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Alexander, Olwyn et al (2011) EAP essentialsGarnet (Reading) isbn 978-1-85964-419-5 379 pp£27http://www.garneteducation.com/Book/61/EAP_Essentials:_A_teacher%27s_guide_to_principles_and_practice.html
The aim of EAP essentials is people involved in “Englishfor academic purposes” programmes—such as teach-ers, teacher educators, practitioners and researcherswho may be interested in gaining a grasp of the theoryand practice behind this multi-faceted educationalarea. It aims to cover all areas of English for academicpurposes and gives a comprehensive analysis of thekey issues in the field, with a very practical approach.In fact, it translates principles into practice by involv-ing the readers in the analysis of authentic casestudies. It includes a series of “awareness-raisingtasks” to help teachers reflect on their practices. Anaccompanying compact disc supplies useful class-room materials for eap teachers’ use.
Why is eap a difficult area? eap teaching differsfrom other language programmes. It is developingworldwide because more and more students aretaking part in mobility projects and attendingforeign universities. The gap between generalEnglish classes and academic English is often hardto bridge and special programmes need to be devel-oped in order to provide students with the languageskills that they need. It is not just the languagethat differs from the vocabulary range they meetand use in traditional language classes—eap alsorequires higher cognitive skills to perform the tasks.eap tasks usually involve reading and writingactivities across various genres, listening to lecturesand taking notes, associating key concepts, groupdiscussions and problem solving activities, usingkey vocabulary, developing strategies, and becom-ing autonomous learners.
The book’s ten chapters focus on different aspects ofeap. Each chapter is “free-standing”—readers canchoose to read the whole book through or explorethe aspects that may be of particular interest. Theclear chapter structure helps this choice—with ashort introduction, a conclusion, and the casestudies clearly highlighted.
The first chapter introduces eap contexts andfocuses on the issues that usually affect these pro-grammes. Chapter 2 provides tools and hints fordealing with text types and genres, whereas coursedesign is outlined in Chapter 3; this considers the
implementation of a syllabus through appropriatemethodology, including computer-mediated learn-ing. Chapters 4, 6 and 7 delve into the features oflanguage skills development in eap contexts.Chapter 5 is particularly useful as it explores theissues involved in vocabulary teaching and learn-ing in academic contexts. Vocabulary is seen fromtwo different perspectives—receptive and produc-tive—with practical suggestions on how to select,notice and record it. Chapters 8 and 9, focusedrespectively on critical thinking and studentautonomy, outline the abilities involved in eap con-texts and show how to help students develop strat-egies and become more autonomous in theirlearning. The last chapter deals with assessmentand engage the readers with a close study of theprinciples, models and criteria involved in it.
Overall, this book provides good insights into thematter, especially for eap beginners who need to lookat it in greater depth and take advantage of practicalhints and suggestions. It is definitely worth the priceand lends itself to a variety of uses. I would suggestusing it for reference and therefore that you choosewhat to read according to your needs.
Cristina Oddone (received January 2012)High school English teacher, and PhD student, Univer-sity of Genoa, [email protected]
Armstrong, Victoria (2011) Technology and thegendering of music education Ashgate (Farnham,Surrey & Burlington VT) isbn 978-0-4094-17821-2 157 pp £50http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9781409417842
Victoria Armstrong’s premise is that the currentemphasis on the use of technology in the composi-tional process within a school’s music curriculumdisadvantages female examination students. Shenotes the well held belief that all young peoplehave a natural aptitude towards using techno-logy, but argues that, rather than acting as ademocratising tool, such technology can in realityact as a barrier to learning for many girls in themusic classroom.
The author undertook six months of fieldworkin four co-educational schools that offered musicat both gcse (16+) and Advanced gce (18+); sheobserved the different ways in which boys andgirls engage in the process of composition, and
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© 2012 The Authors. British Journal of Educational Technology © 2012 BERA. Published by Blackwell Publishing, 9600 Garsington Road, OxfordOX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.
interviewed a number of the pupils and their teach-ers. Through this first-hand research, she discoveredthat, in general, boys were not just more confidentabout using the equipment and software, but alsothat they tended to monopolise use of the technol-ogy and the discussions around it. Girls, on the otherhand, were more inclined to initialise their composi-tions on musical instruments before transferringtheir ideas to computer software, and often preferredto make use of music programs installed on theircomputers at home. Noting also previous investiga-tions into technology’s links with masculinity andmale control, Armstrong concludes that the ideathat technology assures more equal access to the artof composing is a myth and indeed may impede themore creative approach to composition taken bygirls.
