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Erasmus mobility has become an important feature of higher education in Europe and beyond, with the potential to generate significant changes at individual, institutional and systemic levels. More than three decades after the foundation of this successful program, evaluations reveal that, despite notable progress, several aspects of the Erasmus student experience can be further improved. Based on the lived experiences of Erasmus alumni, in this article, we explore recurrent challenges that emerge in educational mobility and how they could be better addressed. Three key dimensions are identified in the qualitative accounts of former Erasmus students and analyzed in light of previous research: mobility preparation, institutional support for integration, and recognition of study abroad.

Purpose: Flattering emails are crucial in tempting authors to submit papers to predatory journals. Although there is ample literature regarding the questionable practices of predatory journals, the nature and detection of spam emails need more attention. Current research provides insight into fallacious calls for papers from potential predatory journals and develops a toolkit in this regard. Methods: In this study, we analyzed three datasets of calls for papers from potential predatory journals and legitimate journals using a text mining approach and R programming language. Results: Overall, most potential predatory journals use similar language and templates in their calls for papers. Importantly, these journals praise themselves in glorious terms involving positive words that may be rarely seen in emails from legitimate journals. Based on these findings, we developed a lexicon for detecting unsolicited calls for papers from potential predatory journals. Conclusion: We conclude that calls for papers from potential predatory journals and legitimate journals are different, and it can help to distinguish them. By providing an educational plan and easily usable tools, we can deal with predatory journals better than previously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines the call for Nigeria becoming one of the twenty most developed economies by the year 2020, as it relates to development planning in Nigeria using the educational system as a unit of analysis. It aims at examining the relevance of this call within the context of existing facilities in the Nigeria educational system--both material and human--from the point of view of academic planning. It adopts a historical research methodology of analysis using purely secondary data drawn from statutory documents and other sources. The study observes among other things, a worrisome disposition of the country's educational system in terms of worsening commitments of stakeholders to the maintenance and expansion of existing facilities and poor funding of this sector by the public authorities. Thus, the study believes has seriously imperil the country's readiness for the Vision 20:2020 as education remains the bedrock of any form of national development. The study therefore suggests, among other planning strategies, an improved funding for education, and a deliberate effort at improving the status, motivation and the overall conditions of service of teachers which it is hoped, will help in reversing this ugly trend in the Nigerian educational system if the vision 20:2020 is ever to be realized.

The objective of this research is to examine: 1) the background in doing the curriculum enrichment; 2) the stages in managing the curriculum enrichment, and 3) the implications and the management of the curriculum enrichment. It is qualitative and naturalistic in nature with a case-study approach and, an interpretative analysis was made on the empirical data using a reflective-interpretatif method and a theory of analysis of spiral data. The results showed that 1) the curriculum enrichment was made by an educational institution, related to the excellence program, and its implementation was based on the academic experiences and tried to apply ideas of modernity; 2) teachers were very dominant in doing the changes and also in making the analysis, in determining the indicators of the curriculum materials for "MAN I Unggulan" Tulungagung, and anything was are based on the decision of the educational institution as the implementing manager; 3) since the curriculum enrichment is competence and professional needs, in terms of the learning activities and the learning results, the supervision and control should be integrally considered. The implication of the curriculum enrichment in "madrasah" is the improvement of the competence in the science and technology without ignoring "iman" ("faith"), "Islam" and "ihsan" (good deed).

In 1983, the National Commission on Excellence in Education released its now famous report, "A Nation at Risk," which warned of "a rising tide of mediocrity" in American schooling. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education but largely written by a group of prominent academics, "A Nation at Risk" invoked a crisis so far-reaching in its impact that it still governs the way we think about public education 30 years later. Many of our current policies, and the assumptions that underlie those policies, are attributable in significant part to the way in which the report framed the debate. If the next generation of educators are to forge their own path, they will need to get out from under the long shadow of "A Nation at Risk." The report, published years before many young teachers today were even born, was groundbreaking in emphasizing the importance of education to economic competitiveness and the failings of American schooling in comparison with international competitors. It presented a utilitarian and instrumental vision of education, and argued that schools, not society, should be held accountable for higher performance, and that performance should be measured by external testing--assumptions that underlie the state standards movement in the 1980s and 1990s and persist today in federal policy through No Child Left Behind. "A Nation at Risk" has not been ignored in previous accounts of American educational history: it is often cited as a critical document. In this article, the author examines, in more detail than previous work, the creation, rhetoric, and reception of the report, as well as its profound effect.

