http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/news/index.phpNews, Educational Research, Lancaster Universityhttp://www.lancaster.ac.uk/users/lancaster/web/disclaim.htmen-gba.sharman@lancaster.ac.uka.sharman@lancaster.ac.uk120http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/images/template/fassblue.gifhttp://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/news/index.php International symposium on Literacy as Numbers: Researching the Politics and Practices of Literacy Assessment Regimes Institute of Education, London. 17th June 2013 There is still time to register for this event and also see our blog Symposium rationale Large-scale enumerative projects of literacy assessment are increasingly global in scope and impacting on educational policy and practice. This symposium on 'Literacy as Numbers' brings together academics, research students and policy makers who apply critical policy, ethnographic and sociological research perspectives to investigate the politics and practices of literacy assessment regimes. The presentations and discussions will be structured around themes including: · The politics of literacy measurement regimes: globalisation, closed and open politics, transparency and public deliberation, numbers in policy discourse; local responses to global policy agendas. · Approaching literacy assessment through ethnographic and socio-material enquiry: multi-sited and institutional ethnography, Actor Network Theory; networks, flows of ideas and resources. · The politics and practices of cross-cultural literacy assessment: test item adaptation, translation and Differential Item Functioning (DIF), and the ideologies of test items and constructs. · Enumerative, ideological and semiotic politics and practices: including common scales, levels and thresholds, ranking and comparison. http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/stories/1891/ http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/stories/1891/ Wed, 12 Jun 2013 16:47:36 +0100 The Centre for Technology Enhanced Learning recently hosted an international study event. The 2-day study event on 20th and 21st March 2013, opened by Pro-Vice Chancellor (Internation), Professor Steve Bradley, involved eightcontributors, sharing and presentingcomplementary research perspectives on a common theme - 'Developing and using digital skillsacross school, training and work-based learning landscapes'. The contributors comprised a team of experts in the fields of: employee and employer digital skills in knowledge sharing initiatives in business; training transitions that involve digital skills; relationships of transitions and motivations; the development and place of digital skills in schools; and how digital technologies are used in contrasting learning landscapes.They presented on the following topics: Associate Professor Dr Lim Tong Ming, Sunway University, Sunway, Malaysia - Organisational learning and knowledge sharing in companies in Malaysia Angela Lee Siew Hoong, Sunway University, Sunway, Malaysia - Knowledge sharing among knowledge workers from the perspective of a task categorisation-knowledge sharing systems fit Professor Colin Rogers, Department of Educational Research, Lancaster University, UK - Digital skills and motivation in young people Dr Sue Cranmer, Department of Educational Research, Lancaster University, UK - Digital skills and competencies in schools in the UK Michael Larbalestier, Prospects, UK - Digital skills for job search and career support Paul Davies, Department of Educational Research, Lancaster University, UK - Using digital technology to support transitions Associate Professor Denise Leahy, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland - Digital skills of employees (employers' needs) Professor Don Passey, Department of Educational Research, Lancaster University, UK - Digital skills in contexts of evolving and emerging learning landscapes Four key points emerged Theways that digital technologies are used result in part from the age and experience of the user; there is a developmental perspective to acquisition and use of digital skills that shifts for the individual through the lifespan. Digital technologies continue to be developed and new technologies emerge; there is a technological shift affecting digital skills over time. Digital skills are associated with learning landscapes, the places and situations in which learning arise; these may be informal (as they are for the very young, beginning to use digital technologies in family and home settings), formal (as they are for those in compulsory and post-compulsory education), and non-formal (for those in training and employment settings). Digital skills are affected by settings and the contexts in which learning occurs. The participants are exploring ways to develop their complementary research areas. http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/stories/1896/ http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/stories/1896/ Sun, 16 Jun 2013 15:35:29 +0100 Next Generation of Information Technology in Educational Management This new edited volume is published by Springer. Professor Don Passey is principal editor, and Professor Andreas Breiter of University of Bremen, Germany and Associate Professor Adrie Visscher of University of Twente, The Netherlands are co-editors. The book focuses on four key questions: Why do we need new educational management information systems? What issues face those developing new educational management information systems? What new educational management information systems are being developed? What educational management systems are already in place? All chapters in the book are peer-reviewed and written by experts in the field. http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/stories/1895/ http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/stories/1895/ Sun, 16 Jun 2013 15:10:37 +0100 The Centre announces a book launch on 2 September 2013. Inclusive technology enhanced learning: Overcoming Cognitive, Physical, Emotional and Geographic Challenges, is written by Professor Don Passey, who is Co-Director of the Centre. Routledge, the publisher of the new book, say the book "draws together a remarkable breadth of research findings from across the field, providing useful data on the power of technology to solve cognitive, physical, emotional or geographic challenges in education. A far-ranging assessment, this book combines research, policy, and practical evidence to show what digital technologies work best for which learners and why." Jeroen J. G. van Merriënboer, Professor of Learning and Instruction, Maastricht University, The Netherlands says "Passey fully acknowledges the complexities of technology enhanced learning. He convincingly shows that it can only be understood through an in-depth and integrated analysis of technologies, learners, and human mediators." http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/stories/1841/ http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/stories/1841/ Wed, 12 Jun 2013 18:10:22 +0100 Very many congratulations to the following on their recent PhD awards. Dr Sandra Varey was awarded 'Forthwith' recently, she was supervised by Professor Mary Hamilton. The title of her thesis is 'Voices in a Knowledge Conversation: An exploration of two narrative representations of adult literacy learners.'Voices in a Knowledge Conversation: An exploration of two narrative representations of adult literacy learners.' Dr Vina Adriany has been supervised by Dr Jo Warin. The title of her thesis is 'Gender power relations within child-centred discourse: an ethnographic approach in an Indonesian kindergarten'. Dr Denise Boyle was a member of the Doctoral Programme in Educational Research and was supervised by Professor Malcolm Tight. Her thesis is titled 'Why do student nurses stay: a qualitative study'.Very many congratulations to the following on their recent PhD awards. http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/stories/1833/ http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/stories/1833/ Fri, 03 May 2013 10:09:11 +0100 Very many congratulations to Dr Jane Costello on the award of PhD. Jane is a member of Cohort 2 of the Doctoral Programme in E-Research and Technology Enhanced Learning and was supervised initially by Maria Zenios and more recently Malcolm Tight. The subject of her thesis is Guest Speaker Impact on Learning Community http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/stories/1820/ http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/stories/1820/ Wed, 08 May 2013 12:14:13 +0100 Prof Saunders is researching how schools with farms use them to enhance lessons across the curriculum as well as to boost pupils' confidence and teach them about healthy eating and where food comes from. Prof Saunders is researching how schools with farms use them to enhance lessons across the curriculum as well as to boost pupils' confidence and teach them about healthy eating and where food comes from. http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/stories/1808/ http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/stories/1808/ Mon, 15 Apr 2013 08:50:42 +0100 Joining colleagues from the International Federation for Information Processing, Professor Don Passey led feedback in a session at the recent UNESCO World Summit Review Meeting (WSIS+10) in Paris. With contributions led by Professor Bernard Cornu, CNED, France and Sindre Roesvik, Giske Commune, Norway, the feedback focused on 'Changing educational paradigms'. http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/stories/1792/ http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/stories/1792/ Mon, 11 Mar 2013 11:08:16 +0000 Murray Saunders was interviewed on Granada Reports, 20 February, in a feature about a University project , based in a partnership with the Schools Farms Network, to build a joint understanding of how school farms might improve the learning experience of young people. The project focuses on ways in which increased understanding of food and its production through school farms might have broader educational purposes. http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/stories/1781/ http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/stories/1781/ Thu, 07 Mar 2013 10:24:12 +0000 http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/stories/1746/ http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/stories/1746/ Tue, 15 Jan 2013 11:55:47 +0000 Paula Burkinshaw's PhD research was reported in the Times Higher Education on 20th December 2012. The report drew on aspects of Paula's paper entitled 'The silent and the strange: exploring the under-representation of women at Vice Chancellor level in the UK' that she presented at the Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) Conference in December. http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/stories/1730/ http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/stories/1730/ Fri, 21 Dec 2012 17:21:03 +0000 The 7th conference devoted to fine-grained research into higher education, Higher Education Close Up (HECU) will be held at Lancaster, July 21-23 2014. The conference website is here:http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/events/hecu7/. This follows a successful HECU 6 at Rhodes University, South Africa, in July 2012. The conference is run from the here@lancaster research centre which focuses on HE research and evaluation, based in the Department of Educational Research. http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/stories/1674/ http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/stories/1674/ Mon, 05 Nov 2012 10:23:42 +0000