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38627 results in Cambridge Textbooks

Page 1459 of 1932

  • 2 - Natural Resources – Energy

  • Mahua Basu, Xavier Savarimuthu, SJ
  • Book:
    Fundamentals of Environmental Studies
    Published online:
    06 August 2018
    Print publication:
    01 October 2015, pp 26-65

  • Summary

    Learning objectives

  • ▄ To develop a concept of natural resource.

  • ▄ To be able to classify the different types of natural resource.

  • ▄ To know about the immense importance of renewable and non-renewable energy, their applications, advantages and disadvantages.

  • ▄ To know about such resource in the Indian perspective.

  • ▄ To explore the future possibilities of sustainable energy production.

    • Introduction

    Materials that occur in the nature under different environmental conditions are termed as natural resources. They are valuable in their natural (unmodified) form and their value is determined by the amount of material that can be extracted from them and the demand for the same. A commodityis usually considered a natural resource when the key activities associated with it are extraction and purification in contrast to manufacture. Thus, quarrying, extraction, fishing and forestry are referred to as natural-resource industries, whereas agronomy is not.

    Classification of Natural Resources

    Natural resources can be classified on the basis of the following parameters.

    A. On the basis of origin

    i. Biotic natural resources

    Biotic natural resources are obtained from the biosphere either in the raw form or through cultivation. For example, fossil fuels, agricultural products, fruits, wax etc. Petroleum having an organic origin is a biotic resource.

    ii. Abiotic natural resources

    These resources are procured from land, water and minerals and are non-living. Air, water, land, gold, diamond, silver, bauxite, nickel, copper, iron ore, zinc, lead, sulphur, chromites, talc, marble, limestone, platinum, vanadium, salt, sand, gravel etc are all abiotic resources.

    B. Based on the degree to which they are developing/processing

    i. Currently used resources

    Those resources which are presently used for human use. For example, coal and petroleum.

    ii. Potential resources

    These include untouched and untapped resources for future use. Hydrogen is one such resource.

    C. On the basis of regeneration ability or continual supply

    i. Renewable resources

    They are resources, which can be recycled, or resources that can be replenished quickly through natural cycle. For example, solar radiation, wind energy, water energy, biomass energy (solar energy stored in wood), agricultural products, forests, wildlife, etc. If they are consumed at a rate exceeding their natural rate of replacement, the stock will eventually run out. Non-living renewable natural resources are soil and water.

  • 5 - Pragmatics and discourse in other disorders and populations

  • Louise Cummings, Nottingham Trent University
  • Book:
    Pragmatic and Discourse Disorders
    Published online:
    28 May 2018
    Print publication:
    01 October 2015, pp 186-197

  • Summary

    Although the conditions examined in earlier chapters represent the most common pragmatic and discourse disorders, they are by no means exhaustive of the populations in which there are deficits of pragmatics and discourse. As our understanding of these disorders develops, it is becoming increasingly clear to researchers and clinicians that pragmatic and discourse skills are also disrupted in a number of other populations. These populations have been largely overlooked to date by clinical pragmatists. This has occurred for a number of reasons. In some cases, the implications for communication of a particular disorder are believed to involve speech development or aspects of language that are related to academic performance (e.g. writing, reading) and not pragmatic and discourse skills. This is the case in children and adults with congenital hearing loss and illiteracy, respectively.

    In other cases, pragmatic and discourse disorders have been overlooked because outcomes have been based on measures that do not address these aspects of language. In children who have undergone early corrective heart surgery, for example, developmental outcomes have been based on standardised tests of intelligence, standardised measures of academic skills and neuropsychological measures. When language skills have been assessed in these children, assessment has typically focused on structural language skills. In still other cases, pragmatic and discourse impairments in certain clients are only just beginning to attract the attention of researchers and clinicians. For example, we currently know very little about age-related changes in the pragmatic abilities of normal, elderly people or the pragmatic and discourse skills of non-verbal communicators who use augmentative and alternative communication systems. In all these disorders and populations, a range of pragmatic and discourse impairments still await detailed examination.

    The task of this chapter is to begin this examination through a series of data analysis exercises on just five populations: children who have undergone early corrective heart surgery; individuals with functional illiteracy; children and adults with congenital hearing loss; users of augmentative and alternative communication; and elderly people who are undergoing normal, age-related changes in their pragmatic abilities. These populations are by no means exhaustive of those clients with pragmatic and discourse disorders who have not been extensively examined to date.

