Ann Marcus-Quinn

The potential of high-quality Open Educational Resources (OERs) for the teaching of English poetry

ABSTRACT This article reports on the possibilities afforded by the availability of high-quality Open Educational Resources (OERs) for traditional Humanities subjects such as English. The OERs provided a rich multimedia environment that enabled students to explore a range of selected poems. This paper reports on the design, development and usability testing of OERs for the teaching of poetry at Junior Certificate level in Irish post-primary schools. The potential impact of such OERs is also addressed.

The Potential of OERs for K-12 Schools: Why Policy Is Crucial to Success

There is a growing body of work advocating the use of open educational resources (OERs) to enhance teaching and learning across all sectors: primary, second level and third level (Boyle & Ravenscroft, 2012; Ljubojevic & Laurillard, 2011; Smith & Casserly, 2006). The role of OERs in the development and improvement of teaching skills is also growing. However, there are still barriers preventing teachers from integrating OERs into their classroom (Ertmer et al., 2007; Taylor, 2008; West & Victor, 2011). One possible solution to overcoming these barriers is raising awareness of ICT and recognising the potential of OERs either by placing an emphasis on them during accredited initial teacher education programmes or through continuing professional development programmes aimed at existing teachers. Both national and international repositories (JORUM, MERLOT, MIT Open Courseware) offer educators free access to high-quality teaching resources which have been designed and developed by educators for educators. Therefore, the OERs are primarily pedagogically driven and not driven solely by the available technology. The majority of these OERs in these repositories are also shared under an open creative commons license allowing equitable access to all. This chapter discusses why it is necessary to put a policy in place to actively advocate and promote the use of OERs at second level.

Use of Plain-Language Guidelines to Promote Health Literacy

Research problem: Studies by the American Institute of Medicine and the European Health Literacy Survey describe considerable levels of either inadequate or problematic health literacy. This health literacy problem is intensified when frontline healthcare practitioners must rely on printed education materials to compensate for the lack of time to instruct patients about their health management. Applying plain-language guidelines to health promotion materials may increase their effectiveness, particularly for patients with low health literacy. Research questions: 1. In what ways have plain-language guidelines been applied in health information materials for patients with varying degrees of health literacy, according to recent studies? 2. Have studies found that materials that apply plain-language guidelines are effective in health information promotion? Methodology: This article presents the findings from an integrative literature review of research into the use of plain language to promote health literacy. The systematic review identified scholarly, evidence-based studies that included reference to the use of plain-language guidelines. This article describes the detailed selection process and characterizes the corpus of articles along four dimensions: objectives, methodology, plain-language guidelines used, and findings. Results and conclusions: The review identified 13 articles that explored the use of plain-language guidelines in health literacy promotion. Analysis of these articles demonstrates that plain-language guidelines could play a strategic role in educating patients. Use of plain language could help healthcare practitioners to communicate critical and sometimes very complex health information effectively.

Use of m-learning among Irish technical communication students

Mobile learning (m-learning) is a term used to describe how students use mobile technologies to access learning materials, often in non-traditional educational settings. m-learning increases personalization of the learning experience. This paper describes a survey conducted with Irish technical communication students about their use of mobile technologies to access learning materials available through the university virtual learning environment (VLE). The findings indicate that many students use mobile technologies to access learning materials and to participate in learning, perhaps not always in ways that educators are aware of or understand. Respondents are positive about the increased access, convenience and flexibility afforded by mobile technologies.