Educational Technology

Co-curriculum plays an important role in education. Among them is the importance of cultivating the personality and the formation of unity. Participation of students as young people and people in the country in co-curricular activities can cultivate goodwill, unity, national integration and inculcating the values of the indirect and direct when participating in these activities. This is in line with the second core in the Education Development Master Plan (Pelan Induk Pembangunan Pendidikan), namely Developing Human Capital. Quality human capital is the nation's primary asset to determine the future of nation. It is also important in building the concept of "One Malaysia" which prioritizes unity among the multiracial Malaysians. There are various advantages and disadvantages of co-curriculum implementation in education. Therefore, the implementation should be carefully planned and implemented more seriously by all parties. Any constraints in implementation whether in terms of teacher training, equipment, infrastructure, support, finance, etc. are urgently needed. It is important that the co-curriculum implementation in education can achieve its objectives and succeed in producing a highly educated generation of noble and virtuous.

According to United Nations office on drugs and crime UNODC (2011), alcohol and drug abuse posses a great threat to the social economic fabric of nations worldwide. In spite of the governments’ effort in the fight against drug and substance abuse in Kenya, the problem remains untamed. The study assessed the effectiveness of the school community in curbing drug and substance abuse (DSA) among secondary school students. Literature relating to various aspects of school community and curbing DSA in schools was reviewed. The study employed descriptive survey design. The study sample consisted of 35 head teachers and 407 students. Questionnaires were used to collect Data from head teachers and students. Content validity and reliability of the research instruments was ascertained. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse data. The findings of the study show that students obtain drugs from the school community. Lack of cooperation from parents and guardians was frustrating DSA intervention efforts in schools. The study concluded that the use of school community was not effective in curbing DSA in schools. The study recommended an integrated approach where different strategies or combination of strategies are used purposively for different DSA cases. Head teachers should collaborate with law enforcers, government agencies; NACADA, NGOs and FBOs to curb the supply and demand of drugs and substances. The Ministry of Education could review its policy on punishment and expulsion as regards to curbing alcohol and drug abuse among students. This paper is an extract of a study conducted in the year 2012 and 2013 in secondary schools in Nairobi County, Kenya.

Education is a basic right and essential part of human rights as recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. For the right to education to be realized, the process of learning should reflect the needs and aspirations of society. Technology is one such avenue through which education objectives may be achieved. Whereas evidence shows an increase in investment in ICTs in education in Kenya, perceptions of teachers on use of ICTs as a teaching and learning tool in secondary school agriculture has not been studied much, more so in Bungoma County. The purpose of this study was to establish the teachers’ perceptions on use of ICTs in the teaching and learning of secondary agriculture in Bungoma County. A descriptive research design was employed. The target population of the study consisted of 498 agriculture teachers of secondary schools in Bungoma County. Purposive sampling was used to select 120 respondents. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Validity of the instrument was ensured by input from the supervisors from the Department of Agricultural Education and Extension at Egerton University. Reliability was established by pretesting it with 30 agriculture teachers from the neighbouring Kakamega County. Data was collected and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 20. The results were presented in frequencies, means and percentages. The study established that the perception of agriculture teachers towards the use of ICTs in teaching and learning was positive as a higher frequency of teachers agreed that use of ICTs in teaching and learning was useful. The study also established that few teachers used ICTs in teaching of agriculture as compared to other subjects as a higher percentage of agriculture teachers agreed that preparation of a lesson that involved use of ICT in teaching and learning was more demanding than the conventional approach. The study recommends that teachers of agriculture should have opportunity to train in use of ICT for teaching and learning, and also develop initiatives at personal level to improve their ICTs skills.

This study endeavored to investigate the relationship between parenting styles and mental health of Iranian elementary students using descriptive research method. To measure the variables used in the study, two questionnaires of parenting style of Bamrynd (1991) and general health (GHQ- 2) were used and the findings revealed that the relationship between authoritative parenting style and mental health was positive. In similar, the relationship between permissive parenting style and mental health of elementary students of Shemiranat was positive. However, there was a negative relationship between authoritarian parenting style and mental health of students. Also, the results of regression test showed that among the three dimensions of parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian and permissive), merely the authoritative parenting style had the ability to predict the mental health of students.

