This article presents an action research study which integrated activities within two core subjects during one academic semester with first semester English language students. The students were guided through decision making, independent practice, and the development of metacognitive processes to study English using ICT tools. They were also…

The focus of this paper is a project conducted in 2011, exploring the use of "YouTube" in the classroom. The project conducted a number of focus groups for which highlighted a number of issues surrounding independent informal learning environments. The questions posed by this research are concerned with what constitutes learning in these…

Theory on student learning provides that students are able to direct their learning when they have metacognitive knowledge about their own learning processes. In this article, a preliminary attempt to assess untrained high-school students’ metacognitive knowledge of learning processes as an ability through multiple-choice questions is reported. In…

Technology has become an integral part of the educational experience for many students and teachers, and institutions of higher education have invested heavily in its acquisition. Instructors tend to adopt new technologies when they perceive the benefits and usefulness of this implementation for their teaching. To facilitate the adoption process…

Today's healthcare professional is challenged to stay current with increasingly complex therapeutic challenges, greater societal needs and expectations, and a public demand for the best possible care. Professional learning opportunities are needed to develop new knowledge, skills, or abilities to address specific matters encountered during…

Having engineers in microfabrication technologies educated has become much more difficult than having engineers educated in the traditional technologies, and this may be because of the high cost for acquirement of equipment, materials, and infrastructural means (i.e., cleaning rooms), all in addition to the hands-on practices that are often times…

Self-directed learning has been lauded as a powerful learner-centered approach to involve students in every aspect of their learning. This article depicts a pilot project utilizing study plan as a vehicle to promote self-directed learning in an intensive and teacher-dominant college language program. This article seeks to identify both the…

The ultimate goal of "student-centered" education is to empower students to learn beyond educational programs. This means nurturing students' autonomy and fostering the development of their own motivation and mechanisms to become self-directed learners. This idea has been embodied in the "lifelong learning" mantra that pervades contemporary views…

In small businesses with no employees, learning environments have a low learning readiness. Consequently, learners need to rely on their own agency to shape their learning experiences. Results from a study of agricultural entrepreneurs indicated that the components of motivation and self-regulated learning strategies shape learner's agency and…

This article explores value conflicts that people experience when teaching in higher education, drawing on in-depth interviews with staff from a research-intensive UK university. The article considers the relationship between values and teaching, illustrating how conflicts can occur between individual and different levels of the higher education…

This book evaluates the origins of processes of change in language teaching in China, and the factors influencing their success. Examining diverse experiences and drawing on the perspectives of academics from the top institutions in the country, the authors analyse the complex interplay between global and local influences on language policies.…

Twitter is becoming increasingly popular as a medium for language learning. This study explores self-directed learning via social interactions that use Twitter as an interactive learning environment. The participants in this study were thirty university students of Chinese as a foreign language at levels 1 and 2 of the "Hanyu Shuiping…

The article proposes a self-study system which suggests web links to learners. The suggestions depend upon the learner's chosen competences selected from a competence structure for a particular knowledge domain. Three experiments were conducted, where the first compared the perceived usefulness and value of the links generated by different…

Learning persistence in a cyber-learning environment is not only an index determining the success or failure of individual learners but also a source of important information to establish the management direction of educational programs in an organization. Accordingly, learners need to be motivated to continue to grow in order to ensure both…

This paper will describe pedagogical approaches for re-purposing an open educational resource (OER) designed and produced by the Deutsche Welle. This free online program, "Deutsch Interaktiv," consists of authentic digital videos, slideshows and audio texts and gives a contemporary overview of the culture and language in Germany, Austria…