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Purpose: There is a widely held belief that sustainable development (SD) policies are essential for universities to successfully engage in matters related to sustainability, and are an indicator of the extent to which they are active in this field. This paper aims to examine the evidence which currently exists to support this assumption. It surveys a sample of universities in Brazil, Germany, Greece, Portugal, South Africa and the UK and the USA to ascertain the extent to which universities that are active in the field of sustainable development have formal policies on sustainable development, and whether such policies are a pre-condition for successful sustainability efforts. Design/methodology/approach: The study involved 35 universities in seven countries (five universities respectively). A mixed-methods approach has been used, ranging from document analysis, website analysis, questionnaires and interviewing. Findings: Although only 60 per cent of the sampled universities had a policy that specifically addressed SD, this cannot be regarded as an indicator that the remaining 40 per cent are not engaged with substantial actions that address SD. Indeed, all of the universities in the sample, regardless of the existence of a SD formal policy, demonstrated engagement with environmental sustainability policies or procedures in some form or another. This research has been limited by the availability and ability to procure information from the sampled universities. Despite this, it is one of the largest research efforts of this kind ever performed. Research limitations/implications: This research has been limited by the availability and ability to procure information from the sampled universities. Practical implications: The findings provide some valuable insights into the connections between SD policies on the one hand and the practice of sustainable development in higher education institutions on the other. Social implications: Universities with SD policies can contribute to models of economic growth consistent with sustainable development. Originality/value: The study is the one of the largest research efforts of this kind ever performed.

This paper makes available to the broader educational community the instruments which have been originally designed and validated within the European project "CLIL for all: Attention to diversity in bilingual education" ("ADiBE") to determine how diversity is being catered to across a broad array of CLIL contexts in European Secondary Education (Austria, Finland, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom). They include three sets of questionnaires, interviews, and observation protocols and are qualitative and quantitative instruments whose design has been based on the latest research and which have undergone a carefully controlled double-fold pilot process for their validation (external ratings approach and pilot phase with a representative sample of 264 subjects). The questions included in the three sets of instruments are initially characterized, together with their format and main categories. The paper then details the steps undertaken for their research-based design and the double-fold pilot process followed for their validation. The questionnaires and interview and observation protocols are then presented in a format which is directly applicable in any CLIL classroom in order to determine the accessibility of bilingual programs for all types of achievers and to identify the chief difficulties and best practices in promoting inclusion in bilingual education.

This study examines the perceptions of teachers and other professionals of Team-Teach behaviour support training in New Zealand. Analysis of course evaluations, questionnaires, interviews and documents provide the findings. Comparisons are made with Team-Teach training in the UK and similarities and differences between New Zealand training providers are reported. The article concludes with some recommendations for improving Team-Teach training in New Zealand.

Learners of English in the United Kingdom find that the language they hear in the classroom is different from native speech outside the classroom. Previous participants in Scotland's Institute for Applied Linguistics Studies summer pre-sessional English for Academic Purposes program had requested more opportunities to talk with native speakers in order to practice their oral communication skills. With that mind, a non-teacher course assistant was hired to take part in speaking classes and to chat with students during breaks. This paper reports findings of a study of student-teacher and student-assistant talk, based on recordings made in one type of speaking lesson. A post-course questionnaire was also completed to compare students' interactions with the teacher and the assistant. Results indicated that even in class, interaction with the assistant gave students the opportunity for different sorts of talk than they had with the teacher. Having a classroom assistant made a notable difference to both the distribution and the nature of native speaker-student interaction in class. The assistant also increased the amount of speaking practice outside class. An appendix presents the research questionnaire. (Contains 13 references.) (SM)

This paper evaluates the implementation of Learning Design on the production of a core FHEQ level 6 (QAA, 2008) unit of study at a UK distance learning institution. By comparing student (n = 656) and tutor (n = 42) survey data with questionnaire responses (n = 9) from the unit of study's core production team, this paper assesses the impact of incorporating the Open University Learning Design Initiative (OULDI) methodology into curriculum production by looking specifically at barriers and facilitators in the application of Learning Design and its impact on module development, delivery, and the resulting student and tutor learning experience. With a focus on developing and embedding Learning Design into the curriculum planning and production process, the paper explores how lessons learned from this experience have helped to guide and inform the future implementation of Learning Design into module and qualification level frameworks.

