Helen Durham

Internal Migration and Urban Change in Poland

The paper investigates population change and migration over the period 1984–1994 for communes. There are important conclusions emerging from this study. The first is that we are watching now a profound change of population redistribution patterns in Poland. We observed that direct upwards hierarchical mobility has been markedly modified. The first modification is the substantial reduction of migration from rural to urban locations. There were important changes in the role of cities and towns. Largest cities, massive gainers of the seventies and eighties, have tended to lose population in the mid-nineties. It is likely that they lose population mainly to the neighbouring communes. We believe that a suburbanization process has been put into motion. Medium to large sized towns and cities, in the range between 50,000 and 500,000 as well as small, but not the smallest, towns attract substantial parts of the migration pool.

Introducing New Cultural and Technological Approaches into Institutional Practice: An Experience from Geography.

With increasing international collaboration in the delivery of higher education e-learning programmes, the requirement for changes in institutional practice needs to be considered in relation to the creation of shared online resources. A group of academic and learning technologists involved in a US/UK project experimented with technology and a new cultural approach to creating learning material suitable for use in geography programmes on either side of the Atlantic. The methodology, called Collaborative Learning Activity Design was undertaken to develop a series of learning activities to support the use and understanding of the Global Positioning System. As a result of this study, effective communication, reliable and flexible technology and a robust, iterative methodology were identified as critical factors for successful outcomes. These outcomes included learning materials that are readily redeployable in other institutions and cross-fertilisation of ideas and knowledge to produce higher quality resources. The experiences of designing and developing multi-institutional learning materials from the viewpoint of practitioners at the University of Leeds are discussed in this paper.

E-Learning for geographers: online materials, resources, and repositories

Technological advances have created the ability to put lectures, tutorials, and student activities online for academic instructors. However, for most teachers, especially those accustomed to traditional delivery methods, this creates a daunting task that involves radical re-skilling and effort. E-Learning for Geographers: Online Materials, Resources, and Repositories draws lessons from a unique collaboration of an international team of geographers, educationalists and computer scientists in developing learning materials. Descriptions and access to the learning resources developed in the geography topic areas is provided to the reader along with general guidance relevant to all who intend to work in an array of applications within the vibrant and growing field of electronic/online learning.

Learning and Teaching Online with the UK Census.

This paper describes the online learning and teaching resources that are currently being developed for the contemporary and historical UK censuses as part of a project that is being funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) to support its ‘Information Environment’. The online resources are intended to support learners and teachers in the UK Higher and Further Education sectors who are interested in UK census data. A variety of resources is available including: interactive online tutorials with practical exercises, textual materials, web pages and PowerPoint slides. The materials have been designed to be as flexible as possible encouraging a ‘pick and mix’ approach to the use of the resources. The resources are also intended to facilitate the use of 2001 census data. Feedback from student piloting and consultation workshops is also considered. All the resources can be accessed at: http://www.chcc.ac.uk.

Patterns of Dissent in Britain during the First World War

Abstract The purpose of this work is to suggest new ways of identifying those communities in which opposition to Britain’s involvement in the First World War was most marked. The principal indicators used here are conscientious objectors (COs). It will be argued that existing calculations of their numbers are unreliable and that conclusions based on those calculations are, therefore, unsafe. A new approach using the newly compiled Pearce Register of British Conscientious Objectors will be outlined and, by means of a sample of area studies of Essex and Northumberland, its potential for mapping patterns of dissent demonstrated. We further argue that this process may then inform different routes to a better understanding of popular attitudes to the war.