  • 9 - Social Issues and Environment

  • Mahua Basu, Xavier Savarimuthu, SJ
  • Book:
    Fundamentals of Environmental Studies
    Published online:
    06 August 2018
    Print publication:
    01 October 2015, pp 344-407

  • Summary

    Learning objectives

  • ▄ To understand the concept of sustainable development.

  • ▄ To be informed about urban problems.

  • ▄ To identify the need for water conservation and its various practices.

  • ▄ To identify the aspects of resettlement and rehabilitation due to development.

  • ▄ To develop a concept of environmental ethics.

  • ▄ To get acquainted with different global environmental issues towards seeking solution.

  • ▄ To know about the various existing environmental laws and their implications.

  • ▄ To incite awareness in the general people.

  • ▄ To know the effective role of citizens and groups towards environmental protection.

    • Unsustainable to Sustainable Development

    Industrial Revolution unleashed in its wake, massive development, especially in Europe and America. Fueled by fossil fuels, these economies witnessed industrial activities in scales hitherto unimaginable with newer and bigger orbits of growth being achieved as a matter of natural consequence. However, in this self-perpetrating rush for growth and development, two vital issues were conveniently ignored.

  • ▄ The Earth's resources are finite and therefore they will run out sooner or later. With exponential growth in their consumption and usage the prospect of their getting extinguished can only be hastened. Peak oil, is a prime example.

  • ▄ There are adverse effects of burning fossil fuels. The rate at which fossil fuels are burnt releasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere cannot be matched by all the plants on Earth that convert such CO2, resulting in increasing concentration of the gas with its attendant problems. Again, the pollutants that such industrial activities give rise to as byproducts are seriously damaging the fragile eco system. The result is what may be loosely termed as climate change and global warming.

    • By the time mankind really took cognizance of the facts, the damage had already been done with the wheels set in motion that will have far reaching (and needless to say, terribly adverse) consequences for the world we live in.

    The rich, industrial nations that have by now have become used to a lifestyle of conspicuous consumption with inordinately huge carbon footprints, were and are, still not ready to sacrifice their desire for industrial development to offset the corrosive results of their ecological sins. To appear responsible, they sought out the common high ground, that of sustainability – a lifestyle that urges one to consume in a manner that ensures one leaves enough for the future generations.

  • Foreword

  • Edited by Michael Henderson, Monash University, Victoria, Geoff Romeo, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney
  • Book:
    Teaching and Digital Technologies
    Published online:
    07 February 2021
    Print publication:
    25 September 2015, pp v-vi

  • Summary

    My last week has included both a dinner with an education minister and a live media interview. What characterised both these events was a shared question: What is the single most important thing about teaching with new technologies? And of course therein lies the problem: there is no single uniquely important thing, no silicon bullet. Schools and other institutions of learning are complex places - single events like a road accident, or a windy day can and do change the nature of the school community. Students are all individuals and yet cohorts have their own character too. Teachers themselves also vary, and thank goodness; our best learning memories usually have a unique teacher as part of the mix. None of this is simple.

    And, underpinning all this, the conveyor belt of innovation whisking us further forwards into this millennium accelerates in both the power and the choices we are offered year on year. We face, as has often been observed, the certainty of uncertainty and some kind of constancy of change. It is hardly surprising that in among all this, politicians and others ask for simple answers for ‘the single most important thing’, or revert philosophically to an earlier and less complex era, or to childhoods remembered. It is no help at all that companies also often suggest that they actually have ‘the most important thing’: adopt our solution, trust our anecdotes, keep taking our tablets . . .

  • Chapter 2 - Digital natives and other myths

  • from Section 1 - Being critical of our assumptions: learners, learning and digital technologies
  • Edited by Michael Henderson, Monash University, Victoria, Geoff Romeo, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney
  • Book:
    Teaching and Digital Technologies
    Published online:
    07 February 2021
    Print publication:
    25 September 2015, pp 11-21

  • Summary

    Introduction

    Students are mistakenly assumed to have a high degree of skill in using, and affinity for, digital technologies. Within primary, secondary and tertiary sectors, students have been labelled ‘digital natives’, deemed to have different capabilities to that of previous generations. In addition, use of technology is often claimed to lead to addictive and socially isolating behaviours. This chapter problematises these kinds of assumptions and aims to leave readers better equipped to critically appraise popular discourse and, in some cases, the hype surrounding technologies and young people. The chapter presents a number of ‘myths’ and describes why they are mythical but explains why they have become points of contention within education. Consideration is given to different ‘myths’ and the chapter provides a number of suggestions for future reading both within this volume and further afield.