The discourses around feedback and assessment within higher education are often proliferated as critical to student learning, and attention to student (dis)"satisfaction" is often high on the agenda. As academics spend extensive time and effort on the production of summative feedback, this paper draws on the initial findings from a small-scale study of the use of "Pecha Kucha" as a methodology for formative assessment within two undergraduate modules. The dominant themes suggest some disparity between staff and students regarding the "purpose" of formative assessment and the paper argues that "Pecha Kucha" can be used as a platform to develop assessment dialogues, with the subsequent development of a pedagogic literacy around feedback practices. Furthermore, the value of listening to different narratives from research studies, students and tutors supports the reframing of assessment as a supportive mechanism beyond the elicitation of "proof" of learning.

This paper outlines the research design, methodology and methods employed in research conducted in the context of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and focuses on the Heads of e-Learning (HeLs) perspective about Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) by campus-based UK institutions. This paper aims to expand on the research design and the research methodology that was followed as part of this research, making a justified argument for mixed methods approaches in e-learning contexts. The background of this research and its research questions is outlined first to provide the context of this research. Following a review of the literature on TEL that informed this research, this paper provides an explanation of the researcher's worldview before discussing the chosen research design. The status of the findings and their generalisability based on the chosen methodology are then discussed. The research findings show that most universities represented in the survey offered various staff development opportunities to their academic staff in the effective use of TEL and that examples of innovative use of technology are evident in some areas in all participating institutions. Staff's digital skills and competencies coupled with a pedagogical underpinning as well as a supportive institutional culture were found to be the enablers for the effective implementation of TEL, according to the HeLs' expert informed responses. The paper is summarised and concluded making a case for the adoption of Mixed Methods Research (MMR) in e-learning settings.

This paper argues that the sociology of education would benefit from greater integration with social scientific research focused on morality. This body of research offers a rich set of resources that can illuminate and extend many of the sociology of education's intellectual concerns. In support of this argument, the paper draws on data from Millennium Cohort Study in the UK to empirically examine how a wide range of socio-demographic characteristics are related to young people's moral attitudes. The analysis focuses on the extent to which adolescents state that a range of actions are wrong. In doing so, the paper makes an important contribution to studying the moral lives of young people.

This paper presents the findings of a mixed methods study conducted in the context of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). More specifically, it focuses on the staff development needs of tutors who teach in blended and online environments, the ways HEIs in the United Kingdom (UK) address these needs and institutional issues around the deployment and support of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) by campus-based institutions. The informants in both phases of this research were the heads of e-learning in various UK HEIs. Using an online questionnaire, quantitative data were gathered on the various ways that the staff development needs of the lecturers in blended and online learning have been addressed by UK HEIs. During the second phase of this research, eight semi-structured interviews were conducted. The findings from both phases are integrated in the results section of the paper.

Modern urban life provides less opportunities to contact with nature, which is a potential cause of developmental deviances in children. We investigated the potential therapeutic effect of woodlands, within the context of Practical Skills Therapeutic Education at the Ruskin Mill College, UK. Data on physical and emotional perceptions were collected through a questionnaire: sight was the physical sense with higher impact (P < 0.05); contemplation, away from pressure, relaxation, peace, quietness and freedom rated higher in emotional senses (P < 0.05). The place conveying the highest sense of comfort was the woodlands (P < 0.05). The Biophilia Theory, and the Attention Restorative Theory, that explain the recovery from Directed Attention Fatigue through exposure to natural environments, frame these results. A considerable amount of students attending the College is diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder being argued that the woodlands are a potential restorative place. [Paper presented at the Inclusive and Supportive Education IV Conference Congresso Internacional da Pró-Inclusão (8th, Lisbon, Portugal, July 26-29, 2016).]

