Course Description In this course, we will explore the question of the actual and potential connections between democracy and education. Our focus of attention will be placed on a critical examination of democratic theory and its implications for the civic education roles and contributions of teachers, adult educators, community development practitioners, and community organizers. We will survey and deal critically with a range of competing conceptions of democracy, variously described as classical, republican, liberal, radical, marxist, neomarxist, pragmatist, feminist, populist, pluralist, postmodern, and/or participatory. Using narrative inquiry as a means for illuminating and interpreting contemporary practice, we will analyze the implications of different conceptions of democracy for the practical work of civic education.

Democracy and education.

How to ... be a reflective practitioner.

What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy

Organizational learning II: Theory, method and practice

Cultivating Communities of Practice: A Guide to Managing Knowledge

Mobile learning is an emergent paradigm in a state of intense development fuelled by the confluence of three technological streams, ambient computing power, ambient communication and development of intelligent user interfaces (Sharples et al., 2002). A consequence of this rapid development is that the pedagogy of mobile learning has yet to become clearly established. The purpose of this report is: 1.To attempt to define mobile learning in terms of a flexible model that will enable developers, tutors and learners to identify learning practices and effective pedagogies incorporated in a particular learning space. 2.To identify key elements that are unique to mobile learning, and provide initial check list indicating pedagogically useful learning activities that can be supported by the technologies. 3.To look at the current literature on the pedagogy of mobile learning and thereby assist designers in developing a user-centred approach that is driven by learner pull rather than technological push and to provide sign posts for tutoring, teaching and learning with mobile devices. In addition literature from other paradigms, such as e-learning and online communities, is included where the results are thought likely to contribute to the mobile pedagogical paradigm. 4.To begin compiling a database of guidelines which capture this expertise. (http://www.mobilearn.org/)

/pdf/wp-4-guidelines-for-learning-teaching-tutoring-in-a-mobile-5bs4f1f9f0.pdf

Wp 4 - guidelines for learning/teaching/tutoring in a mobile environment

In the evolving landscape of mobile learning, European researchers have conducted significant mobilelearning projects, representing a distinct perspective on mobile learning research and development. Ourarticle aims to explore how these projects have arisen, showing the driving forces of European innovationin mobile learning. We propose context as a central construct in mobile learning and examine theories oflearning for the mobile world, based on physical, technological, conceptual, social and temporal mobility.We also examine the impacts of mobile learning research on educational practices and the implications forpolicy. Throughout, we identify lessons learnt from European experiences to date.

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Innovation in Mobile Learning: A European Perspective

This paper presents a description and evaluation of Myartspace, a service on mobile phones for inquiry-led learning that allows students to gather information during a school field trip which is automatically sent to a website where they can view, share and present it, back in the classroom or at home. The evaluation focused on three levels: a micro level, concerned with issues of usability; a meso level, which examined educational effectiveness in terms of learning breakthroughs and breakdowns; and a macro level, which looked at the impact of the new technology on school museum visits practice. Issues of implementing mobile learning across school and museum settings are identified and cross-level influences are discussed. The study showed that the service was effective in enabling students to gather information in a museum and this provided resources for effective construction and reflection in the classroom. Minor usability problems did not detract from the learning, however there are significant issues concerning how to structure the visit and on the viability of Myartspace as a regular service.

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Myartspace: Design and evaluation of support for learning with multimedia phones between classrooms and museums

This is the final publisher edited version of the paper published as Naismith, L., Lonsdale, P., Vavoula, G., Sharples, M. ‘Mobile technologies and learning’ in Futurelab Literature Review Series, Report No 11, (© Futurelab 2004). This version was first published at http://www.futurelab.org.uk/resources/publications-reports-articles/literature-reviews/Literature-Review203.

Mobile technologies and learning

We propose six challenges in evaluating mobile learning: capturing and analysing learning in context and across contexts, measuring mobile learning processes and outcomes, respecting learner/participant privacy, assessing mobile technology utility and usability, considering the wider organisational and socio-cultural context of learning, and assessing in/formality. A three-level framework for evaluating mobile learning is proposed, comprising a micro level concerned with usability, a meso level concerned with the learning experience, and a macro level concerned with integration within existing educational and organisational contexts. The paper concludes with a discussion of how the framework meets the evaluation challenges and with suggestions for further extensions.

/pdf/meeting-the-challenges-in-evaluating-mobile-learning-a-3-2mhhea19m4.pdf

Giasemi Vavoula

Papers

Wp 4 - guidelines for learning/teaching/tutoring in a mobile environment

Innovation in Mobile Learning: A European Perspective

Myartspace: Design and evaluation of support for learning with multimedia phones between classrooms and museums

Mobile technologies and learning

Meeting the Challenges in Evaluating Mobile Learning: a 3-level Evaluation Framework