Educational Technology

Participatory decision making is a management style which can be identified as a motivator which can lead to increased productivity in organizations. The purpose of this study was to investigate teacher participation in decision making in secondary schools in Baringo district. Descriptive survey design was adopted. The study population comprised of 42 secondary schools, all the Head teachers, class teachers and teachers in these schools. The sample comprised 13 schools selected through simple random sampling, 13 Head teachers and class teachers who were purposively selected while 104 teachers were selected using simple random sampling technique. Data collection instruments comprised of questionnaire with closed and open ended questions and semi structured interview schedules. Data was analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively using descriptive statistics. The major findings of the study were that teachers were not involved in decision making as they desired; that most head teachers viewed participatory decision making negatively and indifferently; that teachers were willing to take part in decision making and that there are a combination of factors that hinder effective teacher participation in decision making.

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of postgraduate diploma in teaching (PGDT) program graduates in utilizing various Active Learning Methods (ALMs) in their class room instruction. Descriptive survey research design that involves both quantitative and qualitative data types was employed. The participants of the study comprised 261 teachers, 21 principals & supervisors each which were selected using stratified, purposive and available sampling techniques respectively. Questionnaire, key informant interview, observation checklist and document analysis were the data collecting tools. The finding of the study revealed that, PGDT graduates were somewhat effective in utilizing various ALMs as the overall observed mean score of the respondents (2.03) was slightly above the expected mean value (2.0). Moreover, it was found out that; lecturing, group discussion, and questioning & answering techniques were the most frequently utilized ALMs with mean score 3.08, 2.90 and 2.89 respectively. Furthermore, the association between teaching experience of PGDT graduates and their level of utilizing different ALMs was not significant (r = 0.06, p=0.32 which is >0.05). T-test value t(257) =0.23, p=0.07 > 0.05) indicated that, there was no significant mean difference between male and female PGDT graduate teachers in utilizing ALMs in class room though the observed mean score of male PGDT graduates (mean=40.9) was relatively higher than their female counterparts (mean=35.0).

The Kenyan government’s directive to schools to use mother tongues as the main language of instruction in lower primary school classes has received support and dissent in equal measure among the country’s education stakeholders. Teachers unions and sections of Kenyan society fear it will promote ethnic division, and separate children along tribal lines.

The configuration, the storage and the operations form the important aspects in the management of a laboratory and workshop. These three aspects plays a vital role in the management of all activities and work schedules in the anticipation to simplify and move smoothly and optimized the work force and the time spent to resolve and produce an effective service output. To achieve all of these three aspects and form them as a regular activity to all staff in the aspects of the configuration of The Storage General Rules, the Equipments Concept, Retention of Merchandise Based on their Date of Expiry, Retention of Special Services Maintenance Tools (Sst), Stock Master Maintenance system, First in first out system (Fifo) , the 5S Principles And Kaizen are being practiced whereas for the purpose of storage and handling, the principles and work steps such as Customer Request Order (CRO) and Dead Stock are used as a work activity guide.

Background: In this emerging era of global, fast-paced knowledge-based economy, universities, as major centres of learning and research, are becoming increasingly important as sources of ideas, knowledge, skills, innovation and technological advances. These ideas can be turned into new products, processes and systems needed to drive their respective national economies, and thus placing universities at the centre of the national innovation systems. Consequently, commercialization of research outputs from universities to industry has become an area of strong policy interest in African countries. Objective: To assess initiatives to commercialize research outputs by Kenyan universities Design: Cross-sectional study of public and private universities Setting: Seventeen well established universities (15 public and 2 private), all accredited by the Commission for University Education, Kenya. Participants: Deans, Registrars, Directors or Deputy (Directors/Vice Chancellors), responsible for research and development. Results: All the surveyed universities had a strategic plan; though not all had innovation and commercialization as part of it. More than half of the seventeen surveyed universities indicated to have established designated offices for fostering commercialization. Majority had guidelines on Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs), which advocate for IP to be co-owned by researcher/university. University-industry linkages are weak. Most universities are taking precursory steps to incentivize and encourage entrepreneurial activities among their academic staff and students, even though the level of resources devoted to them is low. Conclusions: It is recommended that building capacity in entrepreneurship among staff and students and committing more resources to Research and Development (R&D) activities hold potential to increased commercialization of university research outputs in Kenya.

Abstract. The article focuses on the problem of teaching English for Specific Purposes for non-language students, particularly, assessing the role of supporting schemes at ESP classes for Physical Culture students. The goal of the research is to develop supporting schemes and to assess their role for training students’ speaking skills. Supporting schemes are found to create conditions for practical application of the acquired material and are a stimulus to students’ speech activity being supporting visuals for the development of speaking skills. Supporting schemes are determined to have a positive influence upon students’ state. They increase the level of students’ performance and decrease the level of high reactive anxiety. Key words: English for Specific Purposes, visual aids, supporting skills, students’ performance, the level of anxiety.

One management which does not possess a systematic or a fully completed system will cause the installation of a laboratory or workshop to not to operate smoothly. The venue selected to undergo this research was at the Institut Kemahiran Tinggi Belia Negara (IKTBN) ( ‘National Youth Advance Skill Institute’). Among the issues faced is in regards to the duration of time taken in handling the tender process which at times consumed a too long duration. Besides that, the supervision during the period of installation or maintenance is vital to ensure that the output of quality work meet the specification as in the contract. The instrument of this research uses the Interview and observation methods. The findings of this research analysis conducted had successfully revealed all of the information required. Via audio recordings recorded at the time of the interview being conducted, that is the current and thereafter information regarding the installation activity in the tender management process. Lastly, all the management’s task in respect of the installation conducted require procedures or careful steps to ensure that issues do not arise and even if there is any, it can be averted.

This study will focus on discuss the role of discussion forums in developing and keep on communities of e-learning as well as fostering and strengthened students’ learning skills and knowledge along with the instructors .It conducted on an online course at the University of Baghdad. The course was delivered via Moodle to using discussion forums as a major communication tool. A survey assessing students’ attitudes as a core factor toward discussion forums was occurring. The outcomes presented a positive attitude toward discussion forums and their role in developing and enhancing students’ study skills and knowledge. This study proposes strategies for implementing successful discussion forums.

Open Reusability Benchmark identifies a number of factors that are required to be present in a Learning Object Repository. A repository must comply with these factors to define a comprehensive and openly reusable Learning Object Repository. A number of existing systems that actually use a database of learning objects and their internal architecture is somewhat available are incorporated in this survey. Each of the studied system is then measured on these benchmarks and a critical analysis is performed on the basis of results.

Reading motivation is one of the most important factors, receives the special focus in foreign language teaching. Research has suggested that explicit reading strategies can be taught to students and improving their reading motivation. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impacts of reciprocal teaching strategy on reading motivation. Reciprocal teaching strategy consists of four basic reading strategies: predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing. Cognitive and meta-cognitive strategies are the reciprocal teaching strategies used to enhance students’ reading motivation. This paper will discuss whether ‘reciprocal teaching strategies’ enhance students reading motivation or not. This lack of good reading motivation skill is exacerbated by the central role of reading motivation in higher education success. One solution to this problem of poor reading motivation skill is the explicit teaching strategies. This paper is going to define the key words, reading motivation process, reading strategies, cognitive and meta-cognitive strategies, reading motivation and reciprocal teaching, and state relationship between reciprocal teaching and reading motivation. The findings indicated that reciprocal teaching had a significantly positive effect on the English reading motivation.