It is somewhat unfortunate that the research for abook published in 2011 was carried out so muchearlier, namely between January and June 2003.One assumes that the results of Armstrong’sresearch are still valid, but it would perhaps havebeen interesting if the author had revisited the fourschools in order to provide more current informa-tion to illustrate whether or not attitudes and prac-tices have changed in the intervening years. I wouldalso have found it useful to discover whether thedifferent gender-led approaches towards the use ofmusic technology led to any significant differencesin the pupils’ examination results.
The occasional unnecessary repetition of facts,along with a tendency to elaborate upon ideas andoutcomes already stated, makes the book feel verymuch like an expanded PhD thesis. Indeed, it isevident from the text that, in the preparation of herwork, Armstrong carried out comprehensiveresearch of the existing literature in this field. Also,her methodology and the conclusions of her ownfindings are clearly stated and the inclusion of directquotes from a number of those interviewed addsinterest to the work. Last, the remedial proposals sheputs forward in the final chapter as ways of helpingto redress the gender imbalance are persuasive andthought-provoking.
Marie Bennett (received February 2012)Music research student, Keele University, [email protected]
Biggs, John & Tang, Catherine (2011) Teachingfor quality learning at university McGraw-Hill (Maid-enhead & New York) isbn 978-033524275-7389 pp £32.99http://www.mcgraw-hill.co.uk/html/0335242758.html
The book is written in a well crafted style whichmakes it difficult for the reader to see it as the
product of the work of two authors. The (composite)author comes across attractively in an encourag-ingly avuncular (sic) approach, opting at times forcolloquialisms and three word sentences withoutverbs, which effectively establish informal rapport.Yet from start to finish the content is scholarly andauthoritative. The writers know their field both asengaged researchers and as practitioners, and theydemonstrate that in what they offer the reader.
Their content coverage is provided at three levels.There is the authoritative yet friendly text itself; thenthe use made of reference to other sources fromwhich the reader can obtain further amplification;and additionally there are recommendations forfurther reading, with their helpful and succinctsummaries of what each recommended source canoffer.
The treatment of assessment, in principle andthrough excellent examples, is particularly strong.The well expressed argument in favour of holisticassessment is especially welcome. Elsewhere, theemphasis often dwells on weaknesses of the statusquo, sometimes unnecessarily repeated. Perhaps thereader who has not yet been guilty of all these weak-nesses will be more interested in the examples andoutlines of good and effective practice that follow.
There are perhaps a few points on which a new-comer to the field will welcome guidance. The fre-quent references forward from the early chapters tolater content really have to be followed up or evenanticipated in order to understand the text in whichthey are cited (rather than being deferred). Readersmight well find Part 1 easier to follow if they had firstat least skim-read Chapters 5 and 6, to tune in to themain features of solo (www.johnbiggs.com.au/solo_taxonomy.html—a way to assess qualitativelythe complexity of learning) and constructive align-ment (solo’s basic approach). Similarly, it wouldsurely be an advantage for them to have made theacquaintance of Susan and Robert before being pos-sibly mystified by the first references to this pair ofpeople and their characteristics!
