Professor Peter Twining

The Schome Park Programme set out in 2007 to use a virtual world, complemented by a wiki and forum, to explore radically different models of education systems, which can genuinely empower learners to take control of and responsibility for their own learning. This chapter explores the culture and approaches that were adopted within the Schome Park Programme and contrasts them with those found in schools. It provides specific examples to illustrate clashes of culture between self-directed learning in Schome Park and the culture of schools in the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America (USA). © 2010 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

The focus of Thematic Working Group 1 at EDUsummIT 2017 centred on the need for alignment in education systems and was driven by two key questions relating to (a) if and how all the parts of an education system work together to support the type of learning envisioned in the twenty-first century, and (b) if there is alignment, what is the purpose/vision of that education system and does it meet the needs of its learners. Arising from the discussions held, the group advocated the use of a tool such as the UNESCO framework (ICT competency standards for teachers: competency standards modules, UNESCO, Paris, 2008a; ICT competency standards for teachers: policy framework, UNESCO, Paris, 2011) as a way to conceptualize a systemic approach to reform and to enable policy makers and stakeholders in a system to think about ways in which they can align changes with the goals of any proposed reform. Taking the Irish Education system as an example, this paper illustrates how the UNESCO framework has enabled policy makers in Ireland to adopt a systemic approach to policy formulation which aligns educational strategies across a range of elements ¿to leverage strengths, coordinate investments, consolidate gains, and advance national development goals and visions¿ (Kozma in Hum Technol Interdiscip J Hum ICT Environ 1(2):117¿156, 2005). To counter the potential danger of a top-down imposition of the UNESCO framework, the group also proposed the Educational Vision and Mission Framework (EVMF) as a tool to support system wide (both top-down and bottom-up) reflection on the purposes of schooling in a rapidly changing world. The group concluded that what is defined as the purpose of education should inform alignment and suggest that application of the UNESCO framework and EVMF could enable the necessary alignment to support the educational, social, and economic transformation necessary for the complex connected global world of today and tomorrow.

Background: The use of 1:1 and Bring Your Own Device strategies in schools is in its infancy and little is known about how mobile devices such as tablets are being used to support educational practice. Purpose: In this article, two suburban primary schools in Sydney, Australia were focused on with an aim to understand how mobile device strategies were developed and implemented and how the devices were being used in the schools. Design and method: This qualitative study uses a case study method. It draws upon questionnaires, interviews and classroom observations, and builds upon previous research in English and Australian schools. Findings: Results of the research indicate that the devices have only recently been incorporated into the school and suggest that their usage has been generally embraced by both school staff and parents. Key issues highlighted by these two schools included the importance of the school¿s vision and uncertainty about the differences between models of provision. Participant responses also referenced some positive impacts on classroom practice, which amplify constructivist pedagogy: there were examples of device use extending student learning by supporting peer assessment, collaboration, research skills and projects.

This article introduces the main outcomes of discussions at EDUsummIT 2011 by the specific Technical Working Group on Teacher Professional Development (TWG3). The focus was to explore how professional development of teachers may ensure that teachers are better prepared to use information and communication technology (ICT) to promote 21st century learning. The article is organized into three main sections: a review of key literature on professional development of teachers (TPD), in general and with specific reference to ICT; a summary of the key points emerging from TWG3's discussions; and recommendations for action. On the basis of discussions held within the TWG3, the authors concluded that effective TPD requires changes at several levels of educational systems (political, institutional and individual), and that ICTs should be seen as an opportunity for introducing new goals, structures and roles that support these changes. It is significant that while many of the issues highlighted by the group are well established, addressing them continues to be problematic globally. © 2013 The Authors. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Developing a model for effective large-scale continuous professional development (CPD) for teachers remains a significant obstacle for many governments worldwide. This article describes the development and evolution of Vital-a CPD program designed to enhance the teaching of information communication technology in state-funded primary and secondary schools in England. The article concludes that the success of the program comes from its innovative bottom-up response and reconceptualization of CPD as being more than just externally designed courses. The program encourages and responds to teachers' reflective practice matching the teaching and learning demands of the twenty-first century. © 2012 Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

