This short paper has two pronged purposes. The first is to reflect on policies and practices of inclusive education in Sweden and the second is to problematize the implications of the continuous proliferation of the specialized field of studies in Special Education postgraduate programs in Sweden. The current Swedish political and educational…

As the affordability of higher education dominates the spotlight, open educational resources (OER), low cost, and free-to-student materials are widely offered as a solution. This paper outlines the experiences of course developers who contributed to a large-scale OER initiative, including training, knowledge, effort, and satisfaction of course…

Openness in education is an evolving concept which is shaped by the changing needs of societies, cultures, geographies, and economies, thus, it does not have a precise definition. By focusing on four sets of generic keywords -- open education, open learning, open educational resources (OERs), and open educational practices (OEPs) -- this paper…

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the sociocultural factors influencing learners of Arabic as a foreign language in the Sultanate of Oman. A qualitative inquiry approach was adopted for the study, using in-depth interviewing, and students' diaries to understand how the sociocultural context impact non-Arab learners of Arabic in the…

Open educational resources (OER) have become increasingly popular in recent times. Here, the aim was to synthesise the lessons learned through the development of OER materials for a university-level course called "environmental modelling". Consequently, the topics of discussion included: (i) how to choose an appropriate creative commons…

Indonesia launched the large-scale community-based block grant programme, the PNPM Generasi, in 2007 with the intention to improve the health and education of children. This study estimates the impacts of the PNPM Generasi on school resources, classroom environments, and school management. While the PNPM Generasi increased community and parental…

Categorized as developing nations, India and the Philippines are not generally known as centers for piano study. There has been little research investigating the traditions of piano education in these nations. In this study, I examined a number of issues related to piano pedagogy in each country. Data were collected from teachers in India (n = 45)…

The present research examined reflexively the causes of teacher discomfort linked to the negative results of students' performance. It was carried out under a qualitative approach with multiple case study design subjecting 10 university teachers to in-depth interviews. The results were disaggregated into the following categories: predominance of…

We present a conceptual analysis, grounded in empirical data, of how young children's creative play is framed by the 'pedagogic culture' within which the child is playing. Drawing on data from a research study with the broad aim of documenting children's creative play in Western play-based early childhood education, we gathered exploratory…

To be digitally literate, an individual must be able to effectively make and share meaning in different modes and formats, effectively create, collaborate, and communicate in digital environments, and understand how and when technology can support these processes. However, K-5 teachers lack resources that adequately support their digital literacy…

The study looked at early childhood education teachers' views on teaching science in China using the Preschool-Teachers' Attitudes and Beliefs toward Science Teaching (P-TABS) instrument. A total of 245 teachers from 60 preschools in Guangdong province in China, selected through a stratified random sampling approach, participated in the current…

In the United States, presidential election cycles tend to bring with them a spate of proposals for how the federal government can address adequacy and equity issues in K-16 education. The overall cost, complex web of independent funding mechanisms in play, and the lack of appetite for giving up more local (or state) control tends to temper those…

The OpenLearn platform was launched in 2006 with the aim of delivering excerpts of the Open University's (UK) (OU) curriculum as open educational resources (OER). Now reaching over 9m learners a year, the platform delivers free courses, educational interactives, videos and articles across a broad range of subjects reflecting what is delivered…

The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of how open universities depict their current institutional engagement in open educational practices. In view of the growth of programming for nontraditional students by conventional universities, particularly through online learning and increasing interest in open educational practices, the…

It has been suggested that higher education institutions (HEIs) may develop different activity profiles (including research, teaching and socio-economic engagement) in their attempt to maximise the fit between institutional resources and strategic opportunities; the latter include strategies of engagement with different groups of external…