http://www.compassproject.net/sadhana/teaching/readings/deftainsworth.pdf

DeFT: A conceptual framework for considering learning with multiple representations

Literacy education continues to be dominated by a mindset that has passed its use-by date. Education has failed to take account of how much the world has changed during the information technology revolution. It proceeds as though the world is the same as before - just somewhat more technologized. This is the hallmark of an 'outsider' mindset. In fact, qualitatively new literacies and new kinds of knowledge associated with digitally saturated social practices abound. 'Insiders' understand this, 'outsiders' do not. Yet 'outsider' perspectives still dominate educational
directions. Meanwhile, student 'insiders' endure learning experiences that mystify, bemuse, alienate and miseducate them. This book describes new social practices and new literacies, along with kinds of knowledge associated with them. It shows what is at stake between 'outsider' and
'insider' mindsets, argues that education requires a shift in mindset, and suggests how and where pursuit of progressive change might begin.

New Literacies: changing knowledge and classroom learning

The impact of cognitive absorption on perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use in on-line learning: an extension of the technology acceptance model

Developing teachers: the challenges of lifelong learning

The deep symmetry of linear logic [18] makes it suitable for providing abstract models of computation, free from implementation details which are, by nature, oriented and nonsymmetrical. I propose here one such model, in the area of logic programming, where the basic computational principle is Computation = Proof search Proofs considered here are those of the Gentzen style sequent calculus for linear logic. However, proofs in this system may be redundant, in that two proofs can be syntactically different although identical up to some irrelevant reordering or simplification of the applications of the inference rules. This leads to an untractable proof search where the search procedure is forced to make costly choices which turn out to be irrelevant. To overcome this problem, a subclass of proofs, called the 'focusing' proofs, which is both complete (any derivable formula in linear logic has a focusing proof) and tractable (many irrelevant choices in the search are eliminated when aimed at focusing proofs) is identified. The main constraint underlying the specification of focusing proofs has been to preserve the symmetry of linear logic, which is its most salient feature. In particular, dual connectives have dual properties with respect to focusing proofs. Then, a programming language, called LinLog, consisting of a fragment of linear logic, in which focusing proofs have a more compact form, is presented. Linlog deals with formulae which have a syntax similar to that of the definite clauses and goals of Horn logic, but the crucial difference here is that it allows clauses with multiple atoms in the head, connected by the 'par' (multiplicative disjunction). It is then shown that the syntactic restriction induced by LinLog is not performed at the cost of any expressive power: a mapping from full linear logic to LinLog, preserving focusing proofs, and analogous to the normalization to clausal form for classical logic, is presented.

Logic Programming with Focusing Proofs in Linear Logic

Drawing on data from a major survey on the impact of information technology initiatives on Scottish schools, we assess the extent to which the outcomes resemble those that have already been reported by Larry Cuban in his study of schools in Silicon Valley. We find a large measure of agreement. Scottish teachers and school students mostly have access to computers in their homes and classrooms. The home computers appear to be frequently used. The classroom computers, however, are encountered by students only seldom and when students do use computers in the classroom the activity is often peripheral to the learning process, such as word processing of essays. We discuss some possible explanations for this state of affairs and suggest some implications for policy-making.

Silicon Valley versus Silicon Glen: the impact of computers upon teaching and learning: a comparative study

Curriculum design in recent years reflects the growing belief in the importance of developing thinking skills. In this paper, we focus on a particular theoretical approach to the study and teaching of thinking: cognitive science. We first give a very brief review of the recent research on critical thinking. We then concentrate on what cognitive science can add by looking at models of how people learn and how they transfer what they learn from one context to another. The main concept we focus on is representation and the crucial aspects of systems of representation and the meaningful transformation of information. We present examples of how representations can support, or hinder, problem solving and communication. We also discuss the social aspects of representation, the challenges of language use, and the paradoxes thrown up by attempting to guide students to be more critical thinkers.

The Role of Representation in Teaching and Learning Critical Thinking.

The questions that dominate the discourse of IT in education are mostly at the technical or craft levels. Visionary questions relating to the purpose of education and the proper place of technology are not much discussed. This paper seeks to undermine the idea that such questions should be avoided. The context of postmodernist change is described and two contrasting visions of education are discussed. Each vision is a hypothetical but recognisable representation of certain trends in educational thinking. Each vision has appeal but also severe shortcomings. The paper concludes that unless teachers, learners and communities can articulate their own visions of educational change, new technology could take them into a future that they would never willingly have chosen.

Visions of change : information technology, education and postmodernism

The United Kingdom Government's New Opportunities Fund (NOF) programme of information and communications technology (ICT) training was intended to raise standards of pupils' achievements by increasing the expertise of serving teachers in the use of new technology. Costing £230 million, the programme has been described as the most complex initiative for teachers' continuing professional development (CPD) ever undertaken in the United Kingdom. However, the official evaluations of NOF express disappointment about its low impact on classroom practice. This article reviews the evaluations and relates them to recent theories of CPD. It concludes that the failure of NOF, which was due to multiple factors including lack of readiness of the technological resource requirements, failure to motivate teachers, inattention to the context in which teachers work and an underestimation of what is involved in developing appropriate knowledge and skills, was largely predictable. It is suggested that the NOF experie...

Tom Conlon

Papers

Silicon Valley versus Silicon Glen: the impact of computers upon teaching and learning: a comparative study

The Role of Representation in Teaching and Learning Critical Thinking.

Visions of change : information technology, education and postmodernism

A Failure of Delivery: the United Kingdom's New Opportunities Fund programme of teacher training in information and communications technology

Persistent collaboration: a methodology for applied AIED