Conference on Education 2015. Partners in Excellence

Though each student is assessed individually, group activities in the classroom support the success of the individual as well as the group. More often students’ success relies on collaborative learning when sharing ideas in online discussions and simulations (Mandernach, 2010). From an online class perspective, designing methods for social interaction and collaboration provides their basic foundation. The key to a successful online class is to evaluate and to select the types of communication tools that fit the instructor’s pedagogy, the needs of the learner, and the objectives of the course. Electronic communication tools have the potential to be used for communication purposes and to provide instructional resources in educational environments (Farmer, Yue and Brooks, 2008; Tekinarslan, 2008). It is claimed that the access and use of these tools is a useful practice for the development of higher order thinking skills, learner centered pedagogy, active and authentic learning, associative thinking, and for supporting online learning communities (O'Donnell, 2006; Farmer, Yue and Brooks, 2008). Online communication tools have a considerable promise for supporting collaborative learning. When designing course activities, categorizing electronic communication tools in separate categories by asynchronous (e.g. anytime communication) and synchronous (e.g. live communication) will help to identify the composition of the activity. Asynchronous communication and collaboration tools include emails, discussion forums, wikis, and blogs, while synchronous tools include chats, videoconferencing or etherpad (Schaffert & Ebner, 2010). These tools are relatively easy to use and help build a sense of community in the online classroom. Porter (2004) indicated that both types of communication tools are providing group learners with different preferences, and allow the flexibility of matching the students’ preferred learning style. The purpose of this study is to describe the effect of using synchronous and asynchronous communication tools in group activities to develop collaborative skills. Thus, the design of two experimental groups was used, a group used synchronous communication tool (video call), and another group used asynchronous communication tool (wiki). Participants belonged to one of two groups of learners. They are 3rd year students at Khaled Ibnelwalled preparatory school at Mansoura. The findings highlighted the fact that using communication tools is a useful practice for the development of higher order thinking skills, learner centered pedagogy, active and authentic learning, associative thinking, and collaborative learning skills. However, this study found out that using asynchronous communication tools are more appropriate to develop collaborative learning skills than synchronous communication tools. Asynchronous communication tools were ideal for participants to work and cooperate with each other. Finally, the study supports using asynchronous communication tools for online group activities to develop collaborative skills.

Education has been an important instrument for social and economic transformation. Presently, higher education in Algeria is experiencing a major transformation in terms of access and quality. This transition is highly influenced by the swift development in information and communication technologies (ICTs) all over the world. As Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become one of the basic building blocks of modern society, its introduction in higher education has profound implications for the whole education process, especially in the issues of access, equity, management, efficiency, pedagogy, and quality. Inventive use of ICT is defined as the use of ICT applications that hold up the learning objectives based on the requirements of the modern information society. Hence, there is a need to bring out the facts on the impact of ICT on educational trainers. At the same time, the optimal utilization of opportunities arising due to diffusion of ICTs in higher education system presents a profound challenge for higher education institutes. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how implementation of ICT in EFL will improve the learning process in higher education in Algeria. It addresses the opportunities that can be gained through the integration of ICTs in various aspects of higher education. The study will be purely quantitative, and one questionnaire is administered for students to be analyzed.

The purpose of this study is to examine teachers’ practices performed to develop creativity among children in primary learning stage in Jordan. It also aimed to determine the differences between teachers' creative practices according to class grade level, teachers' specification, and type of school. To achieve the research objective, a questionnaire was developed and distributed among 200 primary grade teachers. The findings indicated that the ratings of teachers' practices that develop creativity were related to creative climate classroom and to students’ awareness of their creative potentials. Practices that were most perceived as least contributing to developing creativity were related to educational material, family support, instructional creative practices, and lesson planning. Furthermore, the findings indicated that there was a statistically significant difference due to the class grade level, except for the variable of teachers’ awareness of their creative potential and creativity in lesson planning, which was in favor of preschool grade level, and due to the type of school in favor of private schools. Whereas no statistically significant differences were found due to teacher specification except for students awareness of their creative potentials and creativity in lesson planning. In light of the findings, the researcher put a number of suggestions and recommendation.