I would advise anyone using this book as a mainsource for their educational development to supple-ment it in certain areas. The extensive solo discus-sion will probably be enriched by encounters withthe work of Perry, and of Belenky et al. The consid-eration of reliability problems should be extended tonumerate subject areas, perhaps by reference to thetimeless findings of Hill and of McVey, a generationago. Those who will make use of UK literature andrecords on alignment should be aware that thepopular concept of constructive alignment whichemerged in 1996 from Biggs’ work had been antici-pated in British practice and writings. In fact, the
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stress on lack of alignment between outcomes,assessment and learning activities had been anexplicit concern for academic auditors and review-ers since around 1990. This priority had originatedfrom earlier reactions to the findings of Snyderregarding the hidden curriculum of assessment, andof Miller and Parlett regarding cue-conscious andcue-seeking students, neither of which is mentionedin this text. Consequently outcomes-based educa-tion, calling for carefully-framed module descrip-tors, had featured in the UK well before Dearing’sReport in 1997, surprisingly mentioned in the textas the starting point for this approach. There areother occasional slips, of course. For instance,action research and action learning are treated asalmost synonymous, when the practitioners of thelatter would claim otherwise.
In several topics, width of coverage and proliferationof citations preclude consideration of some currentconcerns in depth. In a decade when e-learning andweb-based inputs feature in more than half of manystudents’ learning experience, the weight placed onlectures or lecture-based activity is perhaps a signthat the revised text is showing signs of its age.Witness the use of an elderly reference to Bligh,rather than his richer and more accessible 1998publication of the same title; and the absence of ref-erences to Brookfield on lecturing. Similarly thetreatment of e-learning could well be supplementedto support common items in current universityteacher training. Attention should be given toe-moderation through the work of such as Garrisonand Anderson, and to the concept of the scaffoldingof development of higher level abilities. This shouldopen into the practice of facilitating progress intoVygotsky’s zone of proximal development, throughthe Brunerian nudging which can accomplish that.Equally, the section on reflective practice, with itsslight reference to Schön, will usefully be strength-ened by encouragement to read Moon’s wellresearched yet readable and practical works. Aboveall, however, I lamented the omission of adequatetreatment of learning and development in the inter-personal domain, especially in regard to higher levelpersonal and professional capabilities there.
In her role at qaa, Nicola Channon used to urge herinstitutional reviewers to be as ready to celebratejoys as to identify weaknesses. Therefore it behovesme to do likewise in this textual review, and to putmy quibbles in perspective. On the date when Idrafted these notes, Google Scholar recorded 5705hits on the third edition of this highly regarded andmuch used text. In these circumstances, thisreviewer was confronted by the virtual impossibilityof adding to the overwhelming weight of public andprofessional acclaim for a volume which alreadyrightly features as a key source in most induction
courses for university teachers. This is a splendidresource for university teachers and for thoseengaged with university teaching.
John Cowan (received January 2012)Emeritus Professor of Learning Development, UK [email protected]
Blake, Sally et al ed (2012) Technology and youngchildren IGI Global (Hershey PA & Eurospan,London) isbn 978-1-61350-059-0 299 pp £135http://www.igi-global.com/book/technology-young-children/51924
There is no doubt that technology is increasinglyinfluencing, and permeating into, every aspect ofour daily lives—and that there is an ever increasingchoice in the technology available to us. Further, weare all becoming more adept in our use of technol-ogy, while children’s use of technology and theirassociated skills sets seems to be growing at thefastest rate, with children’s capabilities often out-stripping those of adults. Therefore, this text editedby Blake, Winsor, and Allen is a timely contributionto our understanding of how young children usetechnology to learn and how we can begin to bridgethe divide between children’s and adults’ technologyuse. Together, the chapters in the text contextualisewhy researchers and practitioners should focus onhow young children use technology in the class-room and the role teachers play in facilitating youngchildren’s engagement with technology.
The book has chapters that focus on four pertinentissues: understanding the generation gap, researchmethods, pedagogy, and policy. Chapters includeexamples of how technology can be used to supportyoung children’s learning such as using technologyto support second language learners and to teachscience and maths. The chapter that explores howtechnology can be used to support those childrenwith additional learning requirements recognisesthe value of technology for inclusive education.Consequently, the applied nature of the text that isunderpinned with an appreciation of rigorousresearch methods means that the book will appeal toboth practitioners and researchers. The variouschapters, from a range of contributors, follow asimilar pattern that further serves to enhance theclarity of the text. Specifically, each chapter clearlyintroduces the topic before discussing the objectivesof the chapter, the chapters then move on to presentthe background and the salient issues in the areabefore moving on to consider future trends. Afurther strength of the text is that each chapterincludes a reflective section that addresses how thematerial that has been discussed can be applied to
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practice. Therefore, throughout the text there areclear links between theory and practice. This themeof application represents a real strength of the book.Perhaps its only limitation is that the majority of thechapters tend to focus on how technology has beenused in America, although there are chapters onMexican children’s use of technology that go someway to address the balance.