Over a 13-month period, the Schome Park Programme operated the first 'closed' (i.e. protected) Teen Second Life 1 project in Europe. The project organised diverse educational events that centred on use of a virtual world and an associated asynchronous forum and wiki. Students and staff together exploited the affordances of the environment to develop skills and enhance community spirit. One popular activity, initiated by students, involved sailing boats around the project's virtual island, a technically challenging task for beginners. This paper studies the records of one of these sailing regattas. Organising and implementing this event involved considerable technical and interactional challenges. We analyse the following: How do people work together, including through the use of (virtual) artefacts, to solve problems? What particular qualities of the literacy practices surrounding the regatta appear to us to involve learning? Simultaneously, we contribute to the development of methodologies for studying learning in virtual worlds by employing a virtual literacy ethnography. Findings include a diversity of creative approaches that are used when solving problems, the significance of adult behaviour in authentically modelling learning and the value of humour in fostering a learning community. The notion of distributed cognition has implications for characterising learning and analytical approaches to analysis. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

This paper describes and reflects on the development of the Schome Park Programme (SPP), which was established with the specific aim of extending our thinking about schome, which aims to be the optimal educational system for the 21st century. In an earlier stage of the Schome Initiative, it became clear that people find it almost impossible to break free from established conceptions of education. Open virtual worlds like Second Life® virtual world offer opportunities for people to have radically different 'lived experiences' of educational systems and thus seemed to be the ideal vehicle for exploring alternative models of education. The SPP therefore set out in late 2006 to use Teen Second Life® virtual world to support the development of the vision of schome, informed by current understandings about learning, pedagogy and the 'tools' available to us today. This paper provides an overview of the first three phases of the SPP and briefly outlines the research methodologies used within it. This leads into a discussion of the potential of virtual worlds to support pedagogical exploration, which in turn leads to consideration of three dimensions of practice that emerged from the SPP. These three dimensions, which correspond closely with a framework developed in post-compulsory education, are illustrated by use of descriptions of activities and other data from the SPP. The paper concludes by raising questions about the extent to which pedagogical practices will change in the future as a result of the opportunities offered by virtual worlds. © 2009 Becta.

Background In recent years there has been increasing interest in creating diversity of educational provision to meet the full range of needs presented by learners. This is both a reflection, and a partial consequence, of the three central agendas for schooling in many countries - standards, choice and inclusion, and the growth in information communication technologies and associated systems. The complexity of available 'school' types makes it increasingly difficult for individuals to explore the differences between the educational programmes on offer. Purpose The purpose of this paper is to map the different forms of provision into a typology that will provide theorists, practitioners, users and policy-makers with a clear set of descriptors to explore current structures and to consider future developments. Nine types of education programme are categorized. Theoretical origins The paper takes the three distinct alternative education types, identified by Raywid, as a starting-point for this Educational Programmes Typology. It also draws upon the work of Aron, in which the characteristics of alternative education are outlined according to their relationship to other education systems, their target population, primary purpose, operational setting, educational focus, administrative entity, credentials offered and funding sources. Main argument The paper broadens Raywid's and Aron's typologies so as to include the identifiers for the full range of education programmes offered to learners, not just those who typically have additional needs. Six additional educational programme types are presented, which describe current provision within open entry, selective entry, special educational, home learning and adult learning settings. Type 8 is proposed as representing a possible educational system of the future. This reflects social and cultural developments, the evolution of information communication technologies and other technologies, and our changing understandings of learning theories and practices. Conclusions The proposed typology needs to be tested against a wide range of possible settings in different countries and education systems, but offers a useful tool for looking across boundaries of culture and practice. It provides an accessible vocabulary for exploring current learning programmes and those we create in the future.