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed significant gaps in institutions' ability to maintain education under crisis conditions, which is now commonly referred to as Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT). A critical analysis of the literature reveals that ERT is a label that does not differentiate adequately between the different ways ERT manifested worldwide and over time. In this conceptual paper, we analyze empirical research on remote teaching conducted over single, double, and three+ learning terms. Our analysis shows not only multiple possible phases of remote education but also different stages, scopes, and pathways between them. The proposed model in this paper can be used to analyze current literature, ground future research, and serve as a foundation for developing protocols and practices to proactively maintain education when exigent circumstances demand remote teaching over the short-, mid-, and long-term.

Post-secondary institutions are required to complete a variety of quality assurance activities including external program review, a process of inviting external reviewers from outside the institution to provide constructive feedback on all aspects of an academic program. While external program reviews have been completed for decades, there has been little work to ensure that meaningful change occurs as a result. Assessment of outcomes at the department level are limited and research specifically considering external academic program review as a primary quality assurance activity is scant. Each of these limitations is even more significant when considered at the institutional level. From our experience, there is minimal consideration in research or practice to ensure that external review recommendations have an impact on educational planning at the institutional level. To help address this concern, in this paper we describe an approach involving secondary research and thematic document analysis that can be leveraged to enhance institutional decision-making processes by uncovering institutional themes evident across external reviews. We suggest that our approach may be helpful for other higher education institutions striving to make sense of program review recommendations from an institutional perspective.

Born in the digital world, children cannot imagine life without mobile devices and technologies, which contributes to the transformation of the education system. Mobile devices allow getting information on the Internet anywhere and at any time, the methodology of teaching subjects changes accordingly, the educational process becomes interactive. Mobile technologies and devices have an effective didactic and methodological potential, which requires targeted training of future teachers for their use in teaching activities. The purpose of the paper is to theoretically substantiate and develop a model for forming the readiness of a future mathematics teacher to organise mobile learning for schoolchildren. To create a model of future teachers' readiness for mobile education of schoolchildren, system-activity, personality-oriented and analytical approaches were applied. Analysis and generalisation of the research results of domestic and foreign scientists on this problem are the main research methods, as well as conceptual and terminological analysis and pedagogical modelling. The paper substantiates the relevance and necessity of purposeful preparation of future mathematics teachers to organise mobile education of schoolchildren. The concept of mobile learning of schoolchildren is clarified, its main features are determined. The readiness of future mathematics teachers to organise mobile learning of schoolchildren is considered as a set of motivational, personal, theoretical, activity and reflexive components, which allowed us to systematise and model the process of training teachers for this activity. The model presented by the author, the main components of which are conceptual, content, activity and reflexive blocks, reflects the peculiarities of a future mathematics teacher's readiness for mobile learning of schoolchildren. The developed model will allow us to reach a higher level of training of mathematics teachers, providing personal and professional development of students.

This paper is concerned with long term strategic planning in higher education and focuses on Ontario's strategic mandate agreement (SMA) sector planning framework. In 2012, the province initiated its new SMA planning process by requiring all higher education institutions to propose their own strategies for their academic visions, missions, and objectives. The proposals submitted by Ontario's universities furnish the empirical content of this paper: a historically unique, comprehensive and comparable set of documents capturing institutions' self-understanding and plans for their respective futures. Using concepts from organizational theory, content analysis of universities' SMA proposals reveals divergent strategies, both in terms of institutional administrative responsiveness to the SMA process as well as the academic (i.e., education and scholarship) content of the submissions. In addition, two further sub-themes are analysed: proposals for experiential learning and so-called town-gown connections. Both themes also reveal very different visions amongst institutions. In general, the proposals appear to be independent of institution type and community size/location. Setting the stage for future research, the paper concludes with policy discussion of: (1) the possibilities for institutional diversity in the context of policy discourses on institutional differentiation; and (2) implications for system planning given the structure and process of Ontario's ongoing SMA framework.