Overall, this thought provoking volume wouldappeal to a wide audience of readers not onlybecause of its applied nature but also because of thehighly relevant subject matter.
Lucy R Betts (received February 2012)Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Nottingham Trent Uni-versity, [email protected]
Friesen, Norm (2011) The place of the classroom andthe space of the screen Peter Lang (New York & Bern)isbn 978-1-4331-0958-4 183 pp £19.70http://www.peterlang.com/index.cfm?event=cmp.ccc.seitenstruktur.detailseiten&seitentyp=produkt&pk=58292&concordeid=310959
In his earlier book, Re-thinking e-learning research,Norm Friesen (Canada Research Chair in E-learningPractices at Thompson Rivers University in Kam-loops, British Columbia) discusses where thatresearch fits into the major paradigms of educa-tional and social research; his preferred approach isphenomenology, that is, the systematic study ofhuman experience.
In this book, Friesen opposes “the transmissionmodel of communication” and a “technologisedview of experience, learning and teaching”. He usesplain English, as far as possible, in focusing on whathe sees as vitally important differences betweenteaching and learning in the classroom and online.
He says his purpose is “to investigate the question ofwhat is possible, what becomes difficult and what isperhaps no longer appropriate or plausible in thecontext of the ‘set-ups’ that computers and networktechnologies bring with them ... What are the differ-ences separating screen and classroom as places orspaces for pedagogy?” His answers depend heavilyand productively on his philosophical stance, whichmay be unfamiliar to BJET readers.
Friesen writes in Section 1 about how experiencediffers according to the experiencer(s): I, we or you.Riesen notes how researchers into online educationoften adopt a “distanced, objectified and objectifyingway of speaking and thinking”. He questions the“highly figurative or metaphorical language used to
discuss computers and internet” (which he claims“communicates a promotional and above all instru-mental bias”).
He devotes Section 2 to describing and discussing“everyday pedagogical experiences, as they occurboth online and in the classroom”. He does so not incurricular or cognitive terms but using “an experi-entially attuned vocabulary”. He focuses on peda-gogical conditions, objects and tasks.
In Section 3, Friesen looks at social and relationalexperiences in pedagogical contexts where studentsencounter others. He draws our attention to differ-ences in how these experiences arise online and inthe classroom, with far-reaching implications. Andhe particularly notes “the roles of our bodies in oureveryday relations with others”.
His Section 4 stresses further the body’s impor-tance in relations with others. Online, what he calls“embodied contexts” are eliminated or at leastattenuated, as he illustrates in looking at the phe-nomenon of silence, which online signifies non-participation to a far greater degree than in theface-to-face classroom. Friesen asks us to considereducational practice and experiences in the lightof “a relational ethics”. His conclusions, he says,“do not prescribe a single, positive, instructionalprogram or set of techniques, but rather, they pointto a range of possible pedagogical practices.”
Friesen chose an enigmatic title for the book. Theplace of the classroom and the space of the screen: Rela-tional pedagogy and internet technology hints at com-parisons between face-to-face and online learning,but not at why he thinks “place” is very differentfrom “space”. He draws on a little-known book byYi-Fu Tuan, Space and place: The perspective of experi-ence (University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis,2001) and a philosophical text by Edward Casey,Getting back into place: Towards a renewed understand-ing of the place-world (Indiana University Press,Bloomington, 2nd edition, 2009) to explain the dif-ferences, for example that place is concrete, whilespace is abstract; later, Friesen says “the space of thescreen is geared towards convenient efficiency,whereas the classroom has no such evident bias.”