    CRITICAL QUESTIONS

  • What constitutes good teaching? Does this teaching involve using digital technologies? If teachers do not use ICTs in their teaching, are they poor teachers?

  • What might be barriers to using technologies in schools?

  • What misbeliefs about teaching with technologies might be causing these barriers?

  • What labels are used to categorise people? Are they useful, harmful or simplistic?

    • Many myths and fables

    The main section of this chapter specii es a particular myth, explains why it is mythical, and what has led to these kinds of (mis)beliefs permeating modern day thought and discourse.

  • Preface for teacher educators and professional learning leaders

  • Edited by Michael Henderson, Monash University, Victoria, Geoff Romeo, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney
  • Book:
    Teaching and Digital Technologies
    Published online:
    07 February 2021
    Print publication:
    25 September 2015, pp x-xi

  • Summary

    This book is designed as a resource that enriches pre-service teacher education and in-service professional learning – helping teachers to critically question and evaluate the reasons for using technology. It is important to note that this book, while adopting a critical perspective of digital technologies, believes that such technologies can benefit education. However, rather than focusing on what buttons to press, each chapter aims to empower the reader to understand why they should (or should not) use digital technologies, when it is appropriate (or not), and what new implications arise.

    In the context of teacher education the text is equally applicable for university subjects that have a discrete focus on digital technologies, as well as subjects that deal with digital technologies in an integrated fashion. The authors of the chapters are notable figures from across a broad range of Australian universities, giving the text a uniquely strong relevance to Australian education. It directly engages with policy, curriculum and other issues particularly relevant in an Australian context. This text provides a resource that assists specialist and non-specialist teacher educators (lecturers and tutors) to incorporate suitable discussion and activity into classes to ensure students engage with many of the key critical issues and debates.

  • Chapter 26 - Ongoing professional learning

  • from Section 5 - Professional learning
  • Edited by Michael Henderson, Monash University, Victoria, Geoff Romeo, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney
  • Book:
    Teaching and Digital Technologies
    Published online:
    07 February 2021
    Print publication:
    25 September 2015, pp 332-345

  • Summary

    Introduction

    Teachers are professionals who work in complex environments that are constantly evolving, within unique contexts, requiring consistent action, evaluation and reflection. A defining characteristic of any profession is the imperative to participate in ongoing professional learning in order to ensure that practice is conducted on a solid foundation of current knowledge in the field. For example, we expect doctors, lawyers or engineers to be familiar with the latest practices within their fields of expertise, and likewise teachers should also continue to update their knowledge so that their teaching practice continually improves. Some consensus is emerging in relation to the types of professional learning that are most salient for improving teacher practice with new technologies. In this chapter we discuss these key aspects and develop a model to illustrate the components of effective professional learning for teaching with technology.

    There is a growing body of literature concerning the most effective methods of professional learning for teachers, recognising that ‘teacher learning and development is a complex process’ (Avalos, 2011, p. 17). This chapter focuses on current, research-based practices to support the professional learning of teachers. In particular, it highlights how professional learning is most effective when teachers are engaged with other teachers in conversations about both the task of teaching and how students learn; for example, within an inquiry-based or action research framework. With regard to educational technology, while teachers can be trained to use software or hardware, several decades of failing to meet expectations has proven that simple technical training does not lead to effective use of the technology in the classroom. Teaching is an intimate interaction between the identity of the teachers, their values and beliefs about students, learning, the curriculum, the content, and more. It is also dependent on the school culture, the students, access, and other factors. Obviously, if we expect technology to be used in the classroom we need to accept that the most important role of professional learning activities is to help teachers find a meaningful place for the technology in their professional practice. Clearly, this takes time. As a consequence, professional learning is arguably best facilitated when it is ongoing and involves other teachers, such as in learning communities. Research has also shown that inquiry-based learning, when teachers become researchers, is particularly powerful in reshaping their practice.

