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Members of staff joining a school of education often have extensive experience in practice but not in academia and the university setting may present a complex diversity of roles, ways of working, values and goals. Colleagues may face issues of understanding the organisational structure and culture, changing identities, and concerns about their academic reading and writing abilities. This paper presents a study designed to examine the efficacy of a personalised needs-led self-study group approach to induction for experienced professionals joining a University School of Education. The approach was new to both current staff members and the four early academic staff, most of whom were teacher educators. In group sessions new colleagues had space for dialogue and story-telling based on their experiences, and created visual images for reflection and discussion with group members. Progressive group activities included presentations at local and international conferences, and academic writing. The purpose of the research reported here was to examine the efficacy of the self-study group as part of an induction process; exploring the developing professional identity of the new staff, the role of the group, and the effects of collecting visual research data for reflection and analysis of personal and group themes. New colleagues prepared a reflective account of their experiences of the group and their developing professional identity, took part in an evaluation workshop, and responded to questions on the longer term impact of the group. Outcomes of the group process included participants' increased confidence to work in the context of complexity, and the ability to embrace their changing identities. A self-study group process can help facilitate the development of the professionals needed to work in the dynamic context of the university of today and is likely to have implications for a range of organisational settings. (Contains 6 tables.)

This paper reports on a completed field study that examined the usability and effectiveness of learning objects designed for Australian and New Zealand primary and secondary schools. It focuses on student engagement by observing the ways students interacted with learning objects and by listening to what they said about them. Questions that guided the field study included the following: Could the students use the learning objects easily? Did they enjoy the experience? Did they engage with the intended learning? These questions are examined with reference to students at different levels of schooling, and examples drawn from the fieldwork illustrate that, while some learning objects achieved their potential as engaging multimedia educational resources, others fell short. The paper provides a detailed examination of two learning objects to reveal what worked and what created barriers or subverted the intended learning. In particular, it explores interest, challenge and importance as elements that contributed to engagement and socially constructed learning.

This paper reports aspects of a large-scale project conducted in rural and remote regions of Australia. The study was designed to assess teaching and learning practices in early childhood programs with a particular focus on literacy, numeracy and the use of information and communication technologies. Programs had been specifically designed for use in rural and remote areas and were implemented through schools of distance education with teachers conducting regular "lessons" via radio or internet-based satellite technologies. Home tutors, who were not necessarily trained educators, delivered the programs face-to-face. A range of tools to document these early-years programs was developed. Data was collected through questionnaires, interviews with teachers, home tutors and the children themselves. This was supported by observations of "lessons" using an observation schedule. The focus of this paper is to describe some examples of the pedagogical practices of home tutors, using the observation schedule as the tool as they engage in a 30-minute lesson with children between the ages of five and eight years. Key findings from this latter instrument are presented in this paper. (Contains 1 table.)

In this paper, we discuss and analyse the development of a resource documenting an Indigenous early childhood playgroup programme. The resource, known as the "Best Start DVD" was developed through a partnership between community and government support agencies to support engagement of parents as educators of their children. Through analysis of the development process and the product, we provide commentary on our learning regarding working successfully in partnerships with Indigenous communities. Additionally, we discuss what we learned about influences on Indigenous parents' engagement as educators of their children.

This article critiques the Smart Population Foundation Initiative (SPFI), which was established to "bring parenting information and the science of child development to Australian parents and carers" (Smart Population Foundation, 2006) and to satisfy the need for a credible and easily accessible source of information for parents. The article draws on the notion of modern governance developed by Rose and analyses the Initiative as a deeply political project. It looks at the Initiative from a critical distance created by the context of governmentality. The authors argue that the discourses produced by the Initiative constitute a particular notion of parent as "smart" (lifelong learner, responsible and informed). These discourses govern parents through "ethopolitics" to take up a certain art of parenting as their supposed free choice. Through standardising and sanctioning a particular way of acting as a parent, the SPFI translates governmental objectives into parents' own values and practices. As a result, the discourse the SPFI constitutes about parenting effectively "shuts down" multiple understandings of being a "good" parent. Hence, parents' conscious formation of their parenting practices are inhibited and with that, the ethical debates around this contentious issue are silenced. (Contains 4 notes.)

This paper reports on an early childhood technology project that has been conducted in Australia since 2000. The background to the project is that IBM extended their international KidSmart Early Learning program to the Asia-Pacific region. A partnership with the Australian National Schools Network was formed to implement the program in Australia. This organisation took responsibility for identification of early childhood centres (preschool and day care) serving low socio-economic status communities across Australia (approximately 100 centres per year), the design and facilitation of professional development for teachers and research and evaluation in conjunction with the program. Whilst this was a national project, this paper deals only with the research conducted in Western Australia with the first round of centres involved in the project. The paper highlights themes emerging from teacher action research based in early childhood centres. The pedagogical considerations, challenges and dilemmas emerging from teachers' use of ICT in early childhood settings are also discussed. (Contains 1 table.)

THIS PAPER REPORTS ASPECTS of a large-scale project conducted in rural and remote regions of Australia. The study was designed to assess teaching and learning practices in early childhood programs with a particular focus on literacy, numeracy and the use of information and communication technologies. Programs had been specifically designed for use in rural and remote areas and were implemented through schools of distance education with teachers conducting regular 'lessons' via radio or internet-based satellite technologies. Home tutors, who were not necessarily trained educators, delivered the programs face-to-face. A range of tools to document these early-years programs was developed. Data was collected through questionnaires, interviews with teachers, home tutors and the children themselves. This was supported by observations of 'lessons' using an observation schedule. The focus of this paper is to describe some examples of the pedagogical practices of home tutors, using the observation schedule as the tool as they engage in a 30-minute lesson with children between the ages of five and eight years. Key findings from this latter instrument are presented in this paper., Introduction and background TO PROPERLY CONTEXTUALISE this study, it is essential that the reader has a clear understanding of the sheer size of the Australian continent. Distance education is a [...]

This paper outlines the results a three year national research project which investigated a pedagogy for multiliteracies and ICT in early childhood education in disadvantaged communities. The results of the study indicated that the integration of ICT and a multiliteracies framework enabled teachers in preschools and the first year of school to build on the strengths and lived experiences of children to plan for effective learning outcomes and support the positive transition to school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on an early childhood technology project that has been conducted in Australia since 2000. The background to the project is that IBM extended their international KidSmart Early Learning program to the Asia-Pacific region. A partnership with the Australian National Schools Network was formed to implement the program in Australia. This organisation took responsibility for identification of early childhood centres (preschool and day care) serving low socio-economic status communities across Australia (approximately 100 centres per year), the design and facilitation of professional development for teachers and research and evaluation in conjunction with the program. Whilst this was a national project, this paper deals only with the research conducted in Western Australia with the first round of centres involved in the project. The paper highlights themes emerging from teacher action research based in early childhood centres. The pedagogical considerations, challenges and dilemmas emerging from teachers' use of ICT in early childhood settings are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]