Ten years ago, Qatar initiated an education reform based on curriculum standards that draw on international expectations of what students should know, understand, and be able to do at each stage of their schooling. The mathematics curriculum being developed according to this reform is based on four major standards (strands): reasoning and problem solving, numbers and algebra, geometry and measure, and data handling and probability. Therefore, statistics is one of the major focus areas of the new mathematics curriculum in Qatar. This paper employs a comparative analysis approach in highlighting the mathematics national curriculum standards related to statistics and probability in Qatar. Content analysis for these standards is made and compared to the recent common international expectations of learning statistics and probability as presented at the major international conference for teaching statistics in the USA in 2014. The rationale of this study is based on the importance of the discipline of statistics and probability, which has been receiving increasing attention due to its relevance to all scientific fields, as well as daily life. Employers today are looking for people who have the skills to assess data from many areas of work and daily life; hence, statistics education—including curriculum, teaching, and learning—has become a strong focus area of international research. The results presented here suggest that the necessary development of statistics and probability education in Qatar is being implemented. Comparing statistics and probability in the old and new mathematics curricula (before and after 2004) reveals many significant changes. For example, students start studying statistics and probability according to the new standards in first grade, instead of starting statistics in the middle school and probability in secondary school. Also, many statistics concepts and procedures that were not included in the old curriculum are represented in the new standards’ statements, with instructions requiring students to, for example, “specify the problem,” “implement a plan,” “collect data from a variety of sources,” “deal with real data,” “represent data,” “evaluate results,” and “interpret data”. In spite of this progress in line with the international approach regarding statistics and probability education for reasoning and problem solving, some weakness was found in the standards being developed in Qatar. For example the important idea of “variation” is not considered properly; there is an absence of the words “variation” and “variability” and of measures of variation in the National Mathematics Scope. This paper therefore provides some recommendations, the most important of which is the need for an awareness that the fundamental issue in statistics, and thus statistics education, is variability. Indeed, this is the reason that statistics exists as a science; without variation, sources of variation, and attempts to measure and control variation, statistics would not ever have been invented. Considering that very few studies have looked at teaching and learning statistics and probability in Arab countries, including Qatar, it is hoped that this paper will activate research regarding the issue of variability and its place in statistics and probability education by a reconsideration of the standards being developed.

The researcher aims to investigate dynamic assessment strategies and their relationship with academic achievement of students with a sample of general education teachers (N=282). They completed dynamic assessment scale. The results of their students were recorded. Using explanatory factor analysis, correlation coefficients the findings indicated that the dynamic strategies of assessment includes: identifying students weaknesses and providing remedial learning, modifying teaching and assessment styles during learning session, monitoring students’ progress, considering students’ preferences of teaching and assessment, assessing students’ understanding of each element of the lesson, discussing student’s suggested ideas, using questions and tasks that help students to learn, reviewing students’ homework, assignments and provide them with feedback. The findings also indicated that the relationships among these strategies and students’ academic achievement were significant. These relationships were high in the case of identifying students’ weaknesses and providing remedial learning, modifying teaching and assessment styles during learning session, reviewing students’ homework, assignments and provide them with feedback and assessing students’ understanding for each element of the lesson. These findings support the orientations of employing dynamic assessment strategies as an effective approach to improve students’ learning.

The research aims to improve the assessment tools that are utilized for the purpose of evaluating the performance of faculty in Egyptian universities. The paper focuses on two aspects of the performance assessment and they are: annual evaluation and promotion evaluation. The research is considering international standards for the two types of assessment and it utilized a descriptive method and a survey method that was completed by 80 faculty members at various Egyptian universities. The survey indicated that the current assessment tools for the annual evaluation are not effective and that’s pertaining to the ways it’s done. Although faculty members agreed to its necessity they had some reservations regarding the methods used. Faculty members also expressed dissatisfaction with the promotion assessment. This paper subsequently recommended to restrict the role of the Central Committees to monitor peer-reviewed and accomplished scientific journals and based on each discipline and not to peer-review the articles once more and that’s to eliminate double standards between the peer-reviewers and reviewers of the Promotion Committee. In addition, this paper suggest eliminating the time period between achieving a promotion and that’s for appreciating the value of the one’s work rather than adhering to time periods. The paper suggests that this will constitute an incentive to scholars. The paper proposed various other recommendations to improve the annual performance evaluation for faculty.

