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In the face of ongoing school budget cuts, increasing student numbers and national educational policy environments that demand more from schools, like it or not, school leaders are being forced to be much more market-oriented in their thinking and ways of being than at any other time before. A school is an important site for social development, and in some communities in some countries, there may be only one school in an entire community. Nevertheless, as countries continue to grapple with reduced government funding on education, many schools risk the threat of closure. And, as education consumers (parents) and users (students) demand more and better value and results from schools, competition between schools have simultaneously increased. Thus, the environment in which school leaders' work is requiring and fostering entrepreneurial leadership. The findings reported in this paper, derive from a larger sixteen country, five continent study of 61 school leaders on the "Nature of School Leadership". The main conclusions presented in this paper are that, male and female school leaders approach entrepreneurial in very different ways; "national culture" and "national context" significantly influences and shape the work, and thus the attitudes and behaviours of school leaders, who must embrace entrepreneurialism as an essential skill, and a response to changes in school funding arrangements, and the changing role of education in national educational policy agendas.

The purpose of this article is to provide information and data that will contribute to the enhancement of teaching methodologies for online learning and teaching at all educational levels and disciplines (including adult education). More specifically, it attempts to shed light on media trends and prospects as educational activities and techniques, as well as on the utmost importance of the use of television content as audiovisual educational content. This venture focuses on the cases of Cyprus and Greece following literature materials and reviews, research results, and findings of previous numerous studies and research papers from and through the Internet that were considered as background. The aforementioned were applied in a pilot case study with adult educators as adult learners (18 years and older), providing literature data and historical elements as a source of further study. The findings from the pilot case study revealed that the television content can also shape (adult) learners' perceptions on how they understand and learn in an online environment in regard to the generational cohort they belong. Furthermore, the results disclosed that an online educational process utilizing audiovisual media technologies and audiovisual content (audiovisual media communications) may support technology-enhanced learning through non-verbal communication in the new streamlined digital era in which we live. An important conclusion of this article is that the (inter)national genealogical characteristics and habits, the inherent and special characteristics, and the socio-cultural identity of learners, as well as the various (inter)national social-phenomena (e.g., media socio-phenomenon, Internet phenomenon, revival phenomenon, etc.) of the past and present, should always be taken into account by education administrators and educators, in order to maintain a quality and sustainable future education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmentally friendly occasions allow foreign language learners to further concentrate on realizing their extensive knowledge of the English language. Exercises and activities performed in foreign language classes have been criticized for a lack of authenticity, which prevents language learners from learning the real-life usage of language. In this paper, we developed a qualitative model based on the thematic analysis method (TAM) to distinguish the efficacy of research strategies. The number of participants was defined based on theoretical saturation. To collect the data, 18 participants were selected from the Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) in Cyprus. The selection of participants was according to their involvement in research-based projects. Theoretical saturation occurred after 15 semi-structured interview forms from participants; however, we selected three extra participants to obtain more reliable results. The reliability of the qualitative model was explicitly illustrated by colleagues who were experts in this field by reviewing and analyzing the proposed model with previous models. It was concluded that the two principles of motivation (principle 11) and provision of collaborative opportunities (principle 4) had the highest frequencies, of 22.47% and 19.66%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to provide information and data that will contribute to the enhancement of teaching methodologies for online learning and teaching at all educational levels and disciplines (including adult education). More specifically, it attempts to shed light on media trends and prospects as educational activities and techniques, as well as on the utmost importance of the use of television content as audiovisual educational content. This venture focuses on the cases of Cyprus and Greece following literature materials and reviews, research results, and findings of previous numerous studies and research papers from and through the Internet that were considered as background. The aforementioned were applied in a pilot case study with adult educators as adult learners (18 years and older), providing literature data and historical elements as a source of further study. The findings from the pilot case study revealed that the television content can also shape (adult) learners' perceptions on how they understand and learn in an online environment in regard to the generational cohort they belong. Furthermore, the results disclosed that an online educational process utilizing audiovisual media technologies and audiovisual content (audiovisual media communications) may support technology-enhanced learning through non-verbal communication in the new streamlined digital era in which we live. An important conclusion of this article is that the (inter)national genealogical characteristics and habits, the inherent and special characteristics, and the socio-cultural identity of learners, as well as the various (inter)national social-phenomena (e.g., media socio-phenomenon, Internet phenomenon, revival phenomenon, etc.) of the past and present, should always be taken into account by education administrators and educators, in order to maintain a quality and sustainable future education.

