education (HE) and adult and community learning (ACL) sectors. The report is primarily aimed at policy-makers. Harnessing Technology: Transforming Learning and Children’s Services, the e-strategy published by the DfES in 2005, sets a target of providing a ‘personalised online learning space for every learner that can encompass a personal portfolio’; this should be available to every school by 2008 (DfES, 2005). In …

Making The Connections: Theory And Practice Of Mobile Learning In Schools, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

This paper reviews several major theories of learning, and considers what additional theories might explain ‘mobile learning’. It then describes three small projects in Year 6 classes in English schools– where teachers and students used mobile devices over a period of several months–in order to make connections between theory and practice, and to seek new insights for theory from practice. The study found that behaviourist, constructivist and socio-cultural theories influenced teachers’ work, often simultaneously, while there was scant evidence of a symbiotic relationship between people and technology. The paper concludes that even in these early days of mobile learning in …

The Transformation To A Learner-Centered Community As A Result Of University-Wide Assessment, Michele Kieke, Karen Moroz, Amy Gort

Karen Moroz