Key Competencies in the Knowledge Society

21st

PROGRAM

KCKS’2010

Sir John Daniel (CEO & President of the Commonwealth of Learning) Keynote speech - LearnIT Industry Stream:Computers for Secondary Schoolchildren: A busted flush?

Vendor hype says that computers can transform secondary education.

If true, this would be a blessing for the 400 million children in

developing countries aged between 12 and 17 who are not in

school. But evidence from introducing computers in developing

world schools shows that the hype is far from the reality. The

paper looks at three projects. One Laptop per Child has been a

dismal failure when measured against its original ambitions. The

NEPAD eSchools Demonstration Project in Africa never got beyond

the demonstration stage. Only India’s Hole-in-the-Wall project

achieved success - by avoiding putting computers in schools!

TUESDAY 21st 10:30-11:15

Dr. Arthur Tatnall, Victoria University, AUSTRALIATas Adam and Arthur Tatnall – THEME:Use of ICT to Assist Students with Learning Difficulties: An Actor-Network Analy

This paper reports on an investigation of the use of Information and

Communications Technologies (ICT) to aid in the teaching of

students with learning disabilities. The term ’learning difficulties’ is

used in reference to a heterogeneous group of students who are

seen to have significant difficulties in the acquisition of literacy and

numeracy skills. Other terms sometimes used in this context are

’learning disabilities’ and ’special needs’. The study involved

participant observation of the use of ICT in two outer suburban

Melbourne Special Schools, and an investigation of the role and

impact of Education Department policies on these school

environments. Research at the two Special Schools revealed that

use of ICT can have a very beneficial impact on these students by

improving their self esteem and facilitating their acquisition of

useful life skills. The study was framed by the use of actor-network

theory.

TUESDAY 21st 11:20-11:50

Mr Michael Nycyk, Skylarkers 60 And Better Program, AUSTRALIAMichael Nycyk and Margaret Redsell – FULL:Making computer learning easier for older adults: a community study of tuition practices

Older adults are under increasing pressure to use information

technologies, yet are reluctant to learn computer software due to

difficulties with ways of teaching such skills. This paper argues that

examining tutoring techniques in a community computer training

centre is useful to discovering why they will persist with learning.

Using a Grounded Theory study design, the theory that emerged

that accounted for continuance was the tutoring practices and the

relationships that were built between tutor and learner. Examples

from the data are presented to support the findings that link

certain ways of practicing computer tutoring with repeat lesson

attendance. This paper contributes to understanding the types of

tutoring practices that can encourage older learners to continue

the learning journey in later life. In turn, this assists with

overcoming the digital divide older learners not skilled in

computer use experience and allows them to participate in an

increasing technologically driven society.

TUESDAY 21st 11:50-12:10

Eva Dakich School of Education, Faculty of Arts, Education and Human Development, Victoria University, AUSTRALIANicola Yelland, Greg Neal and Eva Dakich – FULL:Home access: Providing computers to families via a national strategy

In this paper we discuss the role of new technologies, and computers in

particular, in lives of families in Australia. We report on part of a

project that provided children families with computers and

connection to the Internet. There is an increasing awareness that

living in the 21st century involves using and interacting with a

range of new technologies, also referred to as information and

communications technologies (ICT). However, for many children

and their families this is not possible because they do not have the

capacity to purchase them. The Tech Packs Project (The Smith

Family, 2007) grew out of the Computer for Every Child Project

which was an attempt to start to bridge the ‘digital divide’ by

providing computers so that a group of families in the targeted

locations of large metropolitan cities could participate in the

Information Age. The families involved were those whose personal

resources did not afford them the opportunity to purchase new

technologies, especially computers…

TUESDAY 21st 12:10-12:30

Assoc. Professor Toshinori Saito, Japan Professional School Of Education, JAPANToshinori SAITO – FULL:Human Development Process and Informatics Education in 21st Century

This paper shows a basic discussion about the human development

process described under the context of the postmodern

knowledge society of the 21st Century. The author presents the

concept of ”the cycle of human development”, which is believed to

offer the basis of informatics education. In accordance with that,

the presumptions of the pedagogical design of informatics

education and its essential contents are also proposed.

TUESDAY 21st 13:30-13:50

Assoc. Professor Jason Cohen, University Of The Witwatersrand, SOUTH AFRICAJason F Cohen and Poonam Parsotam – FULL:Intentions to Pursue a Career in Information Systems and Technology: An Empirical Study of South African Students

This paper reports on a study of the IT career interests of 263 South

African university students. Drawing primarily on social cognitive

career theory, a number of variables were selected and their

effects on student intentions to pursue an IT career and choice of

major were examined. Results revealed very low IT career

intentions amongst students. Occupational self-efficacy,

computing experience, computer anxiety, computer self-efficacy,

and perceived career rewards were found to be important factors.

Student perceptions of the core introductory IS course are also

strongly linked to their intentions. Demography (gender and race)

had mostly indirect effects.

