Research in Social Sciences and Technology (E-Journals)
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Leveraging Technology to Promote Global Citizenship in Teacher Education in the United States and Brazil
Get PDFWith globalization and the increase of technology, collaborative work between institutions from different countries is a reality. Beginning in 2018, two teacher education programs, one in the United States and one in Brazil, developed a partnership to promote collaborative activities in curriculum and instruction, scholarship and research, and for student and faculty exchange. Critical pedagogy and social justice approaches to global citizenship education in teacher preparation guided the partnership’s collaborative activities toward the development of pre-service teachers’ global competencies and ability to integrate technologies as users and educators. This empirical research article presents an exploratory case study of a transnational, collaborative curricular project that leveraged technology in courses for pre-service teachers in the United States (n=12) and Brazil (n=10). The study explores the extent to which course content and activities facilitated pre-service teachers’ development of global competencies and ability to employ emerging technologies for learning and offers implications for practice. 
Editorial: Reflecting in the shade of pandemic
Get PDFI hope this editorial note finds you well and healthy, especially amid the uncertainty due to COVID-19. We are concerned about our children, families, neighbors, colleagues, and ourselves. We are contending with daily reports of death presented as the centerpiece headline news while we are dealing with grief and uncertainty. The impact of this current pandemic on society, in general, is increasingly visible, and we find ourselves in a permanent state of transformation due to the dizzying proliferation of technologies. This pandemic expedites the vital role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) that drives the modern world in education as well as in all other areas. On the other hand, as schools and higher education institutions rapidly move their learning, teaching, and assessment online in response to the worldwide pandemic, academics feel improvised, inefficiently supported, and deeply fearful
Re/coding Global Citizenship: How Information and Communication Technologies have Altered Humanity… and Created New Questions for Global Citizenship Education
Get PDFIn the broadest sense, the concept of global citizenship education (GCE) includes many facets of a rapidly changing world and concepts in education. The information and communication technology (ICT) advances of the last few decades have created opportunities for educational connection and interaction through digital spaces at all levels, local and global. In linking technology with global citizenship, neither GCE nor ICTs can be assumed to be mutually progressive and/or mutually beneficial. In recent years, governments have moved to centralize ICT technologies exacting more control over their use for surveillance, including the weaponization of ICTs for strategic gains. This complicates the work of GCE scholars and practitioners in unforeseen ways as centralized control limits decentralized interactions. ICT concepts and philosophical stances are explored and defined to address how GCE scholars and practitioners can reimagine and reframe the tenets of the field within this informational world. Key topics discussed include complications of GCE in the infosphere, digital citizenship & GCE, and teaching GCE in the age of “inforgs” & digital identities
Measuring Rural P-12 Teachers’ Attitudes, Perceptions, and Utilizations of Social Media
Get PDFSocial media continues to evolve and change the way people interact, learn, and communicate. As social media continues to grow in importance within societies, it is critical to better understand how teachers view social media as an educational resource. This quantitative study examines the general attitudes, perceptions, and utilizations of social media among P-12 teachers in a rural school district. Findings indicate that most teachers view social media as a high risk proposition for student use in the classroom, but do see social media as potentially useful and relevant to learning in the P-12 classroom
Unravelling Cooperative Learning in Higher Education
Get PDFTeaching and learning have evolved over the years. While the use of lecture is still the dominant mode of teaching in educational institutions, there has been consensus that students need to be active in learning, for which traditional styles of teaching may not be well suited. This calls for an alternative instructional mode: cooperative learning to promote active learning among students. In higher education, interest in cooperative learning has gained momentum since the early 1980s, and this kind of teaching and learning can be conducted in many ways. The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of existing evidence pertinent to cooperative learning. In this review, cooperative learning is defined and elements inherent in this pedagogy are discussed. Theoretical perspectives relating to cooperative learning are also outlined. The outcomes pertaining to cooperative learning are then presented, followed by the influence of context on cooperative learning. This review is organized and structured as such to serve as a basis of reference for further research in the field
Analysis of U.S., Kenyan, and Finnish Discourse Patterns in a Cross-Cultural Digital Makerspace Learning Community Through the IBE-UNESCO Global Competences Framework
