The relationship between the perceived value of supplementary online components, and student roles and responsibilities
Online delivery is becoming more widely used to enhance face-to-face provision within the tertiary sector. What is the value of such supplementation in the learning process? This notion of value is explored through examination of the responses and online output of over 50 students involved in two 3 year units, each of which used online supplementation. These responses and output are then analysed within teacher-centred and student-centred models of teaching. The findings suggest that the level and amount of self-directed learning undertaken by the students in the supplementary online component is related to the approach to teaching and learning adopted by the lecturer.
Practical tips for successful online teaching
This session will showcase the results of the BOB project “Breaking the Online Barriers to Learning”. This project collated best practice in online teaching based on interviews with early adopters, responses from student questionnaires and examination of online units. An outcome of the project is a series of easy-tofollow “tip” sheets which lecturers can use to improve the learning experience of their students. In the session, the project and the insights gained will be described. In addition, the websites containing the tips sheets will be demonstrated.
Initial Teacher Training: the French view
ABSTRACT This paper, against the background of trends in the development of initial teacher training in Europe as a whole, identifies and explains some of the recent, radical reforms which were introduced in France by a socialist government. These include the need to raise the status and the competence of the teaching profession; the creation of new teacher‐training institutions of university status (Instituts universitaires de formation des maitres); the introduction of common entry qualifications at degree level for both primary and secondary levels; the harmonisation and the extension to 2 years of the post‐degree teacher‐training course and the increase in emphasis placed on professional training, both theoretical and practical. These reforms provoked a storm of protest and an examination of the reasons for this reveals a multiplicity of crucial questions which have far‐reaching implications.