International Association of Educators   |  ISSN: 1949-4270   |  e-ISSN: 1949-4289

Volume 11 Issue 1 (February 2016)

Original Articles

A Gateway to Integration: a Study of American Families and their International Visitors

Kate Hellmann, Rachel Miyazaki, Daniela Miranda & Tricia Fiscus

pp. 5 - 18

Abstract

Research shows that helping international students build support networks by forming new friendships is crucial to counteracting the feelings of isolation, loneliness, and frustration that may arise from studying abroad. Studies have shown that friendships between international students and host nationals benefit the local community rather than just the university by promoting intercultural communication and understanding. Most of these studies, however, have only focused on the friendships between international and domestic students and not between international students and local American or “friendship families.” This study aims to make a contribution to the existing scholarship on intercultural friendship by looking at the expectations and obstacles that structure relationships between friendship families and international students at a research-one public land grant institution. By pinpointing these factors, we hope to take the first steps in developing a set of best practices for ensuring successful intercultural interactions between international students and their friendship families. 

Keywords: Integration, studying abroad, international students, intercultural friendship

Integrated Teaching: Boon or a Bane?!

Sushma R Kotian, Antony Sylvan D Souza, Nandini P Bhat, Anne D Souza & Mamatha Hosapatna

pp. 19 - 30

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of integrated teaching program using student feedback. A questionnaire to evaluate the effectiveness of the existing teaching program was prepared and distributed among 185 second year medical undergraduate students who underwent integrated teaching in their first year. Their responses were recorded, evaluated and analysed statistically. Additionally the performance of the students was also assessed by recording their year-wise results in the university examinations. This was further compared with the results of the students who were not exposed to integrated teaching in the past years and the findings were tabulated. Integrated teaching was found to be an innovative method in strengthening the teaching-learning process and received wide acceptance from the student population. 

Keywords: Integrated teaching, video demonstration, case presentation, conventional teaching, didactic lectures

School on Cloud: Transforming Education

Kostis C. Koutsopoulos & Panos Papoutsis

pp. 31 - 46

Abstract

Nowadays for an appropriate way to deal with teaching and learning there is an axiomatic need to accept an integrated-holistic approach both in terms of the way we regard education and of how we practice it. This leads to a two-prong position: First, that education constitutes a dialectic entity and second that approaches to education presently in use are now absolute. That is, education has recently undergone a paradigm shift from a Student Centred Learning approach, which in its own way have replaced the traditional Teacher Centred Instructing approach, towards an integrating holistic approach, bringing education into the new Net Centred Knowing paradigm which is based on cloud computing and represents the goal and objectives of the School on the Cloud project presented in this paper. 

Keywords: School on the Cloud, Paradigm, Integration, Cloud computing.

The Technology Leadership Competencies of Elementary and Secondary School Directors

Alper Yorulmaz & Süleyman Can

pp. 47 - 61

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the elementary and secondary school directors’ technology leadership competencies in relation to some demographic features such as age, length of service and the state of whether taking in-service technology training. The universe of the current study employing descriptive survey model was comprised of 129 school directors working at 76 elementary and secondary schools in Menteşe district of the city of Muğla in 2013- 2014 academic year. The sampling of the study consisted of 74 randomly selected school directors. As the data collection instrument, “The Scale of Educational Directors’ Technology Leadership Competencies” developed by Banoğlu (2012) was used. This scale has five dimensions that are visionary leadership, digital age learning culture, perfectionism in professional practice, digital citizenship and systematic development. Within the context of the current study, the correlations between the directors’ technology leadership competencies and gender, age, length of service and the state of whether taking in-service technology training were analyzed through t-test and One Way ANOVA. The findings of the analyses revealed that the dimension viewed to be the most important by the directors is systematic development. Moreover, a significant correlation was found between age and perfectionism in professional practice and between the state of whether taking in-service technology training and technology leadership, visionary leadership and digital citizenship. 

Keywords: Technology, Leadership, Director, Elementary Education, Secondary Education.