Gretchen Geng

Investigating the use of text messages in mobile learning

Nowadays, teaching and learning have been shifted from traditional classrooms to technology-supported learning environment. By offering a convenient, efficient and financially affordable information technology learning environment, mobile learning is a topic that is of considerable interest for education audiences owing to the pervasive nature of text messaging. This study investigated tertiary students’ use of text messaging in mobile learning and related areas such as their literacy levels and years of using text messages. Given the use of such technology in classrooms today, this study is timely and makes its contribution to what is naturally scant literature in this area. Data were gathered by way of a questionnaire and text message exercises. Fifty-three students participated in this study. The results shed light on whether or not text messaging is positively or negatively related to students’ self-rated reading and writing attainment. Also revealed is whether or not there are differences between students at different levels, that is, whether first-year undergraduate students use text messaging differently, and if so in what ways, than undergraduate students who are nearer the end of their studies and postgraduate students. This article offers insight into the implications of successful mobile learning upon a contemporary account of practices and how we educators might use text messaging in mobile learning.

Investigating the Stress Levels of Early Childhood, Primary and Secondary Pre-Service Teachers during Teaching Practicum.

Abstract This study investigated stress levels of pre-service teachers (PSTs) across three categories of teaching context: early childhood, primary and secondary. This paper focused on exploring the stressors in the completion of tasks in teaching practicum in the three categories of teaching context and an awareness of and access to support systems. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and an online questionnaire were used to measure the nature and level of stress. Significant results were found in relation to the school climate and the stress levels of PSTs across the three different teaching contexts. These findings have implications in terms of understanding different PSTs’ stress levels across the three teaching contexts and ways they could be supported to reduce their stress level and achieve better study outcomes.

Investigation of technical support provided by educational websites

The purpose of the paper was to identify how useful was the technical support provided by educational websites in relation to the interaction between students and educational websites, and the findings showed that students reported that all the identified technical support helped them achieve more productive usage of educational websites. Website designers and online teachers may find these results useful in enhancing the effectiveness of online teaching as well as designing and using instructional programs.

Social and emotional education with Australian Year 7 and 8 middle school students: A pilot study

Objective: This pilot study sought to better understand what can be achieved by an evidence-based classroom social and emotional education programme. Design and Methods: A 10-lesson, classroom-based programme that taught about emotional literacy, personal strengths, coping and problem-solving strategies, stress management, emotional regulation and support seeking was provided to 56 students in Years 7 (13 years) and 8 (14 years) in an Australian middle school. Teachers were trained to deliver the programme, with participatory modelling of each activity. Before and after delivery of the programme, students were surveyed for their social and emotional wellbeing using the Kessler 10 (K10) instrument for non-specific psychological distress; the ‘Internal Assets’, ‘School Resources’ and ‘Cooperation and Communication’ questions from the Resilience and Youth Development Module (RYDM) of the California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS); and questions developed for this study on class connectedness and social and emotional skills. Subsequent to programme completion, focus groups were conducted with teachers and participating students to gauge programme fidelity, utility and engagement. Results: There was an improvement in psychological distress that approached significance (t = 2, df = 42, p = .053), although the symptomatic score remained in the range indicative of medium-level distress. Cooperation and communication improved significantly (t = −2.34, df = 42, p = .024) as did class connectedness (t = −2.46, df = 43, p = .018). There was no change in individual resilience factors, school protective factors, or social and emotional skills. The focus groups were generally positive about the programme, but indicated fidelity was compromised, mainly because the lesson periods were too short. Conclusion: While this small-scale pilot study has a number of limitations, it does indicate the need to improve the psychological wellbeing of middle school students. The findings also provide evidence that brief social and emotional education programmes can have some positive effects.

Listen to the Voice of Pre-service Teachers

This chapter introduces the significance, aims and development of a volume whose centrepiece is a collection of 31 chapters written by pre-service teachers on issues that they became aware of during their professional experience programs, or practicums. After explaining the purpose of the volume, notably to support less advanced pre-service teachers in preparing for the practicum, the chapter describes the structure of the book. The volume is divided into eight parts, the first consisting of four chapters of background relevant. Parts II to VII consisting of the 31 student chapters, and Part VIII consisting of a final chapter that comments on the student contributions and then looks into the problematic issue of how research might be used to foster teacher reflection and the changing world of teacher education.

Conclusion and What’s Next?

This chapter begins by reconsidering the 31 student contributions in Chaps. 5 to 35. They are interesting for three reasons, namely for what they chose to write about, what they chose to say about these things, and how they reached their conclusions. Here we are less interested in the merits of these conclusions, that is, how well informed and insightful they seem to be. They are not written by established specialists in the areas they deal with, but instead by novice teachers at the beginning of their paths towards mastering the intricacies of teaching and learning in school settings. After looking further into what these novice teachers are saying about the issues and how they draw their conclusions, we will then offer suggestions as to how the study represented by these papers help position these teachers for future learning and development in the course of their careers. In this regard one might hope there would be ways to further strengthen teachers’ abilities to research their own classrooms to provide a solid basis for critical reflections, but it seems clear that this cannot be guaranteed, so that the foundations for reflective teaching laid during pre-service education are particularly important.

Teachers as Reflective Practitioners

Pre-service teachers, as they progress through their education program, are confronted with a range of theories of learning, teaching strategies and educational philosophies, which they then have to balance with the real world of schools and the classrooms they experience during their practicum placements. This can be a time of stress and confusion. Learning the skills of critical reflection can help them make sense of the situations they face and helping them learn these skills during their course of study can set them on a path to become reflective teachers in their future careers. This is a long process, the benefits of which include helping them become more effective teachers, develop positive relationships and deliver better learning outcomes for the students they will teach. This chapter looks at why, how and what teachers should reflect on and how this is fostered during the pre-service years of teacher training. It leads into the 31 chapters written by our pre-service teachers which show their early reflections on issues they have encountered within their practicum experiences and their thinking about these issues as they work towards the start of their teaching careers.

Reflective narration: Impact of Observing Young children's use of iPad on Lecturers' Teaching Approaches in Higher education

People conduct learning for our knowledge, and learning can be undertaken outside learning institutions, between different people among social communities. Learning can be done not only publicly but also through private and reflection time. Education cannot be conducted within certain hours or certain places. It can happen anytime, with anyone and by any culture. This paper was based upon the perception and experience of the two high education lecturers in teacher education, made observations of pedagogical practices and philosophies of two young children playing iPad. Based upon the importance of reflective practice, this paper uses reflective narration to illustrate the influence from observing two young children’s use of iPad on two lecturers’ own teaching approaches in higher education settings. This paper uses the method of narrative inquiries and examples of observations of two children’s playing were demonstrated. This paper provides several future research interests into use of gestural interface technology in teaching strategies, and lecturers in higher education, particularly educators in information technologies and early childhood education will find this paper interesting in their own reflection and therefore improve their own teaching outcomes.

A Need of Technology-Assisted Physical Activity in Young Indigenous Children's Health and Physical Education

This paper examines the issues of health and physical education among Indigenous young children in remote communities in Australia and the need for the implementation of technology-assisted physical activity. It was found that although these children were assumed to be very fit, they have higher rates of diseases than non-Indigenous young children, such as Type 2 diabetes. Technology assisted physical activity (Exergame) has been examined in relation to the Indigenous young children’s health and physical education in remote communities. It was also found that there is a need to implement the technology-assisted physical activities into Indigenous young children’s health and physical education classroom. Physical and health educators including general teachers and/or PE specialists in remote communities may find the investigation useful in promoting health and physical education through the use of technology-assisted physical activities among Indigenous children in remote communities.