This paper analyses the role of "disruptive" innovative technologies in higher education. In this country and elsewhere, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have invested significant sums in learning technologies, with Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) being more or less universal, but these technologies have not been universally adopted and used by students and staff. Instead, other technologies not owned or controlled by HEIs are widely used to support learning and teaching. According to Christensen's theory of Disruptive Innovation, these disruptive technologies are not designed explicitly to support learning and teaching in higher education, but have educational potential. This study uses Activity Theory and Expansive Learning to analyse data regarding the impact of disruptive technologies. The data were obtained through a questionnaire survey about awareness and use of technologies, and through observation and interviews, exploring participants' actual practice. The survey answers tended to endorse Disruptive Innovation theory, with participants establishing meanings for technologies through their use of them, rather than in keeping with a designer's intentions. Observation revealed that learners use a narrow range of technologies to support learning, but with a tendency to use resources other than those supplied by their HEIs. Interviews showed that participants use simple and convenient technologies to support their learning and teaching. This study identifies a contradiction between learning technologies made available by HEIs, and technologies used in practice. There is no evidence to suggest that a wide range of technologies is being used to support learning and teaching. Instead, a small range of technologies is being used for a wide range of tasks. Students and lecturers are not dependent on their HEIs to support learning and teaching. Instead, they self-select technologies, with use weighted towards established brands. The use of technologies outside HEIs has implications for the monitoring of learning and teaching, and for the role of HEIs, which are no longer the gatekeepers to knowledge. (Contains 2 figures.) [This paper was published in the ALT-C 2012 Conference Proceedings.]

One of the main barriers to the reuse of Open Educational Resources (OER) is language (OLnet, 2009). OER may be available but in a language that users cannot access, so a preliminary step to reuse is their translation or localization. One of the obvious solutions to the vast effort required to translate OER is to crowd-source the translation, as exemplified by Wikipedia (Wikipedia Translation) or TED (Ted Open Translation Project). From October to December 2012 the Department of Languages at the Open University UK ran a MOOC on Open Translation Tools and Practices (OT12). Participants explored a range of online open translation tools (Amara, Transifex, Google Translator Toolkit) that enable and facilitate the crowdsourcing of translation, dubbing and subtitling. For this MOOC, participants collaborated in the translation and subtitling of OER mainly to and from English and Spanish, but also Portuguese, French, Greek, German and Catalan. Forum discussions, synchronous online sessions, recorded podcasts and the tasks themselves were designed to provide input, facilitate discussion and share views not only on the linguistic specificities of translating different languages, but also on issues such as quality assurance in open translation and the ethics and practicalities of openness in education and translation. Data for this paper is drawn from online surveys covering participants' backgrounds and their prior experience as translators; their expectations and motivation for participating in the OT12 MOOC; and their evaluation of the outcomes of the MOOC. We understand MOOCs as events (Cormier, 2010) or, following the principles of connectivism, catalysts for starting conversations within a network (Downes, 2011), and therefore feel that they might be a suitable way of engaging online communities of translators, language teachers and learners, and those interested in the crowdsourcing of translations for OER. This paper attempts to open up a debate on how the world of open education can harness crowdsourcing and existing open translation models to further the openness agenda.

This paper contains results of an empirical study that tested the efficacy and acceptability of two templates designed to fully involve students in proper and fair peer-assessments of their group project work (GPW) by providing concrete evidence of independent progressive documentation of their peers' contributions to the work-process and end-product(s). Two compatible templates--the Progressive Evaluation Template (PET) and the Peer Assessment Criteria Template (PACT)--were developed to enable students provide progressive documentation of their peers' contributions to the student-led group project process in order to support the marks they award their peers and, at the same time, show concrete evidence of their fairness in the entire peer-assessment process. The templates were trialed through experimental usage by the faculty and students of three undergraduate courses in The Media School of Bournemouth University in Bournemouth, United Kingdom, and four undergraduate/graduate courses in the School of Business & Entrepreneurship of Lindenwood University in Saint Charles, Missouri, United States. The trials were conducted in the 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 academic years respectively. The efficacy and acceptability of the templates were then tested through a cross-national opinion survey of the students in the seven courses. The study results generally indicate positive acceptability of the templates and a significant relationship between the students' acceptance of the tools and the levels of usefulness, comprehension, ease of use, and fairness they attributed to them. In discussing the aggregate findings, the paper also recommends ways of using the templates in digital peer-assessment contexts.