The National Curricula Guidelines is considered the basis upon which the initiative of education reform in Qatar was built. These guidelines emphasize the student’s ability to learn, achieve and score well in the national standardized exams. This will subsequently lead to good results in admissions into international universities which will also facilitate comparisons between the performance of Qatari students and students from other nations. Examining the performance of this student sample in national exams in four main subject areas in recent years reveals a decline. Therefore, this research aims to identify the performance trends among students in primary schools in the following four main subjects: Arabic, English, Science and Math in the three advanced classes and examine whether or not the National Curricula Guidelines are being fulfilled in both school-based an national exams and identify the difficulties and reasons for this decline. The following step will be to suggest and identify methods and ways to solve the problem and improve the future of the academic operation in order for it to develop and achieve its goals. A descriptive and analytical approach in both its qualitative and quantitative features has been followed in order to identify the relationships that connect all the elements of this phenomenon and help shed the light on the most common practices. The studied sample consists of: 1- All independent primary schools in Doha 4th-6th grades from 2012-2013. In total, there are 79 schools (boys/girls); the study focused on only 35 schools with average 44.3% locals. The sample included 41 principals and assistant principals, and 90 academic coordinators in Arabic, English, Science and Math. It also included 321 teachers in these four subjects. As for parents, the overall number of parents covered in the study is 1750. For focus groups, it covered 56 teachers, 20 coordinators, 4 principals, 4 assistant principals, 8 specialists from the Center of Professional Developments in the College of Education at Qatar University. 2- Samples from the following academic material: 421 academic units in the four subjects; 417 tests, and 36 national exams. The study utilized the following tools: A- Surveys completed by principals, assistant principals, coordinators, teachers, and parents. B- Focus groups, which included it teachers, coordinators, principals, assistant principals, and specialists from the Center of Professional Developments in the College of Education at Qatar University. C- Evaluation data, which evaluated the academic units, schools tests, and the national exams. The tools used in this study were confirmed to be truthful and concrete. The study reached certain conclusions pertaining to: academic policies, action plans, teachers’ competencies, curricula content and guidelines, national exams, and the role of parents. In addition, the study shed the light on identifying in further details issues of statistical indicators for change on the learning experience in the context of the different studies academic subjects, classroom environment, school type, and the year of implementing the models. The study offered some recommendations for improving the performance of students in primary schools in the above-mentioned four academic subjects and in the three advanced grades.

The study addressed the inspiring leadership, performance development, and the role of the teacher as an inspiring leader, through a review of a conceptual framework for inspiring leadership characteristics and the difference between the teacher as an inspiring leader and the teacher as manager of the students, the method by which the teacher acts as an inspiring leader towards his students, the formation of work teams such that each team will have a student for an inspiring commander, a review of the inspirational leadership & its dimensions, and its role in the achievement of excellence and development of performance. The study issue was identified in dealing with the governing regulatory powers, and in taking advantage of the inspiring leadership in performance and achieve educational excellence through the development of the teacher's role as an inspiring leader? The study aimed to address the role of the teacher in inspiring students to practice behaviors that lead to academic excellence, raise the level and efficiency of students and develop their performance within the teams. The significance of the study is manifested in the application inside the classroom; in addition to the prominence of the tools and methods of active learning, and their role in raising the effective and efficient performance, along with the exerted efforts to cover the Arab Studies on the theme of inspiring leadership. The study presented the organizational structure of governing regulatory powers as follows: The figure shows the existence of a set of governing regulatory powers for the development of performance, and the formation of student working groups, including a student commander responsible for leading his/her colleagues to achieve excellence through the use of cooperative learning methods. This is expressed in the following figure: The study concluded the following: 1. The inspiring leadership influences in the development of cooperative teams for the exercise of cooperative learning activities. 2. The inspiring leadership significantly affects the behavior of teachers and students towards achieving high performance and developing higher thinking levels. 3. The inspiring leadership significantly affects the behavior of students among themselves in order to thus enhancing higher level performance, design capabilities and innovation. 4. The inspiring leadership affects the type of skills acquired through contact and communication among teams, and the ability to manage meetings. 5. The inspiring leadership affects the governing regulatory powers at the senior management levels at school and in the classroom resulting in performance development and academic excellence. Accordingly the study recommends: 1. Create training programs and workshops designed to address the concept of inspirational leadership at senior management level to highlight the significance of academic excellence. 2. To encourage senior management to listen and communicate with subordinates in solving problems and enabling teachers to continuously utilize the inspiring leadership to develop their performance in the classroom. 3. Strengthening the leadership behaviors among students who enjoy the inspiring leadership skills by allowing them to lead teams at school. 4. Spread the awareness among school staff regarding the inspirational leadership and its significance. 5. Identify the need for training and programs, which in turn improve the performance according to specified standards to attain academic excellence. 6. To strengthen and train administrative leaders using the most current management theories, tools and techniques; and provide the elements that enhance the efficacy of the inspirational leader.