Environmentally friendly occasions allow foreign language learners to further concentrate on realizing their extensive knowledge of the English language. Exercises and activities performed in foreign language classes have been criticized for a lack of authenticity, which prevents language learners from learning the real-life usage of language. In this paper, we developed a qualitative model based on the thematic analysis method (TAM) to distinguish the efficacy of research strategies. The number of participants was defined based on theoretical saturation. To collect the data, 18 participants were selected from the Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) in Cyprus. The selection of participants was according to their involvement in research-based projects. Theoretical saturation occurred after 15 semi-structured interview forms from participants; however, we selected three extra participants to obtain more reliable results. The reliability of the qualitative model was explicitly illustrated by colleagues who were experts in this field by reviewing and analyzing the proposed model with previous models. It was concluded that the two principles of motivation (principle 11) and provision of collaborative opportunities (principle 4) had the highest frequencies, of 22.47% and 19.66%.

This study provides a zoom-out perspective of higher education students' experiences related to the emergency remote learning (ERL) following the first lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic as captured by a national, in-depth survey administered to all higher education institutions in Cyprus (different fields of study and educational levels). Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the data collected from 1051 students provide valuable information and insights regarding learners' prior technology background and level of preparedness for online learning, the challenges and benefits of ERL and how they would like their online learning experience to be improved in case of future ERL. The results underline that students' knowledge of and self-efficacy in using e-learning tools do not directly equate to being a digital learner equipped with necessary digital skills such as self-regulation to fully benefit from online learning. The educational disparities caused by inequalities in access and accessibility to high-quality education laid bare by the pandemic stressed the need for online environments that would afford quality learning for all learners. Online learning demands are discussed in the article, as well as implications for research, practice and policy making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As of 2018 there are 18 universities active in Northern Cyprus offering education. According to the data provided by the Ministry of Education, there are nearly 93,000 students studying in this country. Approximately 65,000 of these students are of Turkish origin (Republic of Turkey--Northern Cyprus) whereas 27,000 students are foreign nationals. An examination of the universities in Northern Cyprus shows that, in addition to Northern Cyprus nationals, students from various countries, such as Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Libya, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Iran, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Nigeria, Ghana, Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, Ghana, Brazil, Moldova, Brazil, and Ukraine, are studying in this country. Paying attention to the cultural and social structures of individuals in such a wide student spectrum is an extremely delicate, but essential, topic. Concepts such as race, ethnic origin, language, sexual orientation, age, special needs, social class, religion, and sect are elements of multiculturalism and inclusive/integrated education should be considered at every level of education, including university, thus education settings and curricula should be planned accordingly. In the paper, opinions of Turkish and foreign national students studying at Northern Cypriot universities in "multicultural and inclusive/integrated education settings" are obtained, their expectations are identified and comparisons and recommendations are provided. The conclusions drawn from the research indicate that fundamental expectations of students from multicultural in inclusive/integrated education settings is providing equal opportunity to education whilst making sure that everyone can have the chance for experiencing their culture properly. In addition, other expectations of students include organization of new activities for socialization, development and display of positive and supporting attitudes by lecturers towards different social groups and cultures and being able to easily express their ethnic identities in different settings in universities. Another conclusion obtained from this study is that Turkish students appear to have more positive opinions compared to foreign students in terms of experiencing multiculturalism in university settings in Northern Cyprus.

The recent phenomenon of worldwide declining enrolments in engineering-related degrees has led to the gradual decrease in the number of engineering graduates. This decrease occurs at a time of increasing demand in the labour market for highly qualified engineers, who are necessary for the implementation of fundamental societal functions. This paper initially presents a survey of practices, which are currently employed by academic institutions in Europe in order to increase the attractiveness of their engineering studies. It then provides a detailed analysis of the benefits and proliferation of distance education to increase attractiveness of engineering studies based on a set of interviews. Results of this study highlight a lack of a distance-learning dimension in the implementation of engineering studies in the European Area and discusses in detail ways in which distance learning can be utilised in engineering studies for the benefit of increasing their attractiveness. It has also been noted that institutions employing distance learning as part of their engineering studies, see this as highly beneficial for their students but also for the academic institution itself with some reservations in terms of the pedagogical adequacy of materials and instructional approaches used in distance education courses.