His sub-title shouldn’t be ignored, though “rela-tional pedagogy” is not an everyday term. Strangelyenough, Friesen analyses this kind of pedagogy forthe first time in Chapter 7, in writing about onlinediscussion and the role of silence offline andonline—but there is no doubt that he has teacher-learner and learner-learner relations very much inmind from the start, and he spells out fully the dif-ferences between these relations in the classroomand online.
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Educational technologists and other readers of BJET
will find this book challenging because Friesenargues, tenaciously and knowledgeably, in favour ofa different view of e-learning from the empirical onethey know well and usually adopt. He administerssome heavy doses of debate based on Europeanphilosophical writings. His own text is not dry-as-dust, however, because he provides many examples,such as the excellent one of dissecting frogs in thelaboratory and online. By getting away from simplyconsidering text in class and online, he stimulateshis readers to think about the many differences, andthe pros and cons, of the two modes of learning.
David Hawkridge (received February 2012)Emeritus Professor, The Open University, & VisitingProfessor, University of Leicester, [email protected]
Hays, Danica G & Singh, Anneliese A (2012)Qualitative inquiry in clinical and educational settingsGuilford Press (New York, and Routledge, London)isbn 978-1-60918-245-8 504 pp £43.95http://www.guilford.com/cgi-bin/cartscript.cgi?page=pr/hays.htm&dir=research/res_qual&cart_id=272422.26337
Two innovative writers concentrate here on manyaspects of qualitative researching which are ofprimary importance, yet which seldom seem tofeature in other texts or part-texts on this topic. Forthat reason, I envisage that supervisors who dis-cover this text will wish to encourage their researchstudents to immerse themselves in their own per-sonal copies. The writers are researchers who havebeen closely associated since their doctoral studies,and wish to take their readers on a rewardingjourney into what they have learnt about qualitativeanalysis on the way. They are engaged in, and seek toadvise those engaged in, qualitative studies ofhuman conditions and behaviour, within clinicaland educational settings. Their text is not directedtowards qualitative researches into learning, teach-ing and assessment. Perhaps because of their widerscope, the shared personal experience, advice andthinking offered to readers forms an especially deepand insightful source for all qualitative researchers.
Two early paragraphs devoted to “the Britishschool” may encourage European readers to hopefor coverage of schools of practice on both sides ofthe Atlantic. But the neglect of Marton, Säljö andEntwistle in this scene-setting chapter, and in theindex, indicates otherwise. For this weighty volumepresents a North American perspective in demysti-fying the qualitative research process, with a franklyfeminist emphasis on relationships and on the affect.European educational researchers will certainly find
the content universally relevant; but they areunlikely to find travelling the writers’ journey takingthem into contact with the heritage of qualitativeenquiry east of the Atlantic.
The writing tone is easy and friendly—and alwayseffective. The opening chapter introduces qualitativeenquiry thoroughly, without overwhelming inexpe-rienced readers. It establishes a rationale for qualita-tive research, and effectively bridges the gap betweentheory and practice in a reader-friendly way. It closeswith a ten point summary of sound advice that willby now have been well established for and valued byinexperienced readers with research intentions.
The meaty second chapter deals with research para-digms and traditions in a useful and informativemanner, linking the content clearly in coherentclusters as an account of the journey into the disci-pline. There follows a splendid consideration ofethical issues and how to engage with them. Thisexcels in its treatment of an important topic, but oneseldom adequately covered. It is written in the samereadable style of combined definition, example andbrief discussion. Next comes advice about choice ofresearch topic, principally provided for those whohave that freedom open to them. But the content ofthis chapter contains much wisdom for all who areabout to embark on qualitative studies, again linkedto brief illustrative examples relevant to consider-ations to be borne in mind.
Another rewarding chapter dwells on the research-er’s role, in depth and detail which is again unusualin such texts, and for that reason immensely reward-ing. The journey then takes the reader on intoimportant aspects of entering their chosen field,again clarified by meaningful terse examples. Therefollows rigorous consideration of how to evaluatethe rigour of one’s own processes. Here again thewriters display considerable skill in offering readableand interesting content while almost in the passingdefining relevant concepts and usefully showinghow they can be applied.