The recent National Students Survey showed that feedback to students was an ongoing problem in Higher Education. This paper reports on the extension of our past research into the provision of automated feedback for objective testing. In the research presented here, the system has been further developed for marking practical and essay questions and providing automated feedback. Recent research at the University of Hertfordshire was able to show that learners and tutors accept and value our automated feedback approach based on objective tests and Computer Adaptive Testing. The research reported in this paper is an important extension to this work. The automated feedback system developed for objective testing has been extended to include practical testing and essay type questions. The automated feedback system, which can be used within any subject area, is based on a simple marking scheme created by the subject tutor as a text file according to a simple template. Marks for each option and a set of feedback statements are held within a database on a computer. As marks are awarded for each question by the teacher an individual feedback file is created automatically for each learner. Teachers may also add and modify comments to each learner and save additional feedback to the database for later use. Each individual feedback file was emailed automatically to learners. The development of the system is explained in the paper and testing and evaluation with 350 first year (1 final practical test), 120 second year (1 written and 1 practical tests) and 100 final year (1 final practical test) undergraduate Computer Science students is reported. It was found that the time to mark practical and essay type tests was reduced by more than 30% in all cases compared to previous years. More importantly it was possible to provide good quality individual feedback to learners rapidly. Feedback was delivered to all within three weeks of the test submission date. In end of module tests it was very beneficial indeed as it had proven difficult to provide feedback in the past after modules had ended. Examples of the feedback provided are presented in the paper and the development of the system using a user-centred approach based on student and staff evaluation is explained. The comments of staff teaching on these modules and a sample of students who took part in this series of evaluations of the system are presented. The results of these evaluations were very positive and are reported in the paper, showing the changes that were made to the system at each iteration of the development cycle. The provision of fast effective feedback is vital and this system was found to be an important addition to the tools available. (Contains 8 tables and 4 figures.)

Much time is invested by markers in providing feedback to students that is personalised, aimed at providing them with information to feed forward into their next piece of work. Given the investment of time by tutors in the feedback process, we were necessarily concerned with how it is used by students and keen to explore and develop practice. This paper therefore draws on an action research project to explore students' perceptions of assessment feedback and the impact of an intervention to enhance its use. This paper presents an initial review of this work, highlighting the way that it has developed feedback processes and students' engagement in self-regulated learning.

Criticality is an important means to negotiate uncertainty, which has become a characteristic of teaching and learning conditions in postmodern times. This paper draws from an empirical comparative case study conducted in the uncertain discipline of fine art visual practice, where critical judgement and meta-cognition are important for professional contemporary art practice. Charting the curricula intended by staff and the culture experienced by students, the paper considers the relation between the espoused theory of criticality in two art schools and their theory-in-use within assessment structures and cultures. Emphasis is placed on the significance of such approaches to criticality for the student experience and their learning engagement. Emerging discourses of 'subjectivity' and a lack of development of student meta-cognition indicated that, at an undergraduate level of study, the curricula of these cases are unwittingly underpreparing their graduates for operating with agential criticality as they enter the uncertain context of contemporary art.

This paper reports on findings from a Leadership Foundation for Higher Education funded project exploring the role of associate deans in UK universities. While the number of associate deans leading cross-curricular and inter-disciplinary initiatives appears to be on the increase, there has been very little research focusing on the exact nature of the role and its importance, or otherwise, in the leadership and management of universities. Drawing on mixed-methods data from 15 semi-structured interviews and a follow-up online survey (n = 172), this paper reports on how the role is defined and positioned in relation to university organisational structures and identifies what the similarities and differences are between associate deans working at traditional and modern universities. As the first national survey of the role, it is argued that this paper makes a significant and original contribution to knowledge. By drawing on the concept of distributed leadership, the paper also offers new theoretical insights into how different types of universities in the UK are responding to external pressures as a consequence of the fast-changing and increasingly complex sector environment.