TUESDAY 21st 13:50-14:10

Prof. Johannes Magenheim, University Of Paderborn, GERMANYLeopold Lehner, Johannes Magenheim, Wolfgang Nelles, Thomas Rhode, Niclas Schaper, Sigrid Schubert and Peer Stechert – FULL:Informatics Systems and Modeling - Case Studies of Expert Interviews

This article presents the results of two case studies undertaken within

the project MoKoM funded by the German Research Foundation

(DFG). In this context, expert interviews were conducted in order

to identify relevant competencies empirically concerning

informatics comprehension and modelling. The interviews (N = 30)

were based on typical scenarios of this domain and were

conducted with different expert groups (experts of informatics,

experts of didactics of informatics, expert informatics teachers).

The goal of the interview analyses was to exemplarily examine the

competence descriptions given by the different experts with

regard to the categories of a theoretically derived competence

model. The competence descriptions were also compared with

reference to the different expert domains. Furthermore it was

tried to identify recurring response patterns in the interviews with

reference to the experts’ background.

TUESDAY 21st 14:10-14:30

Professor Jaana Holvikivi Helsinki Metropolia UAS,FINLANDJaana Holvikivi – FULL:Conditions for successful learning of programming skills

First programming courses often fail to motivate students to continue

their software studies. Students find it hard to acquire the logic of

computer programming. Especially students in multicultural,

heterogeneous student groups are unable to apply logical thinking

consistently or to follow instructions in a systematic fashion.

Transfer of thinking skills from mathematics to programming does

not take place as expected. Efforts to describe the thinking process

in program authoring have failed, and process of problem solving

in program design remains as evasive as heuristic processes in

general. Evidently, it is based on accumulated expert knowledge

that is not easily describable. Programming is an independent

domain of expert knowledge that requires systematic practice and

self-monitoring in construction of appropriate mental patterns.

TUESDAY 21st 14:30-14:50

Dr Roger Johnson, Birkbeck College, London, UNITED KINGDOMRoger G Johnson – FULL:IP3 - Progress towards a Global ICT Profession

The International Professional Practice Partnership (IP3) was formed by

the International Federation for Information processing (IFIP) in

2007 to fulfill the objective of creating a global ICT profession. This

start of this programme were first presented at WCC 2008 in Milan

and since then major advances have taken place – both in the

collective understanding of the endeavour and also measured by

actual achievements. This paper will contextualise the progress of

IP3 by examining: why an ICT profession is needed and why it

should be on a global basis; and the progress made by IP3 in

establishing a global ICT profession.

TUESDAY 21st 14:50-15:10

Mr Johan Van Niekerk, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, SOUTH AFRICAJ.F. van Niekerk, K Thomson – FULL:Evaluating the Cisco Networking Academy Program's Instructional Model against Bloom's Taxonomy for the purpose of Information Security Education for Organizational End-users

Organizational end-user information security end-user education is

becoming increasingly more important in the current information

society. Without the active co-operation of knowledgeable

employees, organizations cannot effectively protect their valuable

information resources. Most current information security

educational programs lack a theoretical basis. This paper briefly

examines the use of Bloom’s learning taxonomy to help address

this lack of theoretical basis. The paper further investigates the

applicability of the Cisco Networking Academy Program’s (CNAP)

instructional model for the delivery of end-user information

security instructional content, planned with the assistance of

Bloom’s taxonomy.

TUESDAY 21st 15:10-15:30

Mr Nicholas Reynolds, The University Of Melbourne, AUSTRALIANicholas Reynolds – FULL:Technology and Computers in Music and Music Education

The use of computers in music education is investigated from a

historical perspective that draws parallels to the use of computers

in education generally. Drawing upon a study into the musical

compositions of primary school children working in electronic

environments this paper presents approaches to the use of ICT in

music education that appear at odds with approaches in other

education areas. The paper provides reasons for this and offers

ways in which ICT can be used differently in music education

research.

TUESDAY 21st 16:00-16:20

Mrs Mary Welsh, University Of Strathclyde, UNITED KINGDOMMary Welsh and Rae Condie – FULL:T'aint what you do (it's the way that you do it): ICT and creativity in the primary school classroom

This paper reports on one strand of a PhD study that examines newly

qualified teachers’ use of Information and Communications

Technologies (ICT) to support teaching and learning in Scottish

primary classrooms during the first two years of their career.

Preliminary data analysis indicates that some of the new teachers

are creative, innovative users of new technologies who have

embedded ICT effectively into their classroom practice while

others remain reluctant users. This paper looks at some of the

factors that differentiate the creative from the reluctant. Three

levels of influence are discussed, and the interactions between

them. They are the national/authority level, the school level and

the individual or personal level. Some necessary, although not in

themselves sufficient, conditions for creative use of ICT are

identified as well as some desirable ones.

TUESDAY 21st 16:20-16:40

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TUESDAY 21st 16:40-17:00

GREAT EVENT!Worth attending

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