In the championship playoffs of professional learning tools, this author contends that there is a clear-cut victor. Customizable, platform-agnostic, able to circumvent filters--both browser and network-imposed--RSS is the best professional learning tool. Reading sites via RSS has appeal for those who want the raw information. With a well-honed…

This paper discusses the issues and realities presented by the casualisation of higher education teaching staff. It uses a case study from the University of New South Wales [UNSW] in Sydney Australia. The research presents and analyses perspectives from two key stakeholders in a university [students and academic management] on the use of sessional…

This article describes several stages in the integration of assistive technology (AT) into and across the curriculum of a teacher education program. The multi-year initiative included several projects and strategies that differentially affected faculty ability to integrate training and evaluation in using AT in their coursework. All strategies…

In 2010, California's then-governor Schwarzenegger signed Senate Bill 1440, called the "Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act" (Padilla, 2010), into law. This bill mandated that the state's 112 community colleges (CCCs) develop a new type of associate degree, an "associate degree for transfer," that specifically prepares a…

Over the course of a 5-year applied research project with more than 1,400 middle school students, evidence from a number of studies revealed that retrieval practice in authentic classroom settings improves long-term learning (Agarwal et al. 2009; McDaniel et al., "Journal of Educational Psychology" 103:399-414, 2011; McDaniel et al.…

With funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), ITEEA members will contribute to the development of a hybrid professional development program designed to facilitate the scale-up of an innovative underwater robotics curriculum. WaterBotics[TM] is an underwater robotics curriculum that targets students in middle and high school classrooms…

The term "talent development" has historically been associated only with gifted education in the K12 education world. But for the past 30 years, husband and wife team Joseph Renzulli and Sally Reis have been steadily increasing the pool of educators trained to apply talent development practices to mainstream instruction through the Renzulli…

Research leadership, a much neglected area of educational leadership and management, is disadvantaged by having an underdeveloped and inadequate knowledge base. This article represents a contribution to this knowledge base through a conceptual analysis. It presents as propositional knowledge an original theoretical model of the componential…

Increasing college degree attainment for students from disadvantaged backgrounds is a prominent component of numerous state and federal legislation focused on higher education. In 1999, the National Science Foundation (NSF) instituted the "Computer Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Scholarships" (CSEMS) program; this initiative was designed to…

This paper reports on a partnership approach preparing pre-service primary teachers to teach science. Partnerships involving pre-service teachers and volunteer in-service colleagues were formed to teach science in the classroom of the colleague, with support from the science education lecturer. Each pre-service teacher collaboratively planned and…

There is recognition that involvement in service-learning can impact positively on the development of pre-service teachers professionally, culturally and academically (Billig & Freeman, 2010; Anderson, 1998). This article explores and describes the experiences of pre-service teachers in the School of Education at the University of Notre Dame…

The main aim of this exploratory study is to test "Service Learning" as a teaching and learning strategy in Jordanian universities by integrating service learning into a counselling course at the Hashemite University. After providing a 12-h service at 10 service locations, a 16-item questionnaire was administered to 60 senior counselling…

Videoconferencing technology can create opportunities to offer music teachers specific feedback that is crucial to satisfying their developmental needs by providing direct impact on instruction through online ensemble clinics. (Contains 3 notes.)

In South Africa, until recently, mentoring has not been formalized as part of school leadership induction programmes or of leadership professional development. However, the South African government identified mentoring as a distinctive aspect of its pilot leadership development programme for school principals. This programme signalled a shift from…

The findings from this qualitative case study reveal how a principal' demonstration of compassion and deep care towards his teachers was influential in the participants' renewed desire for a greater commitment to and improvement of their craft. Understanding how school leaders can nourish and sustain passion and commitment is an essential area of…