  • Chapter 9 - Breaking boundaries

  • from Section 2 - Technological affordances: what’s so special about digital technologies?
  • Edited by Michael Henderson, Monash University, Victoria, Geoff Romeo, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney
  • Book:
    Teaching and Digital Technologies
    Published online:
    07 February 2021
    Print publication:
    25 September 2015, pp 104-114

  • Summary

    Introduction

    This chapter explores the potential role of digital technologies in reshaping the activity that goes on in, and out of classrooms. In particular, this chapter addresses the potential for digital technologies to break the commonly assumed boundaries of the classroom, which include time (for example, in-class time), location (for example, the classroom), and people (teacher and students). As an illustration of this, students can still work together using internet technologies such as Google Docs outside of class time. Such technologies also enable us to ‘break boundaries’ by not restricting participants to a particular location; for instance, being able to simultaneously collaborate on a document while at a museum or at home. Finally, online technologies can also change who participates and/or contributes to learning and teaching; for example, experts or other classes can be ‘beamed in’. In these and other ways, commonly assumed boundaries can be broken, or at least redefined.

    Whether traditional classroom boundaries should (or should not) be broken or redefined is contestable and it is beyond the scope of this chapter to critique this. However, it is something that should be more fully explored as you gain more of an understanding of what educators are doing. To assist with this, three examples of ‘breaking boundaries’ and redefining traditional learning environments are presented. These are: using the ‘flipped’ classroom approach to teach a class, using massive open online courses (MOOCs) and the Flat Classroom Project. Each example has been chosen not to convince you of the efficacy of a particular strategy, but rather to increase your knowledge of how digital technologies can break boundaries, reveal possibilities, and highlight issues and potential problems. This will help you to make more informed decisions about how you organise learning and teaching in your classroom.

  • Chapter 15 - Never believe the hype: questioning digital ‘disruption’ and other big ideas

  • from Section 3 - Policy: curriculum, values and agendas
  • Edited by Michael Henderson, Monash University, Victoria, Geoff Romeo, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney
  • Book:
    Teaching and Digital Technologies
    Published online:
    07 February 2021
    Print publication:
    25 September 2015, pp 182-194

  • Summary

    Introduction

    Digital technology is a big part of Australian schools and schooling. Schools are now awash with digital devices, learning systems, software and applications. The Australian Curriculum advocates developing ICT capability across the curriculum. This is also an area of schooling that is decidedly creating ‘big business’. Spending has grown to the point that the Australian market for education IT is estimated to be $3.2 billion (Lee, 2012). Understandably, it is an area that is characterised by big ideas, big hopes and big claims. Digital technologies are regularly talked about as ‘game changing’, students are often described as ‘digital natives’, and even federal government policies are presented in emotive terms such as the ‘Digital Education Revolution’.

    It is easy for teachers to roll their eyes at such talk. After all, none of this accurately reflects the prosaic, mundane nature of everyday classroom technology use. One does not pay billions of dollars to be frustrated by wi-fi passwords, tangled cables and unpredictable internet filters. ‘Revolutions’ do not involve lengthy consultation periods and central purchasing arrangements. Yet the ‘big’ claims that surround the use of digital technology in education are worth taking seriously and giving some thought. Just why are so many people outside the immediate education community framing digital technologies in dramatic terms of wide-scale change and reform? Is there any substance to the claims that digital technology might do away with the need for teachers and schools altogether? Do digital technologies really pose fundamental challenges to everything that we have come to know as ‘education’ over the past 100 years or so?

  • Chapter 19 - Project-, problem-, and inquiry-based learning

  • from Section 4 - Student learning
  • Edited by Michael Henderson, Monash University, Victoria, Geoff Romeo, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney
  • Book:
    Teaching and Digital Technologies
    Published online:
    07 February 2021
    Print publication:
    25 September 2015, pp 240-252

  • Summary

    Introduction

    Inquiry-based learning and related approaches such as project- and problem-based learning respond to the increased availability of information in a networked world by emphasising the location and application of information by the learner rather than its transmission from teacher to learner. The role of teacher necessarily shifts toward being a designer and facilitator of projects through which students learn rather than the primary source of knowledge in the classroom. That shift is facilitated by the application of digital technologies to initiate learning activities, access and process information, and present results. It confronts teachers with challenges in relation to the relative emphases on content and process in learning and assessment, and the role of learners in deciding what is learned and how.

    CRITICAL QUESTIONS

  • What are some potential benefits and disbenefits of inquiry-based approaches to education?

  • What similarities and differences are there among various inquiry-based learning pedagogies?

  • What are the theoretical foundations of inquiry-based learning?

  • How can digital technologies be used to facilitate inquiry-based learning?

    • Learners and learning at the centre

    Traditional understandings of education centre on teaching. A typical image is of a teacher delivering content to a class. Over the past 50 years that image may have evolved from a man at a blackboard to a woman with a tablet and smartboard, but despite changes in technology, the essential paradigm remains. Teaching is telling.