This paper argues for effective sequencing of mathematics content to aid transition from junior (Year 7 to Year 10) to senior mathematics (Year 11 to Year 12) curriculum in Queensland, Australia and provides a tool for sequencing the mathematics content. Planning templates and samples are available to schools; however, it is imperative for teachers to understand the processes that underpin planning. This paper provides a step-by-step systematic sequencing of mathematics concepts. The premise is that depending on the level of assumed prior knowledge and skills students recall and apply, teachers can start teaching from any level. The study draws from constructivism to develop a planning tool that can be adapted to all mathematics subjects and levels, help identify conceptual relationships and skills from lower to upper levels and provide students with the opportunity to build their mathematical knowledge.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of Lebanon's Education Reform Strategy and Action Plan (LERSAP) set in 2011 as a form of the educational reform the curriculum underwent through focusing on promoting and employing the information communication technology (ICT) tools. The LERSAP was launched to equip teachers with the expertise and competencies adopted to bridge the disparity between the 1997 curriculum guidelines, general and instructional objectives on the one hand and the curriculum implementation, textbooks, and pedagogical practices on the other hand. The general objectives, introductions, instructional objectives, and activities for grades 3, 6, and 9 of the Lebanese English language curriculum were analyzed using the qualitative design implemented to serve the purposes of the study and to build on the approaches that inform about the theoretical/conceptual and empirical literature on education in Lebanon. The findings of the study indicated that the synthesis of the extant literature underscored the positive effect of the ICT tools in general and that of the WebQuest, Wiki, Google Drive, and Window Live Movie Maker models in particular on improving the pedagogical practices of the teachers and on enhancing the learners' skills as well as increasing the motivation of the learners.

The present paper posits that in culturally diverse societies such as Brazil the value of cultural diversity within higher education institutions, faculties, and students has begun to gain momentum as a relevant dimension in the assessment of quality, performance, and productivity. In order to develop this argument, it first reviews the supporting literature, offering an overview of the institutional structures of higher education in Brazil and its quality assessment practices. It then analyses how multicultural aims may or may not have been articulated in the assessment of performance and productivity in Brazilian higher education policies, as gleaned from the National Plan for Education (Presidency of Republic, 2014), and recent debates around curriculum reform. It discusses the extent to which higher education policies in Brazil have tried to tackle the twin objectives of enhancing performance while also valuing cultural diversity and inclusion in their quality control strategies. The study may have global implications; as international mobility increases societies around the globe should be prepared to value both performance and diversity in their assessment exercises and curricular policies. [This paper was presented at the 14th Higher Education Reform Workshop 26-28 September 2017, Hiroshima University, Japan.]

In this position paper we present a theoretical model on how to support teachers to develop a "didactic spatial competence" (DiSCo). We define DiSCo as: Based on proven experience and science to have the ability to plan and design teaching and learning in a variety of learning spaces; to implement teaching and learning, act and react in a variety of learning spaces and to evaluate, reflect and transform both pedagogy and the learning space. In the paper we argue that a Didactic Spatial Competence (DiSCo) can be used to frame the complex relationship between learning spaces and teaching. DiSCo concerns to plan for teaching and learning in a variety of learning spaces that support the pedagogical ideas; but it also entails implementing, that is to critically reflect over and use affordances and meaning potential in various learning spaces, to have agency and competence to act and react during teaching and learning in various learning spaces and maybe first and foremost; to use the space in a meaning-making process together with students -- that is to create a place for learning. Furthermore, it includes a reflective and evaluative part.

Purpose: The quality of vocational education and training (VET) processes plays an important role in international education policies and research. In India, issues of quality came into focus in recent years due to an increased demand for skilled workers, and continuing challenges in the area of quality of VET. Existing quality assurance mechanisms of VET in India are characterised by a lack of comprehensiveness and uniform standards. This paper addresses the contextualised development of an Indian-specific approach for quality measurement. It centres on following research question: Which quality areas, criteria and related indicators are of relevance for measuring quality comprehensively? Approach: Design-based research substantiates the research objective, which is to develop a model that is theoretically and technically sound, as well as adapted to the national context. The question of how to create "cultural-fit" was essential for the research process illustrated in this paper. Starting point for the development of the approach was to build a structured review, and following analysis, with reference to existing models and approaches to quality management. The initial search examined national and international academic sources for quality management in business and education, as well as governmental sources for quality management strategies in VET. A significant number of models were selected, based on inclusion criteria, and these models were aggregated to provide a source for a first own conception of an approach. Results: Quality dimensions and criteria were collected and identified with reference to distribution across models. In total, seven major quality areas are identified, namely Institutional Sphere and Context; Personnel; Educational Planning, Provision and Assessment; Learning and Teaching; Leadership and School Management; Industry Linkage and Learner Achievements. In addition, 40 quality criteria are determined under these major quality fields, and relevant quantitative and qualitative sub-indicators for measurement are derived. Conclusion: The actual results will be a basis for the following pilot-based implementation in India. The model can provide meaningful feedback and data-based recommendations for continuous improvement of the Indian VET system and may furthermore provide for a reflected and contextually adapted implementation in other countries.