Limitations of space preclude the inclusion in thisreview the coverage of data collection, managementand analysis. Suffice it to say that the writers con-tinue to introduce and explain relevant conceptsand theories, and to exemplify their application in areadable and worthwhile way. They conclude withsome almost earthy and distinctly pertinent adviceabout preparing findings for publication.
I treasure a few books on my shelves for the wisdomwhich their writers have made available to me. Thistext will join that small collection. It is unique,however, in that the wisdom these writers haveaccrued on the journey they invite us to retrace with
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them has—astonishingly—been accrued in a rela-tively short professional career.
John Cowan (received January 2012)Emeritus Professor of Learning Development, UK [email protected]
Jackson, Sue ed (2011) Innovations in lifelong learn-ing Routledge (London & New York) isbn 978-0-415-54879-3 259 pp £28.99http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415548793/
Policies to encourage lifelong learning are ubiqui-tous throughout the developed world. However,what constitutes lifelong learning, who engages init, and how, are sometimes less clear. This book isimportant because it approaches lifelong learningfrom a critical perspective of education and drawsconclusions that suggest that innovative practicerequires understanding of the needs of learnersfrom a wide diversity of backgrounds and changesin educational design and pedagogy. Innovations inlifelong learning includes contributions from authorswho attended a conference of the same name held atBirkbeck University, with additional material organ-ised around the three themes of “learning commu-nities”, “participation and non-participation” and“work-based learning / learning through work”.
The editor, Sue Jackson, brings the three parts ofthe book together through short introductions andsummaries. In her introduction to the first section ofthe book she notes that while lifelong learning ishigh up the agendas of governments across thedeveloped world, definitions of lifelong learning arefluid and contested. She suggests that the goals andpurposes of lifelong learning are highly contextualand situated within discourses of difference, powerand social inequality. Increasingly lifelong learningis narrowly conflated with issues of skills develop-ment and learning linked for the needs of theeconomy. Such a focus can serve to exclude particu-lar groups, distort the nature of what is learnt, andprivilege particular kinds of learning.
Part One, “Learning communities” draws on exam-ples from the UK, Africa, Canada and Australia.Taken together, its four chapters show why Jack-son’s focus on a critique of lifelong learning isimportant for anyone involved in education andlearning design. For example, in considering cul-tural diversity, Gao and Jamal show how innovationin lifelong learning requires changes in pedagogy, inhow individuals and groups engage with learningand in structures and institutions. Other contribu-tors highlight the importance of informal learningand the need to understand, value and supportlearning communities.
Part Two looks at “Participation and non-participation” in the context of lifelong learning anddraws on experience of women, black students, andolder students from the UK and North America. Theauthors of the four chapters show how structures ofpower and hierarchy condition the choices availableto individuals. What is meant by participation ornon-participation is interrogated as are the estab-lished institutional dichotomies between differenttypes of learning: formal and informal learning;experiential and theoretical; and directed or self-directed. These questions are relevant across a broadspectrum of education. Hillier, for example, noteshow innovations in the use of technology in infor-mal settings have crossed into the mainstream.
Finally, in Part Three, the focus moves to the work-place. As in the rest of the book the contributionshave an international reach—but in the range frompolicy to issues arising from delivery of work-basedstudy through e-learning there is perhaps lesscoherence than in the earlier parts of the book.Readers of BJET looking for a focus on educationaltechnology will not find it in this book but it is wellworth reading for its insights into the way in whichinnovation in lifelong learning intersects with poli-tics, policy and pedagogy.
Pete Cannell (received January 2012)Depute Director, The Open University in Scotland, [email protected]
Kolencik, Patricia L & Hillwig, Shelia A (2011)Encouraging metacognition Peter Lang (New York &Bern) isbn 978-1-4331-1273-7 183 pp £20http://www.peterlang.com/index.cfm?cid=165
This slim volume contains clearly written content ina reader-friendly format. The writers engage in abusiness-like manner with their declared purpose,which is to help teachers to help students to becomeeffective lifelong learners through metacognitivepractices. As such, they engage with educationalneeds and possibilities in which educational tech-nology does not really feature explicitly.
