In this article, we present the outcomes of the pilot phase of a multi-case study being conducted in Cyprus. The study aims to develop and propose universal design principles of using a Flipped Classroom (FC) approach as a pedagogical structure of Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) applicable across primary education context in Cyprus. The universal design principles refer to the general guidelines most primary teachers can follow when designing their lessons by integrating the two instructional models of FC and IBL, and to the specific pedagogical strategies teachers can use for different school subjects to motivate and improve their students' learning processes through Networked Lerning (NL) opportunities. Providing teachers with those principles (i.e. guidelines and strategies) is particularly important given the lack of instructional experiences of Cyprus primary school teachers in implementing a FC model in their classroom practices and a wide range of subject matters that those teachers need to teach. There has been a limited focus, in previous research concerning the FC model, on its effectiveness within the primary education context and also in relation to the NL technologies used. The pilot study aims to primarily address this research gap, develop the IB-FC model and present potential benefits of using the IB-FC model in primary school context. The learning process based on the IB-FC model includes pre-class, in-class and after-class activities. During the pre-class phase, students explore the learning content provided by the teacher at home and obtain an entrance ticket which is used during class time for the IBL facilitated by a series of classroom activities, which require the students to be creative and collaborative. Forums and other features of online learning platforms are utilized so as to promote NL through collaboration and communication. The after-class phase involves self-assessment procedures and the completion of an e-portfolio page. After the first pilot-nature of iteration of implementing the model, participant students’ learning experiences and perceptions on this new learning scenario were collected through focus groups and reflection forums. Based on our findings from the pilot study, the IB-FC framework including important pedagogical principles and additional instructional tools have been developed and offered to seven primary school teachers in the current stage of our multi-case study, through which the framework will be further developed and refined.
As Higher Education undergoes a massive expansion in demand globally, and experiences financial pressures exacerbated by the global financial crisis of 2008, the sector is evolving rapidly. Market pressures on the sector encourage the search for additional income and new forms of provision, and private providers are increasingly entering the sector. At the same time, the HE sector has seen the appearance of many flexible online courses and qualifications, delivered by new configurations of providers and partnerships, including by parties new to the sector, through a process of disaggregating educational provision into its component parts, or ‘unbundling’. Whilst these changes may offer opportunities for increased numbers of learners to access education and thus contribute to economic prosperity, there is very little empirical research about the nature, process and impact of this unbundling and rebundling of educational provision, as it is playing out in this rapidly reconfiguring space. This paper reports data on South African Higher Education from the research project ‘The Unbundled University: Researching emerging models in an unequal landscape’, a project which explores the terrain in both South Africa and the UK. South Africa is deemed the most unequal country in the world and its HE system is under pressure, demonstrated in part by rising fees, student protests and calls for decolonised education, whilst online education is viewed by some, including the South African Government, as a way to increase access. Using a new dataset systematically collected from the public domain, data visualisation is employed to bring a novel perspective to the educational provision being offered using digital technology (and the private companies partnering with universities in South Africa to provide it), to uncover patterns of activity and their relationship to existing patterns of inequality in the HE sector. Using mapping, or social cartography, this paper reveals patterns and relationships which are otherwise not so obvious. Significantly, the maps reveal relationships between universities and private companies which appear to reflect existing inequalities, insofar as private companies partner almost exclusively with historically advantaged, research intensive universities, with high international ranking and reputation. This paper argues that such partnerships do not disrupt an unequal terrain, but rather reflect and possibly reinforce the power asymmetries already at play._x000D_
Virtual reality (VR) has evolved over the past decade, and as this evolution continues, scope and significance of using VR in various educational settings are worth exploring. With the availability of low-cost Google Cardboard VR tool and emergence of affordable smartphones, the possibility of creating a participant-centric virtual reality learning environment even in developing countries is not unthinkable. However, there remains a void in the adaptation of the VR based tools in the developing countries. As of today, no initiatives are taken to create a learning setting which would allow less literate and illiterate people to overcome some of the evident curses of illiteracy through planned elevated use of other senses such as vision and sound._x000D_ To contribute to this identified void, the author conducted two iterations of small-scale fieldwork where VR based technology was used alongside the author’s existing ‘Training in a Tab' project. In this project, a tablet device based disaster preparedness training was provided to the technologically disadvantaged, predominantly less literate and illiterate group of people. In 2016, a pilot study was conducted at Uthali Village located in the Manikganj district, Dhaka division, Bangladesh followed by a post-pilot scaling study in 2017, conducted in the Teknaf Subdistrict, Chittagong division, Bangladesh._x000D_ Findings from the fieldwork suggest VR based system can be compatible with the existing practices and it is possible to use the VR based system to enhance the learning process in a social setting. From a pioneering initiative to integrate VR within a less literate population, this paper contains a brief record of the use of VR in disaster preparedness settings, sets out the rationale for using this in the developing countries, provides an introduction to possible methods that can be used in the fieldwork. The early findings of both studies affirm VR based system’s possibility in stimulating ‘disruptive learning' among the targeted less literate population which can lead towards long-term change in the participants' perspectives on disaster awareness and can make them further interested in learning more about disaster preparedness. Despite the concerns with localised content creation, the findings will be able to guide future researchers who might want to create VR based training for a similar population.