The entire education system, from elementary school to higher education, distorted during the lockdown period. The latest 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is not only recorded in China, but also globally. This research is an account of the online teaching paradigm assumed in the teaching method by most of universities in China and subsequent tests over the course. It looks forward to offering resources rich in knowledge for future academic decision-making in any adversity. The aim of this research paper is to explain the prerequisites for online education and teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic and how to effectively turn formal education into online education through the use of virtual classrooms and other main online instruments in an ever-changing educational setting by leveraging existing educational tools. The paper uses both quantitative and qualitative research approaches to analyses the views of online teachers and students on the learning regime, with specific attention to the online learning regime implementation process. In the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, the purpose of this article is to provide an in-depth overview of online learning. These activities took place during a time of isolation, including the creation of a link between the process of change management and the online learning process in the education system to tackle current issues of academic interference and, however, the re-establishment of educational practice and debate as a normal system of procedural education.

This article responds to the rise of the micro-credential movement. It evidences the heightened attention politicians, policy-makers and educational leaders are giving to micro-credentials by framing the discussion in several recent high-level policy developments, an exponential growth in the number of academic publications and the increasing level of interest shown by popular media. It follows that micro-credentials appear to be high on the change agenda for many higher education institutions (HEIs), especially in the post-COVID-19 environment. However, the emergence of the micro-credential raises several crucial questions for educational leaders, set against fear of missing out. Importantly, the paper identifies a significant gap in the literature regarding leadership and strategic institutional responses to micro-credentials. Indeed, there is a dearth of literature. Leadership is crucial to the success of any educational change or innovation, so five key questions are presented for institutional leaders. They challenge institutions to make strategic decisions around how they engage with and position micro-credentials. If micro-credentials are part of an HEI's change agenda, then serious consideration needs to be given to the type of leadership and internal structures required to develop and execute a successful micro-credential strategy. Consideration must also be given to fit-for-purpose business models and how to mitigate potential risks. We hope to bring these strategic questions to the table as institutions plan, envision and develop their micro-credential strategies.

The ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic on society affected several facets including formal education. Significantly, the indefinite closure of schools was introduced to control the spread and related fatality of the pandemic making the decision to reopen schools for all learners in January 2021 after several months of closure a preparedness concern. Using a national school-based survey informed by Event Systems and Chaos theories, the paper explores the preparedness of schools to re-open post-COVID-19 school closure. From the findings, it became evident that schools in Ghana were generally prepared to re-open per schedule. However, there existed unique disparities in some school system sub-levels informed by the location of the school. Consequently, we recommend: (1) the need to take advantage of the confidence the school system had regarding reopening for undertaking build-back efforts in future pandemics, and (2) policy and research response, especially for the vulnerable in resilience building post-emergency recovery in schools.

The changing nature of education has forced educators to rethink the role of classrooms in student learning. Prior research has shown that the environmental and structural design of education centers impact student learning. With a dozen variables to deal with, classroom designers are faced with the daunting task of selecting one plan from the thousands that are possible. This paper demonstrates how tradespace exploration (TSE), an analytical methodology used by NASA and the DoD to design spacecraft and other complex systems, can be applied to the design of classrooms. To demonstrate the TSE methodology, a predictive model was built based on historical data collected by prior researchers on third and fifth grader test performance and data along 86 descriptive variables that they used to characterize the school and classrooms. An analysis of main effects using a multi-way ANOVA allowed the larger data set to be reduced to 8 composite independent variables that are predictive of student tests scores. This model was then used to generate thousands of possible school and classroom design permutations and predict the resulting student test scores. This allowed the authors to identify the Pareto frontier of designs that yield the greatest benefits for a given investment. The case study described in this paper demonstrates how this approach could be applied to enable decision-makers to identify a more effective allocation of resources or determine when changes in total investment are likely to have a significant impact on desired performance.