The brief introductory section has plenty of refer-ences to recent sources. There follows an extensivesection covering thinking aloud, thinking journals,mnemonics, thinking maps and thinking as areader. Each follows the same format: in every casean overview description and rationale is followed bya helpful and thorough assembly of what theresearch tells us about this possibility, followed byappropriate suggestions about how this can be har-nessed by teachers and their students. The writers’commitment to bullet point and numbered lists andto mnemonics for the reader’s use makes for easy
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reference to and application of the content, but maynot always allow easy assimilation for some whochoose to read the text overall from start to finish.
The third section opens with a chapter exploring thepotential for enhanced metacognition of teacher-generated and student-generated questioning. Alonger chapter then concentrates on a repertoire ofstrategies, habits and attitudes to assist student tolearn to learn for school and in life. The writers closeon what they justifiably describe as “a plethora ofactive learning strategies designed to help teachersdevelop, encourage and facilitate students’ metacog-nitive skills.”
There is a Scottish saying that “Guid gear comes insma’ bulk”, meaning in effect that “Good thingscome in small packages”. This book is an example ofthat principle.
John Cowan (received February 2012)Emeritus Professor of Learning and Development, UKOpen [email protected]
Pachler, Norbert et al ed (2011) Work-based mobilelearning Peter Lang (New York & Bern) isbn 978-3-03911-982-0 403 pp £48http://www.peterlang.com/index.cfm?event=cmp.ccc.seitenstruktur.detailseiten&seitentyp=produkt&pk=52882&concordeid=11982
Pachler and colleagues present a very timely collec-tion of articles describing cases and educational per-spectives concerning the use and potential formobile devices, in particular cellphones, as tools inworkplace education settings. The book is well intro-duced with an abstract for each contribution in thecomprehensive overview. The scene for subsequentchapters is set by the definitional work of Chapter 2,which highlights the core development of workplacelearning as a genre. Section 1 begins with a casestudy of using mobile devices for assessment andpastoral care in dental hygiene training. It forecaststhe main issues of concern that run as themes in theliterature: cost, evolving technology, infrastructure,support, and innovation of pedagogy. Chapters 4and 35 continue these themes, looking at workbased learning in higher education and bakeryapprenticeships, exploring the issues of learningdesign, integration with a vle, and learner take-up.Building on the notion of identity formation amongbakery apprentices, Chapter 6 reveals possibilitiesfor engaging disenfranchised indigenous learners byaiding negotiation of meaningful knowing.
Knowledge on demand in the process of work is thefocus of the case studies in Section 2; this begins
with an interesting study contrasting needs oftruck drivers and electrical apprentices. Fitness forpurpose is the theme, which carries over into subse-quent chapters exploring trials in passenger trans-port industries. Mobile phones promote flexibility,convenience, accessibility and individualisation asvehicles for delivering learning. They seem, from thecases presented, to hold great potential for support-ing learning and work in the vocational educationsector where efficiencies are a positive by-product.
Preparing learners by using work simulation isanother exciting area of research reported in thethird section; here the trial of a virtual simulationlab for engineering students is discussed in detail,explaining clearly how pedagogical considerationslink to adult learning theory. Leading on from this,two case studies related to using sms messaging forsimulation discuss contextual issues of users andthe differing attitudes needed to use their personalphones for learning rather than socialising. Disrup-tion, emotional involvement, control and communi-cation all link to characteristics of learners, natureand reality of simulations and tutor approach. Sideissues such as cost, intrusion into personal time andpreferred mode of communication are highlightedin the study of work-based learners.
Of particular interest is the next section on ethicalbehaviour using mobile devices for research. Thereis a paucity of scholarly literature on this topic,which has implications for learning in workplacesettings, especially when evidence of competency orlearning is required. Mobiles enable unobtrusivecapture of video, audio, still image and text-basedevidence, and, for this to be useful in learningdesign, ethical concerns need to be allayed and riskmanaged. Power, informed consent, vulnerabilityand accountability issues are raised and discussed astriggers for ideas around policy development andpractice guidelines. Subsequently, in the followingchapter, issues of sharing digitally captured infor-mation are raised as ethical dilemmas, given cur-rently available guidance.