The Kenya Vision 2030 is the economic blueprint towards the achievement of development and the transformation of Kenya into a “newly industrializing, middle income country providing high quality life for all its citizens by the year 2030” (Vision 2030, pg. vii.) To achieve this long term development goals, there is need for the country to invest in training of qualified manpower to drive the wheels of development. Educational institutions and particularly Universities in Kenya have continued to play a significant role in the training of manpower to meet the demands of industry. Universities play an innovative role in tackling the problems of underdevelopment (Mosha, 1986). This paper deliberates the role of Kenyan Universities in the country’s economic development and their contribution towards the achievement of Vision 2030. The discussion will revolve around three themes which form the pillars of Vision 2030 - the Economic Pillar, Social Pillar and Political Pillar, and the role of the University in fortifying these pillars. It is imperative for Kenya to invest in the training of manpower to work on infrastructure because this is critical for accelerated rates of economic development (Bloom et al (2006). The cohesiveness of the Kenyan society is an essential factor in national development too. Higher education fosters national unity by changing people’s attitudes and developing positive mind sets towards each other and various ethnic diversities. This is focal in developing a cohesive society that is free from ethnic prejudices and other social ills buffeting Kenya today. The political pillar of vision 2030 is ‘a democratic political system that is issue-based, people –centered, result-oriented and accountable to the public.’ (Vision 2030, pg. 16). Universities contribute substantially in buttressing this pillar by providing the intellectual citadel where political discourse occurs and ideologies pertinent to policy formulation are generated. It is necessary that dysfunctional systems of the past are replaced with new value systems that will repair the emaciated social fabric. Universities can assist in this by developing individuals committed to democratic values and human rights (Botman, 2011).

The purpose of this study was to discuss the good environment that enhance student engagement for co-curriculum activities in schools. This article was based on the author’s reflection and interpretations on extended literature reviews. The author had a particular interest to discuss and relate the studies conducted with respect to a good school environment in enhancing student engagement for co-curriculum activities and the effectiveness of the co-curriculum environment.

This paper will explain briefly about a selected model of instructional and interaction design. The intensive review from a several literature has done and every fact against each selected model has analyzed to identify their advantages and disadvantages. Based on their advantages listed, in intend to overcome their weakness and enhance the instructional model in order to make the instructional and interaction model more relevant in this age, this paper will proposed a new interaction design model for chronological infographic development. Apps Mobile is a latest technology as a platform to disseminate information and educate people by use infographic approach. To convey the information, which is relate with time line and historical information in 21st century, digital chronological infographic is a appropriates matter to apply.

In-service teacher professional development includes a wide variety of programs designed to promote and support the professional learning of teachers who are already employed and working in classrooms. The goal of in-service professional development is to improve the knowledge, skills, and commitments of teachers so that they are more effective in planning lessons, teaching, assessing students’ learning, and undertaking other responsibilities in the school community. Achieving this goal is critical because the teacher’s role is one of the most important factors contributing to high-quality education and successful student learning.

This study examines the level of computer self-efficacy among English language pre-service teachers at Umm Alqara University in Saudi Arabia. Data were collected through self-reported ratings on a 5-point Likert-type scale. “Computer Self Efficacy Scale and demographic information form were used as data collection tools. In the analysis of the data, descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations, and percentages), and independent t-test were used. The results of this study revealed that pre-service English teachers had a high level of computer self-efficacy with Mean score (M=3.70) and std. Deviation (SD=0.35). Also, the findings indicated that pre-service English teacher males’ scores are significantly higher than that of the females. In order to increase the level of self-efficacy, training programs should be provided to English language pre-service teachers during their professional development.

This paper discusses the benefit of extra-curricular activities in social skills among students in Malaysia. Student’s participation in extra- curricular activities can increase the social skills in terms of self-confidence, building relationship with the others, collaboration, etc. On the other hand, it can develop positive relationship outside the classroom environment and act as a catalyst for social skills. What's more, through additional curricular exercises, the creation of phenomenal human capital from the physical, passionate, otherworldly and scholarly perspective can be produced.