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 discourses reflect contradictions and dilemmas among varied dimensions of the educational arena. Policy and practice decisions involve dilemmas. Sweden may be characterized by an embodiment of a strong philosophy of universalism, equal entitlements of citizenship, comprehensiveness, and solidarity as an instrument to promote social inclusion and equality of resources. Within the past decades, however, the country has undergone a dramatic transformation. The changes are framed within neo-liberal philosophies such as devolution, market solutions, competition, effectivity, and standardization, coupled with a proliferation of individual/parent choices for independent schools, all of which potentially work against the valuing of diversity, equity and inclusion (Berhanu, 2011, 2016). The second concern of this paper is: Does the current specialization or diversified form of studies within Special Education postgraduate programs (Teacher Training Programs) support the inclusive agenda, or does it hamper the vision? In addition, recent developments to create new categories or subcategories of special education have the potential not only to tie up administrative and diagnostic resources but also to create an increasingly less manageable array of separate special education programs. This Balkanization process with regard to a number of select disorders has advantages and disadvantages. My concern is that the very existence of "highly specialized knowledge domains" may result in a new form of exclusion and segregation. This is a scenario that one can imagine or expect with the proliferation or balkanization of specialized studies in numerous strands unless we plan carefully as to how to utilize these skills and expertise within inclusive settings.

One of the factors that should have made Nigeria achieve better ratings in the Economic Index, Growth Index et cetera is the number of its educated population which is not comparable with any other African nation. However, little or nothing tangible has been achieved so far by the acclaimed largest black population in term of education. This signaled the need to look into the ailing educational system thus the analysis of the knowledge based and certificate based educational system. This paper attempts to analyse the nation's educational system and how it has affected the functionality of education in the country. The paper is purely a conceptual paper which review some literatures to draw some conclusion on the role the certificate based system has wreck havoc to the educational system. The paper further gave a model which analyse the current educational situation and another model which will serve as solution to the situation on ground. Recommendations on the ways forward for Nigeria on its educational system were made in the paper.

In this interview, Dr. Ozen Guven talks to Dr. Mary Mendenhall, Sonia Gomez, and Emily Varni about their research on teachers and teaching practices in contexts of forced displacement. Mendenhall, Gomez, and Varni recently authored "Teaching Amidst Conflict and Displacement: Persistent Challenges and Promising Practices for Refugee, Internally Displaced, and National Teachers," a background paper for the 2019 Global Education Monitoring Report on the challenges and opportunities available to teachers working in forced displacement settings. Drawing from their paper, which includes case studies from countries as diverse as Germany, Kenya, Chad, and Iraq, the authors discuss such topics as education planning, teacher professional development, teacher well-being and motivation, and teacher agency. Throughout the discussion, they highlight practices and policies that could be leveraged to strengthen support for teachers working in displacement contexts. Mendenhall, Gomez, and Varni are scholar-practitioners whose work focuses on the challenges faced by teachers in crisis contexts, and on the policies and practices that provide these teachers with comprehensive support. Guven's work examines teaching practices among Syrian refugees in Turkey.

Pedagogical contingency policy planning in open distance and e-learning plays a critical role in achieving the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, with the aim to stem poverty, protect the planet, foster gender equality, defend and promote cultures and cultural understanding, and ensure prosperity for all. The purpose of this conceptual paper is to describe criticalities of flexibility and agility in pedagogical contingency policy planning designs in open, distance and e-learning in developing states like South Africa. Furthermore, it examines epistemologies of diverse students' pedagogic inclusion in line with social justice and equal rights during strategic planning and management. The legal rational paradigm is underpinned by a qualitative narrative research design to analyse available theories and epistemologies of flexibility and agility in pedagogical contingency policy planning theories in open distance and e-learning. Using the theory of justice by Rawls, the paper recommends that flexibility and agility in pedagogical contingency policy planning in open, distance and e-learning ecosystems must ensure that students from diverse backgrounds are catered for in line with social justice and equal rights values and principles. This is critical for a country like South Africa to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.