Understanding how disability is socially constructed is important for establishing inclusive schools, since the ways in which educators and non-disabled nondisabled students understand disability affect their actions towards disabled students. As social interaction today is very often an interplay between online and offline communication activities, this study aimed to explore how young adolescents in Cyprus construct the concept of disability in a blended environment of interactions. A qualitative research approach was adopted involving focus groups with 18 adolescents, online and face to face semi-structured semistructured individual interviews, participant observation on a Facebook group set up for the purposes of the study, and the first author's reflective diary. A combination of thematic analysis, critical discourse analysis and analytic elements from the field of visual semiotics were used for data analysis. Data analysis indicated that adolescents understand disability mostly through medical and charity models. Based on the data, these understandings arise from the construction of disabled people's multimodal 'invisibility/absence', in both online and offline contexts of adolescents' everyday reality. Suggestions for further research in disability constructions in blended environments, and implications for the field of inclusive education concerning teachers and pre-service teachers' educational practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aimed to comprehend the impact of the first school closure on secondary education in Cyprus from students' perspectives. Through the administration of an online survey with both closed and open questions, the study investigated the main issues and challenges that students experienced during their abrupt transition from face-to-face to emergency remote education and their main worries and concerns during this period, as well as their perceptions regarding the effectiveness of the teaching and learning process followed during the distance education period. The study also elicited students' suggestions, based on their experiences from the lockdown period, on improving instruction in case of further lockdown(s) and in the post-COVID-19 era. Three hundred twenty-two (322) students of both upper and lower secondary education participated in the study. The data from closed questions were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, and for the data from the open questions, a qualitative thematic analysis approach was followed. The valuable insights gained from this study illustrate how important it is for educators and educational policymakers to give voice to students, closely listen to what learners felt worked and what did not during the period of remote learning, and develop plans and policies that incorporate their feedback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current article provides an overview of a Teacher Professional Development (TPD) program that has been designed, pilot tested, and implemented to investigate the impact of augmented reality (AR) on: (a) Teachers' level of technology (AR) acceptance, adoption of inquiry-based instructional approaches, and confidence towards teaching twentieth-first century skills in STEM-related courses; and (b) students' potential enhancement of specific twentieth-first century skills and motivation and interest during a STEM- (science, technology, engineering, mathematics)-related course supported with AR. This article focuses on the teachers' points of view concerning the impact of their STEM-related interventions on their students' motivation and learning, as well as the factors that influence the teachers' technology acceptance. The TPD program has been implemented in Cyprus and Greece with twenty-five lower secondary school teachers (20 in Cyprus and 5 in Greece). The research methodology applied is Educational Design Research (EDR), including an initial phase of the TPD program and a second (improved) phase. The data collection tools consisted of questionnaires, interviews, and observation of classroom interventions. Initial findings and their implications for teaching and future research are discussed, indicating the potential benefits and challenges surrounding the integration of AR within the educational process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports on the main experiences gained from a teaching intervention which utilised the alternate reality game 'Helping Nemo' in an augmented reality environment for formative assessment. The purpose of the study was to explore the ways in which the affordances arising from the combination of alternate reality games and augmented reality, situated in the context of Universal Design for Learning, might facilitate students' learning amongst the aspects of engagement, participation, and response to students' variability. The study took place in a public primary school located in a rural area of Cyprus. A second-grade class consisting of 24 students aged 7–8 years old was selected to comprise the sample. A qualitative research approach was adopted. The data collection methods included classroom observations and focus groups with the students. Findings gained from the teaching intervention suggest that the creation of a multimodal environment that draws on the principles of Universal Design for Learning and combines the affordances of alternate reality games and augmented reality for formative assessment contributes towards higher levels of engagement and participation in learning of all students, including bilingual students, students with learning disabilities, and students who are currently disengaged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]