تعد الخرائط الإلكترونية منظومة تكنولوجية متكاملة تعبر عن حالة تطورية لأدوات الجيل الثاني للإنترنت، والتي تمثل منصة تعلم تفاعلية، تتسم قدراتها بالجاهزية والتوافر الدائم والحداثة والانتشار والمجانية والتفاعلية والإتاحة عبر شبكة الإنترنت وتطبيقات الهواتف النقالة والأجهزة اللوحية، وتزداد يوما بعد يوم فاعليتها ووظيفيتها في مجالات حياتية مختلفة، وتحديداً في تطوير التدريس التفاعلي بمجالات تعليمية مختلفة لعل أبرزها مناهج الجغرافيا. إذ أشارت تجارب مختلفة ودراسات عديدة إلي قدراتها في تنمية حب الاستطلاع والدافعية للتعلم وبقاء أثر التعلم وتنمية مهارات قراءة وفهم واستخدام الخرائط والخبرات الميدانية ونمو المفاهيم العلمية والقدرة علي التخيل التاريخي والتفكير المكاني إضافة إلي تنمية إتجاهات إيجابية نحو تعلم المادة وربطها بحل مشكلات الحياة. ومن هنا تأتي أهمية التركيز عليها والدعوة لنشرها بالصفوف التعليمية وبأنشطة التربية الجغرافية، إذ تهدف هذه الورقة إلي تقديم دراسة تحليلية ورؤى تطبيقية لتوظيف الخرائط الإلكترونية مثل جوجل ماب وجوجل إيرث وياهو ماب وغيرها العشرات، كأداة تدريسية لها فاعليتها في تحقيق المعايير الوطنية للجغرافيا وتنمية جوانبها المعرفية والمهارية والوجدانية في مراحل التعليم المختلفة بالمدارس المستقلة بقطر، وذلك من خلال استعراض ودراسة المحاور التالية:  المحور الأول: ويتعلق بمناقشة طبيعة ومفاهيم وخصائص وأنواع ووظائف الخرائط الإلكترونية الحديثة كمنصة تعلم وأداة تدريس.  المحور الثاني: ويستعرض تحليل لأهمية ووظيفية الخرائط الإلكترونية كمنصة تعلم وأداة للتدريس الفعال لمناهج الجغرافيا.  المحور الثالث: ويناقش المعايير الواجب توافرها لتوظيف الخرائط التفاعلية في التدريس الفعال لمناهج الجغرافيا بالمدارس المستقلة بقطر.  المحور الرابع: يحدد علاقة ودور الخرائط الإلكترونية في تحقيق المعايير الوطنية لمناهج الجغرافيا في المدارس المستقلة بقطر.  المحور الخامس: ويعرض لبعض الدراسات والتجارب والمشروعات العالمية في مجال توظيف الخرائط الإلكترونية في تعليم الجغرافيا وتنفيذ مناهجها ببعض دول العالم.  المحور السادس: ويتم من خلاله استعراض وطرح بعض الأفكار والنماذج والتطبيقات العملية لتوظيف أنماط من الخرائط التفاعلية كجوجل إيرث وجوجل ماب في تدريس بعض دروس الجغرافيا، كرؤى استرشادية يمكن للمعلم البناء عليها في تخطيط مواقف تدريسية في ضوئها.  المحور السابع: ويهتم بعلاقتها بمعلم الجغرافيا، من خلال محاولة تحديد الكفايات اللازمة والمهارات الأساسية للمعلم لتوظيف الخرائط التفاعلية في التدريس الفعال لمناهج الجغرافيا.  المحور الثامن: وأخيراً يتم رصد وتحديد بعض التوصيات الإجرائية ذات العلاقة بكل من تخطيط وتطوير المناهج والتنمية المهنية للمعلم والإدارة المدرسية؛ لضمان تفعيل ونشر الخرائط الالكترونية في التدريس الفعال للجغرافيا في مراحل التعليم بالمدارس المستقلة بقطر مستقبلاً إن شاء الله.