This paper reports findings from research into the benefits of integrating podcasts into a first year undergraduate module on English Language and Communication at Kingston University. As part of a Faculty teaching and learning support scheme for first year undergraduates, six podcasts were developed to improve students' learning and study skills and to provide advice on portfolio development and presentation skills. Student learning experience through podcasts was evaluated through two focus groups, personal interviews (six students) and an end of semester evaluation questionnaire (n=35). The paper describes the teaching and learning context and how the podcasts were integrated as part of the blended learning delivery. It discusses to what extent podcasts were able to achieve of the intended outcomes and the processes involved in achieving those outcomes. The findings led to development of a model for integrating podcasts in on-campus blended learning, and which can have potential applications in distance learning contexts. The model is based on three main features of podcasts identified as facilitating student learning: learner choice and flexibility offered by podcasts; tacit knowledge and experience of peers conveyed in discussions; and a sense of informality brought into formal learning. The research reported in the paper was carried out as part of national research project entitled "Informal Mobile Podcasting and Learning Adaptation" (IMPALA) with funding from the UK Higher Education Academy. (Contains 5 graphs and 1 figure.)

The work outlined here provides a comprehensive report and formative observations of the development and implementation of hypermedia resources for learning and teaching used in conjunction with the BSCW managed learning environment (BSCWMLE). This is based on the experience from the FISTE on-line course. FISTE is an European project that focus on the use of the BSCW managed learning environment (BSCWMLE) for in-service teacher education inside Europe. These resources are used to enhance teaching and learning of an electronics module in product design at final year undergraduate level in Loughborough University. This research has taken place over a two year period when such resources were developed and implemented. Such hypermedia-based learning resources were developed by the authors and include text, graphical, video and sound based media. The BSCW managed learning environment (BSCWMLE) referred to in this paper as is a wide file-server system which is used to facilitate distance learning as well as provide support to many aspects of teaching, learning and assessment at Loughborough University. The work reported here focuses on the use of the BSCW in support face to face learning as this module is not undertaken on a distance learning basis. The author has uploaded all relevant teaching and learning resources onto the BSCW for accessibility by the students on this module. Moreover, internet-based learning resources and assessments, in the form of pre-written computer programs and circuit building projects, were developed by the author, to enable the students to gauge their knowledge and understanding at staged points through the tutorial and laboratory sessions within the module. In addition, this paper presents through case study the way in which this module is delivered and received illustrating how such resources are used by both teacher and learner. As such this proffers an exemplar for effective deployment of such supportive technologies and resources in learning, teaching and assessment of a product design and technology module at undergraduate level.

This paper describes the background to and development of a first year undergraduate law module which has been re-designed to enable the embedding of Personal Development Planning (PDP) within the curriculum, with particular emphasis on career management skills. The pedagogic rationale for the approach adopted is identified and it is then demonstrated how skills development, careers management and reflective learning have been embedded and delivered through a combination of classroom and online activities using WebCT. Finally, the paper presents a brief evaluation, based on student feedback at the end of the module.

Efforts to improve the educational achievement of children, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, are at the heart of current government policies in the United Kingdom. The Peers Early Education Partnership (PEEP) is an intervention that, since 1995, has worked directly with parents and caregivers of children from infancy to 5 years of age in a deprived area of Oxford and, recently, in other areas. This paper explores the effects of the PEEP parental education program on children's development. A longitudinal quasi­-experimental design, including pretest and post-test measures, was used to compare a group of children whose parents had access to PEEP with a group of children with similar demographic characteristics whose parents did not have such access. In order to assess the effects of PEEP on children's cognitive, language, and social-­emotional development, standardized tests and educational tasks were administered to the children upon entry to the intervention (at age 3) and after one and two years (at ages 4 and 5). This paper discusses the effects of two years of parental participation in PEEP on children (at age 5). Gains were found in vocabulary, verbal comprehension, understanding about books and print, number concepts, and self-­esteem related to both cognitive and physical competence. Thus, working directly through groups of parents was found to be an effective way of enhancing children's cognitive and social­-emotional development.

The work outlined here provides a comprehensive report and formative observations of the development and implementation of hypermedia resources for learning and teaching used in conjunction with a managed learning environment (MLE). These resources are used to enhance teaching and learning of an electronics module in product design at final year undergraduate level in Loughborough University. This research has taken place over a two year period when such resources were developed and implemented. Such hypermedia-based learning resources were developed by the author and include text, graphical, video and sound based media. The managed learning environment referred to in this paper as "Learn" is a university wide file-server system which is used to facilitate distance learning as well as provide support to many aspects of teaching, learning and assessment at Loughborough University. The work reported here focusses on the use of the MLE in support of face to face learning as this module is not undertaken on a distance learning basis. The author has uploaded all relevant teaching and learning resources onto the MLE for accessibility by the students on this module. Moreover, internet-based learning resources and assessments, in the form of pre-written computer programs and circuit building projects, were developed by the author, to enable the students to gauge their knowledge and understanding at staged points through the tutorial and laboratory sessions within the module. In addition, this paper presents through case study, the way in which this module is delivered and received, illustrating how such resources are used by both teacher and learner. As such this proves as , an exemplar for effective deployment of such supportive technologies and resources in learning, teaching and assessment of a product design and technology module at undergraduate level.