The discussing ICT, aspirations and targets for Education (dICTatEd) project is predicated on the assumptions that investments in ¿educational¿ Information and Communications Technology (ICT) are not having the scale of impact within the education system that might be expected at least in part due to lack of shared understandings about why we should be using ICT in education. This paper analyses data from over 9000 responses from 94 countries to the dICTatEd online questionnaire. It explores the extent to which respondents from different countries have similar or different perspectives on ¿educational¿ ICT use. This paper concludes that whilst there is general agreement that ICT should be being used in order to prepare people for living in a society permeated with technology there is a lack of shared educational vision about the role ICT should play in education. © 2007 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Networked environments offer new scope for presenting activity based courses, in which activities and reflection form the central backbone of course pedagogy. Such courses promise an enriching approach to study, but there are also challenges for the design of assessment. This paper describes a qualitative study of student and tutor perspectives on the assessment of an innovative undergraduate course at the UK Open University which has employed an activity-based approach. It discusses the relationship between assessment, student participation, and the development of skills, and then outlines the priorities for the design of assessment for such courses.

There is a growing need to be able to enhance the impact of investing in computer use in education at all levels. The article suggests that one way to approach this problem is through looking at the impact of such investments on educational practice. This necessitates the use of a coherent framework for conceptualising the educational practice surrounding computer use. A number of important problems with existing frameworks for thinking about the educational practice surrounding computer use are identified and a set of criteria for evaluating such frameworks is presented. A new framework, the Computer Practice Framework (CPF), is then described and its scope and limitations are discussed in the light of these evaluation criteria.

This paper argues that despite massive levels of investment in ICT in education there is little evidence of this having had any significant impact on educational practice to date. It argues that one approach to enhancing the impact of investments in ICT in education is to base them on clearly articulated development plans. Such plans, it is argued, need to link explicit visions about the use of ICT in learning with implementation plans. In order to support the process of developing such plans the paper discusses three questions based on the Computer Practice Framework (CPF). The CPF has been developed over the last five years to support thinking about the educational practice surrounding computer use. In the discussion of the three dimensions of the CPF a range of models of organisation of computer resources are explored. Issues relating to the management of educational change are highlighted and linked to practical constraints that impact on the implementation plan. © 2001, Studies in Education Ltd.

Engaging imaginatively with how education is manifested is necessary for providers both in higher education and in preceding contexts and phases. Fostering dispositions for creativity in dynamic engagement and the consideration of pedagogy, curriculum, inclusion, policy and the management of change, requires innovative provision to span school, home, work and higher education learning. Reporting on Aspire Pilot, a National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts-funded initiative at The Open University, which sought to foster creativity of 11-18 year olds in considering future learning systems, this paper offers the beginning of a theoretical frame for considering learning, learners and systems in the Knowledge Age prioritising learner agency. Discussing findings, the paper explores implications for approaches facilitating widening participation in higher education.

During the late 1990s, schools accessing the Internet have been a feature of education in many developed countries. There are widely held beliefs that the advent of broadband will have, and is possibly having profound impacts on education (Becta, 2003). The government of the UK therefore agreed to provide funding to deliver broadband connectivity to all points of learning by 2006, with every primary school having connectivity of at least 2Mbps and every secondary school having 8Mbps or more (DfES, 2003). Between October 2003 and January 2004, a team led by Jean Underwood at The Nottingham Trent University carried out a pilot investigation of broadband technology impacts on schools in England. Following a brief explanatory introduction, which sets out the focus of the research and methodologies used, this paper presents the findings of the pilot investigation that relate to teacher usage of broadband technology. The rationale for examining teacher usage is twofold. Firstly, teachers' computer use for planning and preparation is one of the strongest influences on the success of ICT for subsequent classroom use (Ofsted, 2002). Secondly, concerns have grown that excessive teacher workload has become a key negative factor in the recruitment and retention of teachers in the UK, and the 'Teacher Workload Study: Final Report' (PwC, 2001) estimated that the effective use of ICT could save teachers on average between 3.25 and 4.55 hours per week. Findings of the research include: very positive teacher attitudes to broadband; increased use of on-line resources by teachers; changes in patterns of where and how teachers prepare lessons; greater sharing of resources between teachers; and in some cases, changes in where and how teachers assess children's work, communicate with parents and other staff, and staff development. However, whilst broadband was a key driver it was not the only one, and there was an acknowledgement that in order to achieve such positive outcomes there was initially a need for additional staff time and commitment.