Get PDFIn 2017, the International Bureau of Education (IBE) at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) put forth seven global competences to address accelerating technological progress and increasing levels of complexity and uncertainty affecting many facets of society (Marope, 2017). These competences were used in examining participant discourse in a global, collaborative digital makerspace environment, where students ages 12 to 17 from six countries develop and share STEM-focused media artifacts. The participants communicate synchronously through video conference calls, referred to as online global meet-ups. The meet-ups allow students to present media artifacts they have created, share ideas, exchange information, and provide feedback. In this analysis, epistemic network analysis (ENA), a technique in quantitative ethnography, is used to examine the connections made among the IBE-UNESCO global competences in a meet-up involving participants from Finland, Kenya, and the U.S. ENA network models were created initially for the three sites, then further disaggregated by time segment to analyze how participant discourse patterns may have evolved in each context. Through this approach, the paper explores more broadly the interactive role of media making, cross-cultural engagement, and collaborative learning in the development of global competences in students
Editorial: Technologization of Global Citizenship Education as Response to Challenges of Globalization
Get PDFCultural, linguistic, and economic exchanges between communities, including nations, are as old as civilization itself, but only recently did such exchanges receive an appropriate and universally recognized name: globalization. Naming the process caused a significant shift in how globalization came to be perceived, and it has become an important issue in political agendas, economic policies, and cultural aspirations. In other words, globalization helped shape and refine debates about global interconnections and interdependence, universality of human rights, and the importance of economic and social justice
Learning about Sustainable Development Goals through English Language Teaching
Get PDFThe purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of Sustainable Development (SD) and its goals to the students of the Faculty of Education, future teachers, in order to become skilled and knowledgeable and then introduce these Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to their students. As such, this study tries to link the concept of English Language Learning (ELL), English Language Teaching (ELT), and the SDGs as a type of all-inclusiveness within the “3 Ps”: Planet, People, and Profit. The instrument used for the purpose of this study was an online questionnaire sent to the students of the Faculty of Education in Kosovo. The total number of participants was 89. The students’ responses revealed that 60 percent of the future teachers are aware of the SD concept; however, the results indicate that not all “3 Ps” are hit upon by the future teachers. Based on the results, the most common areas of interest and societal needs of learning about SDGs are related to education, gender equality, good health and well-being, alleviation of poverty, and decent work and economics. These same goals are also hit upon in ELT classes. The study concludes that Kosovo’s future teachers are more concerned about issues related to social issues—“P-People”—followed by goals related to “P-Profit,” while goals related to “P-Planet,” the environment, are left behind. Future teachers’ knowledge about SDGs is vital, for there is a significant direct impact of learning about specific SDGs in higher education institutions, and the application of SDG topics in English language classes can infuse the SD concepts
Assessing the Career Conflict Options of Senior Secondary School Students of Ado-Odo Ota Local Government, Ogun State, Nigeria
Get PDFCareer choice is one of the most important decisions that students make, and this decision will affect them throughout their lives. This study adopts a descriptive research survey method for assessing career conflict options of senior secondary school students in Ado-Odo Ota Local Government, Ogun State, Nigeria. The data contains questionnaires administered to 373 male and female secondary school students from three private schools and three public schools in the Ado-Odo Ota Local Government. The data obtained from the questionnaires were categorized into a Demographic Data Inventory, Career Choice Scale, and Support, Interference, and Lack of Engagement Scale. Demographic information was analyzed using descriptive statistics, and simple linear regression analysis was used to test the three hypotheses generated for the study at 0.05 alpha levels of significance. The findings suggest that parental formal education has a significant effect on the choice of careers of students, and that the profession of parents has a minor influence on the choice of careers of students. The results also indicate that the socio-economic status of parents does not affect the career choice of secondary school students. Based on the findings, this study recommends that parents be trained in career counseling to help parents direct their children in their career choices. Counseling units in the Ministry of Education should also coordinate orientation activities and provide information on the broad variety of career opportunities open to students. Finally, future research should be carried out on the contradictory effect of teachers and school counselors on the career choices of secondary school students
Problematizing Immigration Restrictions during COVID-19 in the Social Studies Classroom
Get PDFIn the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected almost every corner of the globe, nations largely closed their borders and restricted or completely halted immigration. This stance, while understandable, raises questions about how ideas of inclusivity and immigrant rights can be maintained in the midst of chaos and insecurity. This article based in the framework of critical border and migration studies provides an overview of the evolution of immigration policies during the crisis and examines how social studies teachers can problematize assumptions of restrictive immigration policies during times of uncertainty and connect the current situation with past times of crisis. Though this is relevant to teachers from all countries, there is a particular focus on the United States context. Central to the argument is that the ideals of a more open and inclusive immigration system must be maintained even during times of fear and panic. This work builds upon pedagogical scholarship on immigration in the social studies classroom while applying these ideas to the problematic and unique circumstances of immigration during a pandemic