Although well researched in educational studies, inquiry-based learning, a student-centred way of teaching, is far away from being implemented in day-to-day science and mathematics teaching on a large scale. It is a challenge for teachers to adopt this new way of teaching in an often not supportive school context. Therefore it is important to provide high-quality professional development (PD) at a large scale. However, there is little empirical evidence about the effects of scaled-up professional development initiatives. Therefore, this paper presents an international research study for which long-term PD courses have been designed. These courses have been implemented across Europe in twelve different countries at scale by using the so-called "Cascade Model." Here, course leaders are educated, who in turn educate other teachers. The research study aimed at evaluating the overall impact the scaled-up PD had on teachers and at also identifying variables influencing this impact.

In 2001, the Institute of Education (now the UCL Institute of Education (UCL IOE)) became one of only three internationally accredited centres for the training of Reading Recovery trainers. To achieve accreditation, the training programme was required by the International Reading Recovery Trainers Organization to be linked to the IOE doctor of education (EdD). Specifically, apprentice trainers were required to complete a minimum of Year 2 of the EdD programme (the Institution-Focused Study) successfully, as a gateway to achieving their professional qualification. The IOE EdD allowed for a unique apprenticeship model that combined academic study and research at doctoral level together with practical experiences. This paper presents a case study of the apprenticeship model as viewed by professionals who have undergone the experience. Findings suggest similarities to previous reports on professional doctorates, but also suggest a bridge and transition from apprentice to an apprentice who is also a mentor. A range of tensions are also suggested, some of which have been described by previous authors, but also others that have not previously been reported. Apprentice trainers reported feeling like 'weird fish' in that although their apprenticeship model was part of the EdD, it did not 'fit' with experiences the rest of their cohorts received. Nevertheless, there was a sense of preparedness for participants' new, complex professional roles. Implications of findings for linking the EdD to specific professional roles are also discussed.

The present study is an attempt to investigate the problems resulting from the lexical choice in the translation of the Holy Qur'an to emphasize the importance of the theory of "Frame Semantics" in the translation process. It has been conducted with the aim of measuring the difference in concept between the two languages Arabic and English. In order to find out this difference two words have been chosen from the Qur'an to see how the different English frames can affect the translation of the Holy Qur'an. In addition to that the paper aims to reveal the strategies used by translators to avoid such effect. We also intended to see which factors that can mostly affect the translation of the Qur'an: the linguistic background or the cultural knowledge. Four hypotheses were coined to deal with the difference in frame knowledge (conception) between Arabic and English. The analysis of the data showed that the linguistic background contributed more to the translators' ability than the cultural knowledge. Arank ordering for the five translations performed in the present study resulted in that the first rank (completely appropriate) was assigned to Yusuf Ali's translation and the second position was booked by Pickthall's translation.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss a novel life cycle approach to education for sustainable development (ESD) where the students become "design thinkers". Design/methodology/approach: A case study on the creation, development and utilisation of educational games by university students is presented. The paper discusses the case study in the context of Kolb's experiential learning and dynamic matching model, Perry's stages of intellectual development and Beech and Macintosh's processual learning model. The data used were from questionnaire feedback from the pupils who played the games and students who designed the games. Further qualitative feedback was collected from local schools involved in playing the games created by the students. Findings: Overall, the students responded positively to the assessment and would like to see more of this type of assessment. They enjoyed the creativity involved and the process of developing the games. For the majority of the skill sets measured, most students found that their skills improved slightly. Many students felt that they had learnt a lot about effectively communicating science. The school children involved in playing the student-created games found them accessible with variable degrees of effectiveness as engaging learning tools dependent on the game. Originality/value: This paper contributes a new approach to ESD which incorporates learner-centred arrangements within a full life cycle of game creation, delivery, playing and back to creation. The games can be used as a tool for enhancing knowledge and influencing behaviours in school children whilst enhancing ESD capacity in schools. The assessment also helps forge important links between the academic and local communities to enhance sustainable development.

