Dean Cristol

Exploring Tools to Promote Teacher Efficacy with mLearning

Teachers’ perceptions of self-efficacy have been identified as a barrier to widespread integration of mobile learning strategies in teaching practice. This paper describes the development of the Collaborative Situated Active Mobile (CSAM) learning design framework and the mobile Teacher’s Sense of Efficacy Scale (mTSES) survey. The CSAM framework aims to help with making instructional design decisions for using mobile reusable learning objects. The mTSES survey is designed to measure teacher’s perceptions of self-efficacy with mobile learning. This paper describes how the CSAM framework and the mTSES survey were used to develop a professional development course to help teachers to become more confident with their ability to integrate mobile reusable learning objects into their teaching practice.

Citizenship Education: A Historical Perspective (1951–Present)

Citizenship education and instruction have gone through a series of dramatic changes in the decades encompassing the early days of the Cold War up to our modern, globally focused educational environment. Throughout this progression, multiple influences, both internal and external to the educational construct, have shaped the role and direction of citizenship education. This article examines these changes and the historical context of these modifications—spanning the era from post–World War II America to post-9/11 classrooms. Through this historical review, it becomes apparent that there has been a shift in the timeliness of incorporation of new topics and themes of instruction over the last 50 years. Where it once took an extended period of time to incorporate new ideals of social change into curriculum and instruction, contemporary classrooms now have the ability to react to unfiltered current developments in an immediate fashion. In addition, it has become apparent that the new focus for much of todays citizenship education has a greater emphasis on global citizenship and interconnectedness of peoples around the world. These new areas of teaching and learning present new challenges and opportunities for effective citizenship education in todays classroom environment and serve as a reminder of how citizenship education continues to change to reflect current trends, issues, and instructional approaches.