  • Chapter 1 - Why focus on big issues and critical questions?

  • Edited by Michael Henderson, Monash University, Victoria, Geoff Romeo, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney
  • Book:
    Teaching and Digital Technologies
    Published online:
    07 February 2021
    Print publication:
    25 September 2015, pp 1-8

  • Summary

    Introduction

    The use of digital technologies in education, and more specifically for learning, is complex. Digital technology cannot be simply applied without consequences; effective use requires teachers and leaders to be aware of the underlying big issues and to ask critical questions. This is particularly important with the Australian Curriculum (and state derivatives) mandating the effective integration of digital technologies (ICT as a general capability) for all students Foundation to Year 10 (F–10) and the introduction of digital technologies as a compulsory subject for all students (F–8). Not only do we need to understand what the curriculum is asking of us as teachers, but also the reasons for the curriculum pressure, and the implications for our practice and for student learning.

    Pre-service, graduate, and in-service teachers need to use digital technologies in their practice, but are they being exposed to the debate about if, when and why and given the opportunity to ask probing questions about the efficacy of existing, emerging and new technologies in the classroom?

    It is important to note that this book and its authors, while adopting a critical perspective of digital technologies, contend that such technologies can benefit education. However, rather than focusing on what buttons to press, each chapter aims to empower the reader to understand why they should (or should not) use digital technologies, when it is appropriate (or not) to do so, and what new implications arise.

  • Chapter 10 - Using social media: assumptions, challenges and risks

  • from Section 2 - Technological affordances: what’s so special about digital technologies?
  • Edited by Michael Henderson, Monash University, Victoria, Geoff Romeo, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney
  • Book:
    Teaching and Digital Technologies
    Published online:
    07 February 2021
    Print publication:
    25 September 2015, pp 115-126

  • Summary

    Introduction

    Social media (for example, blogs, Twitter, YouTube and social networking) are claimed to provide positive learning opportunities for students. However, there is little consensus and relatively little school-based research that confirms the most effective use of these technologies and their impact. Moreover, the potential of social media for learning is often based on assumptions about student preferences and inherent benefits that need to be critically considered. At the same time, these technologies also generate considerable professional, public and media concern in terms of cyber safety, particularly predatory and harassment behaviour. Teachers need to also consider broader concerns such as identity theft, legal risks, as well as professional ethics. This chapter will (a) define social media and social networking, (b) critically consider some of the assumptions underlying the claims of potentiality, (c) describe a set of conditions for successfully using social media in the classroom, and (d) outline a range of critical issues that teachers need to consider before and during implementation.

    CRITICAL QUESTIONS

  • Can the use of social media in the classroom improve learning?

  • Do teachers have the moral, ethical or pedagogical justii cation for appropriating social networking technologies for the classroom?

  • Are the risks to students and teachers manageable?

  • Chapter 14 - Digital technologies in the curriculum: national and international

  • from Section 3 - Policy: curriculum, values and agendas
  • Edited by Michael Henderson, Monash University, Victoria, Geoff Romeo, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney
  • Book:
    Teaching and Digital Technologies
    Published online:
    07 February 2021
    Print publication:
    25 September 2015, pp 169-181

  • Summary

    Introduction

    To fully engage with the teaching of the digital technologies curriculum, it is helpful to undertake a critical examination of Australian national and state computing curricula within a global context. This chapter includes a commentary on 21st-century skills and digital literacy. There is a case study that looks at the way in which the computational thinking concept has grown in international markets with its own agendas and how this is now shaping the Australian computing curriculum. Confusion over terminology and challenges to teachers and curriculum developers are discussed.

    CRITICAL QUESTIONS

  • What has shaped the Australian digital technologies curriculum?

  • How do ICT, 21st-century skills and digital literacy challenge existing curricula and coexist with the digital technologies curriculum?

  • Why is computational thinking used as an organiser for the digital technologies curriculum?

  • What challenges exist to the implementation of the digital technologies curriculum?

    • Introduction of digital technologies into the curriculum

    The introduction of the digital technologies subject into the curriculum has been a significant step in Australian computer education. When computing was first introduced as a subject area in the 1960s, it focused largely on understanding how the technology worked because that was what was needed at the time to make any effective use of the technology. In the 1970s, some educators (for example, Papert, 1980) saw in this new technology the potential for new ways of thinking and understanding the world through the study of programming.

Page 1459 of 1932