Purpose: Increased school autonomy and accountability have been a common denominator of national reforms in otherwise heterogeneous governance systems in Europe and the USA. The paper argues that because schools serving disadvantaged communities (SSDCs) often have lower average performance, they are more often sanctioned or under closer scrutiny, but might also receive more additional resources. The purpose of this paper is to therefore analyze whether SSDCs have more or less autonomy than schools with a more advantageous context in four countries with heterogeneous autonomy and accountability policies. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based on the data from the Programme for International Student Assessment 2012 school and student questionnaires from Finland, Germany, the UK, and the USA. The choice of countries is based on different governance models described by Glatter "et al." (2003). The data are used to identify SSDCs and analyze the reported autonomy in resource allocation and curriculum and assessment. Using regression analyses, patterns are analyzed for each country individually. They are then juxtaposed and compared. Differences are related back to the governance models of the respective countries. Findings: The results indicate an association between the communities the schools are serving and the autonomy either in the allocation of resources, or the curriculum and assessment. SSDCs appeared to have a little more autonomy than schools with a more advantageous context in Finland, Germany, and the UK, but less autonomy in the USA. The comparison suggests that in the USA, autonomy is rather a reward for schools that have the least amount of need, whereas in the other three countries it could be a result of strategies to improve schools in need. The paper discusses possible explanations in the policies and support structures for SSDCs. Originality/value: The effects of increased school autonomy and accountability on student achievement have been discussed at length. How different accountability policies affect the autonomy of schools with the highest needs has so far not been studied. The study can be understood as a first step to unravel this association. Following steps should include in-depth investigations of the mechanisms underlying increased or diminished autonomy for SSDCs, and the consequences for school improvement in these schools.

Teaching online requires different skills, roles and competencies for online instructors compared to teaching in traditional learning environments. Universities should offer ongoing support in various forms to help academic staff through their online journey. This paper provides insights into a multinational faculty development program for teaching online, elaborating on results of expectancy and satisfaction surveys. From a local program to a subproject within the Swiss National Science Foundation Project Scopes, e-Tutor aimed at expanding competencies in online lecturing and providing OER material for training colleagues. Designed in the form of a descriptive case study, this research was conducted with 34 attendees of e-Tutor. Data was collected using an e-learning readiness and expectancy questionnaire, and open-ended questions after the program to measure satisfaction. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the survey data and content analysis for open-ended data. Participants considered e-Tutor a well-planned and targeted program with good theoretical and practical balance. Duration of such courses, opportunities for adaptation to real-life situations, and localization of the content are areas to be explored further. For future studies, it would also be interesting to see whether participants can apply their newly acquired knowledge and skills to create efficient online learning environments.

There is an urgent need to improve elementary and secondary school classroom practices across India and the scale of this challenge is argued to demand new approaches to teacher professional learning. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) represent one such approach and one that, in the context of this study, is considered to provide a means by which to transcend traditional training processes and disrupt conventional pedagogic practices. This paper offers a critical review of a large-scale MOOC deployed in English, and then in Hindi, to support targeted sustainable capacity building within an education development initiative (TESS-India) across seven states in India. The study draws on multiple sources of participant data to identify and examine features, which stimulated a buzz around the MOOCs, leading to over 40,000 registrations and a completion rate of approximately 50% for each of the two MOOCs.

Scholarship on instructive technologies in higher education has emphasized the use of high-tech facilitative technologies for long-term use, and low-tech props to illustrate single topics. This paper, on the contrary, discusses the use of a long-term, low-tech instructional technology: Llewelyn the Lynx was a soft animal used to assist with discussions in first year seminars. In-class questionnaires and anonymous online reviews on RateYourLecturer show Llewelyn was popular, facilitated equal contribution to discussion, and made seminars less intimidating and more enjoyable. Llewelyn may have functioned as a tactual or kinaesthetic stimulus, and an assistive technology for students with learning difficulties. His use does not seem to have infantilized most of the students although there was some disagreement here.