What does the future hold? How can mobiles be usedconstructively for workplace learning in the corpo-rate world? Relevance is a key theme here, followedby critical reflection via social interaction such ascoaching, learning community and collaboration ina positive learning atmosphere. Reinforced in thefinal chapter, notions of just-in-time, peer supportedand collaborative learning design seem critical.Technical issues raised here include interoperabilityof devices, security, and rapid data transfer andstorage, while the need for guidance about ethicalpractice is again emphasised. Cultural and age bar-riers, disability and workload implications are alsocanvassed.
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All in all, this is a most informative book tacklingup-to-the-minute issues which educators movinginto the mobile realm need to consider urgently.
Dr Robyn Smyth (received September 2011)Senior Lecturer Academic Developer, University of NewEngland, [email protected]
Pachler, Norbert & Daly, Caroline (2011) Keyissues in e-learning Continuum (London) isbn 978-1-84706- 360-1 171 pp £24.99http://www.continuumbooks.com/books/detail.aspx?BookId=132345&SubjectId=940&Subject2Id=1413
This slender volume tries to punch above its weight ina field still lacking clarity and realism. However, Iconfess that I am thoroughly sick of the term“e-learning”, and, however carefully the authors tryto define it, we have here a conflation of two complexconcepts. That would be confusing enough, but theterm is also a “buzz-word”: used to make a favourableimpression by people who do not understand theissues, only increasing its ambiguity. A testament tothis is the large chunk of this short book trying to plota path through to defining “e-learning”—withoutarriving at a convincing position from which tolaunch confidently into the rest of its pages.
But my main concern is that its readers will not beenabled to engage with the internal debates theyneed to have with the issues raised in this book.There is a sense in which life must go on, and theintractable problems—of the realities of learners’private priorities, the theory/practice gap, the con-fusing policy landscape, and so on—will endure.Meanwhile, e-learning, a rather delicate bloom, willcontinue to prosper in favourable conditions andstruggle in less supportive environments.
I am surprised that a book that likes to talk aboutLaurillard’s “conversational framework” finds nospace to explore some other major landmarks.Indeed, Jones and Dirckinck-Holmfeld did not “intro-duce yet another new term, ‘networked’ learning”,
in 2009, nor did they “follow” Goodyear et al in2004. A little more back-chaining would haveunearthed the networked learning Notes andguidelines produced for jisc (the Joint InformationSystems Committee) in 2001 (csalt.lancs.ac.uk/jisc/guidelines_final.doc). On the other hand, what I’llcall “forward-chaining” (ie, searching for anythingnew by these authors) would have arrived at prom-ising work in areas in which Pachler and Daly iden-tify a lack of research or analytical tools.
I was also concerned at the lack of any reference toNeil Selwyn, not least because he, as does Laurillard,works “along the corridor” from the authors.Selwyn’s work on issues of “non-use”, or at least“ambivalent use”, of learning technology deserves aplace in even the shortest of books on e-learning, asdo the various types of “digital divide”.
Of course, in the process of pointing out gaps, I amrevealing my own literary prejudices. But I am con-cerned that a significant body of work seems to havebeen overlooked. Probably you would find the samething with a different set of authors, which is inevi-table with such a sprawling concept and diffuseliterature.
And this is a short book, with less than 150 pages oftext. As such, it remains a fair, not to say noble,attempt to tame a very awkward topic, with useful,often highly practical, commentary at many learn-ing technology “trouble-spots”: thus I found thecontent on e-portfolios particularly useful. But Ican’t share Gilly Salmon’s level of enthusiasm: sheclaims, in the blurb, that “this book lights the path-ways to the future”! The necessarily terse, evendense, treatment some topics receive can be off-putting and if this had been my first foray into theeducational technology literature, it might havebeen my last.
Mike Johnson (received October 2011)Lecturer, Cardiff School of Nursing and MidwiferyStudies, [email protected]
E100 British Journal of Educational Technology Vol 43 No 3 2012
© 2012 The Authors. British Journal of Educational Technology © 2012 BERA.
