David Griffiths

This paper reports on a small-scale practitioner-led initiative that responds to some of the problems that have been linked to the task of microteaching and the use of video in university-led Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes at a university in the north west of England.
Though there have been many studies about the use of video for teacher development, few have been conducted in the context of ITE for vocational, further education sector (14+) in the UK. This study addresses this gap.
The focus of the study is on the viewing of a specifically designed in-house developed video of microteaching, as a resource to support trainee teachers for their micro-teach task in the initial stages of the course. It investigates how and to what extent the video supports trainees in their understanding of the task as a whole. It also examines reasons for trainees' reluctance to have their micro-teach filmed and to use the footage to analyse and reflect on it. It also explores trainees’ attitudes and beliefs about the use of video analysis of their teaching in practice.
A mixed methods research design is adopted, consisting of an online questionnaire for trainee teachers (n=82); an online questionnaire for teacher educators (n=8); and three focus groups of trainees.
The data indicates that viewing a specifically edited video resource enhanced trainees’ levels of confidence in their preparedness for microteaching and many trainees would appreciate the incorporation of video analysis into their course. Some trainees, however, expressed strong reservations against being videoed.

Learning analytics involve the measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting of data about learners and their contexts, in order to understand and optimise learning and the environments in which it occurs. Since emerging as a distinct field in 2011, learning analytics has grown rapidly, and early adopters around the world are already developing and deploying these new tools. This paper reports on a study that investigated how the field is likely to develop by 2025, in order to make recommendations for action to those concerned with the implementation of learning analytics. The study used a Policy Delphi approach, presenting a range of future scenarios to international experts in the field and asking for responses related to the desirability and feasibility of these scenarios, as well as actions that would be required. Responses were received from 103 people from 21 countries. Responses were coded thematically, inter-rater reliability was checked using Cohen’s kappa coefficient, and data were recoded if kappa was below 0.6. The seven major themes that were identified within the data were power, pedagogy, validity, regulation, complexity, ethics, and affect. The paper considers in detail each of these themes and its implications for the implementation of learning analytics.

This paper draws on the literature of cybernetics to argue that the resilience of organizations can be diminished by an unconsidered maximization of transparency and accountability. In doing so it critically examines the concept of resilience, and the relationship of resilience to neoliberalism.
A conceptual analysis of resilience is carried out at two levels. Firstly, the use of the concepts of resilience, viability, transparency, accountability and neoliberalism is considered, together with the relationship between them. Secondly the management interventions that result from the application of these related ideas are critiqued from the perspective of cybernetics, and particularly of variety and black boxes.
It is shown that within complex social environments the unconsidered imposition of transparency and accountability as a management strategy may constrain the resilience of the organizations and individuals rather than enhance it. The use of data analytics enhances this tendency.
The theoretical analysis of the relationship between transparency and resilience offers a basis for carrying out empirical studies.
There are practical implications for organizational managers, employees and stakeholders, offering them a means of understanding the systemic threat posed by organizational design decisions which enhance transparency and accountability without taking into consideration the full range of interactions which act to maintain organizational viability.
The analysis provides a rationale for resisting the imposition of social policies inspired by neoliberalism.
The bringing together of the concepts of resilience, neoliberalism, transparency and accountability, and their exposure to cybernetic analysis, provides a novel perspective on resilience, and new insights into way that organizations maintain their viability.

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to consider the use of corporal punishment in schools in Sri Lanka, and to offer reflections on how cybernetics could shed light on its persistence despite initiatives to ban it.
Design/methodology/approach – The ASC 2013 Heinz von Foerster Award for the most significant contribution to the conference was awarded following discussion of the use of the cane in Sri Lankan schools. This paper provides a personal account of difficulties in overcoming the use of corporal punishment in a school in Sri Lanka.
Findings – The Sri Lankan education system is introduced. The response of the ASC 2013 is discussed. The feedback between social forces and the education system is seen as being too complex for analysis, and Bateson's conception of ethos is proposed as an appropriate starting point for making progress on this issue.
Social implications – The use of corporal punishment has been forbidden by the Ministry of Education, but the practice evidently continues and there is evidence that this has negative impact on young people. The paper offers an approach to understanding the reasons for the prevalence and persistence of corporal punishment, as a first step towards designing measures to eliminate it.
Originality/value – The paper takes a new approach to understanding the persistence of corporal punishment in Sri Lanka by applying Bateson's concepts of ethos and schismogenesis.

The practice of Learning Design (LD) and Learning Analytics (LA) is analysed using two lenses. Firstly, it is argued that both LD and LA involve the making of models. All models involve idealisation, i.e. the simplification of something complicated to make it more tractable. Various educational actors generate idealisations of the system they are working in, but only a subset of these idealisations is embodied in LD and LA implementations. Secondly, LD and LA both change the way that the actors in education handle the complexity which they are faced with in their practice. This is analysed in terms of the cybernetic concepts of variety and black boxes. It is then argued that LD and LA implementations share a tendency to shift control to higher levels in the hierarchy, and that this has consequences for the autonomy of teachers and learners, and for the acceptability to users of LD and LA. Finally, some conclusions are offered which can help LD and LA to be implemented while addressing the common problems that have been identified.

The concept of learning object is discussed, and its value assessed. It is proposed that the key factor is use, rather than the inherent characteristics of the object. The eLearning specifications which can be used to define reusable learning objects are then reviewed, and their advantages and disadvantages outlined. IMS Learning Design (LD) is discussed in greater detail, together with its origins in the earlier OUNL EML specification, and analyzed in terms of the debate surrounding learning objects. The feasibility of using IMS LD to support reusability is examined, with reference to studies carried out at Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Appropriate tooling is identified as a key issue, and current initiatives for supporting implementation and adoption of the specification are indicated.

This paper explains the Virtual Alliances for Learning Society European Project technological approach to support a virtual placements management process. Also, this paper shows the first results of the practical part of the project, the Semester of Code, explaining the detected problems, the issues, the challenges, and some actions to improve the development of these kinds of virtual placements programs. In order to allow the readers to better comprehend the approach and its results, this paper also describes three of the main virtual placements programs around the world, regarding both their organization and technological approach.

Open peer commentary on the article “Design Research as a Variety of Second-Order Cybernetic Practice” by Ben Sweeting. Upshot: This commentary supports Sweeting’s case for the relationship between the design tradition, second-order cybernetics and second-order science. It argues, however, that the extension of this argument to other intellectual traditions and areas of practice is complicated by differing views of material agency.

The Semester of Code initiative organised virtual placements for university students around Europe, working on authentic business problems using open source software. The project was welcomed by stakeholders, and many companies and open source foundations became involved. However, the response from students was disappointing.
In this paper we examine the reasons for this, discussing the results of the evaluation work carried out. Finally, we consider the implications of our work for student placements and the Knowledge Alliance European Union programme.