Education Commons^™

An Online Mentoring Practicum In Physical And Health Education Teacher Preparation: Preliminary Findings And Future Directions, Douglas Hearne, Lori Lockyer, Gregg S. Rowland, John W. Patterson

Faculty of Education - Papers (Archive)

An important aspect of any professional education is the opportunity for students to engage in meaningful practical experiences. In pre-service teacher education, this vital practicum component has undergone challenges in recent years due to increasing student numbers (due to the increasing demand for new teachers) and limited resources in university and school sectors. As a result, new innovations to enhance the practical component of this professional degree have been sought.

This paper highlights preliminary findings of one aspect of a larger study that used asynchronous Web-based communication tools to facilitate mentoring and peer support through the practice teaching experience. Analysis …

An Online Subject Delivered With Help From An "Absent Ceo", James Meek, Shirley Agostinho

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This paper examines recent modifications to a masters-level subject in the area of technology-based learning. It shows how a scenario built around a fictitious consultancy company was joined to a new content set. Particular attention is given to a structuring device aimed at strengthening motivation in the addition of an unseen Chief Executive Officer (CEO) character. This device, coupled with reconfiguration of the lecturer as a company adviser, has become a primary driver of subject activity. We explain the rationale for adopting our approach and describe how it was implemented. Preliminary reflections are considered and the paper concludes by outlining …