This article reports on research into Chinese students' perceptions of a pilot key skills' communication course introduced in three vocational education institutions in China. The course was based on key skills' criteria formulated in 2004 by China's Vocational Qualification Appraisal Committee and produced in response to the changing demands of…

Rather than paying attention to the specific approaches emerging from different contexts, current debates tend to privilege Western-universalizing concepts of internationalisation, unproblematically accepted as globally established truths. In South Africa, where the legacy of isolation and the dominance of Eurocentricism in academia have inspired…

The General Educational Development program, or GED, is undergoing the biggest revamping in its 69-year history, driven by mounting recognition that young adults' future success depends on getting more than a high-school-level education. Potent forces have converged to stoke the GED's redesign. A labor market that increasingly seeks some…

The university has to train students in skills which according to the demanding requirements of the job market and social environment are the basis of their competitiveness: specific skills or generic skills cutting across the different degrees. The convergence framework defined by the European Higher Education Area requires the incorporation of…

This research draws on sociocultural theories of learning and activity theory to explore the challenges faced by an innovative community of teachers in Central Finland. The aim of the teacher community was to develop a stream of foreign-language (FL)-mediated teaching and learning in the locality from kindergarten to upper secondary level. To…

As a unique academic offering, the nontraditional, distance-delivered doctorate poses particular issues for faculty members who choose to teach in such a program. Among these issues are compensation, administrative support, technology, innovation, time demands, workload, and promotion and tenure. In this chapter, the authors identify and provide…

Innovation in doctoral degree program development and delivery provides an effective counterpoint to the expert-apprentice model established in the Middle Ages. The author outlines the importance of innovation in reaching adult learners and describes an innovative hybrid PhD program designed to allow aspiring doctoral adult-age students to pursue…

The International Studies in Education program at the University of Iceland illustrates how one university is responding to global trends in higher education. Through a case study we examined the significance of an innovative B.A. program, which is taught in English, aligned with values affirmed in critical multiculturalist scholarship, and…

As people who were involved with drafting the 2010 National Educational Technology Plan (NETP), the authors have taken the opportunity to respond to the very interesting perspectives in this special issue. The thoughts here represent only their views and are not an official statement of either the US Department of Education or the NETP Technical…

Exponential change is making our education system obsolete. New inventions will replace not only textbooks, but everything we currently think of as school. Teachers will need to rethink their roles as advances in teaching machines allow lessons to be customized to every child wherever that child might be. What is taught also will change because…

Each year, Austin Independent School District Department of Research and Evaluation (DRE) staff develop a plan of work to describe the scope of work for the coming year. The plans that make up this document identify programs to be evaluated and services to be provided by DRE staff and provide the blueprints for evaluation that staff will follow…

This paper reports a case study series of four related case study lessons, set up as a course using a Virtual Reality Learning Environment (VRLE) to support the students' ideation skills in Innovation Education (IE) in Icelandic conventional classroom. The IE course content and preparation is described. Overall aims, objectives and research…

Outreach and engagement that connects the Patton College at Ohio University with P-12 schools has been a strong tradition in the Southeastern Ohio/Appalachian region. In the mid-1980s, a partnership aligned with the Coalition of Essential Schools and 9 "Common Principles"' was one of the first. Alignment with 19 "Postulates" of…

This report is designed to help state and local policymakers identify the policy changes needed to expand access to quality personalized learning in their states and communities, and to give them the tools to make those changes. Each of the 15 policy ideas, or "plays," in this playbook provides background context on the challenges it is…

Higher education is constantly changing and looking for innovative educational solutions in order to increase the level of the student's knowledge and skills. As an important part of this set of educational policies, a new process is emerging for the ideation, planning and implementation of multidisciplinary case studies for students with the aim…